I recently returned from India (Nov. 30) after 21 weeks there. I participated in the first Hata Yoga Teacher Training school designed and given by Isha Foundation at the Isha Yoga Center about an hour and a half southwest of Coimbatore in the state of Tamil Nadu. The Isha Yoga Center sits at the base of mountains that are locally known as the Velliangiri Foothills When I say at the base I mean that the ashram adjoins a nature preserve and you can walk from the ashram to the mountain in about thirty minutes. We climbed the mountain to various waterfalls a few times while we were there.
One of our overnight treks took us to a river flowing down the mountain about 5 hours hike from the ashram. It was a beautiful spot and the water was pristine. You could actually drink the water without purification. This is so rare in the world of my experience that there are still places that are this pristine.
The energy generated by the falling water is invigorating and the yin energy is very intense being so close to the equator and at elevation (maybe 4000 ft, 1500 m.). This intense yin energy is often manifested as mist and the mountains are often shrouded in clouds. The energy rolls down the mountain and settles in the valley below including the ashram. If you go on Google Earth and type in Isha Yoga Center you can see what I am writing about.
The center is at the 11th parallel and so is quite close to the equator. This is where the yin force (centrifugal) is the strongest. Yogis like to be below the 30th parallel as the strong yin forces help their energies rise. Some yogis would remain vertical at all times, even during sleep to insure that the yin force always moved outward through the body.
Anyway, I am back home in Ohio and it is an adjustment to jump directly into winter. Needless to say I am in excess yin and have had to be very careful to readjust my diet to align with the cold weather. Remember, in extreme adjustments like this, always adjust to the center for the place where you are living.
Thanks for reading.
One of our overnight treks took us to a river flowing down the mountain about 5 hours hike from the ashram. It was a beautiful spot and the water was pristine. You could actually drink the water without purification. This is so rare in the world of my experience that there are still places that are this pristine.
The energy generated by the falling water is invigorating and the yin energy is very intense being so close to the equator and at elevation (maybe 4000 ft, 1500 m.). This intense yin energy is often manifested as mist and the mountains are often shrouded in clouds. The energy rolls down the mountain and settles in the valley below including the ashram. If you go on Google Earth and type in Isha Yoga Center you can see what I am writing about.
The center is at the 11th parallel and so is quite close to the equator. This is where the yin force (centrifugal) is the strongest. Yogis like to be below the 30th parallel as the strong yin forces help their energies rise. Some yogis would remain vertical at all times, even during sleep to insure that the yin force always moved outward through the body.
Anyway, I am back home in Ohio and it is an adjustment to jump directly into winter. Needless to say I am in excess yin and have had to be very careful to readjust my diet to align with the cold weather. Remember, in extreme adjustments like this, always adjust to the center for the place where you are living.
Thanks for reading.
Hi
ReplyDeleteCan you please tell me if there were any benefits?
When we do yoga we are giving up the search for benefits in search of self transformation. We don't know what form that transformation will take because each person's relationship to the source of creation is unique. Along the journey benefits will happen inadvertently but they are not the goal of the practice. The school was very challenging especially due to my age (65). Physically I am in the best condition I have been in many years but I have grown spiritually in many ways that I can not put into words. Sadhguru's grace is unbounded.
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