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A yoga posture held on a mat in a Shimla garden, ringed by flowers and deodar

10 – 13 September 2026 · Shimla, Himachal Pradesh

The Himalayan Reconnect

Reconnect with nature. Reconnect with yourself. Reconnect with life.

  • 4 days, 3 nights
  • Navbahar, Shimla
  • Small group, personal guidance

Early bird, per person

₹10,999

First ten registrations · dates on request

Enquire on WhatsApp070183 12046

No payment online. A message holds your place while you decide.

4

days and 3 nights, 10 to 13 September

2,200 m

up in Shimla's deodar and pine belt

10

early-bird places at ₹10,999

17

years Umesh Yogi has taught yoga

  • Traditional Hatha yogaMorning and evening, personally guided, with no experience required.
  • Forest bathingSlow walking, breath and silence, deep in the deodar.
  • Guided Himalayan trekA beginner-friendly forest trail with mountain views and quiet stops.
  • Pranayama & meditationDaily breathwork and guided sits that outlast the four days.
  • Yoga nidra & satsangDeep guided rest, then evenings of music, reflection and conversation.
  • Satvik meals & herbal teaThree fresh vegetarian meals a day, cooked to yogic principles.

Escape the noise

A journey back to yourself

Imagine waking to birdsong instead of an alarm. Breathing crisp Himalayan air. Practising authentic Hatha yoga as the sun comes up over pine-covered ridges, walking mindfully through ancient cedar forest, sharing wholesome satvik meals, and ending the day under a sky full of stars.

The Himalayan Reconnect is a four-day, three-night residential retreat built to help you slow down, restore your energy and reconnect with your body, mind and breath. Whether you are beginning your yoga journey or deepening a practice you already hold, the group is small and the guidance is personal.

It happens in Shimla, the Queen of Hills, at over 2,200 metres among deodar, pine and oak. Away from the noise of city life, every sunrise becomes a new beginning and every forest trail becomes a meditation. This isn't simply a retreat; it's a journey back to yourself.

A seated meditation in dappled light beneath the deodar forest near Shimla

What you'll experience

Four days, built from nine practices

A harmonious blend of traditional yogic practice and nature-based healing. Every one of these is on the timetable, not an add-on at a desk.

  1. Traditional Hatha yoga

    The foundation of the retreat. Carefully guided morning and evening sessions that build strength, flexibility and body awareness, scaled to beginners and practised hands alike.

  2. Pranayama & breathwork

    Ancient breathing techniques that expand lung capacity, calm the nervous system and clear the head. You keep this one long after the retreat.

  3. Meditation & mindfulness

    Guided practices that quiet the mind, steady concentration and bring you back to yourself through stillness.

  4. Forest bathing

    A slow, mindful immersion in Shimla's Himalayan forest: conscious walking, breathing with the trees, birdsong, and complete presence.

  5. Guided Himalayan nature trek

    A beginner-friendly forest trail with mountain views. Silent walking, mountain meditation, mindfulness stops, and time for photographs.

  6. Yoga nidra

    Profound guided rest that releases physical tension and settles the mind more deeply than sleep usually manages.

  7. Satvik cuisine

    Fresh, balanced, nourishing vegetarian meals prepared to yogic principles, three times a day, with herbal tea between.

  8. Evening satsang & reflection

    Days end with music, bhajans, gratitude practice and honest conversation. It is the part people remember.

  9. Expressive movement therapy

    A journey inward through movement, music and embodied expression. Come as you are, feel deeply, be fully present.

Day by day

How the four days unfold

  1. Day 1

    Arrive, and reconnect

    Check-in opens at six in the evening. A satvik dinner at eight, orientation at nine, lights off at ten. The first day asks nothing of you except that you arrive.

