The yoga festival is fully underway with workshops, music, and a bazaar. The atmosphere is alive and happening but in all honesty I’m not really into it. It’s not grabbing my interest and the crowd is a little much for me. A group of singing minstrels wakes me every morning at 4 am as they pass by my tent to wake everyone for the 4:30 morning Sadhana. Interestingly enough the song they sing is a Christian song about rising up to give thanks to the lord. At the same time three campers next to me, all around the age of 21, chatter relatively loudly while they fumble with their stuff getting ready for Sadhana. Sadhana is morning yoga, chants, and meditation as commonly practiced in India.
I haven’t bothered with Sadhana but I do make it to breakfast at 8:15 which is spicy potato soup, 2 bananas, and 2 oranges. Long gone are the exotic cheeses and varied meals enjoyed before the festival. The diet now is designed to help with Yoga and meditation. Evening meals consist of steamed beats and carrots along with all of the mung beans and rice you can eat. I’ve decided to adhere to the diet for the time being but am looking forward to beer and pizza next week.
Tomorrow will begin a very intensive 3 day yoga meditation program. This is what I’m really here for. As far as philosophizing and all that kind of stuff I feel like I’ve done plenty if not too much during my 44+ years on the planet. There’s a time to think and there’s a time to do. Sometimes too much thinking isn’t the best thing when it’s time to do. I’ve participated in two 3 meditative yoga programs before and found it to be very beneficial for quieting the mind in order to make clear decisions, relieve stress etc.
In the meantime what I’ve been enjoying the most are some nice walks around the area of Mur du Solange. Mur du Solange is a very small village but like a number of villages in France there is network of walking routes that incorporate trails and very quiet rural roads. It’s about a 30 minute walk through the forest from the festival to the village. In the middle of the village there is an information sign/map for the walking routes. From the village there are a number of circular routes. I just took a photo of the map on my digital camera and started walking. The area, although flat and not particularly spectacular, is very peaceful and pleasant. There’s something very appealing about the French country side and walking has been my yoga.
Today I’ll go on another walk then I’ll concentrate on the next 3 days which could be pretty challenging.
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