So the last time I posted was Tuesday. I tried to post on thursday but the internet connection here seems to be getting progressively worse. Anyway I have a few days to catch up on.
In our last class with Swami Brahmananda we were told all the questions that were going to be on the exam. And all the answers. It was so strange. But from the start of the course I realized that this was not going to be like university. We have not really been required to think, just to learn and remember. I suppose they expect the real thinking to come after we finish the course. Which I have been intending to do, but... maybe tomorrow.
Anyway, thursday I had to go to Satsang in the morning as usual, then after satsang Ambika offered a yoga nidra deep relaxation workshop again. Yoga nidra is amazing, I really recommend it to anyone who has trouble relaxing or falling asleep. Then I had brunch and went to study with the devil.. aka Starbucks! The starbucks is just down the beach, as I said, and I avoided it the entire month! But caffeine is helpful for studying... and I also think the setting was helpful for me because I studied at starbucks so much in university. I did a bit of group study, which also reminded me of McGill, and it made me miss my friends. I can't wait to be back in school. Well I can wait until september I guess. More adventures to be had in the meantime. I studied for a while, then I went and practiced some more advanced asanas with my teacher Saraswati. I still can't do the crow (kakasana) and my headstand (sirsasana) is ok but only for like 10 seconds then i have to come down. Apparently for the real benefits of headstand you have to do it for 5-15 minutes. Then I had a run and relaxed on the beach. Then I studied with a different group, and had dinner. At that point I told myself I was done and I wasn't going to study any more so after dinner I went and ate chocolate in the Laksmi lounge outside the boutique.
Friday morning we had to go to satsang again, but it was shorter. Then they fed us breakfast, imagine!! Not brunch, but real breakfast! Then we had to go back to the garden platform to write our exam. I was nervous about the sitting, as usual, because they told us the exam was 3 hours long. I was sure I would not be able to stand up after that. Actually, I forgot this story but I will just add it here: After our class on advanced pranayama a few days ago, one girl hadn't realized her foot was asleep and she stood up and sprained it! The hazards of meditation haha. Anyway, the exam itself was totally fine, they had told us exactly what was on it, after all. I finished in under 2 hours, and then I got to have lunch!! Wow, breakfast AND lunch!
After brunch I went and took a nap on the beach, and then I went to Nassau! I couldn't believe it, in 30 days I had not left this little island! I had only left the 4 acres of the ashram once, to get ice cream. Oh and Starbucks, to study. I went a little crazy in Nassau. I had a beer. ONE beer. Then i went and bought more chocolate. I have been eating dark chocolate all the time. It might be a problem. But everyone does it, so dark chocolate seems to be an integral part of the spiritual journey.
We had been instructed not to leave the ashram after the exam, because the teachers were busy grading them, and if they wanted to ask us something about our answers we had to be around. But I was pretty confident that I would pass. And I did!! In the evening satsang we had our graduation ceremony. It was long, but really nice. It was similar to the beginning where we had an initiation. We made an offering with the priest, then we sat with the swamis and got anointed with sacred powders, then we got our diploma and our new "spiritual name" related to the mantra that we were initiated into. After satsang some of us went and sat on the beach. I had wanted to have a celebratory dance party, but we were all too tired.
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