Ashram Life

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Yogapoints Nashik, India

Day One:

Today is our first day, although it doesn't officially start until four in the afternoon. We got to sleep in which was glorious after so many days of traveling. Still sleeping in for me is about 7am and hungry as I was I stuffed my face with a banana. In a few short hours my food becomes contraband.



Better than sleeping in, there was breakfast which was poho which is rice with boiled peanuts and lots and lots of fruit. This is going to be a fabulous breakfast if that is all it is. I have been missing copious amounts of fruit and bam here it is.



We register today, so down I went to the office to fill out my paper work and pay my registration fee. This was nice and easy and amazingly after doing that it was lunch time. I was afraid I would be starving I. Between meals but between back fast and lunch there is just two and a half hours so it isn't too bad.



It especially isn't too bad with this food gracing my plate. While registering we each got our own plate and now we had the chance to use it. There was naturally rice but on top of that there was a mung bean soup like thing, a fabulously refreshing tomato salad and chibati, nice and warm.



The meals are eaten in silence and I had a minor fear of this to begin with. I mean I love to talk. Breakfast is naturally easy because everyone is just waking up. Lunch I thought would be a bit more difficult but as it turns out being silent during a meal is actually kind of nice. There is no pressure to entertain and you can really focus on the food, enjoying every bite as you chew 32 times. Just kidding it is impossible to chew mush 32 times.



Before everything starts it seems that the ashram is quite dead. A lot of people have headed into the city to get stuff done but my roommates and I have chosen to relax in the shade with a book. Relaxation changed when a newbie t the ashram joined.



Okay look I know that here at the ashram the should be no gossip or judgement or whatever but sometimes one can't help but have thoughts of "Is this girl fucking serious" run through their head. It is totally acceptable if I don't say these thoughts and just write them down right? Okay I'm going to try not to even write them down actually. I'll be a good ashram girl.



I can only stay good for so long however. When Kat offered me a tasty snack, right after I stuffed my face with a filipino piaya I accepted. When she offered another just a few minutes before everything got real I had my one last sin before officially becoming a ashram girl.



Introduction to the ashram began around four. Our Guru came on in to speak to us. He wore his orange outfit and talked to us about the ashram. He seems like a lovely fellow but the accent is hard. Not just hard it is close to impossible to understand him. I focus and focus and then a thought jumps into my mind which is much more interesting that trying to understand his accent.



Plus I get more distracted by the backpacks being brought in. I love free stuff. I mean technically it isn't free but it seems free now that I paid a few hours ago. My eyes flit from Guru to the bags and back again. I can already see how this whole focus thing is going to be an issue.



Guru finally ends and we get a bit more into the particulars. Oh the rules of the ashram. They have been a myth to us until now where it becomes official. Conversing with the boys in their room, naughty. The run Rob and I went on the other day, illegal. The snacks Cat and I ate, reprimand able. Not to mention the dress code. Pants past our knees and no shoulders being shown. Do they realize how hot it is here? And I, nothing like the hippies around me, don't own nine Ali babba pants with free flowing shirts to match. No, I have two pairs of tights, hiking pants, and running shorts. Am I really going to have to invest in Ali babba pants? I don't have time to complain though because the backpacks are being handed out. Excitement brews as I open it up and see a few books, a much needed pen, a nettle pot and notebook. This backpack is a success although I am already wondering how exactly I'm going to get it home.



My first go at chanting followed and I knew it was going to be rough. I was hungry, tired and in no mood to recite the same passage over and over again but I didn't drop a couple thousand grand in rupees not to do everything so off me and the crew went. We sat in our proper cross legged pose and I stared up at the words that I was suppose to recite. Each round I'm sure I pronounced it differently and being cranky it never got any better. My stomach was growling despite the huge lunch and I just wanted to get through all of the rounds. It is fair to say I lost focus about half way through.



But then it ended, I placed some ash on my forehead and practically ran out of there. As luck would have it both Cherry and Cat seem to love food as much as I do and I foresee us being first in line many a times. In fact we were a smidge early which required us to put e food in its proper place, ie scope out the goods. There was yellow mushy stuff green mushy stuff vegetables and mini pancakes and naturally rice. Yum is all I can say.



The shop is opened this evening and everyone is excited this everyone and their mom is there this evening including myself. The only thing I need is some tissue but that is very important so off I went. Naturally I ended up picking up some snacks, dried guava and some tasty sweet. I took a gander at the Ali babba pants and cringed, can we say not my style at ALL!



From there I was exhausted and chose to go to sleep. Tomorrow is a very VERY early morning.



Day Two:



it is our first full day here in the ashram and I'm excited to see how the day goes trying not to set up any expectations and just go with whatever comes my way. I woke early and headed over to the dining hall to get some tea only to find no tea at all. There was soy milk, so i grabbed a glass and questioned whether this little glass was going to satisfy me until breakfast time which wouldnt happen for another 3 1/2 hours.



We all headed over to the main hall were we did a bit of chanting and then asana class began. We learned the twelve predatory moves which were terribly easy and the whole time I wondered, is this really what we are going to be doing. I'm in India and I'm not even breaking a sweat. Without running or P90X I am naturally a bit concerned about staying fit but I'm trying to push that from my mind.



After class we have karma yoga which is a lovely little concept where you do something around the ashram without expecting anything. We will be assigned random tasks through out our stay here but for today we just have to clean up our rooms.



Kat, Cherry and I do that but the moment the bell rings we drop everything and head to the kitchen. I think I am definitely in a room who is like minded and has their priorities straight, I.e. are always ready for meal time!



Lectures, lectures, lectures it is like being back in uni and it is great. It would be better if Guruji wasn't boring as anything but other lectures throughout the day are much more inspiring and really quite interesting. I love feeling like I'm back at school, it is so great and makes me consider going back for my masters.



In between the lectures I was introduced to the most magical form of yoga yes, yoga nidra. Basically you just lie back on your mat while someone leads you through ehat could be compared to hypnosis. It is amazing and I really can't even explain the sensations you feel. Homies back home, we can totally try this and you will love it!



Lunch and mint tea where also in between lectures and both were lovely. We had time to relax so I grabbed my book and enjoyed a cool breeze passing through until lecture time.



Asana class was short today but I did learn some new postures. I suppose we have to learn new postures before we can start holding the and really pushing ourselves.



Afterwards my roomies and I went to chanting. I was skeptical about this, reciting the same chant 108 times is t the most appealing thing in the world to me but I tried it out and it wasn't that bad. A run would have been better but hey what can you do.



Dinner followed and it was lovely. I really enjoy the Indian food he, in fact I probably enjoy it to much I gotta keep myself in check now at I'm not exercising 3 times a day.



The evenings lecture has been canceled so we all chilled outside until it was time to go to bed. I can get use to ashram life.





Day Three:



The bell officially ran this morning, it wasn't just in my dreams. I was already awake and this I got up and out of the room in a hot second. In the cafeteria I patiently waited for the tea much like everyone else who bothered to roll out of bed at such an early hour.



It came eventually and I can't claim that it was worth the wait but it was something in my belly and my belly appreciated that very much. I read a bit while I waited and sat in peace. I am actually digging this quiet time.



There is a bit of chanting before yoga starts and it is lovely. We sit in cross legged position and repeat after our Guru. I'm surprised by how much I enjoy the chanting despite the fact that I am still saying things wrong. Maybe it is because in the am the chanting is so short? Yes, that is probably why.



The yoga is lovely as always. We review our poses from yesterday and start with some new ones. I'm surprised with how fast the yoga goes and I'm sad when it comes to and end. My one complaint is that it is so slow moving. I mean I know it is Hatha yoga but seriously we get a move here and there than sit and watch. My heart rate never increases and my lack of exercising, serious exercising, makes me resent this slow moving yoga stuff. I mean seriously could we just do some P90X yoga??



I can't stay mad for long however because it is breakfast time. Fruit again, oh how I love my fruit, and mystery grain. At least I think it is a grain. Mixed in are some vegetables and its got a bit of a savory touch going on. Whatever it is it is delicious. Breakfast fills me and I am happy about that, frankly any time fruit is involved I am happy.



Lecture time. I have to say the first lecture is again tough for me. I just want to sleep through it despite the fact that I find the topic interesting. Thankfully after lecture number one there is Nidra yoga and oh how I love that. I had every intention of staying awake throughout it but once more I failed. If you can consider it a failure because afterwards I felt great.



Lunch came after Nidra Yoga and followed by that was an italian lesson and some tomato juice.



Lecture today was on injury prevention and I found this to be a great lecture for the simple fact that I always seem to be injured. The Doctor is a great lecturer so it was easy to stay awake.



Asana class almost got my heart pumping... But didn't so I did some cardio and then ran off to chant. I have mixed emotions about chanting but today was great. Guruji's wife lead it and she is so spunky and fabulous. We did the chants about 10xs faster than we normally do and that was amazing! If she always did it I would probably always go. She also lead the evening session which included singing and dancing. She got us all up and dancing in a circle while singing Indian chants. It was so ridiculously fun. I have no idea what it has to yoga but hey I'm not complaining.



Day Four:

The day started earlier than usual because I was chocking off my karma yoga at 4:40am. I was a tea maker and knew that the other students would be eagerly awaiting the tea as the bell tolled just as I had done the days before.



Of course as easy as the tea making sounds we failed to make it in a reasonable time. Laura was Rita and my teacher and she did a fabulous job minus the fact that she didn't know where anything was. We were making soy ginger tea, so the evening before we had soaked the ginger and then this morning we peeled, grated, and squeezed out the juices of the ginger. In the mean time we put soy flavored with spices in our boiling water which proceeded to boil over despite all of us being warned that that might happen.



Squeezing ginger is not the easiest of tasks as it turns out. Despite all the ginger we had peeled and grated there hardly seemed any juice at all and when we added it to our soy tea, well lack of flavor is an understatement. On top of that Rita is a raw vegan and doesn't believe in soy or something so she didn't try it leaving Laura and I to decide how it should taste. Forty minutes after starting we were finally placing the tea out for the masses to consume. There were no compliments to be had, as I myself loaded up on the cinnamon.



