Backpacks and Burritos : Life as a Yogi - San Marco 11 April

Emma Carruthers, my oldest friend brought us to the beautiful small community of San Marcos, Lago Atitlan.

The spot is known for the intensity of energy, which attracted many yogis to indulge in retreats, whether it be dark, meditiation, hridaya or tantra.

The view from hostel

We found ourselves arriving with Emma, Severin and their gorgeous friend and guru Antoinetta the day before a 4 day intensive Tantra Reteat. After speaking with Antoinetta, we made a very good investment to sign up! In a nut shell, the course was beautiful and not at all sexual, as one may first think. We loved sitting on cushions in our yoga centre and attempting to meditate, followed by really interesting lectures of an ancient religion and philosophy. Thank you Antionetta.

Meditation. Heck, you are not an easy discipline to master! We tried for what felt like hours to do this, in a room of very upright crossed legged yogis who sat allllll day (8 hours) on a cushion and didnt move. It was like being at school again sitting, but this time my ankles seemed much more boney against the concrete floor and my groin and back hurt. We got away with this throughout the lectures (slumped against the wall, lying down etc). When it came to the meditation parts of the course, it was another thing all together. This was my inner monologue. ¨Ok here goes - time to perfect something Ive always wanted time to learn....This time will be better than last. What shall we eat for lunch. I think we have beans and papaya. Wonder if the shop has spinach. Really fancy some. Opps, my back isnt straight. Stop thinking, stop thinking! Ok, stillness. Right, there it is. The music is lovely, sooo relaxing, I could listen to this for hour. DAMN I´m thinking!!!! And bloody hell the flies keep landing on me. Maybe next time I´ll wear pants and a top. But it´d be a bit hot...¨

You get the gist. It was so much more of a discipline than I though. After a while we got into it, but then felt very sleepy. Hard to get to a new consciousness that we are so used to quickly bypassing before sleep. But many benefits to meditation, so will keep trying!

Highlights of the Lake.

The Tantra course - final evening when we dressed up as Godesses. Breaktime papaya and lunches with Emma, Severin and Antoinetta. Day trip to San Pedro. Our beautiful room at Yoga Hostel. Seeing Emma and Severin and their new house. Completed a Shanka (body cleanse involving rapid consumption of 15 glasses of salt water). Amazing what the body can do. We became like BabyBorn - in one end and out the other!