Why not, I said to me. Why not start 2017 with a more spiritual and laid-back experience? I had enough of just consuming the country and needed some new inspiration for life. Thanks to Linda Mulisha, who recommended me the The Krishna Village for volunteering.
With less than a week in advance I was accepted to join the team on the 2nd of January. The deal was to work around 5,5 hours per day at the farm and I’ll get in exchange free camping, 3x healthy and vegetarian meals per day and free participation in every yoga class and workshop they had. Saturday was free and there was a pizza night every friday with live music.
Also I had to agree to do without alcohol, meat, smoking and loud music.
Besides the volunteers there are also paying retreat guest, prospective yoga teacher and krishna monks.
The Krishna village is separated in two main areas. The village itself, close to the river, with all necessary buildings to run a organic farm and the temple at the foot of the mountain. Walkable distance ca. 7-10min.
The first pictures show the surrounding of the village, where the volunteers spend most of their time.
One class in the morning and one in the evening. Every day! It was not always full like this, but it was definitely good to be there.
The motivation between the volunteers to share their skills was quite high and so some spontaneous semi-professional classes happened beside the normal program.
Well hidden and a very special place inside the property was the tree house. Build by an ex-volunteer in two month it is now passing on to anyone who wants to live there.
In the picture below you can’t see it, but it’s inside the big dark green tree on the left.
Here the heart of the hard stuff. Tools, machines and supplies to maintain the farm.
All volunteers were divided into four team every morning. The village kitchen, the temple kitchen, the cleaning team or the garden teams of Param or VJ.
The first week I worked in the village kitchen preparing the lunch. Mostly cutting and cleaning but a few times also preparing yummy juices. The second week I was working in the garden of Param and VJ. Now I’m an expert with the whipper snipper but I also picked beans, zucchini and sorted tomatoes by red and green color.
The day started with a yoga class at 5.00am, followed by a morning meeting of all volunteers at 6.15am. Brekky (aussi slang for Breakfast) was at 8.30am at the temple. The second shift of the day started right after and ended at 12.15pm. A Kirtan (singing together Krishna songs) at 12.30 was not my favorite but even more the workshops about life coaching, meditation or self expression at 1.00pm. After lunch (started at 2pm) at the village communal kitchen we finally had time for our own. Often we went to the nearby rivers or improving our tents for the next heavy rain. At 5.00pm started another yoga class, followed by dinner at the temple. Usually after a day like this we when to bed at around 9pm.
The Krishna Village about themself:
“As an eco yoga community set on New Govardhana, the Krishna Village endeavours to provide the blueprint of a simple, mindful, spiritually based lifestyle. By allowing our guests to share this experience, we hope to inspire a wholesome and sustainable lifestyle that is good for all living beings and conducive to a joyous and loving attitude.”
