Moon, Classes, Heat

Monday's full moon meditation was quite special. A dozen of us gathered on the rooftop of Surya Palace (where batch 2 of our class is staying, and which has nothing of a palace), to sit directly in the bright light of the moon. It was a relatively warm evening with a pleasant cool breeze. A few particularly enthusiastic girls started with a few standing howls facing the moon, and then we all sat quietly. We were told that, as beautiful as the moon was that night, we shouldn't stare at it for too long as it could cause strong headaches. I couldn't help but stare at it for the first few minutes, but then lowered my gaze and let my eyes gently close. During the next half hour of meditation, feelings of anger, frustration and sadness surfaced. Despite how good I feel here, I clearly have some buried issues that need compassionate attention. Don't we all. But I'm grateful to be in a place, physically and mentally, that allows me to be so aware and mindful of these things.

A bit about our most recent classes:

Saturday with Narindra - Without previous warning, he announced to us as we got started that we would each be teaching a portion of the class. He basically went through the sequence he would have taught us, but every time we changed warm-ups, sun-salutation rounds, or postures, he asked one of us to come and give the instructions for it, demonstrate, and adjust others. I got a round of sun salutations. The next day, I had a few a few classmates stop me to comment on the quality of my voice and teaching... guess those 6 years in the classroom paid off!

Monday with Faraaz - Our 2 hour class was split in half. The first hour was nothing but pranayama (breath control), the longest I've ever done. The first 15min were for yogic 3-part breath (abdomen, chest, clavicle) lying down, next 15 for seated diaphragmatic breath (where the expansion happens only between the ribs and navel), next 15 for seated alternate nostril breath, and last 15 natural seated breathing. The hour went by astonishingly fast. Then, part 2, guided visualization through the 5 elements. We started lying down in a grassy forest, then got up, walked out of the forest towards a clearing that opened onto a beach. We walked on the sand, then into the water, diving to its depths, and coming back up to the surface. Back onto the beach, back into the forest, and towards a large fire in the distance. Walked into the fire, rose up with the flames, then the smoke, and upwards towards the clouds, past the clouds, out of the earth's atmosphere, and into the star-studded dark expanse of infinity. Hung out there for a while, then took the whole journey back until we were again lying down on the grass. The whole journey took an hour. I promise you, no drugs are consumed during this course!

Tuesday with Narindra - A full 2 hours of self-practice. It was great. I got to build my own sequence and work on exactly what it was that my body needed. I knew what I wanted to work towards for the end, and I was able to go deeper than ever before in my final postures.

Today with Faraaz - Chakra-based Yin yoga. Loved it. Yin is a semi-active, semi-restorative style where each posture is held for at least 5 minutes. We started with a pose for the root chakra (1st), making our way up to the crown chakra (7th), and back down again. This journey took almost 2 hours.

Seasons are in full change. From one day to the next, we have gone from using heaters in the yoga hall to trying to figure out how get the fans going. My pajama layers are even diminishing. And in the afternoon, when I return to my room on the sunless side of the building, I'm thankful for the natural AC.

With that, I'm off to bed. Sweet dreams. (Or good morning.)     

Dance, Sound, Full-Moon

Another short but great weekend has gone by. It started Saturday night with our second 5 rythms dance which was again a great success. Same old on Sunday: laundry, postcard-writing by the Ganga, reading, chakra drawing. Stopped at a little nearby bakery for the best, lightest, fluffiest cheescake I've ever had. Earlier, as I wrote postcards, had the sweetest, worst chai I've ever had. Then, in the evening, I ate out for the first time since I've been here. I think I may have been the only one who stuck with our provided meals for so long. And I only ate out because I had to. I was going to a Sound Healing Journey at 7pm (unrelated to our course), which is the same time our dinner is served. After a great meal at Oasis, I think I might be tempted to venture out for food a little more often. The sound journey was great. In a beautiful, wood paneled rooftop yoga hall, candles were lit and incense was burning around a beautiful display of exotic instruments. There was a didgeridoo, a large gong, a native Canadian drum, harmonica, wooden flute, rattles, and 3 large Tibetan singing bowls. The woman played each one separately, and sometimes hummed or chanted as she played. She circulated around the room, and would play the instruments over our outstretched bodies. The healing vibrations and sounds resonated strongly throughout our whole being. Quite a special experience. And tonight, a few of us from the course are gathering for a rooftop full-moon meditation. Never a dull moment in Rishikesh!      

