Ashram Life

The bell rings at 5:30 for what seems like an age and by 6 am we are all in the main hall, legs crossed and supposedly in meditation. After half an hour of that we embark on some chanting... Om ram jaya ram jaya jaya ram om etc. and then we have a few wise words from the swami's (monks/teachers) about losing the ego or wasting your enery talking and trying to control the senses blah blah blah. It is usually really interesting if your tired mind can still hold the focus. After this we have our morning yoga class, down by the lakeside for us begginners. It is exceptionally beautiful, behind the lake you can see the tree covered mountains and here the lions roaring from the safari park over the water which is kinda scary untill you realise what it is. The morning class was with William, a Canadian yoga teacher for which most of the females in the class harboured a bit of a crush, including me, even though he is the same age as my Dad! Once we have gotten quite sweaty for two hours it is time for the first meal of the day which we eat cross legged but is usually quite tasty but sattvic (pure) which means no onions, garlic, meat, spices or anything vaguely stimulating.

At 11 am we have a lecture on the theoretical side of yoga which is really interesting because yoga is a lifestyle not just excercises, so we learn all about the path to self realisation and all that kinda jazz. Following that we have to do our bit towards the up keep of the Ashram called karma yoga which is cleaning toilets or sweeping yoga halls etc. and then we have a hour or so to do our own thing, Yay!! In the afternoon we have anopther two hour Yoga class, another meal eaten cross legged and we finish the day with another session of meditation, chanting and wise words from the swami's, also all cross legged.

This may sound like it's full on but its not too bad and if your lucky sometimes you can skive early mornig meditation without getting woken up by one of the teachers or the other 31 girls in your dorm! Infact I like it so much that I have stayed on another week after my two week course and I no longer have to go to lectures so I can spend my afternoons swimming in the lake and chatting to William whilst illegally sunbathing in my bikini, funnilly enough Willaim doesn't tell the girls to make themselves decent and cover up, I rekon he loves it!

My yoga has come on loads since I have been here, I can now hold a reasonably straight shoulder stand for three minutes and I am well on my way to being able to get into a head stand with no support (when I say well on my way I mean I can get both legs of the ground in half pose and hold it for five seconds, but apparently this is the hardest part to grasp). By the time I leave in a week or so hopefully I will be even better.

At the moment I am in a place called Varkala which is a beach town about two hours taxi ride from the ashram, I am taking a couple of days out to have a lay in or two and refresh my body so I can go back super charged for my last few days. I have met some beautiful people at the ashram and made some lovely friends, it definately brings you close to the people around you when you go through that kind of regime together.

Thats all for now folks , Om Shanti.........