DETAILED DIRECTIONS AND ARRIVAL INFO

Because many of us got lost last year!  We are talking a half hour to over an hour lost!

Ananda Kriya Retreat 4/30-5/2 2010

The Rolling Ridge Retreat Center is located at 660 Great Pond Road, North Andover, MA  01845, www.rollingridge.org.  If you need directions to get to the general area, feel free to use your favorite internet map service, www.googlemaps.com, or a GPS device, but as we know they are not fool proof!  So once you are on 114 either West or East, I recommend you follow the directions below.  It can get a little tricky around North Andover, as some of the roads are not well marked, they change names mid-road, and as you get closer to the retreat, you are in an area of rolling hills with large estates.  Just in case, the retreat’s number is 978-682-8815, and Tracy’s cell is 781-640-1132.

From 114 West:  Pass strip mall of stores on your right, the Royal Crest Estates on your right; see Merrimack College on your left.  At the next traffic light, take a right (there is a right turn lane) onto 125 North (also known as Chickering Road).

From 495:  Take 114 East, and then get into the left hand turn lane for 125 North (also known as Chickering Road).

Once on 125 North, go just .3 miles to the first traffic light, and make a slight right turn onto 133 East (also known as Andover Street)—I don’t think there is a road sign there.  It’s less than a 90 degree turn, and there is almost like a right hand turn lane, and a little triangle piece of curbed grass that you go to the right of as you turn.  WARNING:  FYI, if you miss this turn, it takes a LONG time to find it again, as you can’t take just go down the street and do a U-turn easily, and once you do make that U-turn, there is no left turn from 125 South to 133 East, so you have to make a right onto 133 West, make a U-turn on it, then you are on 133 West!  To make matters worse, there is a lot of traffic congestion at this intersection—if you miss this first right hand turn that is!)  Don’t worry, it get easier!

On 133 East, go .8 of a mile, where there is a traffic circle.  Take the 2^nd right onto Great Pond Road.

Continue on Great Pond Road for .7 miles until you come to a stop sign (and the road ends):  take a left onto Marbleridge Road—I don’t think there is a road sign there either.

Continue on Marbleridge Road, which after about a hundred feet, turns into Great Pond Road again (New England roads, I tell ya!  Good thing the scenery is beautiful around here!).  Travel .8 miles and then turn left at 660 Great Pond Road.  There is a small house just off the road, but to get to the Rolling Ridge Retreat, you will follow a gravel road down a gentle slope for about 1/8 of a mile. 

When you reach a Y intersection before the large retreat building, bear to your left, and park in the main parking lot.  Continue walking down toward a sloped driveway that brings you to the courtyard of the retreat center (the top picture on the website www.anandaboston.org/retreats.aspx), and enter up the main stairs/sloped walkway.  Our main conference room is at the base of the grand stair case, to the left.  Restrooms are off that main entry way.  If you get there early, there is also a coffee/tea/snack area down the hall to the right of that grand stairway—feel free to help yourself.

We will most likely have a table with name tags and room assignments—and one of us:  Tracy, Kristy, or Larry will be close by to get you settled in your room and ready for sadhana that starts at 4:30pm.  If we don’t catch you then, we’ll register you after sadhana or after dinner.  We will be there from about 2-230pm onward getting things ready.  Registration and our rental of the place begins at about 3pm, but if you are traveling from a distance, feel free to arrive early as use the common areas or the grounds as long as you are properly clothed (see items to bring).

ITEMS TO BRING/READ

Ananda Kriya Retreat 4/30-5/2/10

General items to bring

Toiletries

Water bottle if you need one

Hat for outside

Sturdy walking shoes for walking the grounds

Light colored knee socks & long pants for walking any of the grounds (see Tick/Lyme Disease below). 

Comfortable, non-restrictive, non-revealing clothing—sweats or yoga type clothing

White/Khaki clothes for kriya initiation Sat, plus fruit, flower & donation (more details will be provided about the ceremony at the retreat)

Less casual/nicer clothes for Sunday Purification & Service

Optional offering/donation for Sun Service

Yoga mat, strap, blocks, if you have them (if not, feel free to just bring a towel to use of the floor)

Cushion to sit on floor or chair (a bent spine is the enemy of Self-realization!)

Any other additional meditation supplies (a shawl, kriya beads, etc.)

Notebook/pens for notes or journaling

Optional:  camera, mp3 player w/headphones.  WiFi is available if needed.

FYI, linens and towels are provided, as is a unique wake-up call in the morning a half hour before sadhana—bring an alarm clock only if you want to wake up earlier.

Additional items:  slippers for in conference rooms/temple, and earplugs

Readings to Meditate On

Especially for those taking kriya initiation, feel free to bring these books with you (books may be purchased at the Ananda boutique at the retreat, or you may read them on-line (perhaps print out these or any other chapters you may be interested in).

Autobiography of a Yogi, by Paramhansa Yogananda, published by Crystal Clarity

Chapter 26, The Science of Kriya Yoga

Chapter 34, Materializing a Palace in the Himalaya

Read on-line at http://www.ananda.org/inspiration/books/ay/

The New Path, by Swami Kriyananda, founder of Ananda, published by Crystal Clarity

Chapter 34, Kriya Yoga

Read on-line at http://www.ananda.org/inspiration/books/path/

For Those Newer to Meditation and Good Review for Everyone!

For those of you in the Kriya Basics track for the retreat, Larry will be touching upon many of the principles and practices that you can find online at http://www.ananda.org/meditation/.  These are resources available to you either before or after the retreat.

See “Learn to Meditate” on that page for a description of the key points for meditation

See ‘Free Meditation Support” on that same page for many additional resources.

Additionally, on the right column of the page is a link for Ananda On-line classes, where you can watch a one hour class on How to Meditate, on Kriya Yoga, sign up for future webinar classes (feel free to sign up for the free webinar on Intuition on Thurs, 4/29 at 9pmEST), and take a free meditation class and other classes with interactive support.

Avoiding ticks/Lyme Disease

Tick season is in full swing here, and the grounds are grassy and wooded, with some simple trails and a lovely pond to walk to.  Ticks mainly enter from the ankle area as you brush by grasses, etc., and then they travel up the legs and nestle in folds of skin, even the scalp, so tucking the pants in socks and having it all a light color makes spotting and removing a tick easier.  Check your clothing and your person after walking outside.  Ticks with Lyme Disease may, but not always, leave a red circle around the site of the tick bite that may not show up right away.  Treatment involves taking antibiotics for about 2 weeks, if you catch it early enough.