India Calling — Spiritual Travel Stories

Antonia Califano

Isha, Tamil Nadu & the Yoga of Shiva: Why Yoga Teachers Need India

"You don't look for the guru. When you are ready, the guru will come." Italian yoga master trainer Dr. Antonia Califano on meditating at Isha, discovering Tamil Nadu's temples, Shaolin and Amazonian teachers, and why daily discipline is the one lesson every tradition shares.

You don't look for the guru. When you are ready, the guru will come.

Watch on YouTube: Isha, Tamil Nadu & the Yoga of Shiva: Why Yoga Teachers Need India

Chapters

1. 00:00 — Welcome to India Calling
2. 00:32 — Why an Italian yoga school decided it had to see India
3. 01:39 — First trip to India: discovering what she'd only read about
4. 02:30 — Yoga as a lifestyle, not a weekly class
5. 03:42 — Isha Yoga Center: meditating in the Dhyanalinga and walking to Adiyogi
6. 05:07 — Training with Shaolin monks in China and Tibet
7. 05:50 — Learning plant medicine from curanderos in the Amazon
8. 06:57 — What every spiritual culture she's studied has in common
9. 09:25 — The lesson India taught her: daily practice, daily discipline
10. 11:36 — How spirituality lives inside ordinary Indian life
11. 13:50 — Two big mistakes newly certified yoga teachers make
12. 15:57 — How you know you're ready for a yoga teacher training
13. 17:55 — How to choose a yoga school in India: curriculum, master, comfort level
14. 20:08 — Discovering Tamil Nadu after years of Rishikesh and Haridwar
15. 21:24 — Writing "The Yoga of Shiva": why symbolism and mythology matter
16. 23:48 — Nutrition and yoga: why they were never separate
17. 26:02 — When it all finally clicked, and how long it took
18. 28:03 — On seeking a guru: "when you're ready, the guru will come"
19. 30:11 — South Indian temple energy, even for sceptics
20. 32:30 — What European students get wrong about India before arriving
21. 33:57 — Preparing students for India's sensory shock
22. 35:23 — Why she keeps choosing India over easier retreat destinations
23. 36:36 — Books she recommends: biographies of masters over instruction manuals
24. 38:59 — The one book every YTT student should read first
25. 40:14 — Watching students transform the moment they arrive
26. 41:45 — The hardest part of organising a retreat in India
27. 43:21 — Food, spice and avoiding stomach trouble in India
28. 45:09 — A message to every yoga teacher in Europe who's never been to India
29. 46:52 — A teacher's responsibility to a tradition they didn't create
30. 49:27 — Where to find Antonia and her school

Nikki Solyom

Rishikesh, Kundalini & Kashmir Shaivism: What the West Gets Wrong

"I thought I'd become a better teacher. I became a better person." Irish Kundalini teacher Nikki Solyom on the taxi ride that terrified her, discovering classical Kashmir Shaivite tantra in Rishikesh, and the cow in traffic that showed her what real yoga looks like.

I thought I'd become a better teacher. I became a better person.

Watch on YouTube: Rishikesh, Kundalini & Kashmir Shaivism: What the West Gets Wrong

• Misjudging Poverty in India | Nikki Solyom — These people are richer than any of us.

Chapters

1. 00:00 — Welcome to India Calling
2. 00:24 — Fifteen years in corporate life and the moment it stopped being enough
3. 02:00 — Teaching yoga the Western way, and realising something was missing
4. 03:59 — Landing in India: the airport taxi ride that terrified her
5. 05:00 — Why she nearly chose Bali, and what changed her mind about India
6. 06:15 — Authenticity: watching people actually live what they teach
7. 07:31 — Going back for a Kundalini yoga teacher training in Rishikesh
8. 09:00 — Arriving to find her course wasn't running, and what happened next
9. 10:41 — "Rishikesh is an addiction"
10. 11:11 — Discovering classical Kashmir Shaivite tantra
11. 15:11 — Tantra explained for beginners, without the misconceptions
12. 17:02 — The cow in Rishikesh traffic: what real yoga looks like
13. 19:31 — "I'm not flexible enough for yoga" and other myths
14. 21:16 — Does practising yoga conflict with your religion?
15. 23:27 — Expectations vs reality: dirt, food and Indian people
16. 26:06 — Is India safe for solo women? The scooter test
17. 27:30 — Why Indian retreat and travel organisers over-deliver
18. 30:43 — How to choose a yoga teacher training in India
19. 31:12 — How learning works in India: stories instead of textbooks
20. 33:30 — Sattvic ashram food, patience and showing up for every class
21. 36:36 — For anyone feeling the call to India right now
22. 37:54 — What India means to her now: a better teacher, a better person
23. 41:02 — About Nikki and her work in Ireland

