His path
Ashok Sharma Bhatta — known with respect as Yogi Ji — is a traditional Nepali yogi, teacher and guide based in Kathmandu. He teaches yoga, meditation and Himalayan sound healing, and leads journeys of practice and pilgrimage into the high Himalaya.
He was born in Gorkha and comes from Chitwan. His practice belongs to the Nath tradition, devoted to Guru Gorakhnath, to Shiva, and to Pashupatinath — the living stream of yoga that Nepal has carried for centuries. He wears the saffron dress of that path.
His training has been gathered patiently and across disciplines: a 200-hour international yoga teacher training, sound healing at a Kathmandu school, traditional Hatha Yoga sadhana, and certification as a trekking guide — with a mountaineering certificate from the Government of Nepal earned on the snows of Mt. Ganchenpo. The high places are not a metaphor to him; they are where he has walked.
He serves as Director of the Himalayan Wellness Foundation and of New Vision Nepal. Through the second of these, he offers yoga, meditation and sound healing free of cost to children's homes, elderly homes and rehabilitation centres. It has been his blessing to be recognised for this work by the Government of Nepal — an honour he receives on behalf of the tradition that taught him.
What he offers
Yogi Ji offers Himalayan sound healing, yoga, meditation, and wellness programmes for teams and institutions. Sessions are held in Kathmandu, at sacred sites, and wherever he is invited to teach.
ध्वनि
Hand-hammered singing bowls, gongs and chimes, played around and upon the body. You lie down, you are covered, and you listen. The sound is slow and low, and most people find their breathing settles without being asked. It is offered for deep relaxation and rest — a chance for a busy mind to be quiet for a while.
योग
Posture and breath taught in the traditional way — unhurried, and adjusted to the body in front of him rather than the other way round. For balance, steadiness and ease of body and mind. Beginners are welcome; nothing is expected of you.
ध्यान
Guided stillness, for a tired or restless mind. Sitting, breath and attention, explained plainly and without mystery. Sessions can be short. You do not need to have done this before.
सेवा
Yoga, meditation and sound sessions brought to offices, schools, academies and organisations — arranged around your day and your room, for a calmer and more present working life. Programmes have been offered to police personnel, schools and public bodies across the Kathmandu valley.
To arrange a session or programme, please write to us.
His lineage · नाथ सम्प्रदाय
The Nath tradition — नाथ सम्प्रदाय, the Nath Sampradaya — is a living order of yogis found throughout Nepal and India. Its yogis look to Shiva as Adinath, the first Nath, and to Guru Gorakhnath as the teacher who carried the practice out into the world.
The tradition tells it simply. The teaching was given by Shiva as Adinath, received by Matsyendranath, and passed from him to Gorakhnath. Gorakhnath, who lived around the eleventh century, is remembered as the great organiser of the Nath yogis and as an early proponent of Hatha Yoga — the discipline of posture and breath from which most of the world's yoga descends. What is practised today on a mat in a quiet room came down this line.
It is not a religion you join and it asks nothing of a visitor's beliefs. It is a way of practising, handed from teacher to student, one person at a time, for a very long time.
Gorakhnath is not a distant figure here. The district of Gorkha — where Yogi Ji was born — takes its name from him, and his cave shrine sits within the old palace complex there. His name is woven into the founding of modern Nepal itself.
And at the heart of the valley stands Pashupatinath, on the bank of the Bagmati: the temple of Shiva as Pashupati, lord of all living beings. It has been a place of pilgrimage for centuries and has been listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site since 1979. Yogi Ji practises and teaches there. The stones in these photographs are its stones.
Sacred journeys
Yogi Ji leads journeys of practice and pilgrimage to sacred lakes and mountains in Nepal — with morning yoga, meditation through the day, sound healing in the evening, and puja, havan and cultural dance along the way. They are walked slowly, in company, and in a devotional spirit.
२०८०BS 2080
A journey of spiritual tourism to Panch Pokhari — five lakes at about 4,100 metres, counted among the highest wetlands in the world. The walking began on Mahashivaratri, and the days held yoga, meditation and cultural dance beside the water.
२०८१BS 2081
A pilgrimage to Gosaikunda, the sacred lake of Shiva high in the Langtang range, made with practice each morning and evening. The journey was covered in the Nepali press.
२०८१BS 2081
A journey into Gorkha — Yogi Ji's own district — carried out in partnership with the Rotary Club of Chitwan.
२०८१BS 2081
A day of practice at the samadhi of Kalu Pandey, held on Mahashivaratri — close to the city, and open to those who could not travel far.
The record
Set down plainly, as the record of a practice kept over years and of service offered where it was needed.
It has been his blessing to serve, and these are received on behalf of the teachers and the tradition that made the work possible.
His two organisations
Yogi Ji serves as Director of both. One receives; the other gives. They are two halves of the same intention.
हिमालयन वेलनेस फाउन्डेशन
Sessions in yoga, meditation and Himalayan sound healing; corporate and institutional wellness programmes; courses; and the sacred journeys into the Himalaya.
himalayanwellness.org.npन्यू भिजन नेपाल
The seva — the free-service mission. Yoga, meditation and sound healing offered free of cost across Nepal to those who rarely have access to them.
Every offering received brings free sessions to those who need peace most.
A visual journey
Contact & invitation
Yogi Ji welcomes you with folded hands. Whatever brings you here — tiredness, curiosity, or a longing for stillness — you are welcome. Write if you would like to arrange a session, join a journey, invite him to teach or speak, or bring a programme to your organisation. He will answer himself.