pictured: Kingfishers

“Consecrate your sense of sight to hone in on specific Birds, or a focal point in your mind’s eye, or a Bird in the wild. This plays the part of Drishti. A single point of concentration is the gateway to Meditation…

…in all of Nature, the sound of birdsong is the top rated signal read by the brain telling us that we are safe, our environment is safe. When birds are
singing, the para-sympathetic nervous system takes over . You naturally are supported by the sound of safety, you can relax & unwind.”

: Book a weekend, a few days in january or the full retreat for the birds :

Rare tourists are like blurs on the periphery of daily rituals, carefully focused with quiet devotion. Retreat guests are only a handful each year. Maybe you never heard of Maheshvar before, but you will never forget us. And we will not forget you, either. Each and every visitor is appreciated and special.

•heritage • nature • culture • legacy • rituAL • yoga• •pilgrimage • retreat•

We gather to embody an ancient spiritual practice from the Wombs of our ancestors. Honor your sacred rhythms like the tides of the Ocean with Yoga of Moons (Maasik Chakra Yoga). Start the year off right by tending to yourself first. Immerse in the heritage of Maheshvar‘s Fort, SwAr Ashram is at its easternmost post. Where the descendants of a Queen born 300 years ago, uphold her legacy of Women’s Empowerment, most noted for teaching a museum-quality skilled trade of handloom weaving to women and especially widows. Today, the Maheshvari Sari is responsible for supporting the local economy.

Tradition is alive here because it isn’t just replication of ‘old times’. It’s alive, with the wisdom of Cyclic Time that flows in a Spiral, expanding from the primordial Source. The Universal Laws of Nature (Sanatan Dharm), are based on Earth Physics and Quantum Physics. It evolves as seasons and eras do, to support a living culture. Sanatan Dharm is not written in stone. It IS the stone.

the yoga of birds : with skyler kardell

the Yoga of BIRDS. Your Birding host, Skyler Kardell is an educator, guide and naturalist with a lifelong passion for Nature – snakes, butterflies and, particularly BIRDS. He holds a double degree in Ornithology and Sustainable Architecture from Connecticut College. he is a native of Nantucket Island and currently based in Providence Rhode Island as a Conservationist. His family is uniquely tied to Maheshvar through his Maternal Grandmother, the host of this Retreat, who has lived here for nearly 20 years, BIO below.

Skyler made a splash in the Raj Express newspaper when he presented a local Bird ppt for the regional Maharaja‘s (Indian Royalty) Montessori school and then took 30 children on a riverfront Birdwalk with him. Skyler then literally blazed a trail, curating Birdwalk experiences for the senior Maharaj himself and his Family’s elite guests.

Being a native to Nantucket Island, boating is second nature to Skyler who has spent countless hours Bird-boating on the Narmada and discovering trails across the River.

Skyler’s favorite birds to this local region in India are the Black-bellied Tern and River Lapwing. During his previous time spent in Maheshvar, he has mapped out favorite trails and boating for Birding where he will guide you on very informative adventures. He will again be spending the month of January 2026 with us.

For the love of Birds, Skyler has travelled the world, you can see some of his Bird Photography from around the world, even Antarctica, in this interview from his hometown Nantucket. There was that time that Skyler sighted and recorded a Grey Heron in the US, a discovery that made National Geographic at only 18 years old. Before that, he was Resident Coastal Steward of Bird Conservation on Tuckernuck Island and had a long relationship with Maria Mitchell Association since childhood. Skyler is living his best life and is ready to share his joy of Birds with you.

This is the sunrise over SwAr Ashram you will enjoy each morning as you set off for the birding trails with Skyler. If you are a seasoned Birder or just thinking of trying it out, Skyler will show you his joy and his boundless knowledge on this topic as he shows you the ropes of Maheshvar Birding, let’s call it the Yoga of Birding.

From the moment he set foot in SwAr Ashram, Skyler had his camera, his eyes, ears and app open. In that first hour he recorded dozens of birds in the narrow strip of trees between the Ashram and River Narmada. Each day, he was off on an adventure to discover the farmlands or other side of the River. True to his own Nature, wherever Skyler is, there are birds to befriend. Whether you are a Birder, an experienced Yogi or both…. looking for the right modality for healing, or for a unique perspective on Nature? Amma Niradhara & Skyler will guide you with personal attention.

