Conservation Volunteering in Pondicherry, India

Forest is an really essential part of eco system, with so much deforestation and devastation all around disturbing the balance in nature. Sadhana forest is an afforestation project started 21 years ago in Pondicherry, India. Bring an evergreen forest back to it’s true nature from a state of desertification says a lot about the sadhana forest community. Sadhana forest is a place that truly define the meaning of compassion and harmony. Living so close to the nature, nurture and revitalise it. Living in an non competitive environment and practising gift culture were the two values that I learned and would be talking that forward to the world outside.

Sadhana Forest responded to this reviewJuly 02, 2024

Thank you Jenit for your kind words! We are glad you had such an experience with us and you are carrying back these values we try to imbibe in our lives in the forest. We would eagerly be waiting to welcome you back!

Unexpectedly ended up here during my solo trip to Auroville. Stayed in Sadhana Forest for 4 days as a volunteer. Had a really amazing experience. Living in the huts, morning forest seva, had vegan meals, cooking preparation, goushala seva are beautiful memories. Living in harmony with nature, animals and a great community. I learned a lot of values, about veganism, sustainable living and connected with the most amazing souls. Everyone should experience this atleast once in their lifetime. Will definitely keep coming back to this place.

Sadhana Forest responded to this reviewJuly 02, 2024

Hello, Akhila! We are glad you loved your stay with us and the sevas, activities, and values. We are glad you made amazing friends here and we will eagerly be waiting to welcome you back soon!

Sadhana forest is home ! I came here just to stay for a week but its been a month now ! This place has changed my perspective in many ways starting from my views on unschooling/ natural learning, veganism!

Sadhana Forest responded to this reviewJuly 02, 2024

Hello, Sayli! We are glad to know you feel at home and are so happy you chose to spend this time with us! We are looking forward to many more enriching conversations with you.

I came to Sadhana forest for a break with no expectations and it turned out to be one of the best things that happened to me this year. The best part about this place is the people and the sense of oneness and unity. It makes you realise that you can be happy and content even if you lead a simple life. It's a wonderful place to visit. I am leaving a piece of my heart here. Would definitely love to volunteer at Sadhana again! :)

Sadhana Forest responded to this reviewJuly 02, 2024

We are glad you had such a fantastic time, memories, and realizations with us, Palak! Thank you for leaving us with all this love; we eagerly look forward to welcoming you back.

Where I have learnt something about water conservation and got chance to plant some saplings and the food is so delicious, they practice Veganism and we can meet people who are from different part of India and people from other countries and have some great conversation with them and share ideas.

Sadhana Forest responded to this reviewJuly 02, 2024

Thank you for your kind words, Bharath! We are glad you have these memories from your time with us here. We would love to welcome you back whenever it is a good time for you!

ഹേയ് sadhana forest അത്ഭുതകരമായ വന സമൂഹത്തിൻ്റെ വിപുലീകരണമാണ്, ഞാൻ ആരോവില്ലിൽ യാത്ര ചെയ്യുമ്പോൾ വെള്ളിയാഴ്ച ടൂർ പ്രോഗ്രാം കാണാൻ അവസരം ലഭിച്ചു. സുസ്ഥിരമായ ജീവിതശൈലിയും പിന്തുണാ അന്തരീക്ഷവും നിങ്ങൾ കണ്ടെത്തുന്ന ഈ കമ്മ്യൂണിറ്റിയിൽ ഞാൻ ശരിക്കും മതിപ്പുളവാക്കി. ചുരുങ്ങിയ കാലത്തേക്കോ ദീർഘകാലത്തേക്കോ volunteering ചെയ്യാൻ ഓരോ വ്യക്തിയെയും sadhana forest സ്വാഗതം ചെയ്യുന്നു, ഇത് പരിസ്ഥിതി പിന്തുണയുടെ പ്രാധാന്യം സമൂഹത്തിൽ പ്രചരിപ്പിക്കാൻ സഹായിക്കും. മനുഷ്യൻ്റെ ആരോഗ്യത്തിന് ഉത്തമമായ veganisum സാധന സമൂഹം കർശനമായി പിന്തുടരുന്നു For volunteering ചുവടെയുള്ള ഇമെയിലിൽ ബന്ധപ്പെടുക. [email protected]

Sadhana Forest responded to this reviewJuly 02, 2024

Dear Anoop, We are thrilled to hear about your experience with us! Thank you so much for sharing this with others. We are eagerly waiting to welcome you back.

