Katy Jane

Dr. Katy Jane

Namaste fellow pilgrim!

I’m so delighted to share with you my life-long love of India. I’ve been traveling, studying and living in India for 25 years. And while I’m still discovering new things about this magnificent culture, I can give you a unique “insider’s” view of India that will help you get the most out of being in the holy land of yoga.

I was led to travel to India after a near-death experience when I was teenager. At such a crucial turning point, I did what all seekers of truth do: I turned within to find it. And I wanted to go to the place where people go to turn within—the Himalayas.

Joseph Campbell calls this turn within, “The Hero’s Journey,” because it takes a lot of courage to look within for the answers to life’s greatest questions: Why am I born? What’s my purpose? What’s the meaning behind my struggles?

My own heroine’s journey led me to Nepal where I first learned yoga and Sanskrit at the home of a Brahmin family with whom I lived for six months. Daily Vedic chanting inspired my academic studies of the Vedic and Yoga traditions, as well as Sanskrit. While earning my doctorate in Religious Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara, I spent five years on Fulbright and Ford Foundation grants learning Sanskrit, yoga and meditation in India.

After completing my Ph.D., I began teaching Sanskrit and yoga philosophy in yoga teacher training programs around the world. And I established a life coaching practice as a Vedic Astrologer helping my clients align with their most authentic calling and change their lives for the better.

Then in 2010 and 2011 I led two pilgrimages to India. The first was to the “four sacred places” (Chardham) all seekers must visit before dying. And the second was to Dunagiri Retreat. I think of these two trips as a death and rebirth.

The Chardham marked a significant end in my life’s journey. But when my feet reached Dunagiri, I started on a new path. In fact, many people who come to Dunagiri describe their life as “pre-Dunagiri” and “post-Dunagiri.” And you will too.
Never in my 25 years of traveling through the length of India had I discovered such a tranquil and sacred place—with such a transformative power. And I can’t wait to share why Dunagiri is India’s “best kept secret” and refuge for yogis, especially when you’re at a turning point in life.