Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you all! Tis the season....a time of peace, humanity, joy, giving of ourselves and love. I often dreaded Christmas because of the chaos leading up to the day of celebration. It was such a conflict of behaviours with the stress, overspending, aggression, greed etc. The simpler my Christmas became, the more I enjoyed it. This year the season is about as simple as it can get...no gifts, no decorations, no stress. One important value I still have tho is the feeling of compassion, peace and joy. The truth of the season.

One of my favorite things to do here at the ashram is to go for a morning walk along the beach in meditation. There are about 60 or so of us walking quietly in a scattered group with the same destination....we walk past Atlantis resort and around to the point to watch the sunrise. Doing it alone or with someone special would be beautiful but doing it in a large group is absolutely powerful. There is an energy that cannot be expressed, only experienced as you do this. I have a special bond with the waters here....there is something magical that occurs when I am quiet and just listen. I have made it a habit to come out to the ocean at night and go for a walk, at times with one of my friends here but often times alone. The sound of the surf, the salt air and the stars twinkling is so peaceful and it allows my mind to slow down and often come up with decisions.

That being said, I had an important decision to make on Monday. I landed here and went through customs and the policy in Bahamas is to grant you a stay on the islands up to a national predetermined duration. What I didnt realize is that they are not obligated to allow you to stay the full duration. So off I went to Bahamas immigration on Monday with my documents supporting my stay here, and I ended up with Grumpy Pants as an immigration officer. He was very formal and sat me down at a desk, looked over my documents and told me that I would have to leave Bahamas and return in order to fufill my planned schedule. Well...I was floored...I sat there and watched his untrimmed moustache bobbing up and down as his lips moved, not really hearing the words. He was rambling off policies and political jargon which gets me all fired up on the best of days. I had considered asking him if I could just go for a swim off the island and seeing if that would qualify as a leave but thought I should keep my sass to a minimum as he has the power to deport me. So I returned heavy hearted to the ashram...and yes Dale, I had another cry. Your sister is an emotional sap at times. I really did think I had all things planned out but they had other plans for me. I talked to a few friends here about it and tossed different ideas around in my head but had no definate answer. Then, that night, I went out to the ocean and walked a ways down the shoreline and then just stood there and faced the great waters. The stars were incredible and there was a crescent moon lighting up the sky. The ocean was crashing against the shoreline in random patterns, sometimes soft, sometimes aggressive. I stood and just listened. I decided that I would return to Canada in late February and implement what skills I have aquired, and make the best of the balance of time I have here. I will miss out on achieving 3 certificates as the majority of them started around the middle of February but they are still attainable. It just felt like the right decision and each day after it has felt like the right thing to do. Besides, the thought of a hot bath, keeping my feet clean for more than 5 minutes, being woken up by someone hitting an old cut off scuba tank as an alarm clock and sleeping on a mattress are pretty tempting most days. I learn each day here, regardless if I am enrolled in a course or working....so the experience is still very valuable. I have already found 2 locations for the other courses in the States that I can take at a later date, and have enough certifications now and education to start things up in March of 2010.

We are currently celebrating Christmas here with symposiums each night after meditation and there are some incredible speakers that have come for the 12 days. It is the only reminder here that the holidays have arrived.

Merry Christmas to you all! And the very best for the New Year.

One Love,

Sherri

The French Quarters

Thanks so much for all your beautiful comments and emails.....it was really nice to hear from so many of you! It is comforting knowing so many people care. Thank you. Dale or Darryl...you can tell me what this flower is I am sure...just thought it was so friggin cool looking.

Things are progressing well here...I am immersed in my first certification course now (Ayurveda Oil and Body Treatments) and absolutely loving it. We have been taught alot of theory thusfar but yesterday we got to experience our first massage as recipient and practitioner. All I can say is WOW! Essentially what it is doing is stimulating the lymph, and energy meridians in the body and moving it around and out. There is alot of releasing done, sometimes tears, sometimes dizziness or other reactions but its all about moving the stale or negative energy. The oils applied are specific to your body type (dosha) and the essences added are to help in bringing back balance to the body. Interestingly, there are no men allowed in class but as a graduate I have the option of offering this to men or women with my own practise. There are so many principles to this medicine and varied forms of treatment such as the body treatment I am currently studying, but I will be taking a more intense component to this medicine in March. Included in the course is the practise of daily cleansing routine which includes scraping your tongue, washing your eyes with Rose water, flushing a mineral saline solution through your nose with a Netie pot and applying oil to your entire body after dry brushing your skin. It takes awhile to get used to all the morning rituals but the effort is so worth it....you feel so incredibly clean and it lasts throughout the day. You can brush your teeth or wash your face but this does such a deep cleaning to all digestive systems of the body and leaves you feeling so fresh. (there are 41 digestive systems in the body in this medicine and the tongue, eyes, skin, gums and nose are all part of them). Something that fascinated me about this was that for years I have had a runny nose in the morning and never felt it was allergy related, it just felt like congestion. I was using the Netie pot and my instructor, Lalita, was guiding me through the proper technique and we discovered I had a blockage there on both sides. She told me that it indicated on an emotional level that I had problems receiving and also self worth issues which have been my thoughts for the better part of my life. It was a huge revelation to me of how our thought patterns will manifest themselves into congestion or blockage in our bodies and then eventually to disease. I am kicking both of those thoughts to the curb or seashore, but very respecting of how incredible the wisdom of this medicine is....what a fantastic tool to have. The Bliss treatment (oil therapy) are what the course primarily encompasses and it is divine and transformational...no other way to describe it. I am so excited about offering this when I leave from here and start to open up a business of my own. It is such a loving thing to do for another person.

