New Articles in Smart Woman Magazine: Ashram Visit and Swimming!

The May/June issue of Smart Woman is out! I have a couple articles in this issue:

Something New: A Weekend at an Ashram

This past winter I spent a weekend at an ashram nestled in the Catskill Mountains of New York. The Sivananda Yoga Ranch is a spiritual community that teaches meditation and yoga to everyone, from beginners to experienced practitioners. Guests ranged in age from 18 to 70 and came from all over the United States and Canada. Ours was a diverse group: fashion designers, writers, business people, college students, teachers and retirees...read more.


Learning: Swim School

As a frequent visitor to Soup’s On in Hampden, I have often marveled at the energy of owner and chef Cynthia Shea. It was she who told me about Masters swim classes...read more.

Day 7

I like the Green Lemonade more each day. Its almost 12:30 and so far today I've had 32 oz. of Green Lemonade and a pear. I am taking more time to take care of myself, my husband, and my home lately. I don't get as stressed out about these tasks either. One thing that I have not done since returning from the ashram is meditate. I'll make every excuse not to do it-like writing in this blog. I'm going to meditate right now actually. I'll write about it later.

Sivananda TTC You Tube Video

Vacation is over and unfortunately I was sick and unable to attend Kripalu. Luckily, they offer a credit, so I'll have the chance to attend in the future. I found this You Tube video documentary of a Sivananda TTC program in India. In case you are interested in a glimpse of life in an ashram, check it out. I am interested to hear your thoughts!

I've been posting a lot of blogs at www.about-baltimoremd.com and I hope you'll check them out too!

Namaste

Baltimore Yoga Village

Visiting Baltimore Yoga Village this afternoon opened up a number of exciting opportunities to learn and be a part of a special place. Yoga Village is in a renovated mill at the Mill Center. It is one of the smaller buildings that is part of the complex. Walking down the driveway between the mills I felt like I had discovered a peaceful haven in the middle of Hampden. Pradeep welcomed me as I walked into the center and explaioned that I was there to see Anjali. The "community room" (a term I will use to identify it) has cathedral ceilings and two walls are covered in windows. There are a few garmets and books for sale and an elevated area to the right that has a couch and chair for reading or chatting. There are also many community books that are available for borrowing. The space has an organic and tranquil atmosphere.

Anjali met with me a few moments after I arrived and we settled into the the reading area. We discussed many things such as our paths until now, my motivations for wanting to participate in a work exchange and the inner workings of Yoga Village-where they are now and how they might grow. After chatting for a awhile, Anjali gave me a tour.

The yoga room is also a large space with cathedral ceilings, except this room is painted a soothing yellow-orange color. Also, similar to the community room, it has the original mill doors and tracks on the ceiling. The history and preservation gives the space a wonderful energy. There is also a smaller room off the other side of the yoga room for massage therapy and acupuncture sessions.

The longer Anjali and I talked and with each new person I met at Yoga Village, I felt more excited to be a part of the place. There are many special events and visitors that come through the center and Yoga Village organizes yoga vacations to an Ashram in Quebec. I'm sure this place will give me many things to write about.

Yoga, Ashrams, and a Used Book Store

Sunday was filled with discoveries. Around 11 I walked up to the Avenue to stop at breathe books and Inspired Serenity. breathe didn't open until 12, so I visited Sherry and replenished my supply of Lemon Chiffon Rooibos tea leaves (it makes wonderful iced tea!). I was happy to have the chance to talk more with Sherry about Yasodhara Ashram Yoga Study & Retreat Centre in British Columbia. It sounds like a dream. There is even a Karma Yoga class that invites young adults to live and participate in meditation and yoga for free, in exchange for working at the ashram. Now I have to figure out how to fit it in...

Learning about this opportunity led me to look for centers like Yosadhara closer to Baltimore. I stumbled upon Yogaville. The Yogaville Welcome Weekend Program sounds like the perfect opportunity to get a taste of life at an Ashram. After researching Yogaville, I found somewhere even closer to home called Yoga Village. Although it is not an Ashram, Yoga Village has a lot to offer and is only a mile from my house and my office. I am meeting with one of the owners tomorrow after work to discuss the possibility of a work exchange. Helping out and practicing yoga in a peaceful place filled with people who strive to live consciously sounds good to me.

Back to Sunday's adventures. After visiting Sherry, I stopped at breathe books to pick up a few CDs. Susan helped me select Guided Mindfulness Meditations by Jon Kabat-Zinn, Seven Metals: Singing Bowls of Tibet by Benjamin Iobst, and Deepak Choprah's new book Buddha: A Story of Enlightment. Choprah's book on CD should be perfect for the ride to Burlington for the Healing Touch Level 1 class next Friday. I've been listening to the Seven Metals CD multiple times each day since I bought it. It is soothing and helps me stay in a positive mind frame. I've listened to two of the four CDs in Iobst's Guided Mindfulness Meditations. Both CDs are very effective, but also challenging. I am working up to finishing an entire 45 minute meditation. The other two CDs are Yoga Instruction, but I haven't tried them yet.

On the subject of meditation, I heard about the Baltimore Shambala Center a few months ago and have been meaning to attend their open house on Thursday nights. I actually just looked up Shambala on Wikipedia and found out that it is a Sanskrit term meaning "place of peace/tranquility/happiness". Wikipedia also explains that "Sanskrit is a classical language of India, a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and one of the 23 official languages of India. It has the same status in Nepal as well.". Good to know. I guess there is an Ashram in Baltimore. Which leads me to one of the books I found at Salamander Books on The Avenue.

After lunch today at Soup's On, I ventured into the used bookstore across the street. I was pleasantly surprised to find a decent selection of books on homeopathy and spirituality. I picked up: Essential Oils: A Basic Guide by Julia Lawless, Aromatherapy by Vivan Lunny M.D., Living Your Yoga: Finding the Spiritual In Everyday Life by Judith Lasater, Ph. D., P.T., and Shambhala:The Sacred Path of the Warrior by Chogyam Trungpa. I've skimmed all of the books and I am most excited about starting Living Your Yoga.

Although I haven't even started practicing yoga on a regular basis, I was intrigued to learn about the yogic diet on Yoga Village's website. Yoga Village describes the diet as a "lacto-vegetarian diet, rich in proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals. The yogi carefully discriminates between qualities of food items by using the categories of the three gunas: Sattva (clean/pure), Rajas (stimulating, disturbing, active), and Tamas (sluggish).". The Sivananda Yoga Website notes that: "One who seriously takes to the path of Yoga would avoid ingesting meats, fish, eggs, onions, garlic, coffee, tea (except herbal), alcohol and drugs.". The only two things that would be difficult for me to part with are chicken and coffee. I hope to learn more about this diet first-hand at the Yoga Village.

Thats all for now. I am brewing a huge pot of peppermint and green iced tea right now and looking forward to settling in with one of my books. I'll be back tomorrow to write about my experience at Yoga Village and whatever else I stumble upon on the way.