Tea karma should have allowed me time before lunch when everyone else would be doing their own karma yoga. It's time was going to be spent doing a cardio work out because despite being fed only three times a day and being feed what I'm told is an incredibly healthy diet I am feeling fat. That is just a fact. I think I'm more swollen than anything but the fact that my rings aren't sliding off as they use to is driving me up the wall. Of course the yoga gods probably knew how much I wanted this workout that they turned things topsy turvey on me and switched the schedule up so that we had a lecture during that time and the karma yoga after breakfast, I.e. one of the worst times to exercise.



The yoga this morning can be deemed relaxing if one wasn't so focused on the fact that nothing was being worked out. I just want a solid work out. Is that to much to ask for. I mean we don't even hold the poses in sun salutations, because this is Hathaway yoga and not weight loss yoga, but still. I want to run, or P90X or old school village elliptical. I may be going stir crazy?



The lecture was about positions and let me tell you, I have no idea what he talked about. Why? Because my stomach was rumbling and I wanted me some oatmeal and fruit. And then after thinking that I though, no I need to simmer down on the food because I'm fat. I then took a picture of my face and compared it to a photo of me two months ago. I poked my abs and grabbed my thighs. Yes I need to get some serious work out in let's just state that off the bat!



I'm having problem with the food here too. It is absolutely delicious. Everything they make is so good and although I know I need to portion control things I seem to pile it all onto my plate and eat it all with no grace at all. Every dish is mushy and green or yellow and totally tasty. Breakfast today is naturally the staple of fruit but today paired with a mung bean and tomato salad like dish. Can we say delicious, like everything else they serve.



Consumed and full now everyone else had karma yoga while I sat around lazy wishing I was naive to the fact that eating and then exercising is bad for you. While contemplating that I also thought to myself that I wish I had bought a language book to learn Spanish. I officially officially want to learn Spanish. But before I learn Spanish I want to get skinny again. Looks at picture from now and two months ago again and get frustrated.



Nidra yoga should make me feel better... That is until we learn that today there will be no nidra yoga which is devastating to all of us who walk in matin hand awaiting a pleasant refreshing nap. Because let's face it, most of us end up falling asleep and having the most fabulous nap making us wake up refreshed and new. No instead we had another lecture.



Guru gets up on stage and I know it is going to be a roug forty five minutes. He is a lovely fellow but it is terribly hard to understand him at times. Not to mention that his lecture is dreadfully boring. On top of those two facts he is virtually reading from the book. This I don't have to pay attention and instead choose to pick at my nails so that I can wear half black and half purple. I guess at least I'm not freaking out about my weight, oh wait yeah I am.



Lunch. You would thing with all my concerns about weight I would try and ignore the whole food thing. But no, despite eating just two hours ago I'm ready for anther go of food. And delicious food as always! Mushy yellow stuff and mushy green stuff all of it was so tasty. I tried to cut back in the carbs, no I did. Ere wasn't any chibata today so I just had a smidge of rice instead mostly to soak up all the tastiness from the mushy stuff.



Relaxation time is my favorite time. I read and journal and write these blogs that hopefully will be posted whenever I get wifi again. Today however I'm working a bit with the Italians. It must be hard to have just a minor understanding in English and then come here where everything is in English with a strong Indian accent. I don't mind helping though because Max is scrumptious.



What followed relaxation time was just as fabulous. Our Gurus wife came in to teach us about Om. The woman must be in her 80s and she is the most fabulous, spunky woman ever. She wears her sari and bindi, her tummy is slightly exposed and she just talks with the most amazing voice ever. If the only sound I hear for the rest if my life was her saying Om it would be fine.



I wish she could do all lectures but a las she cannot. Instead what follows is more yoga. We start getting our blood flowing and the bam it's back to the mats to earn something new. Then we preform and my muscles think to themselves, thank you Erin for working me out and then shazam that move is over and I'm back to just sitting and watching. I know that this is the way you earn, and that it is being done in the best way possible but girl needs her cardio.



When we had learned all we needed to learn for the day I popped over to my room, said no thank you to chanting and got my workout on. Oh how glorious. I love ecardio fit. The Aussie pair that I watch are just fabulous. I don't seem to be walking away as sweaty as I use to so I may need to change up the work out soon but for now it is my nirvana to do push-ups and sumo squats.



My workout ended just a hot second before dinner should begin so I ran into the shower bucket showered away and put on the same outfit I wear every evening. You see the limited amount of appropriate pants makes me wear my hiking pants every evening. Have I mentioned that I lost a lot of weight. I have? Okay well now imagine putting on pants that were a smidge lose on you 30 pounds ago. I'm like one of those annoying kids that always has his boxers hanging out and is constantly pulling up their pants. Only they do it by choice and I do it because I have no other option.



Holding onto my pants I sprint up the stairs because the bell has rung and apparently I fear that for this meal there will be a major shortage and I will be left with nothing. As it turns out we aren't even allowed in. We must wait For the more devoted students who went off to chant... And chant.. And chant. Seriously if they want to chant into dinner time they need to accept the consequences that I am going to eat while they are chanting.



Finally we breath a hungry sigh of relief as the bell is rung once more and we are allowed in. Oh the aromas are like heaven. Each and ever time I enter the kitchen for a meal I can't help but close my eyes and take a deep breath in. I don't believe in heaven but if I we to ever go to one mine would be filled with exercise equipment and food. I think the food would be on a rotation system. You know one day Thai food, one day Indian, one day American. What exactly is American food I can't say but it deserves a day I suppose.



Today's heaven came in the form of tomato curry, cucumber salad, a tinsy bit of rice, chibata, leftover green mushy stuff, baked potato, and soy milk. Let me tell you when the last time I had a baked potato was. Oh wait, I can't because I have to recollection it was that long ago. The little mine potato was just like I remembered only in the past I would have slathered it with butter and today I just dipped it in my curry.



I broke all personal rules today by going back for more, a lot more. But to be fair I had next to notice, all of it was veg, and I had a real work out prior to eating. I think all of this deserves and second helping of delicious green mush.



Not wanting to part ways with the wonderful aroma of the room, I eventually cleaned my plate that looked as if it had been licked clean and headed over to our main building were we were to do introductions. It seems a bit late to be doing such a ing, most of us having met each other already but I suppose we are going under the assumption of better late then never perhaps?



Sitting in a circle we began the usual. Name, origin and what brought you here. Laura, the woman I had done tea with this very morning began. Or at least she attempted too. She got through name and origin and then the lights went out. They came back on and went back off just as she was to tell us why. While the lights were off the other Erin got a bloody nose. This in itself took a chunk of time as everyone had their own remedies as to how to cure her. Apparently an onion on her face was the winning cure.



Eventually Laura was able to finish her synopsis and I was next. I kept it short and sweet. As did most people but there are always those few that feel the need to tell their life story. Nothing against you fellow but I don't care that you messed up your back and travelled the world and this that and the other just tell me your name and pass it on!



We only made it through half the circle due to nose bleeds, long winded answers, a dog, bee, and cockroach intrusion. The clock showed that it was nearly 9:30 and in ashram world this is late as anything. I should be in bed reading or slowly drifting off to sleep. Luckily our leader recognize this and dismissed us to continue on the following day.



What did I do? Hit my bed, read and drift off to sleep. Fabulous



Day Five:



Ding dong witch is dead, or the bell is sounding for us to wake up. Up already I through on my clothes, brushed my teeth and hit the kitchen to wait for the tea. I brought my book and a don't interrupt me face because I am so close to the end and The Alchemist is such a fabulous book I can't seem t out it down. That is except when my eyes can't seem to stay open or if food is in my presence or if I could be working out.



The tea this morning was better than my mornings version and I through a bit of cinnamon in it just to give it a bit more of a well flavor. I sipped and read and sipped and read and my face warded off all those who may have had the slightest inclination to be my friend.



My determination to read won and I finished off the book which was as splendid as I knew it would be. And I couldn't have finished at a better time. The bell was ringing once more and off we all paraded to the hall, yoga mat in hand.



I took my usual spot and we preformed our usual postures. I am wearing cotton trousers, a dreadfully hot pair, and my one hippy esq type shirt. I may blend in with this shirt but it restricts my movements just a smidge and well is still dirty from the last time I wore it... Back in the Philippines.



The first hour is great, we do our warm up and sun salutation and I nearly break a sweat and my muscles are happy for the activity. And then we learn. Only today we a learning some fun poses. First we go into upside down inversion. Good old Tony taut me this one so I rock it without any issues. However the counter pose, fish, is something I have only seen in my nightmares. Google it, it isn't very comfortable and apparently my back has no flexibility and I was in minor fear that I'd snap my neck off in some gruesome horror movie type way. Luckily my neck stayed attached and all was well. The last pose we learned was Archers Pose. Another one that caused me to question my flexibility as I watched our instructor hop into the pose as if he was just chillaxing. I then attempted and floundered quite a bit but in the end I was able to do it better than I assumed I could. To be fair I had pretty low expectations.



Karma yoga time was next and I wish I had been on tea so I could you know work out but a las I was not so instead I was assigned to clean the main hall. The hall is huge and the three of us have to sweep, mop and clean outside. The only blessing being that now I will concentrate on the pain in my back as I hunch over to sweep and mop and not the hunger in my belly that was interrupting the end of yoga.



I'm doing my best not to focus on food but seriously sometimes I can't help it. It is just so tasty and fabulous and the aroma lingers in my memory and the idea of fruit, lots and lots of fruit just fills me with joy.



As the cleaning crew finished up the room the bell rang and we made our way over. Rice with boiled peanuts and fruit. I took just a smidge of rice, I've decided that breakfast is the only time I will eat rice now, unless the is no other carb in that meal and if I must tae it I will take just a bit. This stems from the fact that I'm no longer doing intense cardio like I was and that I still feel swollen! The fruit is fabulous as always and the little bit of rice enjoyable and the two together with some tea and this slow chewing method makes me full in no time.



