Chantin' with the Swamis some mo'

At the time, it really seemed like everyone was into the chantin'... In the video, it looks like one monk and I are the only ones chanting and everyone else is either watching or bored. lol

Hollie gets her yoga certification!!!

Final Dinner at the Ashram

Chantin' with the Monks on the Last Night

I'm really liking this meditation stuff. Supposedly, one of the best times to meditate is while listening to the sound of mantras and chanting. I've tried the technique a few times (during this yoga course) and I agree, chanting does seem to help me go more quickly into a meditative state. Meditation is such a powerful technique. I love how refreshed and alert I feel after a meditation session. Still, I think that meditation will be a little easier (for me) back home than it is here. The main distraction are the many insects here in India (They are everywhere, in the rooms, in the food (we're all fradulently calling ourselves vegetarians), and of course, outside too) For a while, I was trying to ignore the ants and insects, which crawled on me during meditation. Then, Swami G told the class a story about a famous yogi who went into seclusion. The yogi spent days meditating in a cave. During his stay he went into a deep state of meditative bliss, keeping his body completely still. Apparently, some of the cave's resident insects bore into the yogi's skin and dug tunnels in and out of both sides of his legs. The yogi simply continued his meditation, undisturbed by what was happening to his body. After a number of days, some Himalayan locals found the monk and rescued him from (his body) being completely overtaken. Swami told the story with respect and admiration for the great yogi. For me, the story left me a little more aware of crawling sensations during meditation. I may not yet be ready for full enlightenment.

Pregnancy Yoga Class

Naryana

This is a video clip showing Naryana, a little 9 year old boy whom Hollie and I adore. Naryana lives and works in one of the shops in town. His parents live in an impoverished area of Northern India. They, like many poor families here, send their children away to work for part of the year. If I could, I'd adopt this little boy. However, to actually adopt, or even to ensure that a child can go to school, is a complicated process. Recently, because of child abuse rings and other criminal/fraudulant incidences, the Indian government toughened the laws governing foreign adoptions. If a person just gave money to the shopkeeper, Naryana's parents, etc, there would still be no guarantee that he would be able to attend school. Naryana taught himself to speak English by observing the tourists and has the coolest personality and perspective on life. Everytime Hollie and I go into town we see him and invite him to share a meal with us. Usually, he also orders food for his "auntie" (shopkeeper - she isn't related to him), and a few other people. lol :) I like Naryana. When I think about it, when gifts or freebees are being given out, every child I know tries to get as much as he/she can. Still, I wish I could do something more meaningful for him. The clip is pretty short; the battery on my video camera died after about 20 seconds. Naryana is teaching us a song in Hindi. The English translation is "Sleep boy, sleep. Dreams will come." He was so cute when he was telling me the meaning of the song. He said that in translated to "Sleep boy sleep, there will be a movie in your head." Really, its the same. The syllables just don't properly fit in the longer translation. :)

Yoga Food