Halfway to Certification!

3 weeks done, 3 to go! Better get studying for the final anatomy test... the philosophy I'm absorbing like a sponge, but memorizing muscles, bones and glands along with their locations and functions is a whole other story. We get certified regardless of our exam marks, but I still want to get the most out of my classes. Roshan doesn't believe we should be characterized by a piece of paper or test result. Our certification and exam are for our own growth, not his judgment, and are only a small step in our life-long learning and living of yoga.

Late yesterday afternoon, I got yoga-stoned by Faraaz once again. The meditative flow of breath, movement and sound he got us into was out of this world. Literally. As for Narindra, his promise of splits-in-a-week has not been fulfilled, but the quality of his stretches have made my chronic neck and shoulder pain almost disappear. I'm satisfied.

Rishikesh in February gets an average of 2 days of rain. We've already had 7. And we're not talking a little drizzle. Hour after hour after hour of heavy downpoor keeps many of us hibernating in our rooms. Great reads have been keeping me busy in there. Trying to power through my meditation group book and the textbook for my course, each about 400 pages. So I've practiced self-restraint when walking past the bookstore windows. The other day, I must have stared at the books behind the glass for about 10 minutes before finally convincing myself to walk on.

Speaking of restraint, how about my new ability to write blogs that take just 5 minutes to read! 

Weather, Jeetu, Homework, Death

When there isn't much to talk about, talk about the weather. I'm still sleeping with a woollen hoodie, leggings under stretchy cotton pants, and socks, all under a heavy mink blanket, yet the pm sun is now too hot to sit in. A little weather balance would be nice. I know, I know, everyone's shovelling at home and I shouldn't complain. Happy Snow Day to RSB teachers :)

I went up for some rooftop reading the other day, but two of the guys who work here were up there stretched out on yoga mats and struck up a conversation. About 20 minutes in, Jeetu says to me, "Why you so slim? Your pairents not love you?" Hahaha, got a good chuckle from that!

As I worked on my Vishudha chakra outline this afternoon, I thought about what Roshan said in class the other day: Do your homework with love, or don't do it at all. Imagine if every teacher gave that instruction to their students? And gave them homework that could be done with love? What a beautiful place our schools would be.

In today's philosophy class, eyes got watery and tissues came out as Roshan spoke about death, and his experience assisting his adoptive father through his last days. Trying to relate the story in a few blog sentences wouldn't do it justice, but suffice to say, it was a powerful moment. For Roshan then, and for us today. He especially struck a chord with me when he spoke about his father not being gone, but continuing his journey through him.

Remember the clear light, the pure clear white light from which everything in the universe comes, to which everything in the universe returns; the original nature of your own mind. The natural state of the universe unmanifest. Let go into the clear light, trust it, merge with it. It is your own true nature, it is home.
                                                                                         - The Tibetan Book of the Dead

Song of the Soul

Not a whole lot to report today, so here's something from Iyengar's Light on Yoga.
He concludes his intro to What is Yoga with these song lyrics. Enjoy!

"...There wells up from within the heart of the yogi the Song of the Soul,
sung by Shankaracharya in his Atma Satkam."

Song of the Soul

I am neither ego nor reason, I am neither mind nor thought,
I cannot be heard nor cast into words, nor by smell nor sight ever caught:
In light and wind I am not found, nor yet in earth and sky -
Consciousness and joy incarnate, Bliss of the Blissful am I.

I have no name, I have no life. I breathe no vital air,
No elements have moulded me, no bodily sheath is my lair:
I have no speech, no hands and feet, nor means of evolution -
Consciousness and joy am I, and Bliss in dissolution.

I cast aside hatred and passion, I conquered delusion and greed;
No touch of pride caressed me, so envy never did breed:
Beyond all faiths, past reach of wealth, past freedom, past desire,
Consciousness and joy am I, and Bliss is my attire.

