Preparing to fly away

Crow, eagle, pigeon, crane, heron, peacock... I think the ancient yogis had a thing for birds.

I'm not sure how many birds I will see in the Bahamas, where I am going for the month of January to do a Yoga Teacher Training Course at the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat!! Sounds nice right?

I have been practicing yoga on and off for several years, and consistently for the past year. I picked it up a year ago to improve my strength and balance, as I was still noticing some unsteadiness related to my brain injury from skiing in Dec 2011. I have greatly improved my strength and balance since then, and I have noticed some other great benefits from doing yoga including less anxiety, deeper sleep, better focus, and peace of mind.

Now, it may seem like I am just going to stretch on the beach for a month, but yoga is so much more than the physical asana practice. Of course, I do hope to be able to stand on my head for 10 minutes and bend my body into various contortions, but I am also going to be meditating, chanting, attending lectures with various invited speakers, and doing karma yoga or selfless service. I will learn about the anatomy of various postures, and a bit about ayurveda, or traditional indian medicine. Its going to be busy! Here is an idea of the daily routine I will be following:

05:30 am Wake up Bell
06:00 am Meditation, chanting & lecture or Silent Walk
08:00 am Asana & Pranayama Class (your own practice)
10:00 am Brunch
11:00 am Karma Yoga
12:00 pm Bhagavad Gita/Chanting Class
02:00 pm Main Lecture
04:00 pm Asana & Pranayama (teaching)
06:00 pm Dinner
08:00 pm Satsang

Yogis believe in reincarnation, or samsara (look I know sanskrit already!). So welcome to reincarnation of my travelogue, Certified Rogue, where i will share my experiences doing my own thing, deviating from the norm, and not being like Sarah Palin.

If you are curious and want to be jealous, check out the ashram's website:

http://www.sivanandabahamas.org/page.php?page_id=22

Here is the curriculum I will be following:

http://www.sivanandabahamas.org/files/Curriculum3.pdf

If you are new to this blog, the other posts you see are from my Eurotrip/WWOOFing adventures in Europe with my friend Sarah the summer after we graduated from McGill.