Author: Elliot Ruegsegger | Major: Biology | Semester: Summer 2025

Our cohort performing alternate nostril breathing at the end of one yoga session.

After one delayed and three sleepless flights later, I had arrived in my first country overseas. India. I got through customs and filled out a missingluggage form. It was only when I stepped into the 80 degree midnight air outside the Indira Gandhi Airport that I realized I would have to wear the sameclothes for the next three days. It would be an active three days. On the itinerary were the bulk of the lectures we would have on the trip, among them: “Introduction to Contemporary India”, “Health Systems in India”, and “Foundations of Fieldwork”. We would also explore Delhi, visiting Raj Ghat, where an eternal flame sits to memorialize Mahatma Gandhi. SIT’s experiential program focused on traditional medicine in India. During our six weeks we would visit seven cities in India. In the lesser Himalayas: Satoli, Rishikesh, Palampur, and Dharmashala. Satoli, near Nainital, to be introduced to traditional/lay healers and a local NGO. Rishikesh for Yoga, of course. Palampur for a deep dive into Ayurveda and Naturopathy. Where the exiled Dalai Lama lives, Dharamshala, for Tibetan medicine. Two more, to the southof Delhi: Agra and Jaipur, both for independent travel. Can’t forget about Delhi itself! The second week of the program we drove out of Delhi to reach Satoli in the state of Uttarkhand. Much of the Delhi urban scenery felt organic. Paddy fields dotted the Delhi outskirts; ponds in the urban sprawl, fragmented by power lines. When glancing at settlements, out of the few dozen rooftops you would spot, a fraction had extra rebar pointing towards the sky. Plans for expansion. AAROHI, a NGO we followed in Satoli focused on rural Himalayan development, had its own rebar. AAROHI is focused on rural Himalyan development. A mobile medical unit (housing an incredible range of essential tech, including an ultrasound and X-ray) and NGO-run health clinics were among some of their healthcare efforts. They also hired locals for their cosmetics wing, including my homestay family who had around three greenhouses on their property. AAROHI’s herbal soaps (for example, nettle-infused for arthritis) blurred the line between cosmetics and traditional healthcare. Following Satoli and experience with AAROHI, we travelled to Rishikesh, the yoga capital of the world. Every morning for a week we would do yoga as the sun was rising on Rishikesh. Asanas and mantras were reserved for the morning and in-depth conversations with a yogic scholar at noon. He impressed upon us how yoga is a philosophical system before it’s a form of exercise. Kundalini, chakras, Shiva as the original Yogi, and the differences between Hatha, Vinyasa, and Ashtanga yoga are all some of the topics brought up in our conversations throughout our week in the city. We attended a Ganga Aarti. To offer light back to the God(s) who give us light every day in sun and life, participants in a Ganga Aarti light diyas to float onthe Ganga or circumbobulate oil lamps. The Beatles wrote their White Album in Rishikesh, but the mantras, chants, and songs I heard at the Ganga Aarti were impactful enough to leave me silent for the rest of the night. Looking back, that night was likely one of the most profound spiritual experiences I’ve ever had. Shortly after we arrived outside Palampur, at a health resort called Kayakalp. Their speciality is alternative therapies but their treatment methodology is rooted in routine. For example, if I was a health seeker, every morning I would get up at 5:30, have Yoga from 6 to 7 AM, have a therapy session then shower and have breakfast before 8:30 AM. By now I had learned a few customs. I loved every part of nonverbal communication in India and I wish it was more nuanced in the United States. Saying thank you has never felt more sincere than when I started with my hand over my heart or palms together and bowed my head. Our trip ended in Dharamshala, home of the exiled Tibetan government and the Dalai Lama. My second homestay, sponsored by the Tibetan Woman’s Association couldn’t have been more welcoming. Dharamshala was where I admittedly had the most culture shock. I realized I didn’t know anything about Buddhism. So, I sat in on their prayers in the morning and listened to them talk about their branch, Vajrayana Buddhism. I was learning and experiencing so much, that week in Dharmashala felt closer to half a month. Their religion, smells, sights, customs, prayers, and even their tea were different from the rest of India. The Tibetans living in Dharamshala were from a variety of generations, but all wished to return home. My homestay had family in Tibet, struggled to reach them in communication, and wished to return home. When the shops closed, one could spot “Save Tibet” stenciled on many storefronts’ security shutters.By the end of that first week in Delhi I, and the five other students in our cohort, had learned about the state of traditional medicines in India. Under the Ministry of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Sidha, and Homeopathy), traditional medicines has government support. Traditional practitioners have their own licensing requirements and departments in hospitals. Also, with both state and federal governments splitting the cost, patients of alternative systems face little to no cost. Experiencing how it benefitted the chronically-ill, I spent much of the program contemplating how alternative health systems could be implemented like they have in India; unfortunately a conversation for later. My biggest piece of advice for studying abroad? It’s two-pronged. Step outside your comfort zone in an experiential program. If you have to go to a country where they don’t speak a Romantic language to do that, then do it. I learned so much about myself on this program and I would expect anyone else willing enough to experience the same