Om

I have been freed for the day!!!! It seems like a long time since I posted and even longer since I have been at the ashram!


Where to even begin? Well, I arrived on Monday evening after a 5 hour train ride and 1.5 hr bus ride. It was only a 36 km bus trip but when there are approx 90 people on a 45 person limit bus many stops take place along the way.... I have to say I was a little apprehensive upon arriving as it was meal time and they told me to drop my bag and come get food before I checked in. I knew there were a few rules around eating so I was hoping to have a couple of hours to prepare myself but oh no! Off I went and entered the eating hall to see four rows of about 40 people each sitting cross legged on grass matts on the floor, eating a strict (no meat, eggs, onion, garlic, sweets..) veg meal with their right hand in silence................. When you have to eat with your hand you really begin to understand the entire bathroom situation in India. Let me put it this way, basically only non indians use toilet paper and those who don't use t.p. use their left hand and a water bucket to clean themselves.... At this point I can go on and on about cleanliness but really it gets me no where and I have to eat in India!


After the meal I went and checked in and met a lovely girl from London who also does Bikram's yoga so we decided to be 'roommates.' Off we went to the dorm and started to make up our home for the next two weeks. Well, before I knew it it was 7:50pm and the bell was dinging for evening Satsang (meditation and chanting) so we troopped off and it was then that I had my real first ashram experience. There were about 180 of us in a hall sitting on the floor and it begin with us all chanting/singing 'om' three times. The Swami then started us on the road to meditating and we continued in silence for about 30 min after which we sang some more and then had a brief lecture. At 9:30 we concluded and headed back to our dorms. It seemed okay at this point.


I had an alright sleep and at 5:20am the bell rang to get up and do the above procedure at 6am followed by a 90 min yoga class and then brunch. After brunch there was an introduction to ashram life, more yoga, and then we were given our karma yoga (volunteer work) for the time we are here. I have been assigned to the Health Hut which is where you can buy fruit, teas and fruit juices throughout the day as two meals are day are not enough... By this point in the day I was going bat shit crazy! I live a scheduled life and was feeling so constricted by this damn schedule. It felt like it was never ending and the last thing from peaceful... hmmm what is going on?


By the end of day two I was having full conversations with myself about why the hell am I putting myself through this and the other part of the conversation was wondering why I was going bat shit crazy. I even tried to book a hotel in Varkala for a week earlier then I was supposed to leave but the phones were not working... Well, the next morning in our lecture we were given a lovely talk on how the ashram is a retreat away from everyday life and all it's stimulations and the schedule is in place so we do not have to think about what to do next. Okay, this was making sense (apparently some don't know how to live on a schedule!) and then he continued and explained that our minds were probably going all over the place and to let them wander and within time in this peaceful environment they will settle down..... Okay, okay, okay.

The remainder of that day and yesterday were lovely, the yoga is great, the lectures are inspiring and thought provoking and the meditation in theory sounds wonderful but it is hard to stay in a meditative state for 30 minutes! None the less, I think I am going to like the next 10 days and hopefully I will learn how to stay in a meditation for the entire 30 minutes!!!!

Enjoy the holidays and catch up with you later!