There are only a few things in life that we absolutely have to do, and one of those things is to breathe.
Face it: we have to breathe.
To be honest, I’m not that great at it.
I constantly find myself holding my breath, especially while I’m driving or getting therapy on my neck from the whiplash that still lingers after last summer’s car accident.
When my husband Byron’s 50th birthday neared, I thought the best gift I could give him would be to take him to a mountaintop and let him breathe while thinking peaceful and happy thoughts.
That is when (by luck, google search, and Trip Advisor) I found The Art of Living Retreat Center in Boone, NC. The pictures looked fantastic on Trip Advisor and The Art of Living Retreat Center website.
I called and booked our weekend getaway with Heather, who patiently helped me create a schedule of yoga and meditation classes along with a spa treatment for Byron and a pottery class for my daughters and me.
My daughters were a little apprehensive about the weekend getaway at first. I got comments like:
“We are going WHERE?” my 14-year-old anguished.
“An Ashram, Mom, REALLY? You are taking us to an ASHRAM?” my 19-year-old lamented. This was not going to go over well with the college campus Young Life.
They both made sure their friends had the address of the retreat center and the times they were headed in and headed out, so the last known coordinates would be available to the searchers when my daughters went missing.
After a little research on the internet to quiet my daughters’ minds, I found that The Art of Living Retreat Center’s fundamental purpose is to help people breathe easier, think and be present in the moment, and live happier lives.
The founder of The Art of Living is Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. From what I learned from his website, Sri Sri was born in India and holds degrees in Vedic Literature and Physics. In 1982, he discovered a breathing technique called Sudarshan Kriya. This breathing technique is said to “eliminate(s) stress, fatigue and negative emotions such as anger, frustration, and depression, leaving the mind calm, focused and the body energized, completely relaxed” (http://srisriravishankar.org/sudarshan-kriya/).
All that just by breathing?
Really?
This man has approximately 70 honors and awards from all over the world for his work. His vision is for a “stress-free, violence-free world.”
I knew we wouldn’t be meeting Sri Sri on our weekend getaway, but I was intrigued by what he had created.
Even after learning of Sri Sri’s accolades, my daughters’ were still not enthused by the upcoming trip.
“Vegan? VEGAN? We are going to spend a whole weekend eating VEGAN food?” lamented my 14-year-old.
When Friday came, we all got in my Toyota, and off we went in search of The Art of Living.
“There is not going to be an elevator, and this will not be like a hotel. We will have to carry our luggage up flights of steps, more than likely.” I told my daughters during the four-hour drive to the center.
“Dear God what have you done to us,” were the stares I got from my daughters.
After the twists and turns that the North Carolina Blue Ridge Parkway offers, we found the small signs directing us farther up the mountain to the retreat center, which sits at the very top of a mountain at nearly 4,000 feet in elevation.
I parked the car, and we entered a large sprawling yellow building with a small sign reading reception and checked in with Heather, who told us she had arranged for us to have a room with a great view.
Heather had a nose ring, and I felt my 19-year-old daughter’s emotions going from anxiety to cool.
With room keys in hand, we drove down the street to the building named Zambezi, also the name of a river in Africa that is home to the famous Victoria Falls.
The building seemed vacant, although there were ten or so cars parked in the lot.
Our third-floor hotel room was spotless. Really. It had to be the cleanest place I have stayed in years.
The view from the hotel room window was spectacular.
The mountains rolled outside our window like giant ocean waves.
There was a flat screen TV with Wi-Fi, so my youngest daughter’s emotions went from oh my God to cool.
We walked downstairs, and on the main floor, we found a tea station stocked with Ayurvedic Teas (herbal teas that help one relax or pep-up, or so explained the cards by the teas).
The dining hall was on the top floor of the large yellow building where we checked in. There was a buffet style offering of many different types of vegan dishes, which all looked foreign to us. Regardless, we filled our plates and walked to an empty table.
The dining hall was beautiful and huge! I imagine they have no problems feeding thousands of people there.
“What is this place?” asked my 19-year-old, looking around in awe at the vast room.
I shrugged my shoulders and started eating, curious to see what the food tasted like.
The food tasted great. My husband and even my daughters were impressed.
We walked back to our hotel room downhill, in the dark, with the cold wind reminding us of our vulnerabilities.
I was thinking, what should we do if we encounter a bear on our walk back to our room?
Byron was thinking, wouldn’t it be cool if we encountered a bear on our walk back?
Bronwyn was thinking, I wonder if I should get my nose pierced.
Arden was thinking, I sure hope the TV works.
The next morning we woke up early to the sun coming in through our window. The clouds kept us from enjoying the full effect of the sunrise. There was an early morning mist rising over the mountains.
Our breakfast was not that much different from what we would have at home, with the exception of the organic milk in our cereal and tofu scrambled eggs.
There were a few more people in the dining hall. The view of the mountains from the windows was mesmerizing.
Our first class of the morning was yoga. We were a little surprised to see that in the large yoga room it was just our family of four and the yoga teacher.
