Yoga in the Mountains of Kerala – Yoga the quest for Enlightenment

An American couple from Seattle recommended that we check out this recently started yoga ashram in the mountains of Kerala. It turned out to be the greatest introduction to yoga imaginable.

The ashram sits at top of a mountain and boarders the Idukki Wildlife Sanctuary in the Southern state of Kerala. The facilities are basic and simple, but anything more would remove you from the beauty of the mountain. With our arrival we were greeted with fresh herbal water, knowing that this would be a great stay. The ashram really only consists of the two incredible hosts; Sudarsh and Harilal (the is also a cook). The relationship seemed kind of strange in the beginning – Sudarsh had chosen Harilal as his guru, having given up his life as a Brahman and now devoting himself to his guru. Harilal seemed a little cold at the beginning, but we then found out that they had had some guests that were not ideal.

The food was phenomenal. We were given two meals a day with a small snack in the afternoon – tea and cookies. The meals were traditional South Indian, simple and yet so great. I will have to do some research to find some of the recipes, but the two best meals were a plantain and semolina plate and secondly a steamed rice powder dish that marries to curry… Ohhh The food also served to keep the ISL at bay. The food is quite specifically aimed at keeping the digestive system calm.

The days started with a morning meditation session that was held outside provided the wind was not too cold. (I hear it is -35 back home, here we meant not so cold that you need more than a long sleeve shirt on…) The morning meditations as the sun was still rising were incredible. We would then break for tea followed by a yoga session. This would then lead to a nice and long anticipated brunch… The afternoons continued with Karma yoga (see Amma’s Ashram – previous post) and an evening yoga session and meditation. The days flew by with the rhythm of life focusing on meditation and yoga. We also really connected with our hosts, finding a wealth of knowledge in the little hideaway.

The asanas (or postures) are what I associate with yoga are only one of the eight branches (branches, not levels, that may be studies simultaneously) of yoga. I learned that the goal is to reach a better state of consciousness through the various branches. But here the focus was much more on the meditative side. Something that I preferred, as it would have been a feeble waste of time to try and master the asanas. I began to see this trip to India taking the form of a spiritual learning journey. This idea is still very strong some two weeks later now.

If you are interested, check out their web page at: www.arshayoga.org Arsha Yoga Gurukulam Yaga Ashram.