Its a cult! Stay far far away. It's no secret they are a cult, but it's unique because it allows paying guests and has a high rating. It's one thing to be a visitor, it's another thing to work there for an extended period of time. They do not practice anything they preach... unity in diversity, spreading of joy. Quite the opposite. The permanent staff there, it's no wonder they have to live in an ashram. Everyone is treated as a number, which is all you can expect from the inanimate wind up humanoids that live there. While I was there, one staff member claimed she felt she was being brainwashed so what did they do? Put her in a leadership position and gave her a taste of power. She also just happened to be the same ethnicity (Israeli) as 90% of the other staff. I was told that I could not take notes and that I could not carry on my own spiritual practices. There is a ridiculous amount of pressure and force to get people to adhere to the miserable schedule and activities. You are under surveillance. Not on camera, but there is a strong sense of surveillance and some staff members have eyes in the back of their head. Expect to be interrogated and hounded to do what they want you to do. Their idea of spiritual practice is doing the exact same boring things day in day out while being malnourished and sleep deprived every day. Change or variety is shunned. To learn new things or have new experiences outside of your daily alloted schedule is discouraged. If you are thinking about vacationing or visiting there, don't. They love your money. There is a tension between what is an ashram and what is a yoga retreat / resort. They don't care about you. They care about your money and their own little world. You are just a passerby. If you are thinking about going there for the yoga teacher training, definitely don't. You will be completely uneducated and equipped with lots of useless knowledge while being $3000. poorer. The depth and scope of knowledge is pitiful and highly flawed from beginning to end. If you are thinking about volunteering there... you guessed it. Don't. I signed up for three months and left after five weeks. Most people who volunteer there absolutely hate it, but put up with it. The ones that don't hate it and take it hook line and sinker, are usually impressionable or just not very bright. It did take me a few weeks before I really realized I didn't like it. I tried really hard. I even tried to stay knowing full well I didn't like it just by trying different approaches, but it was really doing harm to myself. I am not allowed back since I left early despite giving more than I took. Unless I am a paying customer. I did not require any training or downtime when I got there to get started. You can also pay roughly $1200 to go there and work 6 hours a day 7 days a week for 1 month. Yeap, work over forty hours a week, and you pay them. The theory is that you have to pay them because it requires training and time to get you started. Not. It doesn't. I could go on. Theres just so much. This place is just awful. The thing about it is, a lot more people know its awful than there are stellar online reviews. I'm trying to get the word out.
How On Earth Did You Get Mixed Up With That Bunch Of Losers...??....You Were An Elite Athlete....One Of The Best In Your State......A Fitter And Turner And Trained In CNC..... Cheers Glen.
Glen, you're fucking awesome. Thanks for believing in me. As far as how I got mixed up with a bunch of losers.... it was an ex girlfirend that got me interested in it, and since we broke up, she has just gone further and further off the deep end toward the looney bin.
I assume it is one of Vishnudevananda’s ashrams? Shivananda lineage is a strange one. The parent ashram founded by Sivananda himself felt OK to me, but I am not sure how much was up to Shivananda himself, and how much to Swami Chidananda running it at that time, who seemed like a decent human being. Though as a guest there is also only so much one can detect. But every single independent organization made by one of Sivananda's disciples has a cultish vibe, at least those with a presence in the West. The “Woodstock Swami”, Vishnudevananda, BiharSchoolOfYoga, all have a questionable track record and “vibe”. Never figured out what happened. Was Shivananda himself a grifter and Chidananda an outlier of the lineage, or did something happen with those big-name second-generation Swamis for so many to turn that way?
