A Day in the Life of an Ashram

Another mental week over and 5 days left of the YTT 500 hour. I thought I'd put up the schedule to give anyone interested an idea of how the course works so here goes.

Mon-Fri

Wake up: 5am
Meditation: 5.30am
Akhanda/Raja or Kundalini Practice: 6am-7.45am
Breakfast: 8am
Fire Puja: 8.30am
Philosophy: 9am-10.30am
Techniques: 10.45am-12
Lunch: 12
Techniques/Philosophy: 2.30pm-3.45pm
Anatomy/Practicums: 4pm-6pm
Dinner: 6pm
Kiirtan: 7pm-8pm
Mauna (Silence): 8pm-9am
Lights out:10pm

Saturday:
Half day - Same schedule ending at 12 noon

Sunday:

Self Practice

Yesterday mornings class was taken by Yogi Uday and was Yin Yoga which is characterised by passive Asanas held for much longer than most styles (5 minutes +). My previous experience of Yin yoga involved lots of props i.e. bolsters, blocks etc. This involved none. It focused almost entirely on hip opening and if I had done the class 5 weeks ago when I arrived I would've seriously considered leaving. It was extremely challenging and there were quite a few moments when my hips were telling me 'I've had enough' and I agreed wholeheartedly with them.

An excellent practice taught by an exceptional teacher.

We immediately moved into our Practicums were one of us teaches part of the groups a 1 hour class and the style was Raja Yoga or Royal Yoga. This is a much gentler practice than what many would be familiar with. Poses are held while practicing Brahmari Pranayama (Honey Bee Breath) with a longer time spent on Meditation. I found it quite challenging immediately after the Yin class and thoroughly enjoyable.

There are so so many fantastic teachers on this course, all so passionate about their personal practice and sharing their wealth of knowledge.

The following 5 days involve the renaming Practicums and Presentations. Also the tutors on the course are studio owners and have years of experience teaching on training courses and workshops so we will be going into some of the more advance Asana's assists and adjustments and listening to lectures on setting up workshops, retreats etc.

Should be an excellent week before we all head off our separate ways for Christmas.

Om Shanti,

Matt