Amrita Yoga Takes Root In A Beautiful Malanad Village
Amma started an Amrita Vidyalayam school near this Indian village about 10 years ago and the village, Byse, five kilometres from the Amrita Vidyalayam school, has been the beneficiary of several of Amrita Serve’s activities.
Women have learned the art of making blocks and building toilets, in addition to several other skills.
Yoga Nurtures The Villagers (and vice versa!)
Three years ago, Amrita sent a team to start yoga courses exclusively for women. The course included several literary as well as cultural activities. Then many more courses began to be introduced. By now, Amrita Yoga has become the in-thing in Nagara.
By now, Amrita Yoga has become the in-thing in Nagara.
In recent months, several yoga camps have taken place conducted by Amrita Teams. During this past Navaratri, just before the harvest started, people from as far as twelve and fourteen kilometres organised and attended the camps, which included yoga, meditation and satsanga.
One of the enthusiastic young men whose wife and children never missed a yoga camp said, “It is definitely because of Amrita…. All of us in these parts today have developed sensitivity about our physical health and have acquired a sensibility that promotes over-all social and spiritual healthy living.”
Many villagers, including children, also enjoyed watching Amma videos, savouring that special pure joy of singing bhajans.
Deep Native Wisdom, Connected With Mother Earth
Whenever we visit a village, we get to see the native wisdom also. With their wisdom, villagers have lived more healthy lives. I met a farmer there, who is so large hearted as to grow certain fruit trees only for the sake of monkeys from the nearby forests!
He says if we give them their due, they will let us have our share. He is the only farmer I met who has grown and also successfully reaps a variety of fruits, including mango, banana and anjura.
He also had a gomutra (cow urine) distillery; his wife had piled the few vessels atop the gobar gas stove. She showed how the cows’ urine is distilled and collected in a container. The product, Arka, is well known for its medicinal qualities.
The product, Arka, is well known for its medicinal qualities.
The villagers live a life of hard work on paddy fields and arecanut farms; but their devotion to Mother Earth, which I witnessed celebrated on a festival day, the full moon after Navaratri, holds a promise. Mother earth never fails them, though she cannot give them plenty.
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