Advertisement
A yoga teacher training program brought me to Bali. It was a one month intensive and they weren't kidding about the intensive. To my surprise, it was more emotionally and spiritually challenging much more than physically challenging. I underwent everything from fasting on Thursdays, vows of silence, 4 am yoga classes, 6 am meditation daily, lack of sleep to a new diet (raw vegan only) that didn't work well with my body. The group was 40 women and 1 male....I had a roommate and 6 women in the house. Privacy was rare and estrogen was high. Week 3 was a digestive cleanse entailing 80 pills a day (40 in the morning and 40 at night) which completely weakened my system while I was still doing hard physical yoga classes. This cleanse was worse for others than myself as some dealt with vomiting through the night. The style of the whole training was quite militant as rules and time schedules were strict...this isn't my style to say the least. Honestly, I almost walked out 10 times.
The teachers/guru's were amazing though. I was studying history of India and roots of yoga, philosophy of yoga today, yoga as spiritual path, but not
a religion, anatomy of the body, natural/holisitic medicine and remedies, how yoga helps the organs and bones, nutrition and its effect physically and spiritually. Kirtan (yogic chanting) musicians came in to perform in the mornings and the evenings and we chanted for hours together. Top yogi's from around the world performed for us in the evening and introduced us to Iyengar, Ashtanga, Tripsichore and Vinyasa types of yoga. I was learning so much from them and feeling new kinds of inspiration. In the yoga asana (physical posutres) classes, I began to do new postures I had never thought possible. I went through a range of emotions. I cried tears of pain and tears of joy and best of all tears of overwhelming emotion. I had spiritual experiences that I hesitate to explain to anyone. The meditation became beautiful and clear. My body became strong. Friendships grew deep quickly. I learned things about myself I don't think I could have otherwise faced. I can't explain this month and do it justice since it was my own personal experience, but I know that I'm forever changed. The people in photos are forever in my memory, as we did it together!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.136s; Tpl: 0.019s; cc: 6; qc: 51; dbt: 0.1018s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
leaving for Girls Night Out...to the Temple