Virtue and vice, or pleasure and pain are not my heritage,
Nor sacred texts, nor offerings, nor prayer, nor pilgrimage:
I am neither food, nor eating, nor yet the eater am I -
Consciousness and joy incarnate, Bliss of the Blissful am I.

I have no misgiving of death, no chasms of race divide me,
No parent ever called me child, no bond of birth ever tied me:
I am neither disciple nor master, I have no kin, no friend -
Consciousness and joy am I, and merging in Bliss is my end.

Neither Knowable, Knowledge, or knower am I, formless is my form,
I dwell within the senses but they are not my home:
Ever serenely balanced, I am neither free nor bound -
Consciousness and joy am I, and Bliss is where I am found.

Sugar and Dairy

This morning, after my return to sugar last night, I skipped my first asana (posture) class. My stomach was so cramped up I could barely get out of bed. I managed to go down for the 6am ayurvedic tea and neti (nasal cleansing), but as everyone else headed up to the yoga hall, I made my way back to bed. Fell back asleep, and cramps had subsided by the time I woke up an hour later. As I was drifting off to sleep, I could hear faint chanting and Oming coming from the hall across the courtyard and two floors up. It was beautiful, the perfect sound to lull me back into a peaceful and healing sleep. As I lay in bed after waking up, I thought about what I would take on this week, and my conclusion was: nothing. I wasn't going to stress about sugar, dairy, 5am wake-up, yoga nidra or anything else. Just being here and taking in the bodywork, mindwork, and energy would suffice. Next week, I'll re-assess.

At breakfast, for the first time in 7 days, I put a little honey in my soupy porridge and mint-lemon tea... mmmmm! Didn't think that would cause any tummy trouble, and it didn't. Then, after a sugar-free lunch, I walked over to the Health Cafe for their famous sweet but refined-sugar-less "brownie". Ingredients: raisins, walnuts and cocoa powder. Chop and mush it all together, pat it down, and voila. Delicious and so easy to make! Then I gathered my geometry set, coloring pencils, and drawing pad from my room and went to Oasis Cafe to get my anahata (heart) chakra outline done. Soaked up some vitamin D while drinking chai, and since I was also mostly off dairy, just the milk in the tea left a thick feeling in my mouth all afternoon. Last night's sugar seemed to get stuck in my throat, and today's dairy got stuck to my tongue and cheeks. Tonight, a new dessert with our meal: freshly made doughnuts with warm chocolate icing. Quite the change from our usual cardamom rice-pudding or coconut cream of wheat. I couldn't help but indulge. So far, so good - it has left a lovely taste and sensation behind.  

Ok, enough about food, and enough for today.

"Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all."   - Aristotle

Sunshine, Dessert, and Dancing

Yup, Sunday has been a good day! The sun returned, and I celebrated my completion of 7 sugar-free days with a bowl of sweet cream-of-wheat with coconut slices. Not the most exciting thing they could have served for my dessert come-back, but it did the trick. Actually, after eagerly anticipating this moment all week, I thought I would be quite a bit more enthusiastic it when it arrived. But I felt pretty neutral as I looked at the bowl of sweet brown mush on my plate. And when I ate it, the taste of sugar in my mouth was quite overwhelming. And now my throat feels thickly coated and constricted. Hmmm... shall I go for another week?

Last night, what was the remedy for our shivering bones and shelter from the downpour? Dancing of course! Half an hour into it, I was sleeveless and barefoot. A few Aussies organized a 5 Rythms dance in our yoga hall and it was a roaring success. Lights were turned off, candles were lit, incense was burning, iPod was plugged into the speakers. We started with 3 Oms as we sat in a circle, then let our bodies loose to sound of 5 rythms - melow, staccato, chaos, flow, calm (a wave of sound). It was great to move our bodies so freely and uncontrolled, unlike the 4 hours of structured yoga every day. It's on again next Saturday by popular demand.

Well, another one-day weekend has come and gone. I woke a little before 6 this morning, but didn't get out of bed until almost 8! My latest since I've been here. Day off consisted of pretty much the same thing as last week: reading in the sun on the roof, postcard writing in the sun by the Ganga, and laundry (which I've decided to do myself - even the big stuff).

Looking forward to week 3 of training, and all the goodness and head-spinning it will bring!
   

