Sivananda Ashram

Our stay at the Sivananda Ashram finished a few days ago and we have been downing papaya lassis on Varkala beach ever since. Clare has just read these blog entries and is promising an entry of her own. I asked what it would be titled and she said 'THE TRUTH' ! What can she mean? I am not sure. Mangos are just coming into season here, and avocados - how exciting!

 I have to say RIGHT HERE IN PUBLIC that Clare has changed shape quite remarkably at the Ashram. I saw her from behind in a swimming costume our first day here on the beach and was quite taken aback by the tight butt and hips - not only this svelte sillouette but also a rather shimmering aura too! She seems altogether rejuvinated by her two weeks of yoga, chanting and brief moments of meditation. We have both allowed our minds and bodies to lengthen, stretch, bend and fold to places they haven't been for quite a while, if ever. It was ouzingly sweaty, constantly sweltering, never peaceful, a bloody racket going on everywhere around us - amplified ohms, chants, prayers, either from the Ashrams own speaker system or from temples on the surrounding hills (these start at 5am and extend through the day till at least 10pm) - but always a magical and mysterious tour of the senses, both physical and beyond.

Lakshmi - goddess of wealth

Most of stay here at the Ashram was a trial of self discipline - getting to the Yoga classes twice a day, for 2.5hours twice a day - plus prayers and chanting at every sitting. Then, rather more than I feel is really necessary- relaxation. A lot of lying in corpse pose! - this is flat on your back legs and arms spread eagled.

Afternoon reading - took place instead of afternoon lecture with Mr Scary

The setting was beautiful, cool green palms, bamboo, papaya, jack fruit trees and rubber trees all around. We were in the Western Ghats - quite a high band of mountains that run the length of Kerala in southern India. Because of these it rained almost every other day too. Tropical cloud drops. Seemed as if the cloud trap door was opened. The water dropped out and the trap door then closed back up. One night we had a couple of hours of torrential rain that woke me in the early hours - the electricity went off bringing the fans to an abrupt halt and the dripping air closed in around the mosquito nets. For a while it sounded as if the trees were being uprooted by the winds and the rain was washing away the stepped terraces around us. The temperature dropped as the rain fell, the stifling air felt lighter.  The dark bodies in the womens dorm beds around me all tossed and turned in the shady light, shifting with the restless air as we lay waiting for dawn and the brash sound of the morning bell calling us to Satsang - meditation and prayers at 5.30am. The rain had stopped before we had to traipse up to our meditation hall pictured below.

Our Swami sat on a stage in front of us with some other dignitaries - a director, a teacher and visiting swamis, and the directors wife - a mysterious character to start with, who actually sat below the stage at the bottom of the steps - I assumed she had been put in a position of lower status until we discovered she had been suffering a bad bout of arthritis and was unable to climb the steps to the stage. She wore white robes and had tightly slicked back blond hair. With her pale complexion and rather pinched, serious face it took us all by surprise when she first led a hauntingly beautiful chant in a strikingly sonorous voice. Lesson one - things are never as they seems - mind jumps to conclusions easily.

Beautiful garden

The Ashram was more beautiful in hidden away parts, these murals were quite stunning, there was a small temple at one far end - daily puja went on here - hours of chanting for peace - every day, part of Swami Vishnudevananda's legacy. He was the founder and a follower of Swami Sivananda. There was a small meditation hall and some other rooms with epic murals on ceilings and walls. The quietest places at the Ashram but by no means peaceful. This is India and you get used to people being everywhere, always sweeping, always chatting, always in groups.

Krishna and his cow Nandi. This was a lovely garden and pond - nearby was a plant nursery - flowers of all colours and fragrances - jasmine, mimosa, hibiscus, thick leaved varieties to stop rapid dehydration in the heat.

Lord Krishna with his curd pot 

Some pretty wooden looking chaps down by the lake - showing off their asanas


Our main cause for concern and moaning at the Ashram was the weird manner in which we were 'encouraged' to attend all of the program and follow the many Ashram rules. The first few days were tough - we had expected to have to attend all chanting sessions, all yoga classes and all meditations. Gemma had warned us there would be a lot of chanting. What took me by surprise was the inconsistency - and somehow an atmosphere of fear built up, with people taking to hiding in the showers when they didn't want to go to morning satsang. Some mornings and some afternoons the yellow T shirted STAFF would call into the dorm to clear the beds of dissenters. At meal times a gorgeous chap would chant us to our places "HARI OM" tunefully repeated over and over as we trailed into the dining hall - as we sat down crossed legged on the mats over our - now cold - pre served tali dishes he would end his chant with a soft  'WE EAT IN SILENCE'. At which point we sat and started to quietly eat and chat away. 10minutes or so into eating a yellow T shirted STAFF member would come and authoritatively remind us to eat in silence, mentioning the bad example the serving staff were showing by talking to us - we would let him have his say and leave the hall - then proceed chatting away as before. Quite fun really but a little odd?
Lesson number two
Listen to and take note of the rules then proceed as you like.


There was one chap who was more scary than most staff members. He found me meditating in the meditation hall when yoga class was on, day four - when our bodies were starting to complain about the unaccustomed exercise and floor sitting. I had needed a break, my knee was sore from all the sitting cross legged and endless yoga classes had decided to miss ONE class to rest.  He interrupted my sit to 'encourage' me to go to Yoga class. I looked at him with tears in my eyes and said that I needed a break, he was persistent  but reasonable and finally left me to get back to my sitting! The living on edge started to build after this, and the tendency to plan escapes and naughtiness. We nicked 'out passes' from reception, learned of low walls we could bound over to get a swim in the lake, found ways to supplement our tea intake by foxing the very vigilant tea monitors and hid to avoid satsang. Well just like school! I haven't found myself behaving in such a strange manner since then anyway.
Despite this I missed only 2 yoga classes and three satsangs in the 14 days we were at the ashram in. I stopped going to the afternoon lectures because Mr Scary from New York took them and I was not keen on his style of teaching, I read about Yoga instead. He also started to teach the beginners yoga class towards the end of our 14 days so I switched to the intermediate class and wished I had earlier. His first class with us had left me feeling bullied and irritated as well as freaked out by his hideous manner of facilitating a breathing exercise called Pavalabharti - this involved him making panting noises with build up and crescendos - more than I could bare.

A few of the multinational crowd taking tea after morning satsang

I have just deleted a large chunk of writing attached to photo! So annoying - all about the amazing people we met at the Ashram - men and women from all over the world, of all ages, all slowly getting to know each other over the two weeks and all slowly opening up with the daily practice too. It was a real delight - the best thing about the Ashram. It helped alot that English was the teaching language for us - most people there were fluent English speakers and it was the language everyone spoke to each other in. Many long discussions over our juicy fruit salads and lemon ginger teas in the health hut snack shack