Raga Svara unveils its 14-Day holistic healthy ageing retreat

Raga Svara, a family-run boutique luxury retreat, unveils its first-of-its- kind 14-day Holistic Healthy Ageing Retreat. Designed to empower guests to embrace ageing with vitality, balance, and inner resilience, the retreat goes far beyond conventional “anti-ageing” approaches, offering an integrative, science-backed, and comprehensive wellness experience.

Inspired by the founding family’s long-standing association with RK University and its esteemed Ayurveda College, the program seamlessly blends authentic Ayurvedic wisdom with personalised wellness practices, setting a new benchmark in conscious, healthy living.Cambridge and Harvard educated, Mohit Patel, who is also one of its founders speaks to us about the offerings at this retreat and it is different from others in the country in a candid chat.

What inspired you to conceptualise a retreat which focuses on healthy aging?

Mohit: We started with a few other retreats a couple of years, but healthy age is something that is very multifactorial.It's many retreats combined into one retreat as it involves healthy aging and aging is all-encompassing. Most retreats are focused on specific pain or disease but this is very broad. It has some topical interest as well as people are thinking about longevity. People are thinking about living longer, but with good health.

Ageing is inevitable, but how we do it in a mindful way is what this retreat teaches?

What was the reason behind choosing Rajkot to build Raga Svara?

Mohit: Rajkot is where I have lived all my life. I have studied and lived in many countries around the world, but then eventually I decided to do something in my home ground and my family is based here as well. The retreat is deeply connected with our Ayurveda college and hospital in Rajkot. We wanted to make sure to make use of our existing expertise in running a hospital and bring that to the retreat.

You spoke about your family owned Ayurveda College. How has the legacy influenced the scientific depth of your wellness offerings and the authenticity of whatever is being offered at Raga Svara?

Mohit: Even if somebody is coming just for an experience of wellness for three or four days, every retreat experience is planned and designed by a doctor. People are not aware that even Ayurveda has departments, so we have doctors from all departments who are able to look into the particular case or particular design of a retreat. All our program design or therapeutic protocols are looked into by qualified doctors.

What role do you play in shaping the concept of the retreat?

Mohit: As we are extremely authentic in Ayurveda and Yoga, our expertise is brought by the physician and our yoga teachers and our cuisine team as well.

I try to bring all these together into a unified experience, so even though there is a protocol for a therapeutic approach, for example a doctor decides what treatments the guest must undertake, during the course of their stay, I schedule them. I also look into important things like what time can yoga be done? What kind of food and how do you connect the food department to the doctor and see that it doesn't become overbearing on the on the guest in terms of therapeutic outcomes, but also the guest must feel that I want to stay here and I want to experience this fully.

So kind of checks and balance in that way and and designing a complete curated experience. That's that something that I look into here.

How is the newly launched 14-day healthy aging retreat at Raga Svara different from other retreats?

Mohit: We are extremely authentic in our Ayurveda approach. For example in Ayurveda prevention of disease or maintenance of health comes even before diagnosing and treating diseases. Normally when we think of any therapeutic approach will be, I have this problem, can I solve it with this but in Ayurveda, you begin with maintenance of health.

There is ashtang Ayurveda, like ashtang Yoga- the eight elements of Ayurveda, and one of them is based on preventing age related issues, so that's called Rasayana.

It is basically protecting immunity and achieving longevity. If you follow Ayurveda in its true context, the experience at Raga Svara will be different. The retreat also focuses on its yoga and cuisine because aging is very much multifactorial. You know you're not trying to solve very topical or cosmetic issues.

A lot of times I've seen that ageing related issues come down to looking younger or very superficial is very cosmetic. At Raga Svara that is not the goal. As we age, our Vaata dosha continues to increase and leads to sedentary lifestyle diseases, arthritis and the likes.

Our goal is to try and balance that and then everything else starts to get in control. It also needs a certain amount of commitment from the guest themselves and this retreat requires 14 days of stay for some visible kind of changes.The 14 day healthy retreat offers a thoughtfully curated range of classical Ayurvedic therapies, beginning with an in- depth consultation with experienced Ayurvedic doctors who craft personalized therapy plans based on each guest’s Prakriti (body constitution). Treatments include Shashtika Shali Pinda Sweda, anourishing therapy using medicated rice and milk to reduce the appearance of wrinkles by enhancing collagen synthesis and radiance; Shirodhara, a deeply calming therapy in which a steady stream of medicated oil is poured over the forehead to relax the nervous system and improve sleep quality; andPanchakarma, Ayurveda’s traditional detoxification process that helps eliminate toxins and supports the reduction of chronic inflammation and oxidative stress.

Complementary therapies, such as Nasya and Shiro Pada Abhyanga, promote mental relaxation, enhance sensory clarity, and reduce brain fog by influencing higher cerebral functions and clearing obstructed channels.Beyond therapies, the retreat integrates yoga asanas to build flexibility and improve posture, both crucial for slowing physical and cognitive ageing. Pranayama techniques such as Bhramari, Anulom Vilom, and Sheetali Pranayama calm the nervous system and help mitigate signs of ageing. Together, these elements create a deeply restorative experience ideal for anyone seeking holistic healing, from beginners to seasoned practitioners.