The Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health attracts all kinds of different people. It’s sort of a magical place in that
way.
Over President’s Day Weekend, Sri
Dharma Mittra held a retreat in this beautiful place – one of many programs
that were offered that weekend (the place was bustling when I arrived).
Personally, it was my first time staying at Kripalu, although I had heard a lot
about it from acquaintances (mostly about the food being “SO GOOD!” – which it
was, as I discovered at dinner the first night).
Sri Dharma offered six sessions over a
period of four days (Friday evening discourse, a morning and afternoon session
each on both Saturday and Sunday, and a slightly shorter session Monday
morning), all of which left me buzzing. Although I have been taking classes
with Sri Dharma regularly and have done two of his three available teacher
trainings, there is always more to learn, more wisdom to open yourself to
receiving from the master.
The Saturday, Sunday, and Monday
sessions were all vitalizing combinations of pranayama, meditation, and asana
practices; by the end of the weekend, it felt like Sri Dharma had given us
everything we needed – a well-rounded overall picture of the path of yoga, and also
great depth about each subject covered (astounding for such a short period of
actual time!).
The program reminded me a little bit of
the teacher trainings, actually, in that we were all blessed to be spending a
great amount of time with Sri Dharma Mittra in a very condensed period.
However, the main difference between the teacher trainings and the program at
Kripalu was the sense of time. At
Kripalu, there is time for everything!
Time to sit and be silent and just watch the thoughts. Time to write and
reflect further on the teachings, if that’s your thing.
Time to sit in the sauna, or to explore
the grounds (which is more fun in the winter time than you might think,
actually – especially if you hit the sauna afterwards…). There’s even time to
get an Ayurvedic massage if you really want to be luxurious (although that
costs extra; but I heard they were well worth it!).
There is especially time to talk with
other people about where they are on their path, and share experiences. For me,
interacting with so many different people and observing their tendencies and
receptivity encouraged me to reflect a little more deeply about myself
throughout the weekend.
Many seemingly magical things happened
throughout the weekend, but this is perhaps the most amazing (it’s a slightly
long tangent, but bear with me – it’s worth it): Saturday afternoon, after our
session concluded, I decided to browse in the gift shop and get a trinket or
two for some friends. As I was checking out, I noticed a little dancing Shiva
statue sitting at the register; I asked the cashier how much it was, but I
couldn’t really justify buying it for myself – “Even though,” I told the
cashier, “that’s a really great price, and I’ve been searching for a dancing
Shiva for so long!”
I stopped by my room to put away the
gifts I had bought, and as I left to go for a walk, I found a note on my door
which read: “Attention guest Danielle Gray in room 305, please report to the
front desk. Another guest has left a package for you.” I went down to the front
desk, and I gave the note to the man sitting there. He handed me a bag, inside
of which was the dancing Shiva statue.
I could hardly believe it. I asked him,
“Who left this here? What did the person look like???” He told me it was a
woman – “small, young, and very striking, with hair…” and he made a hand
gesture, which I guessed indicated curly hair. I thought I knew for sure who it
was, so I went and found the person to thank her, but she had no idea what I
was talking about. Later on, I ran into the cashier who had rung me up in the
gift shop.
“YOU!” I said excitedly. “WHO bought
the dancing Shiva statue!?” He told me that at the time, he had thought to
himself that it was a funny coincidence – she bought it right after I had left.
He said she was “tall” and “a bit older”… Exactly the opposite of what the person
at the front desk had said when I inquired.
At that point I was struck with two
thoughts: First, it is amazing how each of us can perceive the same exact person
(or anything) in a completely different way. Second, I remembered something
that Sri Dharma said during my last teacher training: “The best gift is the one
with no strings attached.” In other words, completely anonymous.
So, I decided to leave it at that.
Whoever gave me that dancing Shiva also gave me the greatest gift of all by
remaining anonymous, so now every time I see it, all I feel is joy, rather than
any sense of obligation to “pay back” the favor. If, in fact, the person who
gave me this wonderful gift is reading this article, please know that I am so
grateful, and the statue sits on my altar right beside Sri Dharma’s picture; I
am inspired every morning when I see it.
In the end, each little experience and everyone
I met helped me in some way – to develop a deeper and more confident sense of
my own beliefs, as well as my approach to the practice of yoga in my own life.
These interactions helped me to dispel some of my own doubts and fear, which
can be some of the greatest obstacles on this path.
To me, this mini-immersion was an
incredible opportunity, and the amount of growth that occurred in just one
weekend of mindful and receptive practice (lead by a true Guru) was astounding.
I would highly recommend the experience to anyone who is interested in going
further into the system of yoga… And maybe experiencing a little bit of grace
along the way.
_________________________________________________
Danielle Gray, a native of New Jersey,
was blessed to find Dharma Yoga in 2010, and after her very first class, she
knew she had to immerse herself in the practice to eventually share it with
others. She graduated from the 200-hour Life of a Yogi program in May 2012,
participated in the 500-hour program in September and November of 2012, and is
in the process of completing her certification in Dharma II and III.
Additionally, she has over 15 years of experience studying dance and movement,
which greatly informs her yoga instruction, especially in the aspects of
anatomy and alignment. Danielle has experienced incredible growth and healing
in all areas of her life as a result of studying with Sri Dharma Mittra, and
hopes to share this transformative path with all her students. In addition to
teaching, she is currently employed at the Dharma Yoga New York Center.
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