Thing are picking up around the Sugar Shack; I have had 2 more neighbours move in and they are both coincidentally staying for an extended period of time. We have gotten to know each other in passing and sat together at dinner the other night. Micheal,one of the campers, said that our area was the coolest in all of Coconut Grove and I agreed....then I suggested we should name our street. He said our street was so cool that if we were in Louisiana, it would be the French Quarters....and that name stuck. I found a huge peapod from one of the trees here and got some white paint from the Barambian construction crew and made a street sign for us and hung it by vine from a tree. ( see pic) It just made the place a bit cosier for us all and put a smile on our faces.

I have been thinking alot about community lately, so much of what we do here is community based. We are all working towards the same goal, helping each other voluntarily and having our own designated duties. No one is better than the other, we all eat the same foods, follow the same rules and respect each other. No one passes you without showing respect of some form, either with a smile and a hello or saying OM (meaning respect). I had a bad morning the other day and one girl I have befriended picked up on it and put a coffee mug with a flower outside my tent. It picked me up so high, a couple days following she put more flowers in...no words needed to be spoken by her, she just knew what I was going through and was offering a quiet, dignified respect for my releasing of emotion. There is no theft here, no graffiti, no abusive behaviour, no fancy clothes, no foul language other than a Canadian chick uttering cuss words on occassion. But really, there is something big to rediscover here.....to get back to knowing our neighbours, to opening up our homes and hearts, offering our services or skills to those in need. The season of Christmas is soon upon us and my holidays will be different than anything I have ever experienced before here. I sense it may be extra special because there is no flashing lights, inflatable yard ornaments, excessive spending, angry shoppers, materialism and stress. I am thinking of small things I can make or give to a few favorite people here, nothing much...just a simple homemade jesture but from the heart.

I am really happy, so excited about what the next day will bring and lapping it all up. I will do another post before or around Christmas.

One Love

Sherri

I have arrrived!!!

Well....here she is....my home sweet home for the next 5 months, whom I affectionately have nicknamed Sugars. It was quite the trek getting all my luggage here and set up but I am very much settled in now. Paradise Island is only accessible by boat on the bay side so there is no sounds of traffic. The property has about a 1000 ft frontage, ocean front...and is the width of the island. During the day you will hear party boats cruising down the bay and the occassional party going on in a dancehall or dockside. It is a reminder for me of what a contrast I am living here in the ashram. There are no radios, televisions or general noise that we are so accustomed to....they are allowed but have to be kept down low so not to disturb others.

Our meditations consist of either walking down the shoreline past the Atlantis resort (see picture to the left) and watching the sunrise off the ocean or sitting in an open area build to sit quietly. It has a roof and only one full wall...the rest of the building is open, allowing for the breeze to pass through. Sitting in this temple you can hear the waves lapping upon the shore just outside the door, the birds singing their songs in the mornings or the crickets chirping their music at night. Last Saturday night we were well into our meditative states and all of a sudden you could hear someone yelling over an acoustic system RASTA-FAR-YAH followed by some very heavy reggae music. I found it hilarious and had some trouble stiffling my giggles....sometimes people are just to serious.

Following meditations is yoga on the beach deck at 8 am thru 10am. I captured a pic of this pigeon on our yoga deck prior to class. The days are incredibly full from our wakeup call at 5:30 am thru to 10 pm. Most programs that run through the day are mandatory attendance for me due to the commitment I made with the Karma Yoga program ( work study). By days end you fall asleep pretty quick. Some of the tiredness comes from climatizing to this environment and lifestyle as well. Most people I have spoken with tell me that a timeline of 10 days seems to be what you need to settle in....I am at about 7 days now and feeling pretty good so that seems to be about right. Each day you feel 100% better than the day before....pretty hard not to with living in fresh air 24/7, exercising, meditating, being around positive people in a healthy environment and eating healthy food.

I have become a bit of a social butterfly here, always laughing with someone about something. Already I have had to say goodbye to 4 different people but have their email for contact. One couple is going to be back before I leave here in late April so it will be nice to see them again before I depart. The majority of the peoples stay here is between 3 days to 2 weeks so my situation is a bit unique and drawing alot of interest from others. My time is a mixture of activity, dependant on if I am doing work study or in a specific course I had enrolled in. Either way the day starts with meditation at 6 am to 8 am and yoga at 8 am to 10 am, followed by brunch and either work or study.

Detoxing can be emotional, I have cried once...okay, twice, but it was cause I was exhausted, frustrated and scared....basically acting like a spoilt brat. When I arrived, one of the yogis showed me to my tent space and said to leave a path in front of the tent area, therefore requiring it to be set up on uncleared land. Well, I didnt have any equipment other than my hands to do this and was hauling around 200 pds of luggage that I wanted to just unpack. I started yanking at vines, knocking down brush and cussing and crying. Another Karma yogi seen me struggling and came over to give me moral support and advice. He ended up helping me put up my tarp and we were singing The Lion Sleeps Tonight in this little piece of jungle down in Bahamas. Having the tent trunk backed up into the brush actually ended up having its advantages as well...it provides more of a canopy under the coconut trees from the rains and just feels safer from the winds. Funny how things seem to work out.

My work designation is the kitchen doing prep work and cleaning. I work with a really cool chef and it ends up being like any kitchen area in any home...a gathering place. It does allow me to get to know everyone quicker and we have already broken out in song and alot of laughter in there. One thing I am certain of is that I have enormous respect for the devotion and discipline some people have to their particular beliefs and faiths but I was born to laugh and that will always be part of my way of living.

I guess that is enough for now....I am safe, smiling, learning and meeting tons of people. I have no regrets with the choice of coming here...it indeed is and will be the most rewarding experience for me, hopefully enabling me to share with others.

One Love

Sherri