Yoga Vidya, Westerwald Germany

After a busy month of World Cup and tourist guide in Germany, I decided to slow things down a bit. For some reason our mind (or at least mine) has the tendency to always be racing unless I make a conscious effort to slow it down. I have had several amazing yoga and meditation experiences recently and so I decided that what better way to expand on this by experiencing another yoga and meditation center.

Only about 1 ½ hours away from Frankfurt, I found the beautifully located Westerwald Yoga Vidya center (www.yoga-vidya.de/ , www.yoga-vidya.de/Westerwald/index.html ). The center is incredibly welcoming, not only because the people living and working there make it that way but the physical surroundings of forests and fields make it hard not to feel comfortable.

And so I spent one week following the schedule of this yoga ashram: 7am morning meditation, 8:30am morning lecture, 9:15am hatha yoga, 11:00am brunch, 1-2pm karma yoga, 2:30pm lecture, 4:15pm hatha yoga, 6pm dinner, 8pm evening lecture, 9pm evening meditation. Initially I was concerned that this regular schedule would feel too restrictive and that I would feel tired from getting up so early. Both concerns proved to be unwarranted. In fact, with each day passing I could feel my body relaxing more and more, drawing more energy out of these practices.

The benefits of a more settled tranquil mind are enormous: the feelings of stress, of being rushed or under pressure disappear, they dissolve into emptiness and it becomes evident that that the prior discomfort was entirely self-imposed.

Upon departure one week later, obviously I was still the same person, but my body and soul felt not only rested but rejuvenated and reenergized.

Lokâh Samastâh Sukhino Bhavantu