Lessons from an Ashram

Even though my ultimate goal for this summer was to rot my brain with television and refuse to think a literary thought until the upcoming semester, it seems I'm just too English-y to make that happen. It also seems you learn a lot more than you'd think in an ashram--you know, besides realizing that it's really hard to chant for an hour if you haven't drunk at least a gallon of water beforehand.

1) Take deep breaths.
Like, seriously. This is not some "voodoo, only yogis can do it" kinda thing. When it comes to chakras and chanting, I'm one of the biggest skeptics in the ashram. I don't voice my opinion about it, but I also realize that I can take bits and pieces of a practice (another lesson learned). But even when I'm feeling my most un-spiritual, taking deep breaths is scientifically proven to calm the nervous system, thus relaxing the mind. And it's pretty instantaneous.

2) If someone says it's not a big deal, it's not a big deal.
When you're serving a large community, you're bound to have a lot of chores. They call me the sweeping master. Except when they don't. Granted, everyone is expected to do their best, and people tend to get upset when there's a huge bundle of chores loaded onto their day, but if you fold a towel wrong or forget to spray a pan, someone's gentle reminder doesn't actually translate into "you worthless animal; why did you ever set foot on this planet?" Apologizing is all fine and dandy when you do something terribly wrong, but I tend to be an over-apologizer. After receiving an Ayurvedic massage, I actually apologized to the trainee for having ticklish feet. If you do something wrong by accident and someone shows you how to fix it, "cool," or "got it," or "supercalafragalisticexpealadocious" are much more appropriate responses than "I'MSOSORRYI'LLNEVERDOTHATEVERAGAINFORASLONGASILIVEDON'THATEME."

3) Couples happen.
When there's a 50/50 ratio (in a somewhat small group) of guys and girls, couples are bound to happen. Sometimes, you will feel like the unattractive odd one out. Jealousy may ensue. Shit happens.

4) Exercise first thing in the morning.
It's tough, especially pre-coffee, but you're bound to feel much more balanced and at ease after stretching out your joints and heating up the body before cramming yourself in a tight workspace for the next eight hours.

5) Laughter is not malicious.
We've all had embarrassing moments when others notice what happened and start to laugh. For the next hour, that person's thought process tends to be "oh how could I be so stupid, everyone must hate me," while the rest of the world forgets like normal people. During temple tonight, we made offerings to the deities. One of the offerings includes an umbrella. As a staff member passed the umbrella on to Nick, the umbrella tore. He admirably went up to the altar anyway, while others were laughing. I certainly wasn't judging him, nor did I think him to be any less spiritual because umbrellas have a pesky habit of tearing. When an embarrassing moment happens outside ourselves, it makes it easier to realize how little we should harp on our own moments.

6) It's all from the core.
If you want to do those super epic yoga postures, you gotta work the core. Sorry. That's just how it is.
Guess the core curriculum isn't so terrible after all, huh?

Namaste.