This retreat takes you on the path of Yoga that is its very foundation, the natural sciences. To compliment the cerebral aspects of Yogic philosophy & physics, each day embraces the somatic aspects of Yoga sadhana and the sensory experience of Birding in Nature in an environment far from your home, with a safe team of support.

Of all the aspects of Nature that heal, the sound of Birdsong is rated as the top signal read by the brain telling us that we are safe, our environment is safe. When a predator enters the jungle, the birds and all creatures go silent. Where Birds sing loud and clear, we know that there is safety in the area. Bird Walks and Bird Watching are wonderfully healing this way. A proven source of Central Nervous System regulation is immersion in Nature. And like Yoga, it works best with a level of concentration on singular points of sound and sight. Intuition guides your eyes to match the sounds with the birds, even in flight. It sharpens the senses. it isn’t age, but the lack of using these Sensory gifts that makes them duller.

Experience waking up every day in authentic context, Old World Bharat (India) in the Gatehouse to the Fort. Walk 3 minutes on the Narmada Riverfront to SwAr Ashram, where you will meet and go on guided Birdwalks each morning after sunrise. Practice Yoga of Moons in the Ashram overlooking the sacred River and in afternoons, explore nature, culture, heritage, legacy, spirituality, food and architecture. You get access to our Library’s rare Vedantic books to read in your rooms at night & of course free time to explore and so much more.

—> Also perfect for Yoga Teachers to gain authenticity & rare teachings | YACEP

Come and discover ancient technologies and techniques for support in Peri-Menopause, PCOS, PMDD and many other challenges. Even high BP (blood pressure), Diabetes and weight gain are attenuated with a natural recalibration of human hormones by aligning the body-mind with Nature through root source knowledge from the science of Yoga & Ayurveda. Post-Menopausal women and also all genders can benefit from this Yoga of Moons retreat. Although it is wildly effective for Menstrual irregularities, it is not only about Periods. The Moon has a cyclical power that interacts hormonally with all humans, not only for reproduction. When Chakra-s are said to be imbalanced, it is your hormones that need recalibration and that can be done naturally…and there are Birds.

:Yoga of moons :

Yoga of Moons dives deep into the Universe inside us. Ironically, women’s cycles are at the center of Hindu worship, most notably in 9-night Navaratri fertility festivals, four times annually, yet Menstrual Cycles are at the root of hindrance to education, advancement & empowerment for girls & women in India today. The patriarchal aftertaste of a society still struggling to its feet after almost 2 centuries of colonization had pushed the culture away from its feminine roots. The industrial age brought the agricultural heritage along with the cities into a state of pollution.

This is the state of our whole Mother Earth, yet we worship Her as Bhumata or Mata Prthvi since the Vedic Era. Did we forget She dwells inside of us? Women are rising to their feet – remembering. The rEvolution is ON. This wisdom of our elders and of our unity (Yog) with Nature is rising up. It has survived Yuga-s because it adapts to developments in the environment, because it never loses its relatioship to the Elements, to the Cosmos.

Vedic science is Physics. When we open to the underlying properties of the elements, energetic currents & passageways, riddles of the ages are solved.

Yoga of Moons has emerged from Amma Niradhara’s life work to support developing girls in a developing world, and evolves to support the women they are becoming, one. at. a. time. Daughters, mothers, grandmothers and other brilliant individuals around the world, opening to a truth of incredible beauty that has been hushed too long. Never mistake our kindness for weakness. Amma Niradhara has supported 2 young women through Masters in Law and Masters in Social Work.

Yoga of Moons reveals the secrets in plain sight about our relationship to environment, our Earth. We explore the cosmic cycle’s connection to our embodied cycles and how that connection got broken.

:meet your hostess, Yogini &guide for the retreat:

This retreat is curated, produced and taught by Amma Niradhara, a woman who has lived in the heart of rural India for almost 20 years. She was instructed in 2007 by her YajnAcharya (Fire Guru) to teach the foreign visitors about Brahmanic Protocols for women practicing Agnihotra in the Menstruating years of their life. Shocked by local village women integrating plastics into ancient Vedic Menstrual protocols, Niradhara began studying the Ayurvedic texts for answers while working with the locals for Indian perspective.