I had been eating in the cafeteria, in the same exact seat where I could look out the window and really enjoy the scenery. Only I couldn't quite enjoy it from my point of view, not to mention the screen that blocks my view so instead of taking the same seat I made my way outside. The first thing I do as I walk outside is spill boiling tea over my hand. Should i take this as an omen? I choose not to and instead take in the beautiful view that surrounds me. There is a breeze to keep us cool and the view is just to fabulous to be made at the fact that my hand is burning intensely. I'm more mad that I wasted some tea.



I enjoyed my meal, made some tea water and headed over to the much anticipated yoga nidra. I was primed and ready for disappointment that it may be cancelled now that one of the volunteers had left but I was pleasantly surprised to see one of the other students ready to read out to use.



Laying down my mat and the laying down on top of it I made the resolution to NOT sleep this go. I concentrated hard on the words the woman spoke and I repeated over and over not to sleep. It is hard to say if I succeeded. Yoga nidra is unique in the fact that it borders a sleep and wakefulness so I can't say for sure if I drifted off or not but I'm nearly certain I made it the entire way without drifting off. Either way I did a hell of a lot better than the last time that is for sure. Did I also mention that my rings feel looser, my cheeks less chubby and the muffin top that only exists in my head has vanished.



Guruji is doing the lecture this morning. I suppose reading out of a book can be considered a lecture of you put it on a power point and have students around you. He is reading out to us about YAMA social discipline which are a bit like the Ten Commandments of the yogi world. It promotes non-violence, truthfulness, non stealing, sex control, and non possessiveness. After lunch we had the other six commandments which are niyama which includes self discipline, purity, contentment, austerity, self study and surrender to god. I can't say I really paid attention to well any of it but I'm sure the book will tell me all I need to know. I think I'm just going to keep 10 of the commandments and by pass the whole god thing again.



In between our two lectures there was lunch and relaxation time. Spinach chibatas, this that and the other and it was all delicious. Relaxation was also enjoyable. With my book done and max looking adorable as ever I sat down with him and got my first Italian lesson. It is such a beautiful language and similar to Spanish so I am catching a few words here and there. Maybe I can walk away from here with a yoga teaching certification and the ability to speak a smidge of Italian.



After lesson two of our commandments, ignoring most of the lecture and concentrating on the book I want to write and what dinner would be and whether I was going to chant or exercise tonight I chatted it up with another American girl. We warned me about bringing the mood down, but she informed me that there was a bombing at the Boston Marathon. My jaw didn't just drop, it feel to the floor and remained there. Who, what, where, when, and why all ran through my head and flew from my mouth but she was unable to answer any of it. Matt came into my mind somewhere in between all the W questions. I knew Matt was running the race, was he alright, did he even run so many questions and no way to find out.



Overwhelmed I word vomited in Rob's direction and he being the nice guy that he is let me borrow his phone to text home. How was I suppose to doing my yoga now, he offered to let the teacher know that I wasn't going to make it but instead I chose to come and do the yoga and try and take my mind off everything. Besides I didn't want to sit and just stare at the phone. So yoga I did with all the zeal in the world.



Two hours later I still felt anxious and just wanted to run. Not an option I just wanted to exercise. But both my roomies convinced me that a good round of chanting may be better to calm my mind. I hemmed and hawed over what to do, I wanted to push myself and lose myself in a hard core workout but chanting was exactly what might calm my mind. The big problem if course being that I find chanting to be a bit hokey. But off I went, I chatted with Cherry about the world and how fucked it is that someone would do this and the we sat down and chanted.



I'm still a firm believer in science. I don't believe in god or Mother Earth or this that and the other but I did find myself wishing that I could accept one or all of them. I wanted to believe that my chanting was really sending out positive energy and I suppose I can only hope that that is what I was doing. I have to say at the end of it I was feeling quite a bit better so perhaps there is someone to all this nonsense, I mean spirituality.



To help me take my mind off this even more food was being served. I can't say it was the best meal that they served he but it was alright. There were little rice pancake things called ilid, and coconut chutney, tomato curry and a few veggies. I ate slow and steady and filled my belly not to the max but until I felt good.



The rest of the introductions we preformed that evening with little interest to me as I kept wondering about home. I suppose chanting and food can only clear your mind for so long. When that was over Cherry allowed me to check out her phone which gave me a little insight as to what happened back home. I wish I could say I understood but can anyone understand when things such as this happens?



Day Six

Anxiety over whether or not Matt is okay wavers between being overly confident that he is okay to holy fuck how do I know. I am up before the bell can even ring and in the cafeteria before the tea has even begun to boil. Max's Italian lesson keeps me busy as I try to memorize and remember the words and phrases he has taught me. When that can no longer keep me focused I switch to reading The Selfish Gene by Dawkins. It seems a strange book to read here but after such a spiritual journey book such as The Alchemist I felt the need to get back to some reality and science. It's just a bit to much spirituality that I wish I could latch onto in this time but still can't wrap my head around it.



Yoga was great this morning. We were worked hard, holding poses, doing our sun salutations. I can actually feel the strength in my body growing. I wish at times we could do more but after conversing with others I am realizing I may be the only one to think that.



My karma yoga for the day was to clean the library. What an easy task. Two of us to clean one small room. We got done with time to spare and I spent that washing clothes. Well ok I have no detergent so I just used some soap and coconut oil and baking powder sure all that together totally works, it is better than not doing it at all that's a fact.



Breakfast of champions, or of yogi students is fruits and a grain. Today more rice with boiled of peanuts. My portions for fruit are out of control but it is the only time the day we get any so I stock up. Plus I love fruit, a lot. Maybe I should try and pinch some to eat later, no no I need to only eat when It is the time to eat I need to stop thinking about how to get more food.



Honestly for the most part I'm not craving food like I usually am. Sure I get a bit hungry when meal time rolls around but in between there are few moments where I actually consider getting the food I have stored away out and stuffing my face with it. Maybe the meals are well rounded or my portions are that out of control or my mind is getting strong. I am also not working out three times a day so I'm not burning the 1000 plus calories I was back in the village and that definitely has a big part in it. Now that I know and realize I can only eat whatever I want when I am pulling three a days I now know I can survive on a lot less.



My favorite part of the day seems to now be scheduled after breakfast. Yoga nidra, oh what a glorious hour of relaxation. Again I honesty can't say for sure if I stayed awake the entire time or not but when it was over I felt relaxed and ready for whatever the day would bring. Which would one fully be more food. Sure I'm not hungry yet but I still love thinking about food.



Lectured droned on so I chose to read my kindle. Lunch followed and then Ghandar's lecture about Hatha yoga which is far more interesting than anything Guruji has to say. Yoga was the same same as this morning, sun salutations followed by twisting pose followed by this that and the other. It is getting better slowly but surely.



I chose to go chanting despite not really wanting to go. I sat on the mat and tried to get comfortable but kept figitting. I couldn't focus and we we doing the chants so slow which is literally just painful for me. I couldn't focus so I day dreamed and witness us ending the chanting eleven chants early. This is no complaint but I did find it interesting.



Dinner was lovely but what was better was just hanging out with everyone outside until the lights we switched off. Guess that means bed time.



Day Seven

Up and waiting for tea in the dark as I read some good old Dawkins. Today's tea was exceptionally tasty and I just felt really great about the day and I had good reason too. When I bumped into Rob I got some good news, Matt was a okay! I skipped to class relief spilling over.



That was just the beginning of a grand day. Yoga was great. We were holding poses and doing sun salutations and I could almost count it as a work out. Almost.



I had to clean toilets for karma yoga which may not sound that great but with three people cleaning a tiny area we were done with time to spare. This time was spent fantasizing over breakfast which I hoped would be oatmeal.



Oh karma gods your looking our for your little ashram girl because it wasn't just oatmeal it was oatmeal with raisins and some corn flakes! Heaven. My mouth salivated as I ladled on fruit, oatmeal and warm milk. I ate in silence, savoring every bite. Even if we were allowed to talk I'm not sure if I would because each bite was just magical!



If getting good news, easy karma, delicious breakfast wasn't enough it was yoga nidra time. I fell into that crazy state that only someone who has experienced yoga nidra or maybe one who has been hypnotized can understand. It is pure bliss to wake up from a session, relaxed and rejuvenated.



Before lecture started I had yet another Italian lesson. I'm really trying hard to learn my words and such. I wish I tried this hard with Thai. If I had a cuter tutor in Thai maybe I would have. It is fun working with Max because as he says we are tandem learning and it is true. His English is definitely getting better and well my Italian has nowhere to go but up!



Lectures today were dull because again Guruji just read from his book. Thus I studied Italian instead. But in between lectures there was lunch which had some lovely okra bindi, beet salad, chipati, rice, and veggies. The okra was divine! The beet really splendid. And the chipati tasty as always.



Yoga this afternoon was as fabulous as this morning but not enough for me to pass on a cardio workout. We finally ended almost in time so I ran back to my room and rocked out a 30 minute cardio session to my roommates bewilderment.



Chanting was nice and speedy today. I love when it goes fast which probably means I don't exactly love chanting. Fact is I feel a bit pressured because A) I dropped major cash to do everything here and B) my roomies are both dedicated chanters and I feel the need to not be the one failure in the group.



Dinner was the only disappointment for the day. The carrot poecetha (spelling is probably wrong but basically like a carrot chipati) was delicious and the rest was tasty just not filling in the least. Tomato rice, kaelini, and cucumber salad. Again tasty just not filling.



We had a not so brief discussion on what we were doing tomorrow because tomorrow is our day off! I had every intention in going to the old town but it isn't recommended for tomorrow so now I am questioning whether I want to go at all. I guess I'll decide in the morning.



Day Eight



I woke up refreshed having slept in until 6 am. It was so nice to gave an extra hour of sleep and what to do now, run. I put on my scandalously short running shorts assuming nobody else would be awake, strapped on my running shoes and hit the pavement. Literally all I did was run around the inside of the ashram. This is quite difficult for multiple reasons.



