5-Day Yoga Detox in the Bahamas
August 6, 2014
“Stay on good terms with your body.” said the Swami to a room full of people in dancer pose overlooking the beach. I felt firm and committed. I took this yoga detox to balance my mind and my diet. A yoga detox removes unhealthy food and unproductive thoughts while in a serene and calm environment.
Finding balance on Paradise Island.
My yoga journey reached a point where practicing asana just isn’t enough. Spending five days in a yoga ashram seemed like a great way to strengthen my meditation practice and refine my breathing exercises. My yoga detox in the Bahamas went beyond the typical tourist uniforms of beach shorts and big straw hats. I choose a quieter getaway at the Sivananda Yoga Ashram on Paradise Island.
Sivananda Yoga Ashram in The Bahamas
Day 1 – Smiley, Not Friendly
I arrive to Paradise Island on a motorized skiff led by a cool looking blonde 20-something covered in spiritual tattoos. He was smiley but not overly friendly. This put me off at first. Then I realized that most people weren’t here to make friends. They came to make peace with themselves.
The calm and cool boat operator.
The ashram landscape is filled with the traditional tropical plants that I imagine would populate the Garden of Eden. The first sign entering the ashram says “Unity in Diversity.”
Unity in Diversity
This sign didn’t surprise me. Almost every yoga center reminds us that celebrating all faiths is a fundamental principle of the yoga system. As I lug my suitcase to the wooden bungalow, I see the open white sands and the blue ocean through the palm trees.
Wooden bungalow facing the Caribbean sea.
I have a great view of the sea from my Adirondack chair and I take one little instagram selfie and prepare for the a full day of yoga.
Day 2- Stay on Your Mat
I wake up feeling groggy but excited as I head to the first yoga class at 8am. The tropical storm brought heavy rains but the sounds of the water hitting the trees and the roof was sweet music from underneath. The asana class starts with a long chant that I have never heard of, nor do I understand. The teacher doesn’t explain what she is saying but invites us to join in. Huh? When I can, I chime in with the group on the collective“Oms”. The yoga sequencing is weird. We start with the standard sun salutations, but the teacher misses some key alignment cues. My lower back already feels on edge. A guy who resembles Jimmy Buffet slaps his yoga mat directly in front of me and clumsily lands into a plank with his sandy feet on my yoga mat. Great, now I have to plant my face in yoga foot funk because this man can’t stay on his mat!
The class just gets worst. After every sequence we land in Savasana (corpse pose). The back bending portion of the class is taught without any warming up of the spine and the teacher admits that she forgot to cue counter-poses. I look around to see if anyone has any visible suspicions about the asana sequence. Nope, it’s just little ole me poking my head up to see everyone else following along. I realize that I need to stay ignore the distractions, stay on my mat and go at my own pace.
Day 3- Safety in the Little Black Man
Disappointed with the asana practice, I am now really excited for meditation. As I entered the temple, everyone is wearing soft white linens and the veterans are wearing orange with buzz hair cuts. The walls were lined with a picture of a white Jesus, giant illustrations of Hindu deities, gurus and a little black man in the corner who looks like a chubby Nelson Mandela.
Indian Gurus and Reverend Prince Hepburn of the Bahamas
He was a Bahamian priest named Reverend Prince Hepburn who sought to build a connection between native Bahamians and the ashram. Seeing this man’s face on a wall made me feel safe. As the only dark-skinned person in the ashram, I never felt out of place. Still, with his humble smile I felt understood and acknowledged, similar to that unspoken connection and protection between family members.
After the meditation, the presenters start the kirtan (song chants). They offer a helpful little book that breaks down the Sanskrit meaning. The kirtan singer sounds like a bird in pain. The songs last almost one hour. I am chanting to the top of my lungs just to drown out the noise of the singer. By the end, we were in the temple for two hours! Forgetting all the joy from the meditation, I head back to my bungalow feeling confused and disconnected. I look to the picture of the little black man as if he will magically step in and liven up the place. The detox is more than food and thoughts. The detox is also pushing out my expectations that an ashram can fully “fix” me.