Nea Ferrier

Mysore Ashtanga, Devi Worship & Tantra: 20 Years in India | Nea Ferrier

"You are going to find your liberation through the body." Ashtanga teacher Nea Ferrier on finding Vivekananda in a Delhi bookshop, six months in Mysore, Devi temples from Himachal to Varanasi, and why the householder path of Tantra changed how she lives her yoga.

You are going to find your liberation through the body.

Watch on YouTube: Mysore Ashtanga, Devi Worship & Tantra: 20 Years in India | Nea Ferrier

Chapters

1. 00:00 — Welcome to India Calling: Nea Ferrier, 20 years of India travel
2. 00:27 — The spark: Ashtanga in Hong Kong and a first Rajasthan tour
3. 01:50 — Quitting corporate PR for six months in Mysore, Kerala and Kanyakumari
4. 03:20 — Travelling India in 2005: no smartphones, PCO booths and journaling
5. 06:20 — Why Swami Vivekananda transformed modern yoga and householder practice
6. 09:10 — Ramakrishna Mission, Dakshineswar Kali temple and Belur Math, Kolkata
7. 11:00 — First temple experiences near Trivandrum and the Sivananda ashram at Neyyar Dam
8. 12:09 — Finding Ashtanga yoga: daily sadhana and purification
9. 15:46 — Guru vs teacher: understanding parampara and initiation
10. 17:28 — One year of sacred sites: Himachal, Bodh Gaya, Hampi and Varanasi
11. 20:45 — Discovering Tantra and the householder path: the four purusharthas
12. 23:56 — Devi worship and connecting with Prakriti
13. 26:22 — Yoga vs Pilates, and the wellness-industry misconception
14. 29:26 — Is yoga universal? Yogic science across religions
15. 31:24 — Advice for first-time international travellers to India
16. 33:21 — Navigating unpredictability, gurus and spiritual encounters in India
17. 36:28 — Serendipity in Varanasi: a sudden Kali puja and a Krishna synchronicity
18. 41:13 — Upcoming temple and Shakta retreat in Tamil Nadu with Smukti
19. 45:07 — Indian textiles, nature and tigers
20. 46:40 — Menstruality mentorship: Ayurvedic and Tantric perspectives on cycles and menopause

Miriam Seo

My First Impressions of India

India doesn't call people randomly. It calls them when they are ready.

India has really been a place that shows me where I have to purify my heart further and further.

Watch on YouTube: My First Impressions of India

Pauli Kulikowska

Navigating India as a Solo Traveler

Respecting local customs and traditions transforms how you experience solo travel in India.

When you're traveling, you're not just representing yourself, you're representing your whole country.

Watch on YouTube: Navigating India as a Solo Traveler

Starley

India's Life-Changing Insights (The Breath Sisters)

India radiates an energy that fosters profound realizations like nowhere else.

India is carrying and emanating this particular energy that allows for these insights, but, in my opinion, no other place does that.

Watch on YouTube: India's Life-Changing Insights (The Breath Sisters)

Geoff Rupp

India's Humility Lesson

Happiness isn't about climbing the corporate ladder but living in harmony.

India is what teaches you how to be humble and how to be much more grateful for what you have.

Watch on YouTube: India's Humility Lesson

Mayank

Embracing India's Spiritual Roots

India does not just offer travel — it offers transformation for those ready to receive it.

Knowledge and meditation, the two wings of the bird that allow you to fly free.

Watch on YouTube: Embracing India's Spiritual Roots

Theresa Samworth

Theresa's Honest Take on Auroville

Theresa Samworth shares their story on India Calling by Smukti.

Going inside is like nothing else I've experienced.

Watch on YouTube: Theresa's Honest Take on Auroville

Amy Landry

Yoga Beyond Religion: A Conversation with Amy Landry

Yoga transcends doctrine — a timeless, evolving path of mind-body resilience that welcomes anyone, regardless of religious background.

I think yoga particularly transcends religion. There's no doctrine. There's no one and only text.

Watch on YouTube: Yoga Beyond Religion: A Conversation with Amy Landry

Berta Lopez

Discovering Yoga Beyond Asanas

Moving far beyond the physical postures — into pranayama, mantras, and sattvic living that completely shifts your perspective.

