Retreating

First day of the retreat is behind now... I'm writing this without knowing exactly when I'll upload it - Bernie said that internet would be available but I'm too ashamed to ask right now. It's like some people are ashamed to admit on a yoga retreat that they smoke... I'm ashamed to admit that I brought my laptop. I can always say it's for the photos, but lets face it - it's because I'm addicted to the internet and making sure I'll stay on top of things.

Maybe it's something I should be trying to give up, at least for this week.

Whether I choose or not, the truth is that our schedule is so full there will be very little time to use for random internet browsing. We start the day at 6 am with some meditation, pranayama and asana practice, then have breakfast at 8 am. We are also going to keep a silence until the end of breakfast, which will be... interesting, I think. Probably weird at first, but I expect it to be calming once I get used to it.

Then we'll do some yin yoga and lectures, have lunch... then we have a "happy hour" where Bernie gives us a "happiness theme" and we have an hour to explore it on our own. Followed by lectures and dinner, followed by "story time" i.e. Bernie telling stories about yoga history and mythology, followed by meditation... Which takes us to 9 pm and I'm pretty sure I'm about ready to turn in by then.

The place we're at is called Sky-to-Sea Retreat Center, and it's situated about 30 km from Whistler, up in the mountains by Daisy Lake. It's a ecological Buddhist retreat center run by volunteers - it's quite new and it has all modern amenities like warm water and electricity, but also has a very close relationship with the nature and tries to recycle and conserve as much as possible. There are bears and cougars in the area, we saw one black bear from the buss window on our way here, and a little snake just now slithering across the path... and there is a bird's nest in the house that I'm sleeping. The nature looks very much like Finland, except the mountains and high altitude changes - very familiar and calming. Felt at home right away.

I'm still feeling a little bit apprehensive, being away from home and all - it's not a normal state for me so it'll take me a little while to adjust. But I think I'm going to love it here.