Day 4 – Full of Hot Air
I have given up on the asana practices, the meditation is a gateway to a kirtan hell of repetitive chants. Worse, the food has started to wage a spiritual war in my belly. What started off as an ayurvedic meal plan filled with quinoa, lettuce, watermelon and orange spice tea turned into a prison style slop house of watery kidney beans, leftover lentils and scraps of bread. The ashram’s Ayurvedic expert told me that a gaseous stomach was the first sign of detoxing. If so, then I was well on my way to lighting this whole temple up with detoxifying gas. My appetite grew weaker after every meal. I reached a point, where I only could leave my bungalow to go the bathroom or for a cool swim on the beach.
A native Bahamian cleaning lady comes into my room and sees me curled over in agony. She immediately says, “You’ve been eating this food.” Apparently, the yoga ashram has a reputation on the island for the food being poorly prepared. She asks me if I need anything and offered to take me off the island to another hotel. This random woman gave me the same sense of protection that I felt while looking at the picture of the black priest in the temple. Her spirituality was based on day-to-day reality, not an abstract concept of detached holiness. Though the people of the ashram were well intentioned, I felt that the rituals were full of hot air and lacked the earthy spiritual substance that makes us human.
Day 5- More into Me
It was time to get out of this place. I couldn’t eat, couldn’t practice the yoga and detoxifying gas kept me up all night. Even swimming in the glassy Caribbean sea made me weak. I was humbled by this journey to seek a spiritual connection. I came to the Sivanada Yoga Ashram hoping to learn more about myself. I learned that there are many ways to practice yoga. Yet many yogis are preoccupied with themselves. So much so, that we miss out on opportunities to live the practice. The warm loving and open feeling was lost in this ashram. The attendees I discovered were mostly French Canadians and affluent Americans seeking a way to spiritually infuse their vapid pursuits for a higher quality of life. As I asked many people why they came, they all responded with a different version of “to get more into myself”. Even I was guilty of coming to the ashram with a goal to better understand me. I did achieve that goal. I learned that I needed other people who liked to laugh, feel joyous hugs and smile. I needed a real expression of spirituality that was not limited to stories from thousands of years ago. Real life examples of the cleaning lady who helped me get to the boat, the taxi driver who found a pharmacy or the woman in the straw market who gave me her chair when I thought I’d pass out. They were the real spiritual warriors. They didn’t tattoo their faith on their bodies.
Many directions and many paths toward spirituality
The yoga detox led me back to living and giving from a place of grounded reality. As I continue to swim deeper into learning about yoga, I end floating back up to the surface of being an every day good person. Sivananda Yoga Ashram can better engage their surroundings. The Bahamian economy is heavily dependent on tourism and the ocean. Beyond the standard recycling obligation, the yoga community didn’t discuss other ways to make the spirituality real and relevant to the greater community.
Spending five days in a yoga ashram was a lesson learned on the simplicity of everyday humanity. We can seize the opportunities to enhance our spirituality by taking extra time for someone in need, paying attention the realities that surround us and living with a deeper connection.
Email sari@anacostiayogi.com to learn more about Yoga Detox Retreats
READ THE COMMENTS OR ADD YOURS
READ THE COMMENTS
I needed to put you that bit of word so as to give many thanks again considering the great pointers you’ve shown in this article. It was extremely open-handed with people like you to convey extensively all that some people could possibly have marketed as an ebook to earn some profit on their own, notably seeing that you might have done it if you wanted. The principles additionally worked like a great way to know that other individuals have the same passion much like mine to figure out much more related to this issue. I think there are numerous more pleasurable occasions in the future for folks who scan your site.
I really wanted to write down a brief message in order to appreciate you for these awesome tips and tricks you are giving out at this website. My considerable internet search has at the end been paid with pleasant facts and techniques to talk about with my family and friends. I ‘d claim that most of us website visitors actually are undoubtedly lucky to exist in a fabulous network with very many special people with valuable points. I feel really privileged to have seen your weblog and look forward to tons of more fabulous times reading here. Thank you once again for all the details.
