500 hours.....

And so I'm here, at Soomatheram Ayurvedic Resort and Spa in Kerala, India to (continue) my yoga education...working towards a 500hour certificate. My teacher is Danny Arguetty, whom is based out of San Diego and is a friend and colleague of one of my most inspiring teachers, Katie Brauer. Pardon me, but this place is *fucking luxury*. It is definitely far different than the India that I have experienced. Soomatheram was actually voted the best Ayurvedic resort in southern India for the past ten years in a row. It's spread out over a cliff, with green plants, trees and herbs all around, creating a "secret garden" kind of feel...looking out over the Arabian Sea. There aren't your typical sounds of India (bus, horns, shouting, spitting, etc,.), just the gentle sound of the ocean and a few birds singing. My room has a proper toilet, toilet paper, hot water, and a shower head (no bucket showers!), all of which are luxuries that I'm not quite accustomed to. Needless to say, I still use the "bum gun" over tp, and a cold bucket "shower" instead of the shower head. But the best part of all has to be the food. I made quick friends with Ramesh, the man who runs the show in the dining hall. Meals are served buffet style 3x a day...with water, fresh juice, tea and herbal concoctions available throughout the day. I have been visiting several times a day to get my chai fix....after all, I paid a small fortune for this training so I'm going to get my money's worth of chai! Ha! And because this is a 'proper' Ayurvedic resort I was a bit worried that id miss the "real food" of India that I love so dearly. But alas, it's here! And better yet is that it's cooked with ghee instead of vegetable oil (which the local stalls have been using to save money), as well as really high quality spices. I've already set my food mantra as "just because you can, doesn't mean you should", and I'm trying to eat slowly slowly. They have fine silverware here, but I find that eating with my hands is what I enjoy best. You eat slower, savor more- and it just tastes better this way.

I'm off for training now but will be sharing as much and as often as is possible. The training has only 7 people which is ammmmmazing. I look forward to the connections and transformations that are ahead. Jai Saraswsti! God bless.