Ashram virgins

A trip to India would not be complete without a visit to one of the many ashrams that form part of the deeply spiritual and sometimes "interesting" beliefs and practices that exist in this country. Ashram's seem to draw a mix of people searching for the meaning of life, dedicated yogis who want to deepen their practice, curious travellers wanting to know what all the fuss is about and then a crowd that falls into the Gen Y bracket who covers all of the above.

The first challenge was deciding on which Ashram to visit on our short stay in Kerala - we had 2 main options which consisted of Sivananda Yoga which is known for it's hatha yoga and Amma's (otherwise known as Hugging Amma, one of India's few female guru's).  We opted for Sivananda, 1 to experience the yoga and 2, it seemed easy and close and fitted our rough plans nicely. Something that is important when travelling with limited time in India. I had been in contact with Sivananda prior to leaving as I was not sure if it was required to book, they had informed me that they were very busy during this time but they never turned away visitors. So we headed off to see what was it really like being part of ashram life.  It turns out, they were right. They were very busy.....close to 500 people were in residence when we arrived as they were hosting 200 teacher trainees all dutifully clothed in their uniform of yellow shirts and white pants. But they did not turn us away as promised, and offered us a make shift dorm which had been set up and asked - "Do you have yoga mats? Good, as they can double as your mattress."  Now, my yoga mat is like my best friend, I love my mat as I have spent so many hours on it, it has been there through good times and bad....but sleeping on it? Not sure I wanted to spend that much time on the 5mm thick piece of rubber. However, someone once said to me when travelling "adventure babe" which has become my mantra whenever I may hesitate a litte, and it seemed like this was a perfect moment to embrace my travelling mantra.  So we agreed that 3 nights on our yoga mats with a sheet, pillow and mosquito net would be a great adventure. As Stella said, it will be just like camping.

On arrival we were given our list of clear Ashram guidelines that ranged from the rigorous schedule to how to eat (with the right hand as left is used for hygiene purposes) and how to dress appropriately. Our day began at 5.20am by the first bell and at 6am all 500 of us made our way to the main hall for a morning meditation (30min) and chanting (30 min) and then talking (which was basically the Swami giving his daily lesson (30 min). The early starts did not really bother me as I am morning person but I did find the 90minutes of sitting in cross legs a small challenge, my month of limited asana practice prior to leaving was not such a good idea after all. We then had a quick chai (milky sweet tea) before heading off to our 2 hour asana class. I have never tried the Sivananda series and became quite accustom to the eye and neck exercises by the 3rd day. The sequence is quite structured but reasonably simple - except for the girl next to me who could manage full locust pose and peacock pose seemingly in her sleep (google them if you don't know, they are crazy!) 10 am a hearty breakfast followed by 11am Karma yoga (helping out in the ashram) 12.30pm optional coaching followed by 2pm lectures and a 3.30pm asana class - dinner at 6pm and then satsang (a repeat of the morning meditation, chanting series) from 8pm. Lights out by 10pm - which was no trouble as we were pretty tired after our gruelling schedule - so much from some R&R! At some point in the day, a rumour went around new mattresses had arrived, so we were fortunate enough not to have spend our first night on our yoga mats. Sorry mat, maybe next time.....

The grounds at the Ashram

Our 3 days continued much the same, the variation of yoga in the hall or by the lake was a pleasant change of scenery. One of the rules of the ashram was to not leave the ashram, so to get out was like being naughty school children. The ashram was located near a lion reserve so we were often blessed during meditation or class with the sounds of animals, however I am still not convinced it was not a group of locals standing out side imitating lions, or a group of people throwing up, or even people having sex...it really sounded more like that than real lions to me.  I did enjoy the routine of ashram life, having yummy meals cooked every day and the chance to practice asana twice a day a real treat. But I am not sure that this as a permanent life of existance is for this yogi, living yoga in my daily life, whilst much harder and filled with many more distractions, is also so much more fun. (So no need to worry mum!)