I am glad for writing to make you be aware of what a brilliant discovery my friend’s child undergone using your site. She came to find lots of details, including how it is like to have an excellent coaching style to make the others very easily completely grasp specific multifaceted matters. You really surpassed my desires. Thanks for supplying the essential, dependable, revealing and in addition unique guidance on the topic to Jane.
I and my friends were reviewing the nice tactics found on your website and so quickly got a horrible suspicion I had not expressed respect to you for them. All the ladies were definitely warmed to study them and now have certainly been making the most of them. We appreciate you truly being so accommodating and for finding variety of awesome things millions of individuals are really eager to be informed on. My very own sincere regret for not expressing appreciation to you earlier.
I just wanted to develop a small comment in order to thank you for the unique points you are giving out at this site. My particularly long internet look up has now been paid with good quality facts and strategies to talk about with my family members. I ‘d declare that most of us website visitors are very lucky to live in a fantastic place with so many brilliant people with valuable solutions. I feel somewhat fortunate to have discovered your entire website and look forward to some more fun times reading here. Thanks a lot once more for all the details.
I want to show my respect for your generosity giving support to folks who actually need guidance on this one concept. Your very own commitment to getting the solution across became extremely productive and have continually encouraged professionals much like me to realize their pursuits. Your personal informative help and advice can mean a whole lot a person like me and additionally to my peers. Thanks a lot; from everyone of us.
I must show my admiration for your kind-heartedness in support of people that actually need assistance with this one issue. Your personal commitment to passing the message along was especially informative and has in every case helped those just like me to attain their aims. Your entire interesting guide denotes this much a person like me and far more to my office colleagues. Best wishes; from each one of us.
I want to show appreciation to this writer for bailing me out of this type of setting. Just after researching throughout the online world and finding advice which were not beneficial, I assumed my life was well over. Existing devoid of the approaches to the problems you’ve fixed as a result of the website is a crucial case, as well as ones that might have in a negative way damaged my career if I hadn’t encountered your web blog. Your personal talents and kindness in taking care of the whole thing was excellent. I don’t know what I would have done if I had not discovered such a step like this. It’s possible to now relish my future. Thanks a lot so much for this reliable and amazing help. I won’t think twice to refer your web blog to any person who needs and wants guide on this matter.
Thanks a lot for giving everyone an extremely brilliant opportunity to check tips from this site. It really is so ideal and full of fun for me and my office co-workers to visit your blog at minimum 3 times a week to study the newest tips you have. And definitely, I am always amazed considering the surprising inspiring ideas you give. Some 4 facts on this page are easily the most suitable I have had.
I simply had to say thanks yet again. I do not know what I would’ve undertaken in the absence of the entire tactics revealed by you about this situation. Entirely was an absolute frightening concern in my view, nevertheless spending time with this specialised mode you managed it took me to weep with fulfillment. I am thankful for the guidance and sincerely hope you recognize what a powerful job you are putting in training most people through your site. I know that you’ve never come across all of us.
I have to express thanks to this writer for rescuing me from such a difficulty. As a result of surfing around through the search engines and seeing advice which were not productive, I figured my entire life was over. Existing minus the strategies to the difficulties you’ve fixed through your good short article is a crucial case, and those that could have badly damaged my entire career if I had not noticed your blog. That skills and kindness in playing with every aspect was priceless. I don’t know what I would have done if I had not encountered such a subject like this. It’s possible to at this time relish my future. Thank you very much for your high quality and results-oriented guide. I won’t hesitate to suggest your blog to anyone who should get care on this situation.
I simply wished to appreciate you yet again. I do not know the things that I could possibly have accomplished in the absence of these secrets revealed by you regarding such a concern. It seemed to be the frightful issue for me, nevertheless noticing this specialised form you dealt with it made me to cry for fulfillment. I’m happy for the help as well as wish you really know what an amazing job your are getting into educating the others through the use of your web blog. I’m certain you have never come across all of us.