A) there are stairs involved and I hate stairs. I mean I hate them. Walking them, looking at them, running them they are just torturous for me. B) true most of it is paved but then some foot not so much. Can we say ankle breaker trail with rocks and holes and chunks of brick becoming an obstacle course. C) as it turns out not all living things at the ashram have adopted the non violence Yama we are suppose to exhibit. Oh no, in fact one of the dogs may be the exact opposite as he charges the gate each and every time I go by and all I can do is think "please don't escape, I really don't want another ass cheek dog bite". And there you have it, in a loop that takes just three minutes for a slow runner such as myself I feel as tough I am constantly avoiding something. BUT it is also a great run. The stairs are challenging and a step incline keeps me huffing and puffing. Oh I miss running!



After a shower there is just way to much time before breakfast. I had decided to go into town if for no other reason than to check my Internet. So why not go into town looking pretty. Kat and I took the extra time to beautify ourselves and then we headed to breakfast.



To town we went but once there I really had to use the bathroom, too much tea, and needed to wait for kids to get out of the way. She had no desire to wait so off she went. Instead I joined Ava, Max, Rob and Lino as we wandered aimlessly around town. Seriously aimlessly is an understatement. We got lost, found our way, meandered, bought chocolate, headed for a bazaar that doesn't exist and the contemplate lunch. I really wanted to eat out but was in no mood to eat with Ava. Max wanted pizza and Rob wanted to eat back at the our place. Refusing both Ava and pizza I chose ashram food.



We split up and stopped to get Max his pizza. He devoured it in seconds with a smile on his face. Then we hit the school were I confirmed making the wrong depiction because the food was perhaps one of their worse meals. And by worse I simply mean boring. Oh I could have eaten meat or spices or anything but no I had to be lame. Sometimes I should just venture off myself but I just enjoy the boys company to much.



Internet time didn't last long enough because I wanted to head back early so after finishing up a few emails we headed back to the office and waited. The cab was suppose to come at 3, or at least that is what we thought but after much confusion we realized it wasn't going to come until 4. So much for getting back early. Instead Max gave me an Italian lesson which was just as good and then we hit the road back home.



With sunset approaching Kat, Pat and I headed up the to so mountainous mountain to take some photos. The walk up was easy enough and unfortunately snake less and on top the view was quite nice. The sunset left a lot to be desired but it was nice and cool up there so that alone made it worth it.



Pat decided to rock out some chanting while Kat and I just meandered. Randomly someone ran by and we stared thinking it was one of our trainers. When he waved we responded and as we got closer and closer we realized it wasn't Ramon at all, but the fellow was nice enough and even grabbed a photo with us. I love being in photos with random people.



We hiked back down in time for dinner and called it a night nice and early. Days off are exhausting.



Day Nine



Tea time followed by asana practice where we all practice the moves we are going to have to preform for this afternoons test. I suppose I'm ready for the exam, really all I can do is my best and that's that.



Karma yoga in the chanting room was rewarded by delicious oatmeal and fruit. Anatomy lectures followed, these I find most interesting. I am sure I learned it all before in school but it is a nice refresher and Dr. Douli is a great lecturer.



Lunch and relaxing before the exam is necessary. The exam itself ended up not being to bad at all. To be fair one of our examiners totally screwed my crew over for one posture but other than that it went really well. Really I'm not all that nervous about it. I would have to do the wrong moves to fail I think.



Afterwards I did a nice cardio workout and headed for dinner. Called it an early nice. For a test day it was a pretty relaxing day.



Day Ten



Oh what a slow morning as I pried myself from my bed and stumbled to the kitchen. I act as if it is necessary for me to be the first in the kitchen. There's that competitive spirit that I should be trying to get rid of at least here in the ashram.



The morning went along with nothing unusual to report. Asanas were nice, a few more sun salutations was the most exciting part. Lino, Cherry and I cleaned outside the office and my micro lesson where I got all nervous once more. Breakfast was tasty as usual and then we progressed to lecture time



I was excited for the lectures today because they were on Ayuverda which is something I never heard of until I came here and so I know nothing about it. Unfortunately I still know nothing on it and the lecture could literally be qualified as torture it was so bad. What is really torturous and the fact that we had TWO lectures by the guy.



Lunch was a redeeming factor to the afternoon and Ghandar gave a lecture that was at least a bit interestinge. Asanas were same same as usual but what was really cool was what happened after class.



Our three teachers, Ghandar, Roman, and Roshod, did a bit of showing off. They did all the fancy moves that are just off the chain crazy. They easily twist their bodies into the craziest posture. I can't even explain it so just check out the pictures that really don't even do it justice.



Max and I did a mini workout and headed to dinner. Afterwards a group of us chilled out at the picnic tables just chatting it up. Little R offered us chocolate powder, literally the powder you make chocolate milk with, and we all grabbed some. Are we that desperate for sweets? The answer is yes. Perfect goodnight snack.



Day Eleven



I've dance to celebrate Mother Nature, had rakki preformed on me, exercised my lady parts and learned some Italian. It is fair to say that today has been a fabulous day.



Morning started with tea and a book and progressed to chatting it up with Pat. After two glasses and a conversation in strange dreams including death we head on over to start our yoga practice.



Yoga gets better and better every day as we learn more and more postures. Not to mention the numerous sun salutations we do. It isn't just the number that is increasing but the tempo as well. We do a handful of speedy sun salutations that get the blood pumping. It is GREAT!



Micro lessons still leave a lot to be desired by me. Despite having the best group ever I instantly turn red and act a fool but I like to think I'm acting a little less of a fool each and every time. We got done early which allowed me to wash my clothes before breakfast.



Sometimes it really doesn't feel much different then village life. I mean I'm still exercising constantly, eating healthy, washing clothes in a bucket and showering from a bucket. I sleep under a mosquito net and am constantly sweating my ass off. I'm use to a dress code and Thai time which is quite similar to India time. I hear complaints coming from here and there and with the exception of my lack of chili I have little to complain about because this is they way I've been rocking it for the last two years. In fact the fact that there are English speakers around just makes it ten times easier here. I may be e only one finding ashram life easier than their lives before hand.



There is a festival beginning today and because of it we get no fruit for breakfast. This would be depressing if the fruit wasn't subbed out for delicious sweets that taste like cracker jacks. Karma yoga lead me to the second floor of the dining hall there were four of us working on the tiny area leading us to finish at a rapid pace.



Yoga nidra is always so great. I always think I've made it through the whole thing and then hear people talking about the visualization and realize I didn't even come close to making it through the whole shebang. But that is okay because either way I wake up refreshed.



This is necessary since we have lectures nested. One on pranayama, or the vital energy streaming through all of us, and then cleansing techniques. Luckily Ghandar is giving the talks and he is always quite interesting. However learning about breathing was certainly less interesting than learning about cleansing techniques. In the near future we will be learning to use Netti as well as learning to vomit. Sounds exciting!



Before lunch we checked out the festival that was going on. There was a good amount of people



Lunch was fantastic and afterwards Cherry and I joined V powers. What is this you ask? Well it goes by many names, V power, Intimate Aerobics, Pelvic Exercises, essentially it is just another exercise routine just for you vajayjay and anus. Bernadette teaches these workshops in Singapore and is now teaching us and it is really quite interesting. There are so many health benefits AND nobody can even tell your exercising.



Asana class followed by my own Pilates class makes me a happy camper. Dinner is afterwards making me even more happier because it is as tasty as ever. As we all hung around outside Lino came by and preformed some rakki on Rob. Watching this I then asked Max to preform it on me. If I understand it correctly Max is essentially the in between person between me and energy. I don't really get it but it was cool.



When that was over we all headed over to whe the festival was taking place earlier and learned a bit about it. Essentially it is worshiping Mother Nature. Apparently we are quite lucky because there aren't normally three auspicious holidays right in a row. After learning a bit about it we all started chanting which lead to dancing and naturally a good time.



Exhausted afterwards we all headed to bed



Day Twelve



Tea, asanas and micro lesson. Is has become our lives. During micro lesson I am still annoyingly nervous which is so silly but sometimes you just cant help it. The nerve racking micro lesson was over and done with and followed by a breakfast that consisted of nothing enjoyable. What can you do? Karma yoga was in the dining room which was pointless because trying to mop a floor, even sweep a floor while people are constantly coming through is just as I said pointless. In fact it may have been dirtier afterwards than it was beforehand.



Our first exam is today so after yoga nidra we found the questions on the board and started working on them. And by working on them I mean I found the oages the answers were and that was food enough for me. It is clearly going to be more work than I had initially expected but it still shouldn't be bad.



Luckily to lift our spirits from a less than thrilling morning lunch was delicious and afterwards we all swapped info on what pages the answers were on. The exam took two solid hours and was a bit painful. Like literally painful, my wrist were all uncomfortable after so much writing.



Asana class afterwards was alright but what was really stellar was afterwards. Rob hadn't come to class so I went to see if he was alright. While I conversed from outside the door everyone encouraged me to break ashram rules and falling victim to peer pressure I popped on in. This rule couldn't have been broken at a better time because the boys decided Rob was going to lead us in a quick workout. I felt kind of bad because it didn't seem like he completely wanted to be doing that but he was a good sport and led us through a fifteen minute ab routine.



Can we say hilarious. Max, Rudvich and I on our backs in a small little room. Rob instructing us as to what to do. Me kicking both the guys asses as they complained about leg lifts and I surpassed the number we were suppose to do. Oh it was fabulous! I felt so great afterwards.



Quick shower before dinner, we all choked down on a lovely meal and called it an early night.



Day Thirteen



Final day of festival will be today. Despite this I am feeling sluggish and finding the days a bit monotonous. I wake up to the bell and roll out of bed and up the stairs into the dining hall where I grab my tea and chat with the tea makers. I am frequently the only person up there besides for the tea makers and today is no different.



My foot has started to feel a bit janky and like usual I'm paranoid about my food intake and lack of exercise. The days are feeling a bit monotonous despite the festivities going on. Asana class, micro lesson and karma yoga. Fortunately today I was finally in the kitchen. Unfortunately all we did was shred carrots.



