Arriving at Arhanta, I was so nervous. Accomplishing a dream is actually a really scary experience. It feels surreal to be in a place you've thought so much about, to be on your true life path. It felt like the right place to be as soon as I got there. The energy was perfect, calm and contemplative. Meeting everyone felt a bit like connecting with people I've already known. We all clicked so well.
The days were long and certainly tested my mental, emotional, and physical capabilities. We began with mediation and chanting at 6 am. At 7:15 am we had silent breakfast immediately followed by how to teach, which went straight until lunch. After silent lunch(around 12 pm) we each had a different karma yoga job to compete. Kim and I helped the gardener by loosening the dirt in each of the gardens and doing a small bit of weeding. Karma yoga never took long, which was a blessing because it gave us a little extra time between lunch and the philosophy (@ 1 pm) to do or laundry by hand or study. After philosophy was a two hour asana class. Following asana was dinner. Then there was self meditation, competing the day around 8pm.
Philosophy was an amazing class, though I was always exhausted. We learned about the Vedic philosophy which was on par with almost everything I already believe. It's nature based and most of the philosophy makes sense. I am still questioning the process of liberation to bring your soul to moksha. I think I'm too fond of Earth to want to leave. I'd rather spend many life times here and just become more aware and in tune with nature. I also am still struggling a bit with the karma philosophy. It's difficult to see other people suffering and believe that it is their karmic accounting, that it is what they deserve. I understand that it's over many lifetimes that we create our accounting, so one may suffer because of their choices in a time we don't remember. It seems to me though that this is a good mechanism to simply accept other people's suffering and not doing anything about it. It seems almost suppressing. Anyways, I loved the information, especially the pattern of life being "generation, organization, destruction"; Spelling out God, connecting all religions to nature. As I've always said, each religion is saying the same thing just with different words and stories.
Asana class was wonderful. We were definitely pushed and I came to see how capable I am. Our teachers knew how far we could go and what we could do, even if we were unsure about it. They always said, "don't think, just do it" and when it comes to asanas this is the best advice. Before coming to Arhanta I couldn't do a headstand or many other asanas. Now, because they taught me to let go of my thoughts and just do it, I can hold headstand for several minutes no problem. The other wise words they said were too trust the body, it will do what it needs to.
There is so much I could say about the course but to make a long story short, Arhanta was the perfect place for me to start my journey with yoga. I've gained so much from this program; not only knowledge and a certification but a new extended family.
Love to Mother for making this opportunity happen, for bringing a dream to fruition.
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