Two weeks at Auroville have officially passed and I'm starting to feel all settled in and have all the external pieces in place to really start going into my internal work. I realize I've been pretty bad at taking pictures here so I'll put some up now to try and paint a picture of (a small part of) my life over here!

I've been volunteering every morning at a small organic farm called Shambhala only a few minute bike ride from my house. It's only about an acre in size and a year ago was nothing but a barren dirt lot. Pierre, an Aurovillian from France with a deep spiritual practice and love for the land, transformed the space into a beautiful thriving farm.

A papaya tree amongst the beds

Tomato plants, (massive) lettuce, amaranth, all living together 

Pierre and Johan wheeling in our morning lettuce harvest!

Where it all begins...

So many happy babies 

One of two twin kitties who make my mornings complete

And this is my friend Debu, he's lived in Auroville on and off throughout his life and has been working with Pierre for a while now. We've spent hours talking over our morning transplanting sessions and he's been a wise and gracious friend already. 

One day he took me to a gorgeous house to see his old friend who collects and sells precious and semi-precious stones and crystals.

Safe to say it was the most beautiful home I'd seen in Auroville. The owner, an old Aurovillian named Vijay, explained how it was just a barren plot when he came here in 1968 and over the years he transformed it into this sanctuary.

I bought a small moonstone pendant from him which in ancient times was called "the stone of travelers" and promotes calm and intuition. Perfect :) and it can accompany my sunstone I got two years ago in Jaipur and wear every day on my finger.

Debu then had me to his small place for lunch and playing with his three pets and a game of chess (realized I could use some work on my chess skills!)

At the farm, the typical schedule in the morning is we show up around 6:15am, greet each other, and collect flowers from around the farm for a little prayer. 

Every morning is different, new, beautiful. The sun puts on its show as it rises and we work together harvesting, transplanting, weeding, planting, watering, etc. until about 9am when we close with a meditation. Then all the volunteers at Shambhala and an adjacent farm eat a free, delicious breakfast prepared that morning by an Indian cook. And after that we usually go down the street to a tea stall to drink chai and talk and relax :) 

I've also been practicing reiki with Pierre once a week and barely scratching the surface of the ocean of inner awareness that is available there. We even talked about the heart energy and HeartMath which is a heart coherence technology that we used in the wilderness at NVW! It's all connected...

Back at the International House I've been meeting many wonderful people and engaging in regular conversations and activities with them.

My friend Kelsey in still in college back in the states and is doing a term-long internship with a locally started and run company called EcoFemme. They promote sustainable feminine products and donate pads to girls across India who can't afford menstrual products. She's an awesome pioneer in spreading the word on this cause and her passion is inspiring. That and she's a great person to goof off with!

 

My days consist of so many vastly different and engaging activities it's hard to detail all of them here now, but I hope to keep taking pictures and documenting all my experiences. Just know for now that I'm healthy, happy, doing my yoga and meditation, engaging in this unique community, and practicing presence. So much more to come!