Afterwards we were instructed to shower so we could enter into the sacred area of the festival so off I went to bucket shower real quick and join my peers. We all sat around as we watched Gandar feed the fire and random things went on. Ere was a slicing of a watermelons, some gift giving, food eating and flower throwing. There was also a lot of chanting and a bit of clapping. It was pretty cool but when lunch time came and passed I can't help but say my focuses strayed from worshipping Mother Earth to when is my belly getting some nourishment.



Finally the time came, after we each obtained a sweet or two, and we headed on over to grab some food. It was another delicious meal filled with salad and some sweets. It revitalized is for the two lectures on anatomy that followed.



I chose to go to chanting instead of exercise and it may be the last time I do that. I just don't really get that much enjoyment out of it and I definitely get more enjoyment after a solid work out than I do repeating the same little phrase 108 times. Especially when we do it all slow and it takes a lifetime and a half. I'm not knocking it, for some people it is probably great but for me well I guess I'm not a yogi pro that's for sure.



Dinner was a bit disappointing but hey you can't win them all. We also let the boys in on V-power which has only happened once and at this rate will never be repeated but if it is the boys wanna join.



After a quick shop run that lead to the consumption of even more sweets we all called it a night.



Day Fourteen



The heat is back. It doesn't take long for it to come around and kick our ass. Well not all of our asses. I'm pretty use to it after Thailand and find little reason to complain about it because compared to running in this weather doing a few hours of yoga is nothing.



I did however wake up late today and by late I mean 5:15. I was still up and at tea before most and I chatted with rob until he decided to go into silence. Yes there is the choice to go into a day of silence. It is a time to self reflect and what not. Personally I don't see the point in it but hey whatever floats your boat.



Asanas followed by my best micro lesson yet. I am slowly getting more and more confident and actually enjoying giving my lesson. Maybe it is all the Om chanting or there really was some energy inside the festival that could change my destiny. Perhaps I just realize that it isn't all that scary to talk in front of friends. Whatever the case I'm not about to have an anxiety attack every time I step in front if my group.



When we completed this we were off to learn one of the two cleansing techniques that we will be taught here. The two we are learning is netti and vomiting. Today we have the pleasure of pouring salt water in one nostril and have it come out the other.



First the demonstration. As it turns out there are several ways to suck water up into your. One and make it come out other places like your other nostril or mouth. While we are at it why not shove some tubes up your nose and out your mouth and scrub a little. So weird.



All we are doing is the netti so we filled up our little pot and found a nice little spot. Tipping our heads we poured the water on in and with some tweaking of the head and adjusting of the breath managed to have it come out the other nostril. Success. I feel so proud.



Not really, what I actually feel is hungry and with the festival over guess what is for breakfast. Fruit! I seriously don't know why but the papaya here is ten times better than thailands. I don't even like Thai papaya but here I'm digging in the fruit bowl trying to find as many pieces as I can.



Karma yoga time. Off to the hall I went again. Luckily the we four of us on the task this time and despite the size of the room we finished ret quickly. Gandar was lecturing today and I am so happy when it is him because he is so enjoyable to listen to.



Lunch was beet and tomato salad, mung bean salad, chipati and buttermilk. Oh how lovely. I attempted to start my project afterwards but after finding no books that I could use I instead read about my star sign. I really don't feel like a cancer when I read about it. Makes me kind of sad.



Afternoon asanas were fine but what was ten times better was Robs workout. He totally kicked out asses and it was fabulous! We had to do push-ups, lunges, squats, leg lifts and crunches 50xs each! And in between when we messed up we had to run. I wish we could do this every day!



Again we finished in time for a shower and dinner. And what better way to reward a good work out than a killer meal of potato and what reminds all of us as pasta. Oh how delightful.



Day Fifteen



Day off! It is so nice to have a day off. I really don't mind the schedule but it is good to take a day to just relax slough heading into town isn't the most relaxing thing in the world.



Although I had originally planned to run, instead I headed up the mountain to check out the sun rise. A group of us made our way up to the top and it was a spectacular view. Ok I exaggerate a little, it wasn't the most stunning sun rise but it was quite nice.



Down the mountain we went to kill some time before breakfast and heading to town. Washing clothes, cleaning the room, and looking pretty the time flew and the bell rang. Off we went to enjoy fruit again! It was so SO lovely. I ate little because today I'm indulging in some true Indian food.



There was a bit of confusion and while this was being sorted out a few of us hopped into a little store of dried fruits and nuts. While the others got their own little trail mix I picked up something ten times more fabulous, chili. I was assured that it is quite spicy and I cannot wait to try it!



We headed into town and after some confusion Kat, Cherry and I hopped in a tricycle and headed to Old City. We headed down to the river where Indians from around the country come to bath in. It was wild and I finally felt like I was in real India. I mean the ashram is technically in India but it is enclosed and the are more foreigners than Indians and the food isn't proper Indian I think you get the picture.



Out in real India was a trip! They city was packed with people hustling and bustling by. I took so many pictures of the kids jumping in the water and women cleaning clothes. The three of us got a small flower thing to release into the water, it reminded me very much of what we release in Thailand for Loy Kratong. When we went to pay, the woman upped the price from 10 to 100 and finding this outrageous we paid 20.



We found Max, Lino and Costas and walked around the old city checking out the different vendors there and taking lots of photos. At times people would ask to take photos with us especially Max. He found this all very entertaining but it is the same same in Thailand so I just tried to hop into as many random people's photos as I could.



After a bit of wandering food time came. Kat had been talking about this restaurant for awhile and I am so excited to try it! It is more of an eatery that a restaurant which makes it even better. Max expressed some concern over eating the food but after some reassurance we convinced him that he would be fine.



As we sat down I ordered up a lassi and told Kat to just order whatever she thought was tastiest. Palak paneer, mushroom masala, paneer dolce, malai kofka sweet stuff, vegetable pilaw rice, garlic naan, and paneer parota was what was brought to our table and every single item was amazing. The naan was the best I've ever had, the dips were to die for and even the rice which I originally looked upon with a bit of disdain had me coming back for more.



After filling our bellies we moved on to a near by textile shop where Kat go a lovely local shirt. And despite being stuffed we headed off for dessert. Sadly the place was closed so we hopped in a tricycle and headed back into the city.



Time to get our Internet and shopping on. Max bought a soccer ball and his eyes may have glowed even brighter after this purchase than his pizza purchase. After a bit of time running errands we headed back to the ashram.



I had every intention of running but intentions mean nothing. Instead we all chatted with Bernadette who gave us the V Power questionnaire. It was both fun and informative but when little R came by we had to shut it down.



Guess what came next. Dinner. And guess what I had. Chili. Magic is the only word to describe the burst of spice that erupted in my mouth. No scratch magic and replace it with utmost bliss or paradise maybe heaven? Yes heaven. My heaven will be filled with chili, lots and lots of chili.



Despite today being our day of rest we are all exhausted and call it a night rather early on.



Day Sixteen



Optional silence day. Yes I've decided to self induce some silence upon myself. Originally we were all suppose to be silent but this is the second time that they have cancelled and after brief consideration I decided what the hell let us be silent for the day. And by we I mean my roomie Kat and I because I think if one of us had to be silent and the other could speak, well it would hands down be much harder than it has been.



In fact it hasn't been bad at all. We decided yesterday that we were going to do it so when I awoke at the bizarrely early time of 4:45 thanks to an early ringing of the bell I grabbed the badges for the two of us and prepared myself.



Due to lack of communication tea was not served today and I can't complain. Instead of waiting around for it I went out for a quick 15 minute run and it felt amazing! I may have to do that every day it felt so great!



Asana yoga was good, it is pretty repetitive now a days but at least we do enough sun salutations to get the blood pumping just a bit. And micro lesson followed which I think gets better and better every day. I try and go first so I don't have to sit around anxiously waiting for my turn. The other ladies say I am sounding more confident and it probably is because I am more confident. I am getting more and more excited to be a teacher when I get home.



Porridge and fruit for breakfast. Sprinkle some cinnamon on it and pair it with lemongrass tea with a touch of super sweet milk and it is almost like your in heaven. Sitting outside I gazed at the beautiful scenery that surrounds me. Again the idea that I'm in India literally boggles my mind. The idea that I also can't use chili in my meal also boggles my mind but I get over that pretty quickly.



Karma yoga was cleaning the library today. The room is quite small but they assigned three people to the task. This means we got done in a hot silent second. It was as of they were all in silence making the whole cleaning thing quite boring.



When your forced to be silent it turns out you can get a lot done. Each time I was finished with whatever I would scamper back to my room and wrote my final essay in mean it had to be done but when you can't talk to people it makes it easier to choose writing over chatting.



Lecture time! It is about diet and is being given by mamma bear, or Guruji's fabulous wife ---------. I am excited to hear all about the yogi diet since I am slightly obsessed with learning new techniques for a proper diet. Instead I learned about some less than scientific facts that included the evils of coffee, tea and meat. I think I'll pass on accepting the yogi diet as a full time thing.



After learning about what foods to eat we then learned how to cook them! Off to the kitchen we went and of course today would be the day that i choose to be silent. Mamma Bear taught us multiple things including beet and carrot salad, chapatis and mixed spices. What was emphasized was the lack of chili within the mixed spices. See the ashram doesn't like chilies. It apparently creates desires we aren't suppose to have. You know what not having chili does to me? Creates desire for some freaking chilies. I think I'm going to continue smuggling the chili in.



Lunch followed and I had no problem or guilt over bring my chili up to meal time despite having just learned about all of its evil properties. I also had no problem adding it into every aspect of my meal which enhanced its wonderfulness.



The afternoon was nice. In silence I finished up my paper and than busted out my granny cross stitch. Everyone was amused by this and I couldn't quite explain what I was doing which was a bit frustrating not because I couldn't talk but because I felt ute rude. Once everyone left however I sat alone and realized this whole silent thing was a lot like days in Thailand. I is fair to say a few days went by when not a word passed my lips. At least not any words to was another person, I did find talking to myself a common practice back on Thailand. I'm not sure if that is allowed here.



