Day Four: Sangha (Community)

The Life of a Yogi

       Today we had our morning practices with Adam – pranayama, dharana, and a review of our required reading materials. Adam usually starts his sessions with chanting (as I mentioned yesterday, I think)… Last year during my 200-hour training this actually stressed me out a lot, because I was really self-conscious of my voice; lately, though, I just can’t get enough of devotional chanting! I actually got a little teary during one of the chants this morning. I think it was an emotional day for a few people, come to think of it – one of the other trainees told me that she cried during the savasana following Master Sadhana. We’ve experienced some powerful stuff these last four days, to say the least, and it seems like the people in our trainee group become more and more psychically connected as the days (really, the hours) pass.

          Anyway, the rest of the morning session was completely inspiring; Adam has this way of speaking to the group that just makes me think, “YEAH! It’s time to dive into this full-force! We can do it!”… As corny as that sounds. I could go on and on about the morning discourse – and I can’t even fully pinpoint what it was about the whole session that was so lovely. I think, though, Adam’s sincerity and the way he speaks about his experiences with Sri Dharma are so uplifting and relatable to so many aspects of what we are all going through as trainees at this moment.

We had several practice teaching sessions throughout the day after that, and once again I just started to feel this sense of belonging and communal experience… Such a beautiful thing for me, because I do have this tendency to isolate myself from other people. It’s wonderful to feel like everyone here is supporting each other, and the more I open up to other people, the more I am pleasantly surprised at how similar we all are on so many levels.

We had a Maha Shakti practice with Sri Dharma, followed by the Pyschic Development Technique class to finish the day (which you may remember reading about from the 800-hour blog). I feel so unbelievably clear-minded and sharp after this class… It is another one of those little gems that Sri Dharma offers to everyone, and you don’t need experience with asana in order to gain benefits.

          Lots of pictures from our small-group teaching session today! And a few others in the mix as well… Enjoy!

~Danielle