{"id":1996,"date":"2014-06-05T12:32:40","date_gmt":"2014-06-05T07:02:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yoga.in\/blogs\/?p=1996"},"modified":"2014-06-05T12:32:40","modified_gmt":"2014-06-05T07:02:40","slug":"how-a-stay-at-ammas-ashram-transformed-my-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yoga.in\/blogs\/2014\/06\/05\/how-a-stay-at-ammas-ashram-transformed-my-life\/","title":{"rendered":"How a stay at Amma\u2019s ashram transformed my life"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Diego Guidi<\/strong><\/p>\n

Diego was a banker and rugby fan living a party life in London before he took a trip to India, and stayed at the\u00a0ashram of Mata Amritanandamayi (better known as Amma or the \u2018hugging mother\u2019) in Kerala, South India. What was planned as a short trip of a few weeks turned into several\u00a0months and a new life mission, as seva and sadhana transformed his life.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\"amritaashram3\"<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy don\u2019t you go and work in India for poor communities?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

My friend Jo in London had just sent me a link to Embrace the World, the charity of Amma, or Mata Amritanandamayi, known as the \u2018hugging mother\u2019, who I knew nothing about \u2013 even less than the little I knew about India.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo way! I\u2019m too exhausted!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

2 weeks later, on the 29th<\/sup> of December 2010, I arrived at Amma\u2019s main ashram in Amritapuri , Kerala<\/a>, a place located between Cochin and Trivandrum. I got my first sight of Amma or darshan<\/em> on New Year\u2019s Eve and shortly afterwards embarked on her tour of South India, spending 3 weeks with a thousand Western followers, singing odd devotional songs (bhajans<\/em>) on long bus rides, doing seva<\/em> (community work) for long hours and sleeping on the floors of schools and temples. The experience was tougher than a rugby tour or boarding school!<\/p>\n

Soon after some friends from Biarritz in the south of France called me up and asked me to join them on a surfing trip to the Maldives, just a one-hour flight away\u2026 I said yes right away. I surfed liked crazy for two weeks but felt strange and out of place all the time. Drinking and singing rugby songs did not appeal to me any more\u2026 I had been pulled by the ear. I went back to Amritapuri: a new journey had started for me!<\/p>\n

\"amritaashram2\"<\/a>Back at the ashram, I wanted to help and quite arrogantly offered my expertise in philanthropy strategy to one of Amma\u2019s close swamis<\/em> (a Hindu holy man). He smiled and suggested: \u201cWhy don\u2019t you start by doing some seva<\/em>?\u201d So I was recycling\u2026 for four hours per day over two months. They say you get the seva<\/em> (selfless service for the good of the community) you need: cleaning other people\u2019s shit is like cleaning yours! This was my first experience of karma yoga and I started to feel\u2026 divine love in everything through this sacred aspect of service and serving selflessly\u2026giving something and working without expecting anything\u2026motherly unconditional love, brotherhood, detachment, intemporality\u2026<\/p>\n

That is when I started to practice yoga. I took a meditation course called IAM (Integrated Amrita Meditation technique \u2013 a technique created by Amma) and learned some key asanas<\/em> (yoga postures). Meditation and yoga gave me a new understanding and a strong link between body and mind, far from the hot Bikram yoga I had done in London!<\/p>\n

A normal day at the ashram starts at 4:30am. From 5 to 6am is archana<\/em> \u2013 mantra repetition of the 1000 sacred names of Amma, in the beautiful Kali temple for women. Yoga class is usually from 6 to 7:30am on the rooftops facing the sea, either individually or in groups. This is followed by breakfast and seva<\/em> for at least two hours. Two days a week, Amma takes us for meditation at the beach on the Arabian Sea. Tuesdays are reserved for meditation and prasad <\/em>\u2013 sacred food served by Mother). In the evenings, there are bhajans<\/em> from 6:30 to 8pm, followed by dinner and an early sleep before the day starts again the next day at 4:30am.<\/p>\n

\"amritaashram4\"If years of rugby and judo had shaped me into a heavy dude (I arrived in India weighing 102 kilos!) I started to unload unnecessary armour, a heavy weight which had rested on my shoulders and my whole body\u2026outside and inside. I lost 10 kilos in a few months.<\/p>\n

