Choose by how much quiet you can give
Choose by how much quiet you can give, not by how much you can fit in. A day gives you a taste, three days give you the rhythm, and seven days give the practice time to change something.
One day: a taste
A day retreat gives you a morning practice, a meal and an afternoon of quiet, somewhere you would not find alone. It will not reset anything, and it does not try to. It tells you whether you like the rhythm.
Three days: the rhythm
On the first evening you are still checking your phone. By the second morning you are waking before the bell. By the third day the routine carries you. That is what three days gives: the feel of the ashram day, from the inside.
Seven days: the change
The first two days are for arriving. The middle three go deeper; silence comes more easily, and pranayama becomes real rather than an exercise. The last two days are for building a practice you can take home. Most people who come back for longer started with seven.
What this means if you are coming to Rishikesh
If you have a weekend, take the 3-day retreat in Tapovan. If you have a week, go to the ashram. If you have a month, consider a Deep Dive course or the 200 hour training instead.
