Broccoli At Breakfast

Well, here I am at Kripalu, and I may be the only person in history to have gained weight here... One thing I was worried about is whether there would be food here for me, but it turns out that the food is awesome, and there's plenty that I can eat. All very healthy stuff too, it reminded me of eating at home -- except, for some reason, I've never had steamed veggies at breakfast before, not even leftovers, and I've been chowing down on them (among many other things) here every morning.

Other than that, I can't say that I've really immersed myself into the scene here. We arrived Friday afternoon (after riding the nearby trails), ate dinner, and I went to a seminar on "positional therapy" while Anne went to her workshop; I took an early morning yoga class yesterday, then rode all day and hit the sauna; and today we leave, but I will hit the gym they have, and maybe the sauna, while Anne's in her final class. I'm glad I did that yoga class, going to Kripalu and not doing any yoga would be hard to explain back home... The place is yoga-centric, not surprising since it is in fact a yoga-as-religion retreat, but even if yoga were taken out of the picture, looking at the place as, say, a spa, I've hardly dipped my feet into the amenities, though I do think Anne is getting her money's worth from that class. (She actually had homework.)

Our room is in a building called "the annex," very cool, euro and eco at the same time, all concrete and blond wood. Wireless, funky bathroom, really neat decor. There's saunas and whirlpools, a weight room, and body work (i.e. massage) of all kinds, and, though it seems experimental and against their better judgment, there's a coffee shop, which is where I am now. My experience of yoga-as-nice-start-to-a-weekend-morning usually includes post-yoga cafe downtime, and there at the coffee shop I would usually see at least a few of my classmates; judging by the sudden morning crush, that sort of demographic is well-represented here. (A-and speaking of demographics: there's probably 10 women for every guy here, at least among the guests -- it sounds like paradise, but I do get that "onion in a petunia patch" feeling of being out of place. Being here gives me a good idea of what it might be like as a girl into mountain biking.)

My biggest block here, in terms of my not getting to enjoy all the facilities and classes available here, is the same problem I have with hiking: whenever it's a good day for a hike it's a better day for a bike ride, and I'd usually rather be biking. (Tough life, huh?) I might have a unique opportunity with this trip to Kripalu, even though I'm pretty sure I'll be coming back, but that also goes for the local trails -- the weather and trail conditions are probably as good as they get, and it's just too nice to not be outside. I think it's time for a hike...