Busy relaxing at Sivananda Ashram

Neyyar Lake

Since arriving here on Sunday, I feel like I’ve been running from one place to another in order to lie down. Or at least sit down. All this relaxing is really quite exhausting. The first bell of the day rings at 5:20am and is calling us to Satsang in the huge, open main hall. There we spend the first half an hour in meditation, during which time the sun rises, and the remaining hour is filled with kirtan chanting and spiritual chatting. After Satsang we have a cup of tea before the first of two daily yoga classes. Each class is 2 hours long and chockablock full of luxurious savasanas. Yesterday I fell asleep twice during the final savasana. Today I fell asleep again (only once this time), and dreamt I’d accepted a job with the Metropolitan Police and was kicking myself for having made such a massive commitment.

We have breakfast, which is very lunch-like, at 10am and, coupled with the long list of rules and regulations, is probably the reason I was feeling exceptionally bad-tempered by the end of my first full day. There’s no such thing as coffee here either so perhaps the perfect storm. It definitely wasn’t a feeling I’d come looking for and I was a little concerned, but as I come to the end of my fourth day, I’ve settled into things. Satsang by the lake this morning helped hugely and now that I know the routine, I’m finding my own rhythm within it. I’ve done a bit of truanting too which has been good for me, and gave me an extra couple of hours in bed. Lying down.

Whilst I’m here, I’ve decided to undergo a 14 day Ayurvedic cleansing treatment called Panchakarma. I’ll let you do your own research but so far it’s just been more lying down. Not much sleeping during the treatments though as I’ve been ever so thoroughly scrubbed, pummelled, and steamed. Although today I did have a strange kind of lucid dreaming experience whilst having a steady stream of medicated oil poured onto my forehead. But thankfully no job offers.

Being on an Ayurvedic programme means I don’t eat my meals sitting in silence, cross-legged on the floor in the main dining hall anymore, but instead in the clinic dining room with a small Panchakarma gang who sit at a table and chat. I suppose I could feel bad about not getting the full ashram experience but I don’t. I love the camaraderie and the enema chats over supper with my gang.

There really are some wonderful people here. People from all over the world who each have their own story about why they’ve decided ashram life is what they need right now. So there is much chit chat and many belly laughs in between the ringing of bells. And I’ve found the shop and the lovely ladies who do laundry. I’ve even made a pal of one of the builders who was wearing a Brazilian football shirt along with his traditional lungi. It’s quite a look. And I remember his name.