TRAVEL
Spiritually
Spirituality and Yoga Tourism in Rishikesh, India BY DEEPAK CHHABRA, PHD AND ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
S
Spiritualism has become an important aspect of well-being, and spiritualityseeking journeys are often undertaken by individuals on a quest for personal meaning. According to Josie Campbell, author of, “To sing the song, to tell the tale: A Study of Tony Morrison and Simone Schwartz,” this quest involves three essential elements — the experience of wholeness and connectivity, going away from home and homecoming with a transformed self. In a broad sense, spiritual tourism is an expression of several traits, such as mobility (slow-physical, slow-internal and spiritual); the heuristic worth of authentic encounters and therapeutic experiences; and the journey itself, which can consist of multicultural or multi-religious routes, contemplative routes and/or therapeutic routes. Therapeutic landscapes, such as natural, pristine, solitary and rural, are often sought for mental cleansing and spiritual healing. Yoga is one prominent expression where spiritual experiences of different intensities can manifest because it offers a platform to nurture the body and mind and realize spiritual aspirations. Several scholars have written that yoga retreats stimulate transcendental experiences and spiritual healing because often focus is on how “taking the body away from
54
GREEN LIVING
|
greenlivingmag.com
the ‘everyday’ opens up attention to the body itself, foregrounding its connection to the world.” India is often recognized as the gateway of yoga and is one of the main spiritual hubs of the world. The country is considered holy and authentic by serious yogis and yoga travelers because of its ancient yoga calligraphy. In an article titled published in the Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change, author Callie Maddox writes that the yearning for an authentic and “exclusive spiritual experience motivates yoga tourists from the West to visit India for a genuine experience due to its location and groundedness in a distinct lineage.” Two historic pioneers who introduced India’s yoga and spiritual paths to the West were the Beatles through their