While I came to Sadhana Forest to volunteer in reforestation, I learned and experienced so much more. You can expect to learn information across a wide variety of topics, including zero-waste, composting, water conservation, and vegan cooking. The different types of volunteering range from low to high physical work, but all of it was a welcome change from desk work. With the volunteering I had the opportunity to develop new skills and knowledge, such as different methods of planting new trees or how to make coconut milk from scratch. I loved being part of the Sadhana Forest community and spending quality time with the people here. Everyone is ready to listen and lend a helping hand. If you’re looking for a well-rounded experience that includes volunteering, skill-building, sustainability and community look no further and stay at Sadhana Forest!

One of the things I like most about Sadhana is that it’s not only the forest that is growing, it’s also the people. You learn so much here, and you can really bring your full self to the community. No one judges you and everyone is so welcoming. The work itself is so meaningful - helping to regrow the natural forest here, cooking for the community, cleaning, preparing water irrigation devices. In that way, you also learn a lot about conservation, sustainability and plant-based diets. These are all things you can bring back and integrate into your life at home. If you’re already thinking about coming here, think no further - do it!!

It is the perfect vacation and volunteering project for me. I get to put my believes in action again and reconnect to parts of myself I hadn’t accessed in a long time. The community is really a safe space and really takes all the social anxiety off you. Also constantly living in the forest helps regulate the nervous system well with all the forest bathing that happens. Doing hands on physical work also helped me learn and start taking care of my body again. And considering the resource footprint minimisation while staying here is an added advantage. And you do all this while helping sustain an evergreen dry forest which has been grown in a dry arid land supporting the local biodiversity and recharging ground water table. I wouldn’t ask for more from a place.

Sadhana Forest is not just an experience, it's a way of life. I have grown up in India, so community living has always been a part of my childhood, but I never imagined living so closely with nature. Apart from indulging in seva, I learnt a lot of things about myself and it has given my life a direction, an alternative perspective. I realised that all the other species apart from humans have different personalities, moods, tantrums, emotions, experience pain, and trauma, just like humans and acknowledging all of this is very important. I also learnt to use compost toilets and to manage the compost after, which was one of my nightmares. But after I did it, I realised it's not at all how i imagined it to be. I relished some very delicious cuisine from all over the world each day I spent here. I worked and met with different people from around the world and learnt about different cultures. I have made friends for life in a very short span of time. In the process, I learnt to be compassionate, even when it's very difficult. And most importantly, I learnt to break my own mentality barriers and now I can take on life with a different perspective.

I came to Sadhana Forest expecting to learn more about reforestation and water conservation techniques, with the aim of understanding how my ecological footprint impacts the Earth. Although this expectation was met, I was also warmly welcomed into an accepting and unconditionally loving community of people from different backgrounds. In Sadhana Forest I got to know more about myself through meaningful interactions with others. The individuals I have met here were able to hold space for me and showed no judgement. If there is one thing I could take home with me from this experience it is the capacity we have to impact others through selfless acts, even a simple smile can change the trajectory of ones day.

I'm spending 3 weeks at Sadhana Forest, and every day I'm meeting lovely, unique people from all over the world. I've learnt so much in a short space of time - sustainably planting trees, maintaining compost toilets, conserving water, maintaining the culture of a community. At first Sadhana can feel quite different from our conventional lives, but after a few days of settling in, I really started to experience what makes this place special. There's nothing quite like living in the middle of a forest!

Living in Sadhana Forest is an enthralling experience. It's an amazing community living experience create by the founder and the volunteers who are making a huge impact in creating a sustainable environment for living. Waking up to the sounds of nature, starting the day with warm smiles in a community of people from all over the world,  doing Seva , preparing healthy vegan meals, relaxing in the serene environs, learning about different cultures, learning and contributing to sustainable practices of living by conserving water and much more is what you gain when you come to this forest. Being in sync with Nature, community living  & having healthy meals, works as a catalyst for one's own self growth. I was touched by the compassion way of living here, with people and animals living in harmony with each other. The pace of the day allowed me to unwind in the lap of nature whilst indulging mindfully in the volunteering tasks. The accommodation is comfortable for toddlers and adults. I feel gratitude getting the chance to be here. An experiential stay, where each day feels fulfilled and blissful.

The people here are very warm and welcoming to everyone. I felt like I was already a part of the community since the day I arrived. Obviously, the first 2 days I did take time getting used to the schedules but, by the 3rd day, I had adjusted quite well. There are people from places from all around the world, and it was really nice to hear about their experiences. At Sadhana Forest, they practice water conservation and reforestation. The food here is vegan, and surprisingly it was really nice. We eat a lot of fruits which taste amazing and also keeps us hydrated. It's so calm and quiet here unlike the cities with all that hustle-bustle and craziness, which is just nurturing and peaceful for my mind. I would definitely recommend to stay here to get away from the chaos and just to experience life in the forest in a productive manner.

