we stayed in dormatories, and i really enjoyed getting to know so many incredible women. it was like college all over again, with more emphasis on spirituality and self development, and living communally with lladies from all over the globe!

 i often find transitions to be challenging, as both the immersion and depature from the ashram were. we fumbled along at first, not quite sure when to be silent, how to properly be served dinner and wash our dish, which mats to use for yoga vs. meditation, how to meditate, and what the hell we were saying when we sang the sanskrit chants. but with each mistake we learned something new and by the time we left we were helping to guide the newbies.

the sivinanda ashram was tucked into the lush green hills of neyyar dam in kerala. i was relieved to step out of the dusty cacophonous streets of india and ascend into the jungle with our backpacks and our new friends (carita from finland and sree from india). in any given day we could hear a million different bird calls. and one thing we did a lot of at the ashram is listen, sponge up the symphony of sounds around us... we did 4 hours of yoga a day, but we probably spent 1/4 of the yoga session in lying in shavasana (corpse pose). i learned crow and headstand. yay! abel and i also avoided becoming crocodile food, while swimming nearly every day in the infamous crocodile lake! i think the crocodiles must be vegetarians too!