A week in Ekachakra - the place I was meant to find

As I look back, it seems like everything I did and everywhere I went in the past 2 months in Chile has been a hidden scavenger hunt with the final destiny here in this Ecological Yoga Farm and Ashram Ekachakra. As I entered this place and was welcomed by the Mothers Madhava and Sakhi, was shown the place where I would live and the whole grounds, I felt I had arrived where I was meant to be, like it was the end of the yellow brick road, although I didn't even know I was on that road. Or simply the stars had been aligning one by one at each place I stayed in Chile in order to take me here in the end.

The community here is made of the devotees of the Indian God Krishna, usually called the 'Hare Krishnas', multiple communities living in Eco Yoga Aldeas mostly around South America. They do have specific clothing, rituals, prayers, songs and codes that they live by. As a volunteer, you can choose to participate in any of their rituals or not (if you wake up in time you can even attend their morning offerings and chanting in the temple at 5am, or the meditation at 6 or then the philosophy class at 7 ending in chanting as well. You can also choose to stay completely out of all their traditions yet feel part of the community, sharing meals, going to their yoga classes 3 times a week, cooking, laughing, sharing skills and learning theirs.

For me this was also the first time I had the chance to work in the vegetable garden! Finally! At last the time came! On my first day in the garden, I got to sow seeds to make seedlings in seedbeds: quinoa, lettuce, red bell peppers, chili peppers (aji), various flowers (cosmos, zinneas, white malva and more) and cotton! All the seeds organic. Murari is the one taking care of the garden and he was testing some new things. He has lots of knowledge about the land and the plants, and he is a great teacher. I learned a lot from him in just a few days. The next day we went with 2 other devotees to pick up some goat manure from a neighbor's farm. We spend the whole morning scooping up manure and loading into the pickup, going back and forth to unload at the farm. We were basically breathing goat manure dust the whole time! It was interesting to see how different the goat farm is there compared to the one I worked on in Switzerland. The land on his farm is very dry and not much green, so he buys hay to feed his goats. The farmer has been on this farm since he was born, he was talking about how healthy the goat milk is and that he has never been to a hospital his whole life (and he didn't seem very young so that's pretty good, or lucky). He has about 70 goats, he milks them all once a day and gets 80L of milk everyday, they make cheese and sells the cheese (10L of milk to get 1kg of cheese). He apparently makes a good living and really enjoys his life, so nice to see this in the current time of crisis in Chile, were the majority seems to be struggling with the minimum wage of 500 dollars per month and not being able to afford education or medical expenses. Anyways if was a refreshing day (even though scorching hot).

I had to stay an extra day on the farm because of the protests in Santiago, and I was so thankful for this because I got to see another step in the gardening and transplant the seedlings they had sowed a couple weeks earlier! We prepared the garden bed in the morning, I was softening the soil and removing weeds when a super cute cat came out from nowhere, meowing and wanted lots of cuddles, rolling himself in the fresh soil I had just turned, so cute! I realized there is no rush and I can enjoy this moment to take a break in the shade of the overgrown chard to pet this cute cat called Mancha ('stain' in English, because of the brown spot on his face).

Everywhere on the property there are signs with words of ancestral wisdom and handmade dream catchers with feathers. I just fell in love with the place, the atmosphere, the trees, the sweet and fun people. I also volunteered cooking some meals for 30 people or even for 100 people on the Sunday when the community opens its doors to the public and offers lunch, yoga classes for adults and children, art class or circus for children.

They also have a bakery and prepare fresh whole grain bread and various pastries that they sell in the nearby cities and villages as one of their sources of income.

What made the farm so special to me was also the presence of the dogs, originally all stray dogs running free but slowly 'adopted' by the community. I got really attached to little Salchicha who was sleeping in front of my door and following me around everywhere. But he was also following lots of people around and after a few days he disappeared, no one knows when he went, he had probably followed some visitors all the way to a place that he couldn't find his way back or got adopted because he was just so cute. And of course all the lovely people living there, super nice and welcoming in the community.

My first temazcal experience
On my second day there, I had the chance to participate in their monthly temazcal ceremony. An ancient shamanic ritual, also called a sweatlodge, made to purify and heal. The temazcal itself represents the womb of Mother Earth and it is said to be a ritual of rebirth. There was about 40 of us crammed in this bamboo structure covered by a thick cloth that made it completely dark once closed. Before closing the entrance, the masters of the fire brought in 'las abuelitas': the burning hot stones from the fire one by one, each being given a name as they brought it in on a fork: unconditional love, compassion, connection to nature, healing, friendship, and many more. Then it was time, the door was closed, it got completely dark, the sound of the water being poured on the burning rocks, the scent of eucalyptus from the leaves hanging. Then the drum started and also the singing. I really couldn't believe what was happening and where I was. Four cycles or 'doors' later, we all came out one by one. I did feel different, not in my body but in my mind, lighter, and definitely released from the fear I had of going through this ceremony. It was not as bad as I thought in the end, I was using a towel to cover my face to stand the heat better and also was lucky to have a spot by the entrance and some fresh air between each cycle when the 'door' opened. Some people couldn't stand it and asked to get out, it's not like you are forced to stay, but rather encouraged to challenge your mind saying you can't stand it. It was especially a good ceremony due to the leader: Mahraj Tirtha, who is also the leader of the community and used to giving teaching about their philosophy of life. The way he guided us and encouraged us and led us through this ceremony, reminding us to focus on our initial intention for being in this place and all the connection with the elements and the ancestral wisdom.

On my last day, Madhava showed me how to make a dream-catcher. We took soft branches from the weeping willow trees to weave the circle and natural wool to spin the web inside using the macrame technique. Here is an online tutorial to make a dream-catcher that seems quite similar.

The week went by so fast, I couldn't stay longer because of my flight to Costa Rica, but I am already thinking of going back next year for the growing season. Let's see what life brings in the meantime. But this is definitely a place where I felt good, the working times were well structured and I really felt free to do my own things in my free time. I could have all the alone-time I wanted and also all the social time as well. A perfect mix for me. and I finally got to work in the garden! I also wish I had been there longer to see the seeds grow into seedlings and transplant them in the soil and watch them grow until harvest. What happened was all part of the process of learning and it is now time to move on to the next phase... in Costa Rica!