  2. Day 2

    Reconnect with your body

    In the hall at six. Ninety minutes of traditional Hatha yoga, then pranayama and meditation before breakfast. The late morning belongs to the forest: mindful walking, nature meditation, breathing with the trees, silence practice. A free afternoon for journaling, rest and tea; gentle stretch and mobility yoga at five, sunset meditation, dinner, and an open question-and-answer evening.

  3. Day 3

    Himalayan adventure & inner growth

    Dynamic Hatha yoga at sunrise, then the guided Himalayan nature trek from ten until two, taking in forest trail, mountain meditation, silent walking and photography stops. Restorative yoga in the late afternoon, deep meditation at six, then music, a sharing circle and gratitude practice before dinner.

  4. Day 4

    Integration & farewell

    Herbal tea at six, sunrise yoga and a last meditation, breakfast, then the closing reflection circle, group photographs, and a written commitment to your practice at home. Check-out by noon.

A full day, hour by hour

The shape of the middle days. The sameness is the point: by the second morning nobody is deciding what happens next, which is most of what a retreat is for.

06:00
Wake, herbal tea, into the hall
06:30
Traditional Hatha yogaNinety minutes, built slowly. Every posture has a version that fits the body doing it.
08:00
Pranayama and meditation
08:30
Satvik breakfast
10:30
Into the forestForest bathing on the quiet day, the Himalayan trek on the adventure day.
13:00
Lunch
14:00
Free timeJournaling, rest, reading, tea. Nothing is scheduled on purpose.
16:30
Mindful tea
17:00
Gentle stretch and mobility yoga
18:30
Sunset meditation
19:30
Dinner
20:30
SatsangMusic, reflection, gratitude practice, honest questions.
22:00
Lights off

Times shift with the weather. The mountain decides when sunrise is, not the timetable. The shape of the day does not change.

This suits you if

  • Complete beginners. No yoga experience is needed, and the guidance is personal
  • Working professionals and entrepreneurs who need a real pause, not a hotel weekend
  • Students and solo travellers, since plenty of people arrive alone
  • Couples and families who want to slow down together
  • Anyone seeking rest, nature, and a practice to take home

Book something else if

  • Anyone after a teacher training or a certificate. This is practice, not a qualification
  • Anyone planning to keep working through it. The days are full, and the retreat is a digital detox by design
  • Anyone wanting a sightseeing itinerary. This is one quiet ridge, and the point is staying on it

Who leads it

Umesh Yogi, founder of Utkrisht Yoga, in a white kurta on a Himachal hillside
  • Umesh Yogi holding an arm balance on a terrace above pine forest, clouds behind
  • Umesh Yogi in a handstand against blue sky and Himalayan pines

Umesh Yogi

Founder, Utkrisht Yoga · International yoga teacher · Lead teacher of the retreat

17 years of teaching yoga

Umesh Yogi founded Utkrisht Yoga and has taught yoga for seventeen years. He is a yoga educator, wellness mentor and retreat leader, and he has spent that time making authentic yoga accessible, in Shimla and far beyond it. His approach blends traditional Hatha yoga, pranayama, meditation and yogic philosophy with a modern understanding of how bodies and minds actually work.

Through retreats, teacher training programmes, wellness workshops and community classes, he has guided thousands of students toward a steadier, more conscious way of living. A great many of them met the practice in the open-air community sessions the Utkrisht Yoga team has run in Shimla for years.

As lead teacher of The Himalayan Reconnect, he and the Utkrisht Yoga team hold the whole arc of the retreat: every asana class, every sit, every walk into the forest. Each participant is met where they are, first-timers included.

"Yoga is not just something we practice. It is a way of living, with awareness, compassion, balance and purpose."

The teaching team

Who else is in the room

Three teachers share the four days with him. Every morning class, every sit and every walk has one of them beside you, and none of them teaches from the front of a hall of two hundred.

