Amazing Kids
ATTC - Week 3
It’s been a pretty uneventful 3rd week at the ashram. The ashram sits on a hill with a dam on one side and a valley of towns on the other side. There is an ongoing battle of the speakers at the valley and they’ve been at it for 3 weeks now. The valley is dotted with hindu temples and christian churches, each playing their religious songs full blast. A festival is going on in one of the temples nearest to the ashram. The speakers start blaring at 4:30 in the morning and goes on non-stop till 11 at night! Not a very serene environment audio-wise. It takes a lot of mental prowess to filter off the cacophony during meditation. Luckily we have a great team of teachers who know just how to push us so that nothing else occupies our mind but the building pressure in our chest (during pranayama or breathing exercises) or the burning pull of our muscles (during advanced asanas or yoga postures).
An exciting thing that happened during this week was seeing kids, ages 3 to 10, do advanced postures that puts all 125 of the ATTC students to shame. The kids are trained by an advanced Hatha Yoga teacher. They join yoga competitions and in turn gets a scholarship for their education. They live with their Guru, or teacher and are on a strict vegetarian diet. What they demonstrated is the physical aspect of yoga or Hatha Yoga, which is the form of yoga that is more familiar in the west.
BTW. The kid in the last 2 photo is only 3 years old. He accompanies his older brother and learns the advanced poses as well. His Guru shared with us that the evening before their performance the little 3 year old complained why he is not teaching him more poses like what the older boys are doing.
Amazing huh?
Feb 25, 2008
