Two participants from the  84-Days Intensive Sadhana Retreat held at the Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama from 10 July – 1 October 2025 shared their experiences. Both the participants are initiates within the Himalayan Tradition.

Experience Sharing by Carter Michaud

84 days is more than just a number — it’s a powerful window of transformation. In that time, you could launch a passion project, build lasting habits of fitness and healthy eating, master a new skill or craft, complete a certification or course, or even save and invest a meaningful sum of money. However, these things are all the results of what you direct your actions toward, and if we do not have the inner strength to follow through with them, we won’t see them come to fruition—how many times have we tried to get ourselves to go to the gym, only to give up after a couple of weeks? With inner strength, we have the ability to accomplish whatever we intend to pursue. We might say, “I want to eat healthy” or “I want to learn a new language,” and instead of giving in when the mind says, “I’m bored of this. I’m going to stop,” we have the strength to choose to continue anyway. This cultivation of inner strength is just a fraction of what I have developed throughout the 84-day retreat.

Through Hatha Yoga, I’ve developed physical discipline—learning how to calm my mind while my body is in discomfort. If I can tell myself to keep pushing despite my mind telling me that this is uncomfortable, then I’ve successfully won the battle with my mind and followed through with the intention to hold the posture or continue with the exercise even when my mind is complaining.

Through Karma Yoga, I’ve learned to break through the idea of doing all of my actions for my own sake. Will I do something for someone else with 100% effort, knowing that I won’t get any benefit or recognition from it? Can I tell myself to do it anyway, even when my mind doesn’t see the reward? This is yet another reason why inner strength is important.

Through Bhakti Yoga, I learned surrender. As someone who has historically been uncomfortable with any mention of God, chanting the morning and evening prayers was difficult for me at the start of the retreat. Day by day, prayer by prayer, I slowly eased up to the idea. I reminded myself that immediately rejecting Bhakti Yoga simply because I didn’t understand what people were praying for would only have prevented me from learning what “that” is for myself. I exercised inner strength by not listening to my mind saying, “This is ridiculous, what’s the point?” Without any of the teachers imposing their beliefs on me or requiring me to change mine, I changed my beliefs—not because of what I’d heard from others, but because once I stopped resisting and trusted what I was learning, the direct experience of seeing the universe respond to the prayers was enough to show me what I hadn’t previously understood.

In the philosophy classes, we learn something new every day that gives us ample opportunities to reflect on our own thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. I’ve been repeatedly referring to inner strength, but depending on the individual, what needs to be worked on may not be discipline—it may be breath, relaxation, surrender, or ego. We are often unaware of many of our own problems. By being exposed to different concepts, we expand our capacity to recognize what we don’t realize we’re doing wrong and to accept new ways of thinking for our own benefit. The classes were the perfect avenue to understand how what you’re learning fits into the bigger picture. Whatever you’re currently struggling with, there is always at least one thing in every lesson you can take away to help with it.

As far as meditation goes, I’ve learned that it is simply a byproduct of living the practices mentioned above. As I have become more selfless, more relaxed, and more disciplined by sticking with these practices, the mental restlessness and frequency of thoughts and emotions gradually decreased. This, in addition to improving my posture through the Hatha Yoga classes, allowed me to sit in meditation for longer, with fewer disturbances, and in a deeper state of mind.

I’ve personally found that what can change in 84 days is much more significant than what can happen in two weeks. Two weeks into the retreat, I was more relaxed, and my mood was much lighter, but it didn’t feel as if that would bring lasting change after I left. It was only after a couple of months passed by—when I was used to the routine and the novelty had worn off—that the real growth began. It is at this point that many people decide to give up their pursuits, but if we understand this and push through anyway, that is where the lasting change lies. This is what has worked for me. I’ve found that when I pushed through this phase of boredom and complacency, I started to develop more confidence and discipline than I’ve ever had in my life (and really feel as if the change is not temporary).

The connections I’ve made at SRSG have been among the most life-changing aspects of this retreat. Being surrounded by a community where everyone shares the same goal of self-transformation, where compassion and selflessness are practiced daily—that kind of love is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. From teachers to friends, it is the presence of these beautiful souls within the ashram that truly makes it feel like home. Living alongside the other sadhakas for three months—attending classes, conversing at meals, and exploring the city together—allowed my relationships to grow far deeper than I had expected. These connections have profoundly influenced my spiritual growth. I’ve been constantly inspired to do more good.

Whenever someone did something kind for me or encouraged me to help someone else, they opened my eyes to new ways of being selfless. They helped me expand my mind and think not only for myself but for others, showing me how and when to look for opportunities to give. The friends I’ve made at SRSG have made me a better person.

So while 84 days in the ashram might seem like a long time (and it is), it is enough time to build resilience, establish connections, change your perspective on reality, show you how to become selfless (and enjoy it), and allow yourself to let go, surrender, and relax. If you show up with sincerity and determination, the ashram—no, you—will bring change to every facet of your life.

Experience Sharing by Radha Bhojraj

Writing about the 84-day retreat feels almost impossible. The experience can only truly be lived, as for each person it reveals itself differently—shaped by what is most needed at that moment in their lives. I hope to be able to put in words reflections of my time here.

I had come in with certain expectations and a picture in my mind of how I wanted the retreat to be. I thought I knew how I should conduct myself and imagined the journey would follow that script. But as the days unfolded, it became clear that the retreat had its own way of working on me, often in ways I could not have anticipated.

My introduction to this path has been gradual, with lessons scattered over the years. Yet, there was a certain naivety in how I had approached these teachings. Over these months, something shifted more deeply. The rigid ideas I had carried began to loosen, and an inner restructuring quietly unfolded.

One of the clearest realisations was the deep interconnection of body, breath, and mind. In the beginning, yoga and meditation were both limited to the physical alone. Here, they began to take on a new meaning. They were no longer about discipline and correctness, but slowly became tools to observe, to become aware, and to understand my state of being in a more holistic way.

The retreat slowly shifted my perspective. I had once asked myself: What more can I add? What else should I do or practice to become better? That list grew so long that it became impossible to keep up with it. Over time, the question itself changed—from “What should I do?” to “How should I be?” How could I make these teachings and tools my own? How could I live a life fulfilling my duties, yet with more inclusiveness, more centeredness, and a steadier way of showing up each day?

The transformation wasn’t so much about adding or achieving, but about softening. It was less about the external and more about the internal—shifting from the restless urge to catch up, to a more mindful way of moving through each moment. What I carry out of the retreat is not an ending, but a foundation—an opening into living with greater balance, awareness, and trust in the path ahead.