  • Pragya Mittal, embodiment facilitator, seated at a wooden table under a green pergola

    Pragya Mittal

    Embodiment Facilitator · DMT Integration Coach · Consciousness & Inner Healing Practitioner

    Pragya Mittal works at the intersection of embodiment, consciousness, psychedelic integration and inner healing. She supports individuals in developing a deeper awareness of their inner world, recognising the patterns, beliefs, emotional responses and behaviours that shape their lives, and creating the awareness and capacity to outgrow those patterns.

    Her work combines embodied awareness, introspection, emotional integration and psychedelic experience integration to help people move beyond intellectual understanding and into meaningful, lived transformation. She creates a space for individuals to explore their experiences, reconnect with themselves, and translate profound insights into new ways of being.

    "True transformation happens when awareness moves from the mind into the body, and insight becomes embodied action."

  • Rajesh, yoga teacher at Utkrisht Yoga, in a saffron shawl outdoors

    Rajesh

    Yoga teacher · Practice for a steady mind

    10 years of practice, 7 of them teaching

    Rajesh has practised yoga for the last ten years. What the practice gave him first was not flexibility but a steadier mind, and that is what he teaches from: the belief that you can strengthen your mental stability by practising yoga, and that the steadiness shows in every other part of your life.

    Difficulties, he says, become easier to meet. That is why he chose the path of a yoga teacher, and for the past seven years he has taught yoga with one aim, to transform the lives of the people who come to practise with him.

    On the retreat he teaches the morning and evening classes alongside Umesh and the team, at the pace of whoever is on the mat that day.

    "Strengthen the mind through practice, and it shows in every other part of your life."

  • Sharik Chauhan, yoga instructor at Utkrisht Yoga, photographed outdoors in Shimla

    Sharik Chauhan

    Yoga Instructor · Hatha yoga, sound healing and anatomy

    3 years of teaching

    Sharik Chauhan teaches with a straightforward commitment to physical wellbeing, mindfulness and a balanced life. His sessions are structured rather than improvised: strength, flexibility, balance, mobility, breath awareness and relaxation, built in that order and at the pace of the room.

    His teaching is made to be adaptable: mindful movement, clear guidance, consistency, and attention to where each person actually is. Yoga, as he teaches it, is not about arriving at a perfect posture but about awareness, and about a connection between body, breath and mind that survives the end of the class.

    Through his teaching he aims to create a supportive and motivating environment where people can build a consistent practice and move towards a healthier, more balanced way of life.

    Teaches hatha yoga, yoga for beginners, sound healing, anatomy & physiology, mindfulness-based practice.

    "Progress begins when you choose to begin."

    योगश्चित्तवृत्तिनिरोधःYoga is the practice of cultivating calmness and clarity of the mind.

An Utkrisht Yoga community class seated in meditation on a terrace above the Shimla forest
An Utkrisht Yoga community class on the ridge above Shimla. These open-air sessions have run for years, and they are where thousands of students first met this practice.

Where you stay, what you eat

A forest venue, and a satvik kitchen

Fairmount Shimla Forest Greens sits on the wooded ridge at Navbahar, near St. Bede's College. Deodar and pine on every side, and Shimla town within reach below.

Fairmount Shimla Forest Greens

Rooms are twin-shared, private, or taken as a couple & family room: clean, warm and quiet at 2,200 m, with the practice hall and the forest both steps away. The full address is Earls Field Estate, Navbahar, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh.

The kitchen cooks satvik vegetarian food three times a day, fresh, balanced and built to support the practice, with herbal tea between meals. Tell us about any dietary needs when you book and it is simply how you are cooked for, not a special request made in front of everyone.

Earls Field Estate, Navbahar, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh
A quiet practice on a mat in a flowering Shimla garden, ringed by deodar

Dates and fees

One departure, three ways to take a room

The early-bird twin fee is held for the first ten registrations. What is included and what is not sits underneath, both columns, on the page, before you pay anything.

The dates

The next dates are being confirmed. Message us and we will send them as soon as they are set, and hold a place for you in the meantime.

