Advanced Teacher Training Course on Yoga (ATTC) Week 1
 
Sivananda Ashram, Neyyar Dam I arrived at the Sivananda Ashram in Neyyar Dam, Trivandrum, India on February 10 and plunged into ashram life almost immediately. Rising at 4:30 a.m. everyday to prepare for 1 hour of yogic breathing exercises or Pranayama, two hours of chanting or Satsang, two hours of morning yoga exercises or asanas, then brunch. In the afternoons we have lectures on anatomy, Sanskrit and Vedantic philosophy, followed by afternoon asanas, early dinner, evening Satsang, then lights off at 10:30 p.m. It’s valentines day and I didn’t even notice it until Paul greeted me an sms. I was here for twenty-eight days from March to April 2006 for the foundation teacher training course (TTC) on Sivananda Yoga (see blog archive) so I know how the Neyyar Dam ashram works. This time around I came prepared. In the ashram you eat runny food with your hands... so I brought my camping spoon. With the combination of tropical heat and high noon lectures, a bit of help is needed to keep myself alert and receptive... so I smuggled in two bags of ground coffee and my travel french press. No chairs in the ashram, be it in the practice halls or in the dining hall hence we sit on floors for the whole day... I brought my crazy creek chair so I can lean back and sit easy when my back gets tired. Mobile phones are forbidden in the ashram, more like an as long as you don’t get caught rule, and in 2006 I stayed in a dormitory with 20 other girls. I remember locking myself up in the bathroom for 30 minutes, the only place in the dormitory with an electrical outlet, to charge my phone. This time I booked a double-sharing room instead of the dormitory so I can charge my toys in peace. My roommate isn’t gonna tell on me... she doesn’t mind. I enjoyed my TTC in 2006 but I have a feeling that this ATTC is going to be better. Three days into the course and my body feels lighter, looser and doing poses I’ve not done before. Bending, twisting, breathing with 124 other yogis and with 7 instructors to assist us, I feel inspired to work harder, hold the pose longer and try new things. I can’t wait to see what my body can do after this course! It’s also very fun learning to read and write sanskrit.
Thursday, February 14, 2008