Until you do your yoga teacher training, you don't understand that yoga is much more than only asanas.

Watch on YouTube: Discovering Yoga Beyond Asanas

Allison Dennis

Break the Cycle You Inherited with Allison Dennis

Unlock the generational patterns in your birth chart and transform ancestral wounds into wisdom.

You are a pattern. You are a momentum of patterns.

Watch on YouTube: Break the Cycle You Inherited with Allison Dennis

Brahman Kyrie

The Power of Devotion: How to Access Divine Power Through True Surrender

How Bhakti and true surrender transformed fear into a deep connection with the divine.

It takes incredible strength to surrender, actually.

Watch on YouTube: The Power of Devotion: How to Access Divine Power Through True Surrender

Uschi Gibson

First Impressions of Varanasi | Uschi Gibson

Everything that was greeting me was with so much more colour, so much more beauty, so much more intensity than I could have ever hoped or imagined.

Everything that was greeting me was with so much more colour, so much more beauty, so much more intensity than I could have ever hoped or imagined.

Watch on YouTube: First Impressions of Varanasi | Uschi Gibson

Virginia Compton

Ayurveda: Simple Cures for Common Ailments | Virginia Compton

The real secret to healing? It requires personal effort and commitment to the practice.

Ayurveda is like, of course we tell people what to do and explain it, but they have to do it.

Watch on YouTube: Ayurveda: Simple Cures for Common Ailments | Virginia Compton

Lydia Burth-Weir

Finding My Jyotish Teacher in India | Lydia Burth-Weir

When the student is ready, the teacher appears.

I feel like I moved to India when I met my teacher.

Watch on YouTube: Finding My Jyotish Teacher in India | Lydia Burth-Weir

Uschi Gibson

Encountering Mystics in Kashi | Uschi Gibson

None of these stone temples in Kashi is as beautiful as the temple Shiva has built inside of you.

None of them is as beautiful as the temple that Shiva has built inside of you.

— a Naga sadhu, as told by Uschi

Watch on YouTube: Encountering Mystics in Kashi | Uschi Gibson

Jwala Bharti (Julie Upton)

The American Woman Who Lived With Naga Sadhus at the Kumbh Mela | Jwala Bharti | India Calling

A Buddhist teacher from Munich flew to Delhi in 2013 to film a documentary at the Maha Kumbh Mela, dropped the camera, and became Jwala Bharti, a devotee in the Naga Sadhu tradition. She covers life in the akhara camp, receiving her jatas at the 2019 Ardh Kumbh, the Shahi Snan procession, and why foreigners seeking a guru become targets.

Watch on YouTube: The American Woman Who Lived With Naga Sadhus at the Kumbh Mela | Jwala Bharti | India Calling

Theresa Samworth

She Quit Her London Job at 50 and Solo Travelled to India —Now She Takes Women There | India Calling

UK yoga teacher and kirtan leader (Better Life Yoga) on quitting a London charity career at 50, solo travel through India, Ramana Maharshi's caves and Girivalam at Arunachala, an honest outsider's view of Auroville, North vs South India, and leading midlife women on slow-travel retreats. This is the channel's most-viewed long video (about 1,700 views).

Watch on YouTube: She Quit Her London Job at 50 and Solo Travelled to India —Now She Takes Women There | India Calling

Adela Florea Daniela

Is India Safe for Solo Female Travelers? A Romanian Yogini's India Experience | India Calling

A Romanian yoga therapist and Akashic oracle reader who decided at age 11, in communist Romania, to go to India, and got there 24 years later. Topics include a solo first trip to Rishikesh, 200-hour teacher training, Kashmiri tantra, Shiva energy in the North vs Shakti energy in the South, Varanasi and Manikarnika Ghat, and safety for women travelling alone.

Watch on YouTube: Is India Safe for Solo Female Travelers? A Romanian Yogini's India Experience | India Calling

Natalie Snooke

20 Years of Going Back to India. Is India Safe for Spiritual Travelers? | India Calling Podcast

Australian yoga teacher and pilgrimage leader travelling to India since 2007. She covers surrendering her passport and money at a Bangalore Krishna temple on Janmashtami, Ashtanga in Mysore, Tiruvannamalai and Girivalam, first sight of the Ganga, Varanasi and death, how to vet a guru, and choosing a teacher training by resonance rather than price.