Learning about yoga and pregnancy might have been good if I wasn't so exhausted. I could literally hardly keep my eyes open and found my head bobbing constantly. I'm not sure why I was so sleepy, maybe the topic was just completely not interesting to me although as a teacher I should be interested in any and all aspects of yoga.



Busting out two more hours of yoga was good. We worked on a few new poses including swan which is killer on my wrist and then a crazy balancing pose that my body absolutely hates. In fact I should probably never do it again if I want to keep my body happy, I can only cross my fingers that it won't be on the final exam. We also worked on head stand and mine is slowly getting better and better which is cool but imagining staying up for fifteen seconds sounds dreadful.



Workout time. A proper work out makes me so happy. Twenty minutes of abs, push-ups and leg workouts with Max makes the day so much better. Although to be fair they aren't the most intense work outs.



Dinner was literally painful and joyous at the same time. I poured so my chili on the soup and rice which eating it totally blew out my palate. Better yet I made the little dipping sauce that I always had in Thailand, chili sugar and some lime and dipped my veggies in it. I literally cried from the spice and it was MAGICAL.



Day Seventeen



Not optional silent day is being enforced today. Okay enforced is to strong a word, encouraged is a better one but after having one yesterday Kat and I decided that we would be a little loose on the rules. And by loose I mean completely disregard it for the most part.



I mean in the presence of others we we mostly silent but really who wants to do two days of silence. On top of that we had a writing assignment today so naturally we had to share what we were going to write about. Excuses excuses I know, we fail as ashram girls.



Anyway after tea, two hours of yoga kicked my ass. Yoga is all about body awareness and what I am learning is that my body seriously hates certain postures. I am not sure if anyone's body enjoys squatting, coming up on your heels, placing your one knee on the other and then balancing. My body tried, it really did and for a hot second I was balanced. No then my foot started to scream bloody murder and my knee began hollering just as loudly. What was the solution, switch legs. Clearly accepting ones own limitations hasn't quite sunk in yet.



Watering flowers was my karma yoga for the morning and with four people doing the task it was done twice over in no time.



This leads us to breakfast. I am so glad to be getting fruit back eac morning I appreciate it even more. The one spoonful rule is sad, I always want so much more but I suppose one scoop will do. Whatever was paired with it today lead to the usage of chili. It was some kind of couscous dish with vegetables made fabulous by chili. I don't care if chili is the devils spice or contraband or whatever I'm going to keep using it!



The morning was spent prepping for the writing exam which appears quite easy. My ore operation included lots of shavasana. The time went quickly and before we knew it the bell was ringing for lunch. I had read about Pavlov's dogs before but now I feel like I am one of the. Each time the bell rings we all perk up and immediately head for the kitchen for our meals. In fact I think every time I hear a bell I will end up doing that.



Lunch was coconut chutney with added chili and yellow soup stuff with chili and little pancakes with chili. Just kidding I didn't add chili to the pancakes but that is simply because I added enough in everything else.



After lunch I helped out my Italian friends reading what they wrote and fixing their grammar and then we all headed into class to work on our essays. Wam bam thank you ma'am and in just one hour I was walking away from that exam. Theory is much easier than technical exams and that is exactly what this one was.



One hour of asanas followed by our micro lesson.



The class went fine, but new animals were introduced to the mix. Today swan was our newest pose and I can't say I'm its number one fan. Twisting your arms, bending the elbows and going into plank, oh what fun. The fun however did come later as we got to work on wheel, which after several years of wheel being on hiatus in my life I find I can preform it alright.



As we all came together we found out that three of us were planning on doing triangle. Switching things up I ended up doing warrior. Now I prepare each of my lessons the day before because of my stage fright but with this one I had just a hot second to go over everything. Turns out that is the way I should do it. See when I plan out the lesson I plan it out in what I think is the soothing yoga style. Where as when I just act like me I use my own slang and act a bit more myself. Not the soothing calm voice but more the fun lets work out kind of way. Turns out everyone else approves of this style as well. Score!



Max and I did a quick ab work out on top of emerging else we had done today and then headed to dinner. Chapati, mung bean insala and vegetables with pineapple all of which made ten times better than none other than chili. I know mamma bear hates chili for whatever reason but I am so much happier after each meal. Sure I'm acting a but like a junky as I hide my chili powder in a coconut rehydration pack and douse my food in the forbidden spice but after two weeks without I'm using it and enjoying every spoonful.



After a visit to the shop where sweets were the main purchase I'm finally calling it an early night. Maybe a run in the morning.... Or not.



Day Eighteen



Today I learned to vomit. Yes you read correctly, vomit. But before I get to the excitement of puking let us take a quick look at the morning. Guess what I did. If you thought running, unfortunately you thought wrong. Despite waking up early due to the bell ringing earlier and earlier by the day I chose not to strap on my shoes and hit the trails. Instead I sat around drinking tea and writing in my journal.



Asana class lead to two new balancing poses and micro lesson went well with me educating the class more on the word janky than on cobra pose. By the way janky means off, weird, not right for example your arms should never be janky in cobra pose.



And then it was time. We have already accomplished one cleansing practice but vomiting seems a lot let exciting than running water through your nose. With that said I was bizarrely excited to try this technique out. It even has a fancy name, Vaman Dhouti, and is used to stimulate the abdominal organs, remove excess mucus, help respiration and release any pent up emotions, doesn't that make you all want to do it?



After watching a demonstration by one of our yoga teachers it was our turn. Nothing says bonding quite like sitting in a circle drinking enough salty water to induce vomiting. Strangely enough while everyone else complained about the salt water I didn't mind it so much. By glass eight I thought maybe and very few of us still in the circle I thought it was about time to vomit. Off I scampered to Cherry's side and the two of us vomited together. Should I get graphic? If you don't want the details skp the next paragraph.



Okay so even after eight nice and salty glasses of water I wasn't feeling the intense need to vomit. I mean there was a bit of gurgling going on and if I had kept drinking I'm sure it would have worked naturally but I was in a rush to join my friends in the cleansing process so after a few attempt and failures to vomit I stuck my finger down my throat. Yup, nothing says good yoga practice much like sticking your finger down your throat and watching as the same eight glasses of salt water you just drank came right back up. Unfortunately unlike our demonstrator I had to induce several rounds of this. But eventually most came up and out and well the rest would just have to vacate from another end.



Doing a round of netti to clean out our nasal passages we called it a morning and we sent to eat breakfast. You know what happens when you vomit? Well I don't know what happens to you, but I was starving! With a one scoop limit on fruit I couldn't help but take a little extra to compensate for the whole vomiting thing. And on top of that puff rice with potatoes and you guessed it some chili!



Once again I was instructed to clean the main hall. It isn't hard work but its a big room and boring job. I would seriously love to get into the kitchen again but I guess I'll just have to wait and see I mean it is karma yoga so I shouldn't be desiring anything specific I guess.



After several days without it, yoga nidra has been reintroduced into our lives. I didn't think I was that exhausted until I passed out just a few minutes into the session and for once didn't wake up when we were suppose to. Oh how lovely and refreshed I now feel.



We have self study time now for working on our essay but after being silent for two days I am finished and just rocking out to some good old American music while writing up this little entry and contemplating as to whether or not a good work out should be done.



I ended up banging out a quick thirty minute work out and I'm glad I did because lunch was fabulous and I felt no guilt indulging. Just a smidge of rice with carrot salad, cabbage salad, yellow mushy stuff, different yellow mushy stuff and butter milk. Oh it was divine and guess what made it better. CHILI! Oh and peanuts, which when sprinkled with a bit of lime juice and a dash of chili turned out to be a fabulous treat.



With my essay done i spent the afternoon listening to everyone around me get all deep about self realization. Instead of participating I enjoyed my granny activity of cross stitching. With my shawl covering my bare scandalous shoulders and my glasses poised at the end of my pierced nose all I needed was a rocking chair and a cat by my side to complete the look.



For the afternoon lecture we learned about lesson planning which then lead into our asana class. Today I learned how to roar like a lion. Propped up in an absurdly uncomfortable position all of us took one deep inhale and with all the vigor we could muster roar just sorta not at all like a lion but you can't say we didn't try.



Acting like a lion wasn't the only thing we learned today. Fast breathing was again on the agenda. Theses breathing techniques tend to be harder than most of the asanas for me. I lose track of which nostril I'm suppose to breath out of and which to breath in from. Then I just get all confused and end up blocking off both nostrils at once or squishing my nose piercing to hard which as it turns out is a tad painful.



Lastly we learned a sun salutation that puts all sun salutations to shame. Bends and squats, warriors and cobras, plank, chatarunga, plank, side plank, chatarunga, cobra oh a whole mess of things that felt fabulous! If we could do about ten of those a day I would be happy.



Max and I attempted a quick work out but I just didn't have it in my to go balls the wall and mostly just laid on the ground. Besides there was very little time in between the work out and dinner and we all know food is almost always on my mind. Sure this isn't very yogi of me but lets face it I'm not trying to be a yogi master. With that in mind I also dumped chili all over my meal once more. How can one little spice bring me such joy. I'm totally breaking ashram law as well as a Yama by having major possessive desires towards my chili powder.



Although I would have loved to slip into bed at 8pm we happened to have a Q&A tonight. This Q&A consisted of few questions, long winded answers and several stories. We still ended a bit early but somehow I never manage to take advantage of this. Instead I sat outside with the boys as Rob played guitar and we stared up at the stars. It was nice, much more memorable than hitting the sack right away.



Day Nineteen



What the hell ran through my head as the alarm went off. It is only the second time here that that has happened and really shows how tired I am getting. I mean I guess not everyone can function on seven hours of sleep, five hours of exercise and Indian heat.



Off I went to get my tea and attempt to mentally prepare for my micro lesson. Today we aren't just teaching one asana, no today we are doing the grand daddy of micro lessons, sun salutations. Mentally preparing lasted about ten seconds until other people joined me and I found talking more interesting than reading.



Asanas were quick today because we our micro lesson is going to take a bit longer. We learned nothing new when it comes to asanas but we did learn some new breathing techniques. More inhaling and exhaling while squishing your nose piercing.



