Life at an ashram

Well, we have been at the ashram for... some number of days... I'm not really sure how many. Four or five? It's very easy to lose track of the days. The only reason I know that today is Sunday is because we have the day off - no yoga today...

Life at the ashram is very pleasant and very peaceful. It's a little bit up on a hill, so its above the noise of the street traffic (although when it's really quiet, like during meditation, you can still here a cacophony of honking horns in the distance). Waking up at 4:30 am every day is not exactly the most appealing aspect, but you are waking up to sit quietly and meditate for an hour first, so you don't really have to be terribly awake at that point. After the morning yoga class, the first meal of the day is breakfast at 8:00, and by that point you have already been awake for 3 and a half hours.

There is not much to do between breakfast and afternoon tea at 4:00 (apart from lunch at noon). I spend most of the time reading or napping. There is a small library with a bunch of books about yoga and meditation and the such. I also borrowed The Omnivores Dilemma from Michele... It's a depressing book in a lot of ways, although it was kind of nice to be reading it while eating the vegetarian food here at the ashram and knowing that, at least for the moment, I'm completely separated from the industrial agriculture machine the book describes. (I am, of course, reliant on the Indian agriculture process which I'm sure has its fair share of problems as well... but that's a worry for another time) Yesterday we bought a board game at a little store nearby. We had seen Indians all over rishikesh playing it on the street, and finally decided to get it for ourselves. It only cost 20 rupees (about the equivalent of 40 cents). So now we have added that to the short list of "things to do in the middle of the day": nap, read, play ludo

It's an interesting mix of people at the ashram. About 30 people in total. They range from very serious yoga practitioners to beginners like me. We're on the young side, but not the youngest there... not a lot of men... maybe five. Mostly european, some asian, and even fewer Indians. Some seem more interesting in the meditation aspect, others don't care much about (or even go to) meditation. I must admit I find the morning meditation pretty difficult as my brain is still pretty much asleep making it difficult to concentrate on anything, and I generally spend most of that time just sitting quietly in the dark. I would stop going to morning meditation entirely, but the one time I did that, my brain was not yet awake when it came time for yoga, and that was worse...

Meals are simple, but generally good. Lunch and dinner generally consists of rice, roti (indian flat bread, also called chapati), a little bowl of soup, some curried vegetables (usually potatoes or cauliflower), and some salad (not leafy salad, usually cucumbers or radishes or something like that). Breakfast is a piece of fruit, a bowl of porridge, and a cup of chai tea (mmm... chai tea...) When you first arrive, they give you a metal plate, bowl, cup and spoon, and you are responsible for washing them and bringing them with you to the meals. It's kind of funny to see everyone coming out of their rooms one or two at a time carrying their little plate and stuff and heading to the dining area. The rooms are very simple, but also generally good. A bed, and a small side table, and everyone has their own bath room with hot water. What more do you need?

Not sure yet how I feel about yoga in general. I enjoy the fact that at the ashram they instruct you on all aspects of yoga, which is a lot more than just the physical poses and stretches that I picture when I think about a yoga class back in the states... although to be fair, I don't really know what yoga classes are like back in the states. Maybe when I get back I will go check one or two out to compare. Anyways, at this point I don't really see myself continuing to practice yoga regularly after I leave... still have a week to go, however, and I must admit that the more I do it, the more I enjoy it!

Anyways, with the day off we are going for another little hike to a different waterfall. Should be nice!

Namaste!