Agama Yoga

Have currently been at Agama Yoga for 2 weeks. It has been a very positive and transformative experience for me so far. I am enrolled in a 1st month intensive which includes lecture and yoga practice twice a day for 2 hrs apiece. There is another 3rd lecture following the second yoga practice of the day. None of the sessions are mandatory to attend as one can come and go as they please. However the more attention and focus you put into the program like anything else the more you are going to gain and benefit. The first month program goes in a cycle from day 1 and progresses till day 30. Anyone may step in and begin classes during the month as stated on the website and flyers you see throughout the island. However there is a natural progression from day 1 so arriving in the middle of the month leaves one in the middle of the cycle. I wasn't aware of this upon arriving as the advertisements are a bit misleading. I was lucky enough to arrive slightly before day 1 of the cycle began.

Combined in with those taking the 1st month intensive are others taking part in a 3 month teachers training program. In all there are upwards of 50-60 people present at the yoga classes. There are also others you meet who are taking classes and in there 2nd and 3rd months. These folks only meet 2 or 3 times a wk in the afternoon. I would like to stick around and take the 2nd month although I don't know if it is going to happen for me. I don't think it will keep me busy enough if there are only 2 or 3 sessions per wk, although I would be permitted to continue the yoga classes with the others in the 1st month intensive. In addition to Agama Yoga having a center here Ko Phangan, which happens to be there main yoga center, they also have sites in Chiang Mai - northern Thailand, India - Rishikesh and Dharmasala, as well as Greece and some other countries throughout the world. The school is becoming very popular worldwide and expanding with workshops and classes. Not yet in the U.S. but i'm sure it will be there eventually. In my classes I have met few Americans. There are many Canadiens and mostly Europeans. From Europe I have met lots of people from England and Greece. It's always interesting meeting new people in class and inquiring where they are from. Until this place I had never met people from Switzerland, Austria, Poland, etc.

It's a great healing environment and many people in class are participating in detoxification program and special diets. As the yoga center is situated with a resort called Ananda Resort, they work nicely together as Ananda has a restaurant with a very healthy mean and organizes all the detox programs. I have met many taking part in 10 day detoxs which include drinking special fruit and herbal concoctions at certain times of the day as well as including colonics. One guy in particular from England here with his wife from Poland is doing a 10 day fast and looks completely wiped out from the diet. He is in very good shape as he is a personal trainer and planning to move to Australia to be a trainer with the rugby clubs. His goal with doing the fast is to cleanse and detox his body and gain more energy ultimately. Last time I had seen him he was about 5 days into the fast and looking pretty worn out and tired from the lack of nourishment. It will be interesting seeing how he is feeling after the 10 days are up. The drinks and various herbal concoctions are formulated to cleanse out the stomach and intestines and get rid of toxins, impurities, and other residues present in the body from our typical modern diet and contributing to ill health. The end result is a more energetic and healthy body and mind with less disease-contributing toxins in the body. I don't think that I could do a 10 day fast at this point in my existence. I would be interested in doing a 3 day fast and detox at the maximum. There is a liver cleanse which only last for 1-2 days which interests me and I may take part in.

Another special diet others are participating in is a 10 day brown diet fast. Brown rice is a staple of the healing diets associated with macrobiotics and other dietary healing systems of Asia. I myself have been including brown rice in my diet more regularly but am not ready to take part in a 10 day diet only including brown rice. I think it is alot easier for the women participating as they are smaller and don't need as much food. However the times where I have ate only brown rice for dinner around 6pm and nothing afterword my stomach and innards have felt very harmonious and healthy the rest of the evening. My primary goal diet-wise while at Agama is to eat less and stop drinking sodas and eliminate as much as possible sugars and other sweets from my diet. I am also eliminating drinking beer and alcohol during the wk. and drinking nothing but water and fruit drinks. The fruit drinks - banana, pineapple, strawberry, mango, etc - are delicious but do include sugar, but not too much. The wknd is another story as I permit myself to lapse and drink and eat more liberally.