200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training and Wellness Retreat in the Himalayan Foothills of Rishikesh

The 200-hour training is built around four themed weeks. Week one covers foundations – the history of yoga, Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, the eight limbs, basic anatomy, and your first proper look at pranayama and meditation. Week two shifts into teaching: how to sequence a class, use props, give adjustments, and work with different body types, plus some business skills for building your own classes. Week three goes deeper into advanced asanas and pranayama, adds yoga nidra and relaxation techniques, and introduces Sanskrit and chanting. Week four is integration: you teach practice classes, get assessed, and finish with graduation. The timetable is full, with two or three asana sessions most days plus lecture blocks, but there are weekend excursions and evenings off to explore Rishikesh.

What makes this course different from a generic 200-hour is the location and the teaching style. Yogi Ranjan has over a decade of teaching experience and has spent time with teachers across the Himalayas and at the Isha Foundation. He brings a traditional, devotional approach – expect mantras, a focus on breathwork, and an emphasis on the spiritual side of the practice rather than just the physical postures. The school is small on purpose, so you get to know the other trainees and get real feedback from the teachers.

Rishikesh itself does a lot of the work. The town is full of ashrams, the Ganges flows through it, and the sound of the river and the hills makes it easy to drop into a quieter headspace. Even the walk to the yoga shala feels like part of the practice. The cultural immersion is genuine: weekend trips to sacred sites, kirtan evenings, and daily life in a town where yoga is the main industry. This is not a resort experience – it is a working teacher training in a real spiritual hub, and that is exactly why people come.

The main thing to know is that this is intense. You are training most of the day, and the schedule leaves little room for sightseeing except on the planned days off. If you want a laid-back retreat with a couple of classes a day, this is not it. But if you want to leave actually qualified to teach and changed by the process, the structure is exactly what you need.

What's included

- 24 nights accommodation - 3 daily meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) - Water and tea throughout the day - Airport pickup from Dehradun or Delhi - All teacher training classes and workshops - Course manual - Yoga kit (mat, props) - Ayurvedic consultation - Nature hikes with a trusted guide - Weekend/day off excursions - Evening activities (kirtan, movie nights) - Free WiFi - Transportation during the retreat - Certificate upon completion - Pre and post retreat support from the team

What's not included

- International flights - Travel insurance - Visa fees - Additional treatments (e.g., Ayurvedic massage) - Optional activities not in the itinerary - Personal expenses