I ended up spending five months in Amritapuri the first year, though I had planned to stay only a few weeks, followed by a trip to North India and an amazing Vipassana meditation retreat in Dharamsala, where I experienced the release of a heavy past. I lost an additional 10 kilos and many certitudes!<\/p>\n

The following year I started to teach social innovation and social entrepreneurship at Amrita University and created many social projects with students on renewable energies. In the meantime I had received a mantra on universal love, and a spiritual name: Jnananand, which means bliss of\/in knowledge. I was hoping for Murali, and a singing mission!<\/p>\n

I was back at Amrita University in December 2012, embarking on a PhD, the toughest learning experience I ever had, and again a strong sadhana<\/em> (spiritual practice). I carried on with daily yoga classes for men at the ashram with some of the best yoga teachers I ever had: Vinod and Gitamba. They were also friends outside class and amazing guides. Amritapuri now offers 2-week intensive yoga classes, and other various yoga and meditation programs, as well as ayurvedic treatments, that have also been pivotal for my health.<\/p>\n

\"amritaashram1\"<\/a>Today I do IAM meditation every day followed by a few asanas to strengthen my back. I now teach at some of the most prestigious universities in India like IITM (Indian Institute of Technology Madras) and IIMA (Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad), as well as developing a thesis\/research project on social innovation and waste management for poor communities.<\/p>\n

I have not become a yogi, and will surely never be one! But my life has definitely changed tremendously: from a trip to an ashram, to yoga, seva<\/em>, and bhajans<\/em>. From a banker, rugby, and party life in London, to a regular yoga practice, mostly vegetarian diet, and teaching and doing a PhD in India!<\/p>\n

Read more about Diego\u2019s experiences in India on his blog:<\/em> http:\/\/lecaminodediego.blogspot.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Photos courtesy of the author.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Diego Guidi Diego was a banker and rugby fan living a party life in London before he took a trip to India, and stayed at the\u00a0ashram of Mata Amritanandamayi (better known as Amma or the \u2018hugging mother\u2019) in Kerala, South India. What was planned as a short trip of a few weeks turned into…<\/p>\nRead More<\/a>","protected":false},"author":52586621,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[185104493,6943699],"tags":[857018,370331,228253022,3498675,6600166],"class_list":["post-1996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-yoga-ashrams-centers-and-schools","category-yoga-travelling-in-india","tag-amma","tag-amrita","tag-amrita-ashram","tag-amritapuri","tag-mata-amritanandamayi","col-sm-6"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"newspack-article-block-landscape-large":false,"newspack-article-block-portrait-large":false,"newspack-article-block-square-large":false,"newspack-article-block-landscape-medium":false,"newspack-article-block-portrait-medium":false,"newspack-article-block-square-medium":false,"newspack-article-block-landscape-intermediate":false,"newspack-article-block-portrait-intermediate":false,"newspack-article-block-square-intermediate":false,"newspack-article-block-landscape-small":false,"newspack-article-block-portrait-small":false,"newspack-article-block-square-small":false,"newspack-article-block-landscape-tiny":false,"newspack-article-block-portrait-tiny":false,"newspack-article-block-square-tiny":false,"newspack-article-block-uncropped":false,"ippo-archive-featured-image":false,"ippo-carousel-slider-image":false,"ippo-sticky-featured-image":false,"ippo-single-featured-image":false,"jetpack-portfolio-admin-thumb":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"yoga.in team","author_link":"https:\/\/yoga.in\/blogs\/author\/yogainteam\/"},"uagb_comment_info":2,"uagb_excerpt":"By Diego Guidi Diego was a banker and rugby fan living a party life in London before he took a trip to India, and stayed at the\u00a0ashram of Mata Amritanandamayi (better known as Amma or the \u2018hugging mother\u2019) in Kerala, South India. What was planned as a short trip of a few weeks turned into…","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pfTPB5-wc","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yoga.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yoga.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yoga.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yoga.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/52586621"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yoga.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1996"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/yoga.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1996\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yoga.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yoga.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yoga.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}