Women’s Wellness & Culture: Yoga, Henna & Jaipur Cooking

A day built by women, for women travelling

The instructor, the henna artist and the cook are all women, and the spaces are private rather than public. That is the point of the day, and it is why solo women travellers book it.

It is not a spa package. Everything in it is something being taught by someone who does it for a living.

Yoga, to start

Forty-five minutes to an hour with a certified instructor, pitched at complete beginners — breathing, gentle stretches, basic postures, and some explanation of where the practice comes from and what it was actually for, which is a longer and more interesting story than most classes bother with.

You do not need to have done yoga before and you do not need to be flexible.

Henna

Mehndi in Rajasthan is applied for weddings, for Karva Chauth and Teej, and for no reason at all. The paste is ground henna leaf; it goes on green, dries, flakes off, and leaves a stain that darkens over twenty-four hours from orange to deep brown before fading over two weeks.

You will have a design done on your hands by someone who does bridal work, and she will explain the motifs — the paisley, the peacock, the Rajasthani floral grid — as she goes.

One warning, and it matters: only natural brown henna is used here. If anyone anywhere in India offers you "black henna", refuse it. It contains PPD and it burns skin.

Cooking, then lunch

A hands-on Rajasthani class in a home kitchen — a dal, a seasonal vegetable, breads on the tawa, and the spice logic behind them. You eat what you made.

Practical

Around eight hours with pickup and drop-off. Wear something you can stretch in and change later.

Henna needs a couple of hours of not using your hands properly, so it is scheduled to sit before lunch rather than after.

All materials, the classes and the meal are included.