Last Monday

Today is my last Monday in the ashram. I won't be sad to be done with the lectures, but I will miss the people I have met here and the enviroment - we have become a little family, everyone supporting each other through the challenges and commiserating through the lectures and the homesickness.
This morning I got up for Satsang and the minute they turned the lights off for meditation I lay down and went back to sleep on the floor. I slept so solidly I actually had dreams during the chanting. Nothing could wake me up, not even Italian Swami trying to eat the microphone during his off key chanting. It was lovely. I woke up at 7:30 for my chai and felt much more refreshed.
Speaking of being exhausted, my friend Marguit told us a very funny story the other day to illustrate the point - she had gone back to her dorm to change out of her uniform and into her work out clothes for our asana class. She grabbed her bag and got to the door of her dorm before stopping with an overwhelming feeling that something wasn't right. At that point, she realized she had forgotten to put on pants, and was about to walk out the door in a shirt and underwear. This is how tired we all are!
Yesterday morning instead of a normal satsang we had a silent walk - basically we all meet at the gate of the ashram for roll call and then walk silently, matching our breathing to our footsteps, trying to meditate. Usually we go down to a bank by the lake and sit, but yesterday morning we climbed a mountain instead. And I do mean climbed - we were on all fours at one point scaling the side of a steep rock to get to the top. It took about 45 minutes and was pretty exhausting but once we got to the top it was incredible - miles and miles of hills and mountains with the mist rolling in... sadly there wasn't much of a sunrise but it was still an amazing view. We sat for about 15 minutes in silence, and then did some chanting, and then headed back down. Best silent walk yet. I just wish I could get the pictures up online - everything I tell you seems so unimpressive when I can't show you the visuals. But it looks like this computer I am on this morning has a camera wizard on it so maybe I will try again tomorrow to bring down the camera and upload.
After the silent walk yesterday I taught my second yoga class - an open class this time, which was much easier than teaching the beginners class because I didn't have to explain or demonstrate (and my students weren't trying as hard to catch me out by purposely doing things wrong to see if I would correct them). Now all I need to do is relax for the next couple of days and pass the exam, but we are now hearing that they will give us all the important points on Thursday, AND wonderful Jo has sent me a list of everything her exam covered, so I am feeling MUCH more prepared and not at all worried about it. Plus, to be honest, they say everyone passes, and there are a lot of people in the class who are struggling with english (its not their first language) and so I can't help but feel if they are all going to pass, its not going to be a problem for me.
Okay, I am going to wrap up. I'll try to bring some photos down tomorrow and see if I can get them to work. Have a great day,