During my stay, I met a VIP on the New York state political scene, a grieving widow from Maine, an art teacher from an exclusive Manhattan girls’ school, an actor from California, and the conductor of a fairly renowned orchestra — each there for a different workshop. Throughout the season, Omega offers watercolor classes, nutritional counseling, couples’ massage instruction and tai chi, as well as rotating workshops on chanting, Spanish immersion, John of God, photography, trapeze and — during my week there — past-life therapy, one of the more popular picks. At orientation, staffers told us that 150 students had traveled across the globe that week for the sole purpose of determining who they were before they became who they are. Which, frankly, freaked me out. After five years of yoga classes, I finally believed in the possibility of transcendence of the physical self through devoted hatha practice. But to be lumped in with a passel of would-be mystics? It just seemed a little too … out there for my taste. I would stick to my own little spiritual journey through plain old yoga, thank you very much.
A spiritual journey, I should note, that was not going according to plan. Five minutes into that first dandasana, my shoulders began to cave. My thighs ached. My stomach quivered. Suddenly this once-comfortable position was more than uncomfortable: It was borderline excruciating. My teacher was serene, announcing a new pose every 10 minutes between stories about monks in India, matriarchal rule in Ghana, falling in love in London. I sat there shaking, contemplating an early return to Philly. Forget nirvana. With these raw nerves and strained muscles, I just wanted to make it through the morning. Things weren’t much better that afternoon. Or the next day. The third day might have been the worst.
But then, on day four, maybe five, I noticed a difference in myself. My mind was clearer. My muscles were calmer. I realized that I sort of understood what Kofi meant when he said — and I’m paraphrasing here — that if you can momentarily reconcile with your tight hamstrings, if you can inhale just once more in that headstand, if you can refrain from comparing yourself to your neighbor, refrain from acting at all, then you’re on your way to the peace you seek. And that’s what I did. I put my body in strange positions. I tried to stay there. I breathed. It was, I realized, not a lesson in strength and flexibility nearly as much as it was a lesson in patience. I felt okay with myself, and — amazingly — by extension, others. Heck, I even listened politely when a woman at my table at dinner announced that she was once a Roman prince.
Who knows if I’ll be able to maintain this oh-so-Omega vibe next time I’m stuck on the Schuylkill, mad at my boyfriend, or frustrated at work? But I will remember that I approached nirvana once, just by sitting there.
IF YOU GO: Contact: Omega Institute for Holistic Studies, 150 Lake Drive, Rhinebeck, New York, 800-944-1001, eomega.org. Get there: About three and a half hours from Philadelphia. Details: From $406 per person, per week, to camp, to $1,449 per week for a single cabin room with queen bed and private bath. Includes meals, nightly lectures or concerts, and activities. Spa treatments aren’t included; workshops are also additional. Insight into Iyengar yoga with Philadelphia’s Joan White, June 23rd-27th, $330; yoga darshana with Kofi Busia, July 28th-August 3rd, $585.
INSIDER TIP: For a just-as-intense but not-as-far-away workshop, sign up with Queen Village’s Practice Yoga Studio for five days of Iyengar yoga with Kofi Busia, who’s in town July 21st-25th — or for three days of anusara yoga with master instructor Jimmy Bernaert, June 13th-15th; practiceyogastudio.com.
