Yogaville, VA

 
Lets just get a few definitions out of the way before I jump into this post shall we?

ash·ram [ahsh-ruhm] noun 
1. a secluded building/compound, often the residence of a guru, used for religious retreat or instruction in Hinduism.

yo·ga [yoh-guh] noun

1. a school of Hindu philosophy advocating and prescribing a course of physical and mental disciplines for attaining liberation from the material world and union of the self with the Supreme Being or ultimate principle.

2. any of the methods or disciplines prescribed, especially a series of postures and breathing exercises practiced to achieve control of the body and mind, tranquillity, etc.

3. union of the self with the Supreme Being or ultimate principle.

med·i·tate [med-i-teyt], med·i·tat·ed, med·i·tat·ing.

verb (used without object)

1. to engage in thought or contemplation; reflect.

2. to engage in transcendental meditation,  devout religious contemplation, or quiescent spiritual introspection.

These are three words you need to know if you want to understand anything I'm about to write.

So, last weekend, I went to an ashram in VA, about four hours south of DC. This came about because my roommate Sarah is a yoga instructor, and a social worker. She found out that the ashram, or Yogaville, as it were, was hosting a yoga master who also happened to be a well known mental health therapist in NYC. He was giving a weekend seminar on using CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) and yoga to treat anxiety and OCD disorders. 

I've been doing lots of yoga this year, and I use CBT all the time in my work, so I told her I was in! I got even more excited when she told me the ashram had a temple built in the shape of a lotus flower, and that it was PINK! For reals.

For an entire weekend I got up at 5:30am to meditate for an hour and then do yoga for an hour and a half, all before breakfast. The food was all vegetarian, all the time. It was pretty good. Meditation was an interesting experience. There was lots of Om-ing, which I liked the vibration from it wakes you up, and feels cool. You know, especially on the mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm part. Then there was all the chanting, which I decided to refrain from participating in. I figured I didn't really know what they were saying, (it's all in Sanscrit) or who they were saying it to. 

Their leader, Guru Dev, who is dead now, was a Yogi. He decided to set up the ashram on the basic belief that there are "Many paths, one truth" So, I don't know, I guess you would call that a Non-Denominational Hindu-Jewish-Muslim-Christian-Atheist (and 10 other religions I've never hear of) ashram. There were lots of pictures of this guy...everywhere, and little altars with his picture, an pictures of him doing all these crazy yoga poses. I thought it was a bit odd, but I thought, well he must be like their prophet. Because they talked about God all the time at meals and such. 

He was a pretty happy guy.

I was standing with Sarah in front of a big stain-glass window of him on the last day. The conversation went something like this...

Me: Wow, they really like this guy don't they?

Sarah: Umm, well, they worship him, so, yeah.

Should have seen that coming.

Over all, it was a really great weekend. The seminar was great. The guy who came to teach it was really talented, and I got a lot out of it. I met a lot of very cool people. 

The peeps I went down with.

Sarah and Jessica are super bendy!

But I did finally figure out how to do this:

Next time you want to spend your weekend breathing, eating vegetables, doing yoga, and breathing some more, Yogaville is your place. ;) I'm telling you it's a good time. But we can do all that at my house too, if you really want. So just come visit me instead.

E-

PS: Laugh-A-Yoga was maybe my favorite thing that happened all weekend. But don't worry ladies, it will be unveiled at the family reunion. And you will like it.