I would like to express my thanks to this writer just for rescuing me from this particular incident. Because of looking out throughout the internet and coming across tricks that were not pleasant, I assumed my life was gone. Living minus the solutions to the difficulties you’ve solved through the guide is a critical case, as well as those which may have adversely affected my entire career if I had not discovered your web blog. The mastery and kindness in maneuvering all the details was valuable. I don’t know what I would’ve done if I hadn’t discovered such a step like this. I can at this moment relish my future. Thanks for your time so much for this expert and result oriented help. I won’t hesitate to endorse the sites to anyone who would need assistance on this matter.
I and my pals happened to be digesting the nice suggestions from your web site while suddenly developed a horrible feeling I had not thanked you for those secrets. These men are actually absolutely happy to see them and have really been tapping into those things. We appreciate you getting quite kind as well as for using these kinds of wonderful issues most people are really desperate to know about. Our own sincere regret for not expressing appreciation to you sooner.
I simply wished to appreciate you once more. I’m not certain what I would have done without the creative ideas contributed by you relating to such a industry. It became a very difficult circumstance in my view, nevertheless seeing this well-written style you managed that forced me to leap with happiness. Now i’m happier for your help and in addition hope that you are aware of a powerful job that you’re getting into teaching most people through your websites. Probably you’ve never met all of us.
I wanted to put you a little observation to help say thanks a lot once again for all the pleasing solutions you’ve documented in this case. It’s certainly open-handed with you to allow freely exactly what most of us could have made available as an e-book in making some profit for their own end, mostly seeing that you could have done it in the event you considered necessary. These suggestions as well worked to be the fantastic way to fully grasp most people have the same interest the same as my personal own to know good deal more with regard to this condition. I’m sure there are a lot more enjoyable situations ahead for individuals who read through your blog.
I wish to convey my affection for your kindness giving support to visitors who require guidance on your concept. Your real dedication to passing the message throughout turned out to be especially important and has surely encouraged those like me to attain their dreams. Your personal useful tips and hints means so much to me and far more to my mates. Thank you; from each one of us.
Needed to compose you this very little note to finally thank you very much as before for your pleasing suggestions you have provided above. This is so particularly open-handed with you to present unreservedly just what numerous people could have supplied as an e book to earn some profit for themselves, even more so now that you could have done it if you considered necessary. Those concepts as well served like a fantastic way to know that other individuals have similar zeal really like mine to learn a lot more in respect of this condition. I believe there are lots of more pleasurable moments in the future for people who looked at your blog post.
I just wanted to develop a brief message to be able to appreciate you for some of the unique ideas you are giving out on this site. My extended internet lookup has at the end of the day been recognized with excellent tips to exchange with my partners. I would mention that most of us visitors are really lucky to live in a superb community with very many lovely people with helpful points. I feel extremely privileged to have seen your weblog and look forward to plenty of more thrilling minutes reading here. Thanks again for everything.
I and also my guys have been reading through the best thoughts on your site and then quickly I had a terrible feeling I never thanked the web site owner for those techniques. My young men ended up totally thrilled to read through all of them and have undoubtedly been using them. Thank you for getting very thoughtful as well as for making a decision on such perfect areas most people are really needing to be informed on. My personal sincere regret for not expressing appreciation to you sooner.
I’m also writing to let you know what a extraordinary experience our daughter gained using yuor web blog. She mastered several issues, which included how it is like to possess an ideal helping mindset to have many others without difficulty understand specific grueling matters. You truly surpassed visitors’ expected results. I appreciate you for giving such invaluable, trusted, informative not to mention easy guidance on this topic to Emily.
I not to mention my friends were actually going through the excellent procedures on the blog and immediately I had a terrible feeling I had not thanked the website owner for those secrets. Those women became as a result joyful to study all of them and have in effect unquestionably been tapping into these things. Thanks for really being so accommodating and also for choosing this kind of ideal things millions of individuals are really desirous to discover. Our honest apologies for not expressing appreciation to sooner.
I not to mention my buddies were following the excellent tips and tricks from your web site then then got a terrible feeling I never thanked the blog owner for those techniques. My ladies were definitely as a consequence passionate to see all of them and have in effect truly been tapping into these things. Appreciate your truly being considerably considerate and for deciding upon such quality subject matter most people are really needing to know about. Our sincere regret for not expressing appreciation to you earlier.
Comments are closed.