Kripalu Yoga Center

I attended a 5 day retreat at the Kripalu Yoga Center in Massachussetts this past month http://www.kripalu.org/. I enjoyed a day of rest and relaxation and then attended a Zen and Harmonica Yoga course. Interspersed I did both moderate and vigoroyous vinyasa yoga classes. Kripalu is the ultimate in western styled buddhism, with an emphasis on mindfulness and healthy living. What impressed me the most, after driving through New York state, and a cycling stop over in Finger Lakes, was the dichotomy of American society. On the one side you have a population plagued with obesity  with many Americans carrying far too much weight and eating high caloric foods at super size me restaurants. On the other side you have the health conscious mindfulness socialites of the Kripalu Yoga culture, eating more organic foods and less of it. I prefer the latter.

Kripalu was once a monestary, then an ashram, and this history has transitioned it into a non profit society promoting the style of yoga by Kripalu a Yoga master. My thoughts are that we live in a society which is overly electronically stimulated via advertising, email, texting, violence, ultimate fighting,  etc. People's minds are overtaxed and hence to attract attention, advertisers are getting more and more extreme to attract the desensitized minds. People have internalized this and now need to zone out. Hence the growth in demand for Yoga. Kripalu is the ideal location to retreat, review and regroup. The concept is to quieten the mind get to its purest form and treat it with kindness.

I was very impressed with the transformational theatre course taught by a dynamic young theater instructor. I was not so impressed with a very lethargic bicycle ride given by two overly cautious cycle leaders. I was very much impressed with the quality of the yoga instructors and there philosophies they taught during the class. Most importantly was to treat yourself compassionately. We often internalize the way others treat us poorly and then began to continue flogging our own minds and injuring our self esteem through self talk. Kripalu is about being good to yourself, and being mindful of others so as to leave a gentler path as we walk through life.

I hope that the value of Kripalu Yoga will permeate the American society, to be mindful of what they are consuming, and the way they treat others and themselves. America is a dynamic and creative society which has delivered so many good things to the world. A little eastern mindfulness as part of the culture will definitely help it become even better still.

Namaste,


The Adventure Guy