The Ashram - Relax Your Internal Organs
Here's a Joke: Out of all the nuts and bolts in a car whats the most important one? Answer: The nut driving the car. This is how I wold describe my weekend.
I arrived In Auburn, California on Friday evening after a lovely morning at the modern art museum in San Francisco (which conveniently happen to be free if your 18 years old which is the kind of stuff I live for nowadays). I waited on the station for one of the staff from the yoga farm to pick me up, which was the whole reason I was in Auburn. He was easy to spot with his flowy white pants and bright yellow shirt. The car ride was a chatty one as we talked about our time in India and Montana. I have found this to be the case with almost everyone I have met. People want to talk and exchange experiences and memories. Ok, Here is where the joke first comes into play. We had already been in the car for an hour as he began to tell me the story of when he had first seen a bear in Montana AND it happened to be on the same day as the eclipse. Well we missed the exit to the farm which added an extra 40 minutes and he turns to ask me where we are. Classic!
That evening I attended Satsang which is a time for meditation and chanting. I came in late and sat in the back. The swami, a top dog yogi, finished the chants and told the joke about the nuts and bolts. After what seemed like such an intense and spiritual event, a corny joke followed. I realized that maybe a meditation retreat wasn't as intimidating as I thought.
The next day I began to understand the relevance of the joke. We learned in yoga philosophy class that Swami Sivananda, the head honcho of Sivananda yoga, saw yoga and how it affects your body similar to a car. Proper Breathing is cooling your engine, Proper diet is gasoline, and proper thinking is the driver who controls the car. Those were the only ones I could remember.
I took a beginner yoga class because I knew that this would be a more classical form of yoga that centered around spirituality rather than physical strength (quite different to corepower). These yoga classes will forever be burned into my mind. The teacher would tell us to "bend the knee" and "relax our internal organs". My inner GOT fan died from the bend the knee and someone telling you to relax your internal organs, that's just funny. Later that evening I attended Satsang again and attempted meditation for 30 minutes. 30 minutes is like a whole Seinfeld episode, accept that whole time you're sitting cross legged as each of your legs begin to fall asleep and you have to keep readjusting your bum on the cushion. Like the yoga class, my mind kept wandering off to random thoughts that would not constitute as meditation. I kept opening my eyes to check on the people next to me and they were just still as a rock. Maybe one day I will get there.
The schedule is the same everyday on the ashram: 5:30am wake up call, 6am Satsang, 8am yoga, 10am brunch, 11am karma yoga, 4pm yoga, 6pm dinner, and 8pm Satsang. I know what your thinking. Only two meals. I know I thought the same thing. As soon as I came back to San Fran I ate 2 huge slices of delicious cheap pizza and a heaping of tiramisu. Anyways, what I was really trying to understand from this weekend is how someone finds peace. I find peace doing yoga and eating tiramisu, but for those who live on the ashram, especially the swamis, their peace is solely based on sivananda yoga and sivanandas teachings. They have devoted the rest of their life to this life, this consistent schedule. They arent allowed to have any possessions, receive gifts, and be connected to anything or anyone, including their family. Imagine that dedication. I realized that that lifestyle isn't for me. Yogis, similar to monks, seek for a steady and peaceful lifestyle. Their goal is eliminate the ups and downs that we experience all the time. That pizza and tiramisu for example is one of the reasons I live. Experiencing the sensation of food is one of my favorite things. For yogis and swamis you simply eat to live. Food exists to sustain you.
Its tough. I see the benefits to living a peaceful and steady lifestyle, like a swami. Then again I also think that having highs and lows in life is completely natural. Thats why I had a difficult time at the ashram. It felt as though this lifestyle was it, it was the best way to live life. But I think about the joke again, and maybe the yogis do get it. They still see themselves as nuts. Maybe they still aren't really sure what they're doing either.
I arrived In Auburn, California on Friday evening after a lovely morning at the modern art museum in San Francisco (which conveniently happen to be free if your 18 years old which is the kind of stuff I live for nowadays). I waited on the station for one of the staff from the yoga farm to pick me up, which was the whole reason I was in Auburn. He was easy to spot with his flowy white pants and bright yellow shirt. The car ride was a chatty one as we talked about our time in India and Montana. I have found this to be the case with almost everyone I have met. People want to talk and exchange experiences and memories. Ok, Here is where the joke first comes into play. We had already been in the car for an hour as he began to tell me the story of when he had first seen a bear in Montana AND it happened to be on the same day as the eclipse. Well we missed the exit to the farm which added an extra 40 minutes and he turns to ask me where we are. Classic!
That evening I attended Satsang which is a time for meditation and chanting. I came in late and sat in the back. The swami, a top dog yogi, finished the chants and told the joke about the nuts and bolts. After what seemed like such an intense and spiritual event, a corny joke followed. I realized that maybe a meditation retreat wasn't as intimidating as I thought.
The next day I began to understand the relevance of the joke. We learned in yoga philosophy class that Swami Sivananda, the head honcho of Sivananda yoga, saw yoga and how it affects your body similar to a car. Proper Breathing is cooling your engine, Proper diet is gasoline, and proper thinking is the driver who controls the car. Those were the only ones I could remember.
I took a beginner yoga class because I knew that this would be a more classical form of yoga that centered around spirituality rather than physical strength (quite different to corepower). These yoga classes will forever be burned into my mind. The teacher would tell us to "bend the knee" and "relax our internal organs". My inner GOT fan died from the bend the knee and someone telling you to relax your internal organs, that's just funny. Later that evening I attended Satsang again and attempted meditation for 30 minutes. 30 minutes is like a whole Seinfeld episode, accept that whole time you're sitting cross legged as each of your legs begin to fall asleep and you have to keep readjusting your bum on the cushion. Like the yoga class, my mind kept wandering off to random thoughts that would not constitute as meditation. I kept opening my eyes to check on the people next to me and they were just still as a rock. Maybe one day I will get there.
The schedule is the same everyday on the ashram: 5:30am wake up call, 6am Satsang, 8am yoga, 10am brunch, 11am karma yoga, 4pm yoga, 6pm dinner, and 8pm Satsang. I know what your thinking. Only two meals. I know I thought the same thing. As soon as I came back to San Fran I ate 2 huge slices of delicious cheap pizza and a heaping of tiramisu. Anyways, what I was really trying to understand from this weekend is how someone finds peace. I find peace doing yoga and eating tiramisu, but for those who live on the ashram, especially the swamis, their peace is solely based on sivananda yoga and sivanandas teachings. They have devoted the rest of their life to this life, this consistent schedule. They arent allowed to have any possessions, receive gifts, and be connected to anything or anyone, including their family. Imagine that dedication. I realized that that lifestyle isn't for me. Yogis, similar to monks, seek for a steady and peaceful lifestyle. Their goal is eliminate the ups and downs that we experience all the time. That pizza and tiramisu for example is one of the reasons I live. Experiencing the sensation of food is one of my favorite things. For yogis and swamis you simply eat to live. Food exists to sustain you.
Its tough. I see the benefits to living a peaceful and steady lifestyle, like a swami. Then again I also think that having highs and lows in life is completely natural. Thats why I had a difficult time at the ashram. It felt as though this lifestyle was it, it was the best way to live life. But I think about the joke again, and maybe the yogis do get it. They still see themselves as nuts. Maybe they still aren't really sure what they're doing either.
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