Celebrating The First International Day of Yoga
Yoga_Life_Winter_2015_WEB
Yoga_Life_Winter_2015_WEB
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ASHRAM DE YOGA SIVANANDA, FRANCE<br />
<strong>The</strong> Joy<br />
<strong>of</strong> Watching<br />
an Ashram<br />
Grow<br />
By Swami Bhagavatananda<br />
Anyone who ever had the blessing <strong>of</strong> taking care <strong>of</strong> a child knows the pure joy and soul-deep<br />
satisfaction felt when the beautiful but helpless little baby grows gradually into a strong, healthy<br />
and happy being through the love and care poured into it.<br />
As it turns out, it is similarly rewarding watching an<br />
Ashram – one <strong>of</strong> Swami Vishnudevananda’s beloved<br />
‘mind babies’– being born and grow from baby steps<br />
into a solid shelter and support for many spiritual seekers through<br />
the love and blessings <strong>of</strong> Swamiji, supported by the inspired service<br />
<strong>of</strong> many helpers who serve as instruments to make it happen.<br />
We have the blessing to see it unfolding in the Ashram de<br />
<strong>Yoga</strong> Sivananda in Orleans, France. Inaugurated in 2003, the<br />
Ashram started as a charming park with lovely old trees and some,<br />
well, not so lovely old buildings. Mind you, we insist on calling it a<br />
quaint château and resent any statement referring to its early days<br />
as a “heap <strong>of</strong> crumbling walls”!<br />
Since then, under the able guidance <strong>of</strong> Swami Durgananda<br />
and Swami Kailasananda, so many things have improved. Buildings<br />
have been renovated and enlarged, new additions and facilities<br />
have been added. <strong>The</strong> grounds have been cleared and part <strong>of</strong> it<br />
transformed into a colourful flower and vegetable garden, enthus -<br />
iastically guarded (with doubtful success) against the multitudes<br />
<strong>of</strong> rabbits who vastly outnumber the human Ashram inmates.<br />
Through the Masters’ blessings, more and more souls get<br />
inspired each year to spend time at the Ashram, with a peak last<br />
summer that stretched the Ashram beyond its capacity for three<br />
whole months. Because, even if the Ashram has left its baby<br />
steps behind, it is still far from being fully fledged, and neither<br />
accommodation nor indoor teaching spaces are sufficient.<br />
Now, what do you do when there are more people wanting to<br />
live the yogic life than can be accommodated? Following good old<br />
yogic tradition we coped as best as we could, according to Swami<br />
Sivananda’s teaching to adapt, adjust and accommodate. In the<br />
rooms, beds were added wherever beds could be squeezed in; in<br />
the campsite, tents were added wherever tents could be squeezed<br />
in; and beds were added to tents wherever they could be squeezed in!<br />
Chief strategy <strong>of</strong> our logistics during the main season is praying<br />
for decent weather to use outdoor teaching spaces. Whenever the<br />
universe fails to cooperate, Asana classes follow Swamiji’s principle<br />
<strong>of</strong> “bumper to bumper”.<br />
Since the kitchen was feeding a number <strong>of</strong> people double the<br />
amount <strong>of</strong> its originally planned capacity, we upgraded our appliances,<br />
growing them both in size and technology, and transformed the<br />
kitchen storage into an improvised cold room with the help<br />
<strong>of</strong> a portable Aircon.<br />
46 YOGALife |Autumn/Winter 2015