We are not yoga experts, and there would be no opportunity to hide in the crowd for this event.
Our teacher, Sejal Shah, was calm and patient with us. She told us that when there are workshops offered for the weekend, there are usually about 1,000 people at the center. From March on, there are workshops nearly every weekend. Sejal was a very experienced yoga instructor and put as at ease. (Click here for a blog from Sejal for Huffington Post)
Immediately, we felt like we were spending time with an old friend who would not judge us if we couldn’t touch our toes.
Our next class was meditation, and we had no idea what to expect. Sejal lead the meditation class for our family and a retreat guest who joined us. He was an ex-college basketball player with a bad hip. He was also ex-military who found meditation extremely helpful in dealing with what he had experienced in the Middle East. “If I meditate, I find I don’t have the need for drugs from the VA to treat my anxiety,” he told us.
The most important advice Sejal gave us in the beginning of the class was that to meditate you don’t need to do anything. You just need to breathe and let your mind go where it will.
That was a relief to know we didn’t have to analyze anything. We felt very relaxed after the hour long guided meditation. Arden said she had a good sleep through the class: she’s 14.
After lunch, we got a tour of part of the grounds from Brian, who helps maintain the buildings. He was young, happy and calm.
We were told a brief history of the retreat center by Brian and Byron. It seemed Byron had also done some research before the trip.
The center was originally built in 1996 by the Transcendental Meditation group. The land was owned by brothers who had a falling out with the TM group. For nearly 10 years, the center was abandoned. Some resourceful local children took over the great meditation hall and used it as a skateboard park. When Sri Sri Ravi Shankar bought the center in 2012, the center needed repair. Four years later, although a lot has been repaired, we saw work still under way.
As we walked, I asked Brian if The Art of Living was a religious organization.
No, it’s not a religion.
The Art of Living is an organization that embraces all religions.
“So, this is not a religion,” I asked once more to be clear.
“No, it’s definitely not a religion.”
I later noticed in the bookstore, all religions were represented. There was a shelf for Jesus. I was happy about that.
Brian let us into the giant meditation hall that holds 3,000 people.
While Byron talked to Brian about the room’s audio, Bronwyn, Arden and I walked around the room in awe of this happy space on the top of the mountain.
We walked out of the building, and I stopped to take pictures with my cellphone.
We dropped Byron off at the spa and checked in for our pottery class.
The three of us each had our own wheel. The potter, Laurie Caffery Harris, was patient with us.
Throwing pottery is harder than it looks, you know.
Bronwyn was brilliant at it, catching on the fastest.
My bowls kept collapsing on the wheel just when I thought I had them where I wanted.
We paid to have the bowls glazed and shipped to our home. I guess it’s no secret what Grandma and Grandpa are getting for Christmas this year…
Byron met up with us, calm and refreshed after his massage, and we walked up the hill to the main building.
Sejal gave us a yoga class; then, we had a meditation class given by Dr. Venkat Srinivasan, the facility manager. Arden said she enjoyed the chance to sleep some more.
There was another great meal for dinner. After dinner, we joined the Satsang.
We entered the meditation/yoga room with about eight other people. Dr. Venkat Srinivasan invited us to sit in four chairs that had been placed in the inner circle. There were five or so people behind us. We were given a song sheet so we could sing along to the Sanskrit songs. We were also invited to take an instrument from the basket. We felt very awkward at first because we had no idea what a Satsang was.
As we read the lyrics and explanations, we learned the songs where of strength, peace and hope.
The voices, which filled the room, where beautiful and happy. We listened, and I couldn’t help but think what a healthy way to finish off our day. This is what they did every evening to unwind. They came together after dinner and sang. It reminded me of singing campfire songs.
After the singing, a couple of the ladies came up and gave my daughters and myself a hug. I felt like I was among a family I was part of but never realized existed until that weekend.
We walked back to our hotel room after 8pm. The night sky was clear and the moon was nearly full.
Each one of us seemed to be breathing a little easier. Our walk was less weighted.
As we walked, I thought how beautiful the night sky looks and how crisp the air is.
I’m pretty sure Byron was thinking the same thing.
Bronwyn was thinking, one day I’ll be a potter.
Arden was thinking, I wonder what my friends are doing right now.
We slept with the windows open to the night air.
Byron woke us all up with a loud, “You have got to see this.”
We got out of bed and headed to the window where he stood. Standing there, we watched the sunrise over the mountains.
The only sound was the occasional click of my camera.
We had one more yoga class and one more meditation class before heading down the mountain for home.
That weekend, the weekend before Byron’s 50th birthday, was one of the best family weekends we have ever had. We sat, breathed, and allowed ourselves to just be still.
We will go back to the center one day soon.
This coming weekend is the 35th anniversary of The Art of Living. To celebrate, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has organized The World Culture Festival in which 3.5 million people are expect to attend.
3.5 million people.
There are not many people in the world that can command that size of an audience.
For information on The World Culture Festival 2016, or Sri Sri’s 35th Anniversary celebration, go to http://www.artofliving.org/us-en/world-culture-festival#/festival.