Arrival is from 6:00 pm on the first evening; check-out is by noon on the last day.

Fees by room

  • Twin sharingEarly bird₹10,999per person

    Early-bird fee, held for the first ten registrations

  • Couple & family room₹17,999for the room

    For two people booking together

  • Private room₹17,999per person

Included

  • Three nights' accommodation at Fairmount Shimla Forest Greens
  • Daily traditional Hatha yoga, morning and evening
  • Daily pranayama and guided meditation
  • Yoga nidra
  • The forest bathing experience
  • The guided Himalayan nature trek
  • Three satvik vegetarian meals a day, with herbal tea
  • A retreat journal, and the wellness activities between sessions

Not included

  • Travel to and from Shimla
  • Personal shopping, and snacks beyond the three meals
  • Travel insurance
  • Personal expenses

From the mat

What students say about learning here

Not reviews of this retreat, which has not run yet. These are people who learned from the same teachers, quoted from the school's Google listing and website.

  • I had never done yoga before and Utkrisht Yoga has helped me progress so quickly. I got everything I needed — a little bit of work-out to break some sweat, strong stretch and deep relaxation at the end. It truly is both body and mind yoga.

    Parul Chauhan

    Google review

  • Great experience with the yoga trainers, who gave me a personalized plan based on my body issues. Not only has my posture started to improve but my overall health has gone up a notch.

    Geetika Kapoor

    Google review

  • I am retired from the nursing profession and I am enjoying my yoga journey. After joining yoga classes under the guidance of Umesh sir I am feeling physically, mentally and emotionally gratified. I think every age group should join yoga and enjoy the journey.

    Promila Barwal

    Google review

Getting here

Three ways up the hill

Travel to Shimla is your own leg of the journey. Send us your route and we will help you plan the last stretch to Navbahar.

  • By air

    Shimla airport (SLV) is about 22 km away; Chandigarh (IXC), around 110 km, has far more flights. Taxis run up from either.

  • By train

    The Kalka–Shimla toy train winds up to Shimla station, then it is a short taxi to Navbahar. Book this one early. It fills months out.

  • By road

    Overnight Volvo from Delhi to Shimla, roughly nine hours. Taxis run from Chandigarh in about three.

The place

The practice, where it actually happens

Every photograph here is ours: Umesh, the teaching team and the Utkrisht community practising in and around Shimla.

  • A seated spinal twist practised on a blue mat in a flowering Shimla garden
  • An outdoor class seated with arms raised on a terrace above the forested Shimla valley
  • A standing balance held on open hillside grass above Shimla
  • A whole class holding triangle pose together on mats in the open air
  • Bow pose practised on a hillside meadow in Himachal
  • An early-morning outdoor community yoga class standing in practice under the trees
  • A large Utkrisht Yoga community class practising outdoors under the trees in Shimla
  • A class lying in savasana on their mats under the deodar, at the end of a session
  • A low crescent lunge with arms extended, practised on open hillside grass

Before you ask

Questions people actually send us

Booking

Ask us anything before you book

Message us with the dates you are considering and we will hold the place while you decide. If this is the wrong retreat for you, we would rather tell you now than take the deposit.

Enquire on WhatsApp070183 12046

Or email utkrishtyoga@gmail.com

How the money works

  • A message holds your place while you decide. A deposit confirms it. Nothing is paid online before we have talked.
  • Prices are per person for the whole retreat, except the couple & family room, which is priced for the room.
  • The early-bird twin fee of ₹10,999 is held for the first ten registrations.
  • If you have to pull out, tell us as early as you can. Close to the date, the deposit covers the room that was held for you.

A retreat supports general wellbeing. It is not treatment, it does not replace your doctor's advice, and if you are pregnant or managing an injury or a heart condition, tell us before you book so we can plan your practice, or tell you honestly that this is not the right week for it.

4 days · early bird

₹10,999per person

Enquire