We are both home now

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Hi there! We're both home now.

India was amazing! The ashram was heaven on earth. It was so mystical, beautiful and a life changing experience for me. I meditated, practiced yoga and helped run the mini snack area called Amrit. I really purified and feel like a new woman. What a blessing to have had the opportunity to spend time there. The ashram is located in the Tansa Valley in a little village called Ganeshpuri. It's about 2.5 hours from Mumbai. I was there during monsoon so it rained a lot and the land was very green and lush. Although it rained a lot there were still plenty of sunny days and it was very hot and humid the whole time.

I had the opportunity to do some volunteer work with Prasad, which is a charity run by the ashram, in the local area where I spent one day assisting at an HIV clinic during their bi-annual "camp" where 172 HIV infected women from the local area were counseled and received paps. It was a very powerful experience to be able to assist with weighing them and directing them to the waiting area. They were very sick yet every one of them had enough energy to give me a warm smile. On my last day in India I volunteered with the Milk Project, also run by Prasad. The Milk Project was wonderful we traveled around to 9 different schools in the area and gave children cups of milk. This is done every Wednesday to help the poor children of the community. In the afternoon, we went to a woman's Self Help Group, run by Prasad, where the women all get together to support each other in their community.

The pictures below are from these 3 volunteer experiences, which in India we call seva ~ selfless service. I do not have any pictures of the ashram as they are not allowed to preserve the sanctity of it. However, I will let you know that there were temples, many statues of great saints ranging from Buddha to Jesus to other enlightened people. There was a large dining area, hatha yoga exercise room, a meditation cave, dorms and a beautiful field that had a track around it where I walked/jogged. This was one of my favorite places as every lap I saw a new beauty. There were so many different types of birds, butterflies, trees, animals and flowers living there. In the evening fireflies would come out and dance just above grass. Absolutely gorgeous!

We look forward to reconnecting with everyone and sharing stories of our adventures. We'll be in touch soon with the date of our slideshow in the backyard.

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Photos

HIV Clinic
Women lined up to register for the HIV Clinic. I only took a couple of pictures to respect their privacy.

Banner
This is the sign outside of the clinic

Hills and Rice Fields
Here is a view of the area surrounding the ashram.

Milk Project
Sweet little children

Me and Marta
Here are myself and Marta. Marta was my roommate at the ashram. She is from Spain. We went on the milk run together.