Why We Created the Stress-Relief Retreat at Aavya? Because when life feels heavy, sometimes all you need is a calm, caring space to simply breathe again. At Aavya, we see all types of people arrive, overworked professionals, founders running on empty, yoga students feeling overwhelmed, travellers carrying emotional stress, and even healers who suddenly realise
So, We Were Just Sitting Around Talking About our New Year’s retreat (28 Dec 2025 – 2 Jan 2026) at Aavya, Tapovan, Rishikesh. This retreat honestly started very simply. One afternoon, the whole Aavya team was sitting around, chai in hand, half-planning, half-procrastinating, wondering what a New Year retreat should actually feel like. Someone said, “Let’s
Aavya sits in Upper Tapovan, the Most Interesting Part of Rishikesh, the quieter, sunlit hillside of Rishikesh where the town rises into forest. Winters are brighter here, long mornings of warm sunlight, clear air, and a natural sense of calm that begins the moment you arrive. A Location That Feels Instantly Different. Upper Tapovan gets
Rishikesh is famous worldwide for yoga and rafting — but what about the rest of your day? Once the morning practice is done and the river adventure is over, there’s still a whole town waiting to be explored. Here are seven ways to experience Rishikesh beyond yoga and rafting — calm, creative, musical, and yes,
By Ashish Khandelwal I don’t know how to begin this without sounding like a hypocrite. Maybe I am one. Maybe we all are. Running Aavya, I’ve had a front-row seat to the contradictions of the yoga world, and I’ll admit — some days it makes me laugh, and some days it makes me want to
“I Sell Peace for a Living. Some Days I Can’t Find It for Myself.” I thought I had found freedom. I walked away from corporate life — left the security, the salary, the predictable ladder.My marriage ended.Most of the money I’d made over a lifetime was gone.Some through bad choices, some through risks that didn’t
Yes, you read that right.I’m asking you to be undisciplined. For most of my life, I believed discipline was the key to every change I wanted to make.Twenty times I tried to lose weight.Thirty times I tried to quit smoking.Hundreds of promises to myself that this time I’d stick to it. None of them lasted.
A few days ago, I wrote a blog titled “Gambling Since Age 9.” It was raw.It was personal.And it wasn’t what most people expect from the founder of a wellness retreat. I knew that when I hit publish.And yet, I wasn’t prepared for how much it would stir — in others, and in me. People
I started gambling at the ripe old age of nine. It began with three-card poker with childhood friends. A few coins on the line. The thrill of winning — or losing — didn’t matter much. What mattered was the rush. That strange, heady cocktail of hope and fear. Adrenaline in the veins. And that feeling
When I started building Aavya, a dear friend and yoga teacher looked me straight in the eye and said: “Ashish, your business is now your yoga.” I nodded wisely, like I knew what that meant. I didn’t. Back then, I thought it was just a poetic compliment. You know—“Ah yes, business as spiritual practice.” Very
