It’s the day before our “yoga vacation” course starts so we took a rickshaw in the afternoon to the ashram (i.e. retreat). When we arrived it seemed deserted apart from a few people quietly sitting under a tree but we were soon checked in and shown to the dorms where we’ll be spending the next 10 days. My dorm had about 20 beds in – most seemed to be on the teachers training course that has already been running for a few weeks and there are a few yoga vacationers who have been around for a while as well. Felt a bit lost as we could not take part in the yoga classes yet (the beginner classes start tomorrow). I just sat reading in the room (it’s very hot outside) while the others went off to class.
Dinner was interesting. At 6pm everybody (about 100 people) sits cross–legged in rows on the floor of the dining hall chanting “Hare Krishna” whilst the food is served out onto stainless steel trays. Food is tasty curry and bread. Not sure I can sit cross-legged for very long though.
In the evening we bought some yoga mats and baggy trousers for me. At 8pm there is half an hour of silent meditation – very hard to concentrate when sitting cross-legged as my feet keep going numb! After that is chanting along with drums and bells. The chants are very repetitive and gets faster for a few minutes until it ends. The lyrics are something like a Kula Shaker song. It’s also very hot and sweaty even though the yoga hall where we sit is open sided.
Lights out and bed at 10pm.
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