Theses fast breathing techniques all seem a bit funny to me but they are suppose to have quite a few benefits such as oxygenating our vital organs, get rid of mucus, improve our digestion and increase our Prana. Oh Prana, we do so much for this vital energy we apparently all have.



Slow breathing was next. This reduces our heart rate and respiration rate and will increase our life span. Who doesn't want to do that? So inhaling for four beats then exhaling for eight, switching up the nostril as we go.



Off to micro lesson we all went. Sure we do about thirty sun salutations a day and we should all have it semi memorized but we never had to teach it. I went first. I have gotten much more comfortable with my presentations but I still like going first and getting it over with especially since my foot has started to bother me again. Stupid foot, it just isn't use to so much stretching and I've started taping the sucker up. I really REALLY don't want to wear Boot again.



Anyway off I went on my speal about sun salutations and I did my demo and then another and the a third because it turns out there is a hell of a lot to say. Here is the ideal pose, variations, benefits, dos and don't, breathing oh many it isn't even funny how much you have to say. It went smoothly enough with a mix up here and there but overall it was fine, although I did forget a few things.



We all ended right at breakfast time so we grabbed our plates and hit the dining hall. Fruit and a mung bean salad. Oh that salad is so tasty. And can you ever go wrong with fruit? The answer is no!



Today is going to be a long day. We have four lectures planned out starting with Guruji. I'm sure his lectures are interesting but since I'm typing this instead I can't be certain. The problem is he literally reads everything from the book, almost nothing is new and his accent is a bit stronger and at times hard to understand.



Thankfully the next lecture was much better. Given by a scientist he delved into the whole chakra idea. I myself am a bit skeptical. And by a bit I mean totally but I listened to what he said and found both him and the topic very interesting. But I am still skeptical.



I was also quite tired. Despite how interesting he was I had a hard time staying awake. Luckily lunch was afterwards and oh what a stupendous lunch it was. I'm going to shock you by saying I needed next to no chili at all. Mung bean salad, carrot salad, parata, rice with peanuts, tomato curry and mashed potatoes. Oh what sweet sweet joy.



A long lecture followed which was interesting but I constantly find it hard to focus on things I don't have much interest in. Can't we just do 100 sun salutations? Oh we can. Okay not 100 but we did 24 in asana class and I may have been the only one enjoying it. I can't help that I find a heart race increase exciting. Max and I worked out again. Seriously so much better than chanting. I did a Pilates class while he did his thousand crunches and then it was dinner time.



I wish we could call it an early night but instead we have meditation. I thought this might be enjoyable but my leg was bothering me so I really couldn't meditate at all which is quite unfortunate. I suppose better luck next time.



Day Twenty



I found out I have a blue and yellow Ora. How you ask? Well turns out Sabrina, on top of everything else, sees Ora's. what's this mean? Apparently the yellow means I think a lot which is true and the blue means I have some healing qualities. I guess that is pretty cool. Learning something new every day rit?



the morning proceeded as usual. I grabbed tea, had asana class that didn't include that many asanas and then micro lesson. I was more than unprepared, I had just looked at the lesson that morning. Fortunately I hardly care what happens because everyone is fabulous and besides today was on breathing and that is the least interesting part for me. This was out last micro lesson, next week is the real deal so maybe I should have taken it seriously. Oops.



Breakfast was lovely fruit and I must admit some delicious rice. It has boiled peanuts in it and seriously that alone makes it great. Add chili in it better. How tired of reading about chili are you? Just imagine being my roommates when I didn't have chili and all I did was talk about how much better the food would be with it!



Karma in the dining room was a lot more successful this time around with nobody coming in to eat. We actually mopped the floor and kept it sparkling at least for awhile.



Lectures continued by Paresh. H is really interesting but my mind is constantly wandering. It is hard to take a scientist seriously when he is talking about the moon and sun nadis flowing through the body. I did start paying attention again when we all had to blow on a mirror which would show which chakra was activated. As it turns out I'm dead because the mirror registered nothing. Just kidding it is just way to hot for a mark to be made.



I would have kept trying but the bell rang and I inched my way to the door as I waited for actual dismissal. Doesn't he know not to keep 30 plus people who instantly respond to a bell for food away from our reward.



Lunch was stupendous. We have been on a serious role of just amazing food. Not that the food is ever bad but the options given are just amazing.



Paresh is interesting and all but he delayed us from food and is now taking away an hour of our relax time. So we all meander on back to the hall and pop a squat to learn about quantum healing. You know how much I knew about quantum physics before, nothing. You know how much I know now? Nothing. But I did nearly finish a corner of my cross stitching. It isn't like I wasn't pay attention it was just confusing and well okay seriously I don't quite think yoga is the cure to cancer.



What I did pay attention to was the fact that he can read palms and we can send a photo in and he will do just that. I look forward to when I get to do that. Kat had the good fortune of asking home a question about emailing him and right there and then he read her palm and it was a great reading. Fun fact ladies, if your ring finger is shorter than your pointer than you are fertile. Guess whose finger is not shorter than her pointer, this girl! Score.



Asana class was fine. I held crow, roared like a lion, balanced as a swan and even managed to get my feet up in head stand. All of that is pretty ballet but seriously I'm going to walk away from here more injured than my three a days ever did. Wrist, knees, foot I'm a mess.



Even though I'm falling apart, Max and I did a quick ab work out. I think our ab work outs consist of more laughing and talking than working out but that is ok. He wears a Feng Shui necklace that he told me protects him. He later demonstrated how it works by throwing me off balance and then making me wear the necklace and being unable to throw me off balance. I don't know if it had anything to do with the necklace or the fact that I knew he was going to try it again but I went with it.



Tis is when I also learned about my Ora which is really interesting. I don't know if I believe in it or not but it was cool to hear the explanations and such. Even more interesting to know that our Ora's change. If it is all legit I wonder if that is all Sabrina sees, just big fuzzy colors surrounding all of us.



After dinner we learned a but about Lord Krishnu and Arjuno, a story about a war between families over a kingdom. Arjuno and his four brothers represent good and their 100 cousins represent bad. Arjuno wanted to throw down his arms instead of fighting his family and asks Krishnu what he should do. In the end Arjuno naturally kicks some ass and tomorrow we will learn a bit more about how everything went down



Calling it an early night and it feels so good to do so!



Day Twenty One



Three weeks down and just one to go. I woke up nice and refreshed from a fabulous nights sleep and hit the kitchen for some tea. There was a bit of a delay due to lack of gas for boiling water, but when it was produced it was nice and tasty.



It is silence day... Again. So the morning I sat and read. I've started The Red Tent and really enjoy it thus far.



Asana class was quite brief this morning because half way through Paresh came on in and we did a meditation class again. I don't know if I'm meditating wrong or what but I just kind of get bored and start twiddling my toes and wishing I could go and read the Red Tent.



My karma for the morning was sweeping the path from kitchen to office with Costas. It is a shame we are in silence because I don't know Costas at all and this would have been a good opportunity to chat with him. Just another thing I find silly about silence day.



Breakfast was museli and fruit, can you really go wrong? And from there we got the questions to our final written exam.



Up until this point we were all pretty good, as in we were all pretty silent. But seriously putting three chicks in a room for hours to work on the same project. Come on now. I think we lasted a total of three seconds before we broke silence and discussed what we were planning to write.



We are mostly lesson planning for this exam. I've decided to make my old people do sun salutations for thirty minutes. Just kidding! The exam is a breeze. I mean when you know the questions beforehand and have four hours to prep how could they not be. My hand hurts from all the writing though.



Day Twenty Two



Day off is always so nice when it comes around. I am always shocked when a whole week has gone by and we are allowed out and about once more. I wanted so badly to run but Max pinky swore we would run in the evening and despite firmly believing we wouldn't I choose to exercise with a workout video instead. Oh running is going to be rough when I get back.



Breakfast and then off we went. First stop Internet cafe where we all spent time catching up with emails and Facebook and whatever else we needed to catch up on. Easily bored by the Internet both Max and I hit up Big Bizarre for a hot second before we all headed to lunch.



Kat and Pat being experts in Indian cuisine, at least compared to Max and I ordered up an array of delicious food. A basket of all the different types of bread, garlic nan, plain, chapati ect. With it a spinach dip, a mushroom paneer dip some veggie dip and a vegetable and chili dip thing. So good, all of it. And paired with a lassi was so fantastic, I as so full afterwards to say the least.



So full that as we meandered back to the office we all stopped at the dried fruits and nuts shop to buy more snacks and then picked up an iced coffee. It has been twenty two days since my last coffee. I'm not really counting, it's easy to figure out when each day is labelled and to be honest I haven't been craving it. With that said, the coffee was off the chain delicious and I have I regrets breaking the no caffeine rule.



At the office we realized we still had time before the taxi arrived so the only logical thing to do was to go back to the shop and pick up chikku juice. Chikku is this weird little fruit that we get on occasion in our fruit salad in the morning and it is delicious. As it turns out, so is chikku juice.



Finally we all piled into the van and headed home to the ashram. It was nice coming back early and relaxing out at the picnic tables. We just chatted about this that and the other and indulged on the nuts we had just bought.



Time flies when your relaxing and having fun because before we knew it it was nearly sunset and we all decided to head up the hill to check it out the first time wasn't all that spectacular but this one certainly made up for it.



The sunset was beautiful. While it was going down a few of us had a yoga photo shoot, each of us posing with the sun setting behind us. Maybe a little corny but it was all good and quite adorable.



Eventually we all sat down and just enjoyed the sunset. With just a smidge of light left we made our way back down the mountain for dinner.



Day Twenty Three



Breathing exam, asana exams, essays and lessons. That is the name of the game this week because as crazy as it sounds it is the last week. I seriously can't believe it, time has flown by. No more asana class, no more lectures, all we have left are what we will be graded on.



First up, Pranayama exam which will be judging how well we breath. Yes breath in different ways and make bumble bee sounds and lock our abs and best yet how we pour water through our nose and then shake our heads like elephants. Yes you read that all correctly.



