Journey into Healing Day 3

Copyright (c) 2012 Wendee Holtcamp

Another busy day at the Journey into Healing workshop, but tomorrow is the highlight for me - Byron Katie will be here in the evening! She is a true luminary and I want to do "the work" with her if I get the chance but my ego is going nutso - like I can't, I'll look stupid, I'll make a fool of myself, I'm scared... I don't know if I'll get the chance or not but I really would like to. She isn't associated with the Chopra Center per se, as far as I know, but is more like a speaker that is coming in presenting at the workshop. The Journey into Healing and the Seduction of Spirit are the Chopra Center's two signature workshops - this one focusing on health and overall well-being and the other more focused on meditation and spiritual well-being and healing.

When we did instruction on meditation over the past couple of days, they said that people often need less sleep. And I kid you not, I woke at 5:30am, 30 minutes before my alarm was set! We had 6:30am yoga so I got up and was rustling around and didn't want to wake my roommate so I dressed and went outside to sit and journal and drink hot tea. It was a lovely morning and the almost full moon was setting and it was chilly but slightly warmer than yesterday. Then it was yoga, followed by group meditation (sitting silently for 30 minutes, repeating the mantra you're given silently) and then a break and then more talks. We learned more about Ayurvedic health and medicine by Dr Suhas Kshirsagar, which was very interesting, a talk by Dr Sheila Patel on food as medicine, and we had an Ayurvedic cooking demo by Teresa Long. The lunch was vegan again and with a Latin flair - chile relleno, marinated tofu, rice, guacamole and salsa plus fresh greens and cilantro dressing. OMG so delicious! In Ayurveda, they serve the biggest meal at lunch with a lighter meal at dinner. I'm actually not on the dinner meal plan so my roomie and i have been eating at the restaurants at the resort on our own but they also serve some vegan/Ayurvedic options as well as "regular" options.

Deepak spoke again this morning also and this lecture was a bit more on the level. It was quite good. I will have to add some conference highlights and quotes when I get more time. In the afternoon we had another group meditation and then another yoga session There are three options - beginner, advanced and chair yoga. Now i would've gone to the advanced every time but this morn i was running late and accidentally followed y roommate into the beginner, and this afternoon we decided to try chair yoga just because I'd never heard of it and wanted to see what it was like. I thought maybe it would be moderate but no, it was really simple stretches on the chair, but good nonetheless. I'm excited about the regular advanced yoga tomorrow.

Well it's 11pm and I have to arise at 6am (unless of course i arise at 5:30am again!) so I'll catch up later. Tomorrow i may not blog because Paige is driving in and we are going to hang out here and maybe hit the hot tubs in the evening! Have a great day - and don't forget to meditate! I am really liking it!! It's amazingly peaceful and calming to sit in silence and still your mind.