Watch on YouTube: 20 Years of Going Back to India. Is India Safe for Spiritual Travelers? | India Calling Podcast

Varvara Marinatou

From Greek Swimming Champion to Rural India: 10 Years of Living Yoga | Varvara | India Calling

A former Greek competitive swimmer who came to Mysore for teacher training in 2015 and now lives in a joint family in rural Uttar Pradesh, co-running Akshara Yoga School on a 70-acre farm. She talks about the discomfort of village life, real vs fraudulent gurus, solo female travel, what a proper 200-hour curriculum needs, and why "comfort spirituality" doesn't exist.

Watch on YouTube: From Greek Swimming Champion to Rural India: 10 Years of Living Yoga | Varvara | India Calling

Pauli Kulikowska

From Resistance to Refuge: A Westerner's Journey Through Varanasi, Kerala & Himalayan Caves

A Polish psychologist and inner-awakening guide on going from shamanic diets in Colombia to yoga in India, a 21-day Panchakarma in Kerala, Varanasi, Gaya pitru rituals and the Maha Kumbh, solo female safety lessons, temple etiquette, Dharamshala's Tibetan Buddhist energy, and finding a genuine Sri Vidya guru.

Watch on YouTube: From Resistance to Refuge: A Westerner's Journey Through Varanasi, Kerala & Himalayan Caves

Geoff Rupp

30 Years in TV to the Himalayas: Healing Chronic Illness, Vedic Astrology & Badrinath | Geoff Rupp

A Sydney-based Vedic meditation teacher, breathwork facilitator and Jyotish astrologer who left a 30-year TV career after a medical diagnosis. He talks about Rishikesh, Badrinath and Joshimath, the Navagraha planetary temples of Tamil Nadu, yagyas and abhishekam, Varanasi, and leading retreats in India. Co-published with Geoff's channel ("Find Your Calm").

Watch on YouTube: 30 Years in TV to the Himalayas: Healing Chronic Illness, Vedic Astrology & Badrinath | Geoff Rupp

Mayank

Guru, Ashram Life & Sadhana in India | Mayank

A conversation about the guru relationship, ashram life, devotion and long-term spiritual practice in India.

Watch on YouTube: Guru, Ashram Life & Sadhana in India | Mayank

Amy Landry

Living Yoga & Artful Ayurveda: Exploring Sacred South India with Author Amy Landry | India Calling

An author and Ayurvedic practitioner (author of *The Ocean of Yoga*) on living yoga beyond the mat. She covers how Yoga, Ayurveda, Sanskrit and Odissi dance fit together, whether yoga is a religion, the guru relationship, what Western studios miss, dinacharya routines, and off-the-beaten-path circuits in South India.

Watch on YouTube: Living Yoga & Artful Ayurveda: Exploring Sacred South India with Author Amy Landry | India Calling

Miriam Seo

From Zurich to Rishikesh: How India Teaches Inclusion, Devotion & Unconditional Love | India Calling

A Zurich-based trilingual yoga teacher and sound healer (AuMiri Yoga) on her first pilgrimage to Rishikesh, her emotional bond with Indian temples and the Ganga, building a teacher community in Zurich, leading retreats in India, and what Western teachers learn from simplicity at the source.

Watch on YouTube: From Zurich to Rishikesh: How India Teaches Inclusion, Devotion & Unconditional Love | India Calling

Tamara Van Well

Is India Safe for Solo & Female Travelers? Beyond Misconceptions with Yoga Teacher Tamara Van Well

A Dutch mindfulness practitioner and yoga teacher married into a Jain family in Mumbai. She covers volunteering in rural UP, "me" vs "we" culture in a joint family, stillness on the Varanasi ghats, seva at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, realistic safety advice for solo women, and why starting in Mumbai is easier than Delhi.

Watch on YouTube: Is India Safe for Solo & Female Travelers? Beyond Misconceptions with Yoga Teacher Tamara Van Well

Virginia Compton

Why a 27-Year NHS Addiction Worker Left for Ayurveda to India | IndiaCalling Podcast

A UK Ayurvedic practitioner and yoga therapist who spent 27 years in NHS addiction services. She covers treating root causes, backpacking India at 40, Kerala as a beginner destination vs Varanasi as deep immersion, meeting Amma, authentic vs commercial ashrams, Panchakarma, seasonal eating, safety for women alone, and quiet UNESCO temples in Tamil Nadu.

Watch on YouTube: Why a 27-Year NHS Addiction Worker Left for Ayurveda to India | IndiaCalling Podcast