After tea and a discussion on the proper way to lock ones abs and finding that I have serious issues doing just that we all headed over, grabbed our spots and waited for the breathing to begin.



Just like our asana exam we were divided into groups and waited for our turn to preform whatever task that examiner was marking. Acting like a bumblebee and the a bumblebee who had sucked in helium was task number one and turns out I make a great bumblebee. Ab locking didn't go nearly as well but I tried. What did to exceptionally well, in fact e best it has ever gone was netti. Turns out I'm becoming an expert at pouring water through my nose. None of it dribbled down my cheek like usual or came out my mouth or nearly choked me nope it flowed in a nice and steady manner.



There was no karma this morning because today we learned how to creat our final lesson and the groups we would be in. My group is pretty stellar and I decided to get everything over with so I'm going on the first day. That us definitely something new for me, normally I would want to be last but now I'm stepping up with a bit of confidence.



The afternoon was spent lesson planning until I decided to start working on my head stand. We don't have to do it in our final but I want to. I have to hold it for thirsty seconds which sounds so short until you are on your head. I practiced and felt confident although a smidge of me was still nervous.



Finally it was time to start. The asanas we started with were easy but eventually the time came. When our examiner asked who was doing the head stand I put my hand up and got ready. Not jumping off my toes, I slowly lifted my body up and although I didn't straighten it as much as I could have I stayed up for the thirty seconds BALLER. After that I conquered crow and wheel and feel as thought the exam went pretty great overall.



Up the mountain we all went to enjoy the sunset before dinner and celebrate the beginning of the end.



Day Twenty Four



Trial lesson start

Karma micro lesson

Afternoon lesson went well

Workout w max

Carrot salad?

Shop open

Rakki on my knee



Day Twenty Five



Aikkiko and Choi have their lessons this morning and although they were a smidge nervous they both banged out fabulous lessons. Once they were done we were done with lessons for the day. It totally pays to have six people in a group!



Essays in the morning including my own which although I started out nervous eventually got my groove and banged out ten minutes with no problems at all.



Whether it is due to the carrot salad, heat or stress there are quite a few people feeling sick today included with them my boys Rob and Max. I feel for them, it sucks to feel like crap during exam week but at least they really aren't missing much excitement.



With an afternoon off I wasn't sure what to do. The answer came when Kat decided we should do henna. One of the ladies in the kitchen does henna so after a quick scheduling, we fixed a time, grabbed Kat's henna cone and brought it up.



Kat was first to go and the decide was beautiful. There was still a lot of cone left so then I went and if I do say so myself mine was a bit prettier. And then kathrine managed to be walking by and we fetched her to get some done as well.



Still there was a lot of ink left in the cone and Katherine didn't want to waste anything so off she went on a creative whirl wind starting with Kat's foot. A lovely little garden scene including flowers and a butterfly filled Kat's food but still there was ink left. So I asked for her to cover up my tattoo with a tree to see what that might look like.



My tattoo is on the left side of my back so when I felt the cool henna pen on my spine I was a bit confuse to say the least. I was wondering how big this tree was going to be and once I realized that it wasn't covering the tattoo at all it was too late.



A mural was being designed on my back, one that included bumble bees and snakes and most importantly a squirrel. It is quite hilarious and ridiculous but a good laugh and a fun time. I just hope it doesn't last three weeks!



Nothing to do in the afternoon so I planned a little for my final tomorrow afternoon and then just relaxed, trying to keep my henna from smudging. Before dinner I did some exercise and then headed up for a meal I strangly wasn't hungry for. But I'm always hungry I thought.



The evening session was brief, mostly just to try and tell us all not to stress before our finals tomorrow and to let us know that Ghandar is leaving in two days. Kind of sucks he won't be there for our ceremony but what can you do?



Calling it an early night!



Day Twenty Six



While I sat around chatting with friends this morning I noticed something, no Pat. Since he is almost always at tea time AND had his final this morning I found this especially unusual n when rumor spread that he too was ill I thought that perhaps I would be getting done with my own lesson this morning. Sure I wasn't really prepared, I had only looked at one of my postures once and I didn't even know my preparatory movement and forget the mantras but hey getting it over with might be worth and unprepared lesson.



Kathrin rocked it out and then there was a lull as we wondered what to do. I asked for ten minutes to whip up my lesson plan and then began. I wasn't to nervous considering I didn't have a whole lot of time to allow myself to feel nervous. Off I went in the unnatural calm voice that is required of a yoga teacher. Sure during micro lessons I had learned that my spunky upbeat energetic voice was a nice niche in the calm yoga atmosphere here but since I was being graded on a soothing voice I tried to tone it down and leave out words such as janky. It want really me, and I would never in a million years teach a lesson like this but hey it wasn't half bad for being half prepared and better yet I AM DONE!!!



Katherine and I danced around the room rejoicing to being done with everything. Not that there was a whole lot of pressure on us before, but now there is none at all. It feels so nice to breath a sigh of relief. This now gives me a whole forenoon to just shut off the brain instead of trying to learn mantras I will never say again.



Since we were done early I got a quick work out in before breakfast. Old kitchen was my karma and then there were more essays where I just cross stitched while listening to all the essays. The last day of essays and to be fair everyone's was pretty interesting.



Lunch bell rings and we all flock to the kitchen to enjoy some of the last meals we will be getting here at the ashram.



And afternoon of relaxation plus a half hour of good old yoga nidra which had exited our lives far to early especially during exam time when we need it most. Tow more lessons this afternoon given by Janelle and Pat, both who have been sick but managed to pull our great lessons.



Again because we have a nice small class we ended early. I had intended to climb the mountain with Max but couldn't find him so Pilates seemed like the only logical choice so that is what I did before dinner.



After dinner a crazy drumbeat circle dance sesh broke out. It was so much fun. The boys started banging on the bongos and later a whole crew was in there banging out beats while a handful of us danced around like fools. It was a great time to say the least!



Hitting up the shop to pay a ridiculous bill that I don't even know how I incurred and then to listen to some music before hitting up the bed.



Day Twenty Seven





Lesson in the am. It is the last go of them and then we are done. Crazy! After tea we all sat through those last two lessons of our yoga teaching training and two hours later we were sort of free. I have to say how great my group is again. The people and our examiner who was just so nice and encouraging.



Breakfast as delicious but because I was headed into town I tried not to stuff my face knowing I would be doing that for lunch. We piled more than usual into a taxi and headed out



In Nashik our usual first stop was Internet bit we were only there for a hot second because food was far more important. We meandered around for a bit looking for a new place to hit up and eventually we found a nice little restaurant. Kat ordered up for us once more and the food as always was tasty although there was a bit of language barrier so each dip came out at a different time.



Max and I headed back to the office and just kicked it there for awhile until everyone else showed up and we headed back. It was nice to relax and by relax I mean do some Pilates before heading up to see the sunset once more.



The evening was packed with dinner, a drum circle, chanting and one of the girl putting on a traditional Indian dance performance. It was a great way to end the last night with everyone.



Day Twenty Eight



It is officially our last day and I can't believe it. Truly where does the time go. I'm not alone in thinking that the time flew by. Just the other day I felt like I was sleeping in the Mumbai airport, being awaken by Indians to see a white dude walking towards me. Little would I know that Rob would become one if my closest friends here and in all honestly make me feel like I've known him far longer than just this one month.



It is just the beginning of the day, 5:18 to be exact. Naturally I am awake but not for tea, instead it is because we are all hiking up the hill this morning before sunrise with the intention of doing our final yoga session together, as the sun rises.



The ceremony will be taking place today, we will be receiving our certificates that show we have completed the course and are officially teachers. From there far to many people from my yogi family will head out to continue their journeys onward or back home. Few stragglers will be left behind to enjoy the ashram, but it certainly won't be the same without people such as Rob, Cherry and so many others.



We headed up the hill to enjoy the last sunrise together and it did us proud. Although there was talk of 108 sun salutations we called it at 24, I'm pretty sure I was the only one upset with this. We replaced the rest of those sun salutations with many many photo shoots that did make up for it in the end.



When the heat started to hit we walked on down and prepared to get ready for our ceremony. All the ladies decided to get dolled up, two of them even came is saris but it wasn't easy. There has only been two mornings where the water stopped and guess when the second day was. For some reason however the boys had water so Cherry and I grabbed some from them and managed a quick shower.



The ceremony was quite nice. Ghandarji, who has been sick, ended up performing it with his father giving a nice speech as well. It was graduation style to a T as we all went up to receive our certifications and get our photo taken with it. It is official, I am a teacher!



After lunch some people headed out and the others headed to the caves. It was sad to say goodbye to Cherry and Rob but I'm excited for them to enjoy the next leg of their journey.



The caves were cool. They were cut into a huge mountain and has lots of Buddhist cut outs in the side of them. After that we hit up Panchivati where strangers treated us like celebrities. For the first time I got some street food and it was great. I don't really know what it was but the first thing was spicy and the second one just delicious.



The time came to head back and Max and I hit up one more sunset before going to dinner where we were spoiled with one of our favorite meals here in the ashram. It was a good last night. There has been a change of plans because tomorrow I am headed into town and staying with the Italians for the night and then off to Mumbai. Can't believe India is nearly over for me!

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Comments

[Carolina]

Do you recomend this YTT?
Namaste, I'm planning to do my YTT there but I havent find too many reviews about YogaPoint. can you pls tell me what do you think about it? as a yogi, teacher. student? Thank you very much for your help!

[Steml02]

Ashram Life
Carolina, I am so sorry for such a tardy response and this probably doesn't even help you at this point. If you have decided to YogaPoint I hope you had a fabulous time. If not and you are still considering it, I would certainly recommend them. I had a very enjoyable time learning yoga and the actual teachers for the physical yoga aspect were awesome. I will admit that some of the classes that were more sit down and learn classes were tedious. Not that I thought we shouldn't be learning such things, just that some teachers are a bit less charismatic than others. However the location is gorgeous, the place is clean, the food is awesome and the other students were great. I would recommend YogaPoints for sure.