My New Home: Shree Seetaram Ashram

I moved into the Shree Seetaram Ashram on Friday afternoon, as it was becoming the center of so much of my activity, and it was a far walk from my guest house. I was uncomfortable walking back to my guest housein the dark after yoga every night, so accommodations in this simple place seemed like a good idea. An Ashram is a popular place that people go for yoga training and for holistic health, healing and peace. The rooms are very simple and there is no TV. Instead of watching CNN, I now am reading my books when I have spare time. I like it.

My schedule is quite busy here. I get up at 6am and walk with others in the tea gardens for 1 or 1 ½ hours. We then take a few moments for tea. Then we have an hour of yoga and meditation. After yoga, we take our baths and then share breakfast together around 9:30 or 10:00 am. Than it is time for me to go play with the children at the Kahruna Vihar School for handicapped children. I stay until 1:00pm, then walk to the resource center and interact with the administrative and awareness group of the Latika Roy Foundation. I also check my email and update my blog at this time. Evening yoga begins at 5pm, then another walk, then dinner. Sometimes I am so tired by 7:30 or 8pm that I fall asleep until the new day begins with the same schedule at 6am.

This is my room on the outside.

The yoga I am learning is the Kriya Yoga training. There are exercises and stretches for every part of the body, including the eyes, the mouth, neck, shoulders, chest, arms, stomach, legs, and even the internal organs. All the stretches and the exercises, though, are preparing the body for only one thing- meditation. That is what yoga is all about. It is training the mind to focus on the inner peace of yourself. With lessons twice a day, I am learning to settle my mind and I am actually learning so very much about the spiritual side of myself. Yoga is not a religion, nor are the chants related to a religion. It is all about inner peace and coming to God; it’s about letting go of affliction, organizing your inner self, and then filling it with the love and light of God. It is all truly beautiful. I know that I was brought here to learn this and it will help me throughout my life.

A temple in the Ashram.

A room at the Ashram is very simple. Things are different than the U.S. For my bath, there are two faucets; hot and cold. To merge the two together, there is a bucket. I run the two waters into the bucket, and pour it over me with smaller scoops. I lather, then rinse by pouring the water over my head. It’s quite refreshing, actually, and doesn’t waste much water. The first night here, I discovered my bed was a board with a blanket. I slept better than I thought I would, but requested a mattress pad for the board, and a thick quilt to stay warm. Friday night brought a violent storm, and with the storm came the cold weather. It is now quite chilly in the mornings and evenings and cool during the day.

Food is delicious at the Ashram. It is all vegetarian, spicy, and so delicious. I have never seen so many different ways to prepare vegetables. I am also discovering new vegetables that I have never tasted before. Spices are used very generously, and sometimes eaten by the handful in raw form to freshen breath or aide digestion. The other night, after a meeting, I experienced the most delightful sweet thing I have ever put into my mouth! It looked at tasted like fried honey! I honestly thought it was sweets from heaven. I couldn’t stop eating them, and I definitely ate too many. I woke the next day with a sugar headache, as my body is not used to eating sugar anymore! It was worth it though, and I would probably over indulge again if they cross my path in the future. I can’t remember the Indian word for them-maybe “Gelob”-but for me, it will be fried honey. I have had no meat here. I could seriously become a vegetarian if I could learn to cook such wonderful dishes with all the fantastic spices. Yes, life is good here with walking, yoga, excellent food and company, volunteer work, and of course, my Rotary friends.