rock on lotus temple!


Last week I spent several days with a buddy at Yogaville, a yoga ashram located outside of Charlottesville, VA. I was very interested to check out this spot for myself since I had heard many differing opinions on it whenever I encountered someone who had visited. Some people said that it was a scary cult-y type of place where the followers worship the guru who started the place. Others said that it was a nice friendly place where they serve delicious vegan food three times a day. I know you're perched on the edge of your chair waiting to hear my opinion so here it is: although Yogaville has its qualities that may disagree with some yogis, it's a good place overall.

The bit about the yummy food was 100 percent true! For breakfast, lunch, and dinner they put out a very appealing lacto-vegetarian (mostly vegan) spread buffet-style, so you could always go back for more curried tofu. Another visitor shared with me a healthy dessert that she had invented and you all should try: yogurt mixed with peanut butter and honey and cinnamon yummmmm I'm ready to meditate now. Yogaville is also worth a visit just for the lovely scenery, they've got 600 acres of mostly undeveloped land and lots of trails in the woods to explore. If you're there at this time of year though get ready to sweat- the muggy southern Virginia air is the definitive opposite of refreshing. My friend and I were ready to cool off in their man-made swimming hole, but as soon as we reached the water's edge we saw a giant snake go in the water about 6 feet to our left. Then we ran away.

As far as the guru worship bit, I'd say "worship" is too strong of a word. The staff and practitioners at Yogaville have a great reverence for Sri Swami Satchidananda (who founded the joint) and there sure are a lot of pictures of the guy all over the place, but they don't worship him and they don't force any other visitors to do so. My only real qualm with Yogaville? Carpeted yoga studios! All their studios were covered in this thick carpeting that was really hard to balance on for standing poses and was pretty nasty to put your face on for floor poses. I know this sounds très retardé to people who don't practice but trust me it makes a difference. But other than that, I'd say I had a pretty pleasant visit to the ashram overall.



I think it's clear that I was in charge of decorating the above cake.


Now I'm back in my favorite spot to be: White Lake, NY! The boys are opening their restaurant soon (ALERT all Catskill region residents: check out the Benji & Jake's link on the left!!!) and I've got lots of hiking and wakeboarding to do. My friend baked a cake for me in honor of my return but he hadn't decorated it when I got there, so I took over in that department. What?!? I like zombies and bloody skulls and I like yoga, these are interests which can coexist people!

6:00 AM;

Like a drifter i was born to walk alone...