My time at Sadhana forest has been a whirlwind of fun and learning. I had no idea about this place before coming to Auroville. A friend told me that he wanted to see and go on the tour around a sustainable living community. I was happy to join him and after Luke, a long term volunteer, told us about the impact that this place has, I paused my tour around India and signed up to volunteer for 10 days. I have never made a better decision. From reforesting to tending the rescue cows, each day has been a blessing and my mind has never felt so balanced in my life. On my first day I was welcomed in with open arms and was given the full run down of the week ahead. I was impressed by the division of sevas (selfless daily activities) and how they made the community almost completely self sufficient along side the reforestation project. These community tasks and the reforestation projects really help you bond with other volunteers who all have a similar mindset; that they want to make a positive impact on the wildlife and community in the area. Even though it has only been 10 days, I have made friendships here that I can tell will stand the test of time. Sadhana forest really has a family feel here and I can now even consider it a home. On to the food. A guilty admission, I am neither Vegan or Vegetarian outside of the forest, but have been cooked and served a wide range of incredible foods that I would never have tried myself. From peanut butter pancakes to Thai green curries, the food here has been excellent. There has even been a request here for a Sadhana forest cookbook. I regularly drink alcohol and I have never been particularly spiritual in my life (another guilty admission). However coming here has enlightened me to other ways of living, some of which I will implement into my every day life. There is such a strong community feel that time flys by and the urge to have a beer or glass of wine with dinner completely goes. On a side note, you will struggle to find a better deal than 600 rupees a day for food, accommodation, entertainment and a wide range of workshops all run by volunteers. For 10 days, that’s 6000 rupees, which is £60 for the whole experience. Absolute bargain if you ask me. No matter if you are coming directly here or only passing by, whether it’s to volunteer for 10 days or 6 months, Sadhana forest will be worth your trip. It is an excellent insight into what conscious / sustainable living looks like and will teach you how it is even possible. The stay itself has given me the opportunity to explore Auroville in more detail as well as feel part of a like minded community. You will meet amazing people, have a great laugh and do some work that will actually feel meaningful. I can only thank Sadhana forest for the opportunity to volunteer here and would highly recommend to anyone else!

今天是來到Sadhana Forest的第九天，越來越適應在森林裡的日子，愜意平靜。我是在前一陣子跟朋友提起我即將要到印度旅行我會飛到Chennai城市 ，他跟我提起了Auroville這個地方，他覺得我會喜歡這個區域，特別提起了Sadhana Forest，就決定到印度的第一站就是Sadhana Forest了，也想要體驗在volunteer based community 生活。 這是我第一次跟community 生活的經驗，我們每天都有不同的工作需要分工合作，我們會一起早起、煮飯、清潔、去森林澆水….等等，只要森林有什麼需要大家幫忙的我們都會一起去完成。在Sadhana你會認識來自各個地方的朋友，就像是個大家庭一樣，你也會很容易就認識大家，每天都有不同的tasks你都會跟不同的人一起seva (selfless service)，也會有各式各樣的工作坊、活動你可以參加，下午結束seva你可以出去探索周遭，也可以在森林裡享受這份安靜愜意，有mud pool如果你想泡泡水，也有圖書館如果你想看本書，有meditation hut 如果你想有個安靜的小空間，冥想也好瑜珈也好睡覺也好。我偶爾也會走到Tea hut去喝杯coconut milk chai 。我很享受我在森林裡的這段日子，而且時間會不知不覺的溜走你不會意識到，不管你是想來認識新朋友還是了解他們如何林地復育還是體驗團體生活，來Sadhana Forest 絕對會是一段難忘的回憶。謝謝Sadhana Forest！

“Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They came through you but not from you and though they are with you yet they belong not to you.” - Kahlil Gibran These lines form my core in my identity as a mother. I volunteered together with my children at Sadhana Forest with the intention to be in an environment where life pulsates freely providing rich earth for their growth. It is also a place which resonates with my ideals of children be raised in communities, vegan/raw vegan food, sustainability, inclusiveness, appreciation, exchange, connection to the elements and a contributive way of life. It can happen only if there itself is a lot of air flowing in terms of diverse and wide array of people coming in, sharing their ways of life through the course of stay and loving in a way that responds to their life’s calling as against the ‘this way’ or ‘must be done’ dictates of the slave world. Like there are multiple pores in the human body, so much a child (by extension, the mother) open their life to multiple sources of nourishment where people are just themselves. And you can be truly you only in spaces where you live. Amidst sevas, I naturally learnt what it means to interact or indulge in a meaningful exchange while also developing appreciation and owning the tasks as if my life was complete doing just that. My complain towards tasks at home underwent a change because of this change in attitude. I usually find people more trusting, particularly if I have to entrust them to my children, if they are capable of letting go of the usual comforts. Everyone and the living at Sadhana forest embodies just that I can offer myself freely without the need to put a guard or a shield. When you show up this way, you understand from your life that people are essentially the same at the most fundamental level. The eternal struggle to find your place in the world ceases and I found that I began feeling more at home wherever I was. I hope that my children do gain a sense of this. I no longer need to burn myself out offering n perspectives and can leave them with food for thought while also living as a comrade together with them. Sadhana brings a deep sense of appreciation and grounding. Our way of living in the city is high raw vegans, sustainability and choosing more off-grid lifestyle. They are teenagers and when they see the world may retaliate or really question. I hope that finding that there are people happily embracing alternate ways of life calms their nervous system and in time they make come to recognize that it’s ok to build and live up to one’s own convictions. I also like to take of money from the center of all equations and perhaps it may be communicated just a silent way to the children. And perhaps, the aspect of being in silence as against the constant noise and distractions of the world. Lastly, we have been curious to identify the plant world - the care, the properties etc so we can develop more appreciation for them during our time in nature. Thank you Sadhana for meeting so many expectations and values in one single space. As a mother and as an individual, I couldn’t have been more gladdened.

I stayed in Sadhana Forrest for 3 weeks in february 2024. It is a peaceful, friendly and healthy place. It was a marvelous experience and I would highly recommend this to anyone! Forest. You will have the experience of staying inside the jungle. It is wonderful to be waken up by the birds singing. Staying inside the forrest maked me calmer and more connected to myself. You can also contribute your work and go planting or watering the trees on the morning. Connecting with people and community leaving. During my stay in Sadhana I met many people from around the world. We spend a lot of time working together, eating together and having great conversations. Sharing joy and difficulties together was a great pleasure. I hope friendships i made in Sadhana will last for a long time.Quite often people were making workshops on different topics so it was never boring. I enjoyed this community life much more than isolated life the western culture! Veganism and healthy lifestyle. The food in Sadhana is 100% vegan. Very fresh and unprocessed. The meals are delicious and give you power for work. After couple of days I started to enjoy not drinking coffee, cause feel more healthy and balanced. Suprisingly I even found it good to wake up early cause you can observe beatiful light after the dawn and the day was so long. During the day it was rather busy so I was not using my phone that much, which makes me more calm and mindful. Trying yourself in different tasks. During my stay in Sadhana I was watering small trees in the forest, cooking meals for community, preparing the fire wood, cleaning after meals, serving people food, helping at the cow sanctuary, serving at the tea hut and not to forget cleaning the toilets. Was wonderful to try myslef in different tasks, to work manually and to see results of my work. I had really good time in Sadhana Forrest. Before I come i was bit tired of travelling and my stay in Sadhana helped my to get grounded and a little bit feel like at home. Hope I will come back one day!

Sadhana Forest is a truely unique community. The scale of the positive change that is made here is monumental. This change is generated by the hard work, good will and compassion of such dedicated action oriented volunteers. It feels wonderful to be given the opportunity to contribute to this change in such a real and tangible way. I've been so inspired by how well community aspect of Sadhana functions and the fact that this can exist in tandem with such strong social and ecological change fills me with real hope for the future. Life in the forest is not luxurious. The way human needs are facilitated are so well thought out. Here you don't need to try to reduce your impact. All the systems from hand washing to food preparation are designed to automatically reduce your environmental impact. And give so much opportunity for reflection on your impact when outside the forest. I stayed at Sadhana only 2 weeks, in that time I feel I measurable change in my level of compassion, my willingness to help other beings and my sense of purpose. This place attracts truely beautiful human beings and the relationships I've formed have left me feeling more connected then ever. If you're looking for a place to do good and are up for some hard work (seva) come to Sadhana. I can't recommend it enough.

Incredible time at Sadhana Forest India meeting wonderful like minded people, experiencing all they have to share from their cultures. Workshops a plenty, education on sustainable living which I will take away with me to other people and places and the place is free of animal exploitation, paradise!