Reflections from the Ashram

Om Namah Sivaya,

I am leaving the ashram tomorrow morning. I was planning to stay until Wednesday, but I have to catch a train from the city of Cochin, to Varinasi by Sat. Nov. 1. I wanted to spend some time in some of the other cities in Kerala before leaving. Tomorrow, I am heading for Kayakumari which is the most southernly city in India. Kanyakumari is a sacred Hindu city dedicated to the Devi goddesses. Also, the Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean all converge in Kanyakumari.

Living in the ashram has been a transformational experience. It has been interesting to be both the participant and the observer of my experience, watching the mental, emotional, psychological and physical changes as they occur.
Initially, the solitude and the retreat provided by the ashram made me quite uncomfortable. I could feel my ego resisting the perceived confines of the circumstances. My ego was struggling to accept the separation from that which it is accustomed to using to establish its identity. The renunciation of the familiar provides the context for challenging and dissolving parts the ego. It is interesting how quickly you become aware of all that you are attached to! Chocolate, sugar, caffeine, TALKING, sleeping, hot water for the shower... But moving through this challenge was part of my intended experience and I am grateful for its teachings, even if initially I questioned why I was here and constructed a calendar to cross off the dates counting down the days I'd be at the ashram in an effort to ease the discomfort. I had to keep reassuring myself that I would adapt. In India there is a saying: Adapt, adjust, accommodate.
Through the yogic practice, my disposition began to shift. The discomfort was actually alleviated by the rigidity of the daily schedule. I observed the gains I was making daily in both flexibility and strength and my body was reflecting how important this practice is for the wellbeing of my body. This understanding through the physical body is what led my mind to a tangible and significant "reason" for my presence here. I felt my mind shift into a state of ease and I felt grateful for being here. In the 11 days I have been here, I have made recognizable gains in not only flexibility and strength, but also in my sitting posture. My hips are open enough and my back strong enough to support me comfortably through two hours of mediation each day. This alone is making my meditations more focused and more fruitful. This experience has been remarkably beneficial and truly wonderful.

My interpretations of the relationship between the union of body and mind.
In Sanskrit, yoga means to yolk or unify. The union is said to be two-fold: One, it is the union between the mind, body and spirit, and two, the highest truest meaning of yoga is the union between the individual self and the universal self or consciousness. In Hatha yoga, which is the form I am practicing here, the asanas and the pranayama is designed to balance the masculine and feminine energies of the body. In each asana there is relationship between expanding/stretching the muscle and relaxing the area being stretched. There are also two components: dynamic and static. Dynamic is getting into the posture while static is the holding of the posture. Asana in Sanskrit means steady posture. The breath is used to initiate and guide the movement of the posture and once in the static position, the inhalation is used to deepen the stretch, while the exhailation is used to relax the muscles and "sink down" into the stretch. This balance between expansion and relaxation oxygenates and detoxifies the muscles and removes tension to allow the body to stretch further. From what I have observed, the body and mind are mirrors for the same process. As the body expands and relaxes, the mind too is expanding, and stretching beyond levels of perceived comfort, beyond its limitations while letting go of tension, detoxifying and settling into deeper levels of concentration, calmness, clarity patience and peace.