Last day…..already…..?

by Mandeep Gaygoat

As today was our last day the classes started earlier, Japji started at 4am, then Taya took the Kundalini yoga class, she is going to make a fantastic teacher.

Dr Sham Rang took the Long Ek Ong Kaar class, half way through the class I went back to the cabin to get my blanket, on the way I could hear the chants, it was an amazing experience. All I could see was the tall trees and hear the chants. I just wanted to sit there and meditate.

This is the location I could hear the meditation

Afterwards Mandeep Kaur gave a class before dashing off. As always this was a good class.

On the last day students gave feedback, it was nice to hear the feedback, some people who had never heard or tried Kundalini yoga were amazed at how powerful it is and how good it made them feel. It is always great to hear feedback and how Kundalini yoga is helping them stay grounded and focused in their every day life.

Our last lunch together, it was sad to say farewells to the other students and teachers. I am sure we will meet each other soon!

Location where the meals are served

Mother and daughter from Palm Springs

Farewells

Saying farewell to our brother, until next time Jai Dev Singh

View of the ceiling inside the hall where the lectures took place

Pictures of Shady Creek Retreat

Super Adobe Design:

Superadobe is a form of earthbag construction that was developed by Iranian architect Nader Khalili. The technique uses layered long fabric tubes or bags filled with adobe to form a compression structure. The resulting beehive shaped structures employs arches, domes, and vaults to create single and double-curved shells that are strong and aesthetically pleasing. It has received growing interest for the past two decades in the Natural building and Sustainability movements.

Our plan was to go to Sacramento, stay the night there and then drive to Lake Tahoe on the Monday. We were told about an ashram near Shady Creek which has amazing gardens and decided to check it out. It is called Ananda Village. From his youth, Ananda’s founder, Swami Kriyananda (J. Donald Walters) had dreamed of creating small communities based on cooperation and high ideals. When he became Yogananda’s disciple in 1948, he discovered that Yogananda, too, was committed to the concept of “World Brotherhood Colonies.” Kriyananda vowed to do his utmost to make this dream a reality. In 1968 Kriyananda began the fulfillment of Yogananda’s vision with the establishment of Ananda Village, located near Nevada City, California.

Shop located behind the reception selling books and clothing.

View of where the ‘Sangha’ (sangat) eat

Gardens

Yogananda taught that what the world needs is a blend of the best qualities of the East and West: the spiritual insight of the East and the practical efficiency of the West. One without the other leads to a society barren of human fulfillment, but a balance of the two can bring peace, harmony, prosperity, and happiness. Yogananda often predicted that world brotherhood colonies, based on the twin principles of “plain living and high thinking,” would be the social pattern for the future.

The Ananda community is situated on 900 acres of meadows and forests amidst the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in northern California. Today, 250 people reside here, including adults and children of all ages.

900 acres so you can imagine lots of wide open spaces

More buildings

Vegetarian dinners are served here

More buildings scattered around

On entry into the village visitors are advised to go to the reception where the friendly staff will help and show you around

Village shop in downtown Ananda Village

Happy with my lollypop!

Around the village

A cool road sign

One of the many temples in the village

This chap was singing hymns

Beautiful views

More gardens

Dairy Co-op

After seeing and meeting some very warm and friendly people of the village we drove to Nevada City. A very quaint city, as if cowboys should still be riding horseback.

Nevada City (originally, Ustumah, a Nisenan Maidu village; later, Nevada, Deer Creek Dry Diggins, and Caldwell’s Upper Store) is the county seat of Nevada County, California, USA, located 60 miles (97 km) northeast of Sacramento and 28 miles north of Auburn. In 1900, 3,250 people lived in Nevada City; in 1910, 2,689 lived there; at the 2000 census, the population was 3,001, and at the 2010 census it was 3,068.

It was first settled in 1849, during the California Gold Rush, as Nevada (meaning “snow-covered”, a reference to the snow-topped mountains in the area). The Gold Tunnel on the north side of Deer Creek was the city’s first mine, being located in 1850. The first saw mill built in Nevada City was on Deer Creek, just above the town, in August, 1850, and was built by Lewis & Son, with a water wheel. In 1850-51, it was the most important mining town in the state, Nevada County being the leading gold-mining county in the state. In 1851, The Nevada Journal became the first newspaper published in the town and county. The town of Nevada was incorporated on April 19, 1856. In 1864, the word “City” was added to the name to relieve confusion with the bordering state of Nevada, and the town has legally been known as “Nevada City” ever since. The former town of Coyoteville, California, later became Nevada City’s northwestern section.
The Nevada City Downtown Historic District covers the downtown section roughly bounded by Spring, Bridge, Commercial, York, Washington, Coyote, and Main Streets. Several historical buildings have received National Register of Historic Places or California Historical Landmark status, and have been preserved.

We had booked accommodation earlier that afternoon at:

Outside inn
575 east broad street
Nevada city
CA 95959
t: +1 530 265 2233
e: [email protected]
w: www.outsideinn.com

Motel reception

Motel complex

The floor in the room was sticky and not the best accommodation. For some reason it is voted number one on trip advisor! The staff are very helpful and friendly and the rooms have interesting themes but the rating is surprising.

We took a short drive to a restaurant the other side of the city to find it closed early on Sundays, so we decided to try

Sopa Thai Cuisine
312 Commercial St,
Nevada City,
CA 95959-2410
t: +1 530-470-0101
w: www.sopathai.net

Our waiter was called Geoffrey and is extremely knowledgable about the menu and ingredients, including which dishes were vegetarian including egg free. We ordered two vegan dishes. Which were very tasty. The restaurant has a good choice of vegetarian/vegan meals. Whilst having our meal a lady from the course walked in.

Afterwards we popped to

Treats
110 York St,
Nevada City,
California,
T: +1 530-913-5819

They do various homemade ice creams, unfortunately only the sorbet and treatsicle (not to be confused with anything else!!) is egg free. Whilst we were ordering the treats an elderly man came up to me and asked are you Sikh? I said yes, he immediately had a huge smile on his face. He mentioned how he had a farm in partnership with a fellow Sikh. This was located in Yuba city, there was a Sikh lady who mentioned that the children need a Gurdwara. The gentlemen partnered up with Didar Singh and built the first Gurdwara. He has a very high opinion of Sikhs.

Afterwards we got our treats and made our way outside where we took pictures of the shop. We got asked by another couple if we wanted our picture taken we said yes. We then got chatting to the couple called Matthew and Catherine from Roseville. We have found Nevada City to be a very friendly place where people just start chatting to you!

Whilst walking around the town we saw Simrit Kaur and a friend of hers eating pizza at Pete’s Pizza! Earlier we saw a lady from the Life Force course eating at Sopa Thai and another guy from the course, a local farmer, at a local Mexican restaurant, as we drove down Broad Street. It was nice to see the familiar faces.

After the walk around Nevada City where we heard some live music and experienced a nice lively but orderly vibe, we headed back to the car and drove back to Outside Inn for a good nights rest.