Beginning of Week 2

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Here we are at the start of week 2 and I feel like I have been here for so much longer! This weekend we stayed at Vivekanandapuram the Headquarter of the Spiritually Oriented Service Mission in Kanyakumari. I was eager to do some meditation and yoga. Kanyakumar is an attraction for people all over because it where the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, and Indian ocean all merge together. We watched the sunset the first night. It was like being in a movie looking out at the city on the ocean. Then we went to the Kanyakumari temple. Kanyakumari means virgin goddess and this temple is dedicated to her. The archtitecture was beautiful and the temple had a rich history. The next morning I woke up at 5am to watch the sunrise. Professor Nair said some people call it sun gazing. I hadn't woken up this early in ages but it was well worth it. I took some amazing photographs and collected some beautiful seashells. After a teacher named Deepak Gi at Vivekananda taught us some meditation and breathing exericises. I am learning that here in India there is so much more to yoga than the poses or the asanas. Yoga is a way of life. We also went to the Vivekananda Rock Memorial. I must mention that Vivekananda is a swami who wrote many books on Indian culture, philosophy, and yoga. I learned from Deepak Gi four different types of yoga: raja yoga, gnan yoga, bhakti yoga, and karma yoga. I bought books on raja yoga, bhakti yoga, and karma yoga all by Swami Vivakananda. He puts complicated concepts in plain English. I am eager to read them all. On Sunday we went to another temple called Suchindram Temple. The temples here are so incredibly beautiful and have so much detail it is amazing. I just think about how far man has come and the civilizations that have lived before us. This particular temple is 1300 years old! Here is some more information on Suchindram--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suchindram. Photography is never allowed in the temple and unfortunately I wasn't able to take a photograph outside of it. Today we started a course called the Art of Living. It is everyday from 6:30am to 8:30am. We learn different breathing techniques. I will write more soon as the week progresses. Namaste!

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