Satchidananda Ashram

After Covering 13 states, 2,500 miles. I finally have arrived. Some of the places I loved going through was, flagstaff, santa fe, hooker, OK, Eureka Springs AR,Charlottesville VA and finally Buckingham, VA. Above is the picture of the Lotus shrine of all faiths. I had to steal this picture because of my camera is not working. So just imagine fall colors it really is beautiful. Now I have arrived it is time to relax and get my chi on or something like it. Coming here is definitely a culture shock. It is slow pace and peaceful. I decided to take up yoga and integrate it into my lifestyle. So I decided to come and apply for the LYT program. The program stands for Living Yoga Training. It gives you the opportunity to experience traditional yoga in the modern world. Here you live in a community that is based on living yoga. I start the program on Friday. But I have been at the ashram for about 6 days now and I love it. I have only had 1 yoga class before this and I remember just laughing and lying on the mat the whole entire time out of pure humiliation. Mainly because I couldn't do any of the poses. My first yoga class was amazing. It was taught by Swami Martudi. I just call her Swami M because I find all the names are hard to pronounce. Swami is a monk meaning master of self. She is the cutest swami and my favorite. She just comes up to me and says oh your my Hanna you finally came and she smiles big. She looks like she is around 80 years old and she wears hearing aides she is very much a grandma type. So for my first class I was kind of nervous and I seemed to do fine. I came in just in time and sat right next to Swami M. However mid way through the class she totally passed gas and I was the only one that noticed. Because I was so close to her. She just stopped and smiled at me then continued doing the sun salutation. I absolutely loved yoga. Before my first yoga class I took a guided meditation class. It was great and I meditated a little over an hour with out moving an inch. I am also doing an experiment to see if my health improves and so far my blood pressure is going down and when I don't do yoga twice a day it goes up. I hope with this blog I can entertain while educating about yoga and meditation. With this type of practice you definitely learn as you go so hopefully I will keep you guys informed. I find this yoga world very new to me but very much so interesting. Oh and did I mention that swami's also wear pale orange. Don't worry I will not become a Swami anytime soon orange is just not my color.