Day started at 5 am. We had to wake up extra early because of a long walk up a mountain to watch the sun come up. We were told that we could do the walk in ordinary slippers and didn't need to wear trainers. I'm glad I decided to put my trusted Birkenstock slippers on because it was a pretty rough walk up a very steep mountain (well more like a hill but it felt like a bloody mountain). There were moments where there was lots of loose gravel and rocks and people were just sliding down in their beach slipper. It did provide much needed light relief from the intensity of the course. There was one point that was extremely dangerous where we were literally hanging onto a rock face for dear life. One wrong move and you were a goner. It wasn't too bad going up, I dreaded the walk down...
It must have taken us a good 45 minutes to get up to the top of the mountain and it was definitely worth the walk
Me in my uniform on top of the mountain
. The view was beautiful! Too bad there were quite a few clouds in the sky because it obstructed the sunrise a bit, but it was still beautiful. We sat in silence and then the swami (Swami Niceananda...not his real name...but he was a really nice guy so got given that name) started the daily chant. Not even on top of a mountain after a long hike were we allowed to skip the daily chant. To my horror, one of the girls had carried along some bells...so not only did I have to put up with the chanting, but also an annoying bell ringing in my ear.
Finally the chanting came to an end and we were all allowed to ring the bell on top of the mountain and make a wish. Everyone started taking pictures and some brave souls even did the headstand up on the tiny bit of rock that we were all on. I passed on that act of madness/bravery. The walk down the mountain took much longer than coming up because everyone had to slow down and move in single file for the dangerous clinging on to the rock face. A few of the teachers were had positioned them along the rock and were holding our hands as we crawled past. I kept marvelling at the fact that they had taken 180 of us up there and told us we only needed slippers. It's a miracle nobody got hurt (well at least I didn't hear of any casualties).
The walk made a beautiful change from the normal routine, but then the fact that we needed to be back for 7:30 for the rest of the days schedule was not fun at all. We got back at 8:25. That gave me exactly 5 minutes to change from my sweaty clothes and get ready for a gruelling asana class. I was no impressed.
I ended up skipping afternoon asana class today because my shoulders and biceps are killing me. I can't take a shirt off without cringing with the pain. I also skipped evening asana class. I'm so tired from the long walk and hectic schedule of the day. I'm really not feeling Sivananda right now. I want to get my certificate and leave. Sitting on a beautiful beach in India is really appealing right now.
