Travel log Vietnam: Sivananda Yoga Ashram
I've been back in Bangkok for a week now and I still have the kirtan chants in my head!
I needed to do a visa run so I could stay in Bangkok over a month, so I began researching to find a yoga retreat. I didn't find much to say the least and many places were totally unaffordable. After searching for an hour I stumbled upon the Sivananda website. They had a yoga teaching training in progress and offered "yoga vacations" for people like me who wanted to visit for 3-7 days. It was the most affordable place I could find at $40 a day all inclusive, food, accommodations, and yoga/meditation program. So I found a cheap ticket on Air Asia and signed up to go for 5 days. A mini vacation. But I had no idea what I was in store for…it ended up being hard work!
Each day started at 5:30am, with me rolling out of bed and heading to satsang. This included a 30 minute silent meditation, 30 minutes of kirtan, which is lovely group singing/chanting, then followed a lecture by the Swami or a special guest. 8am we had a 2 hour yoga class, brunch was at 10am, then a lecture at 12am. Then we got a little break before our 4pm yoga class followed by dinner at 6pm. At 8pm was our evening satsang, which was over by 10pm when I went straight to my room for sleep.
I found the meditations to be the hardest thing for me. Even though I consider myself very spiritual and have studied all kinds of practices, I've never gotten behind meditating. I just can't sit and do nothing. Within 5 minutes I'm fidgeting around. By 10 minutes my mind is racing and planning things, by 20 minutes I just want to leave the room I'm so bored. After 3 days my meditation practice did not improve, but I'm trying to do 10 minutes every morning because I know it's good for me…scratch that, I gave up after a few days 🙁
I loved the chanting though! Everyone sings and people break out the tambourines. It's so uplifting and happy. I'm still hearing those chants in my head and it keeps me company while I'm sitting on the bus. The lectures were interesting and mostly refreshers for me. I had one great ephinany, that no matter what discipline I dabble in or what any guru says, the heart of the message is the same. The Truth is Truth no matter what the wrapping paper.
"Health is wealth, Peace of mind is happiness, Yoga shows the way." ~ Swami Vishnudevananda
I've been practicing yoga on and off for 12 years. I've tried every type of yoga possible. The Sivananda yoga was definitely not my kind of yoga. It started with two forms of breathing exercises, called pranayama, followed by a pretty set group of postures. The breathing stuff is hard for me. I get very bored. This kind of yoga is more internal, between every single pose you do a savasana. I like to move in yoga, do lots of vinyasa and not very many postures on the floor. One thing that was great though was getting back into headstands. Inversions are one thing I do not practice enough because of fear or laziness. So this got me back into it. I also realized that since my yoga practice hasn't been consistant over the last year that I'm weak and not as strong as I could be. This makes more advanced postures difficult. Time to start practicing more!
The food was amazing! With only 2 meals and lots of activity, everyone was stumbling over each other as soon as the meal bell was rung. Each night had a different theme, one night was macrobiotic and I got delicious beans for the first time since I was in Asia. It's amazing how much I missed simple food like beans! One night was Japanese with amazing sushi. Of course I had plenty of Vietnamese food, which was incredible and one of my faves. Needless to say it was a vegan foodie heaven.
The staff was pretty absorbed with the trainees, but helpful when needed. The grounds were beautiful and tranquil, the weather was gorgeous and I met some very lovely people. Overall it was a wonderful experience that I will not soon forget. I realized that I love being a student of yoga, but have no desire to be a teacher of yoga. Now off to do a headstand 😉