Almost through Week 2!

Just one more evening class, and week 2 is done. I think I initially tried to take on a little too much for the week: no sugar, no dairy, 5am meditation, yoga nidra at night, daily dream journal. The dream journal is the only one I stuck with 100%. Next is sugar at 98% (our porridge was lightly sweetened with honey this morning - usually the honey is on the side). Then dairy at 95% (porridge cooked with milk every 2nd or 3rd breakfast, and some paneer (unripened cheese) in one of our dinners). 5am meditation I did twice, and yoga nidra 1/2 of once. So, overall, not bad. Next week, I'll be less strict about sugar and dairy, so maybe a little more attention towards nidra and meditation.

I've completed the meticulous measuring, outlining and coloring of the first three chakras. Four more to go. Fun homework, even though each one took over an hour! Today, as on every Saturday, our philosophy and anatomy classes are replaced by a movie. Last week we saw Yoga Unveiled (www.yogaunveiled.com), about the big names in yoga (Patanjali, Krishnamacharya, Iyengar...) and today, Dirt (www.thedirtmovie.org), a great documentary about our relationship with soil - much more exciting than it sounds!

Yesterday I walked out of Faraaz's class feeling high. After a fascinating talk, a few warm-ups and sun salutations, he had us in seated meditation for an hour, using a few different breathing techniques and visualizations. Don't think I've ever felt so relaxed and peaceful in my entire life.

Just as we were beginning to take the sun and warmth for granted, mini-monsoon has returned. Non-stop rain since yesterday... who knows how long it will go for this time. I'm wrapped in a blanket and my fingers are cold from typing. But, the rain means changing seasons, so it should be extra warm once it's over.

Roshan talked to us about his role as our teacher earlier this week. He said that as his students, we were merely witnessing his own learning process. As he teaches, he learns, and we are invited to attend. Now that he has learned to pay full attention to himself and what he's doing, he knows at least one person in the class is listening! My friend Eryn then added that as yoga teachers, we do our self practice for our students, and we teach for ourselves. Wise words every day here at Yog Peeth :) 

V-Day & Vasant Panchami

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you in the West! Here in Rishikesh, every day is love day :)
Today in India, it's Vasant Panchami, day of worship to Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge.
There's a couple here taking the training together, and the girl got 24 roses from her boyfriend this morning. In anatomy class this afternoon, she brought the flowers and gave them all out. Talk about spreading the love! Letting go of the "I" and the "mine", realizing more and more each day that we are all one, all the same at our core, and all striving for the same thing in our own ways, along our own paths.
During anatomy class, Roshan said to us, "We are not here to bend the body, we are here to bend the mind. And once we can bend the mind, we can bend the body at will." Nicely said. Then, during asana class this evening, Narindra had us prepare for Hanumanasana, the splits. I did ballet for 16 years and was never able to do the splits. He said we'd be doing them in a week. Ha! I'll try to apply Roshan's words, but I'm not very hopeful. But if I don't have faith, then it won't happen. Oh, the head spinning!
Felt a little tired and drowsy yesterday, maybe due to my no sugar week. Which I'm now more than halfway through! I came very close to caving last night when they brought out a new dessert (newness in food here is incredibly exciting), but managed to stay strong. Three more days to go.
This year's V-Day post is a vast improvement on last year's, which described my day in bed, sick after treating myself to a "Hello to the Queen", one of Rishikesh's famous desserts. My diet helped me avoid that this year, but I'll definitely be celebrating my accomplishment on Sunday night with a walk to the bakery. Tonight there's a Valentine's Day party which is basically a festival of sweets. It would just be torture, so here I am blogging while the others enjoy cake, pies, cookies, pastries... Ok, seriously, I need to stop writing about this... it's filling my mind with images that are teasing my tastebuds.
Love to all!

  

Dreams, Palmistry, and Oms

This morning I got up at 5:57. Herbal tea is at 6. Oops. I tried analyzing why I wasn't able to get up for my 5am meditation, and I think it may be that I had a stressful dream that may have prevented me from having a peaceful, restful sleep. Since starting yoga nidra, I've also started keeping a dream journal - something I've been wanting to do for a long time, but never did.
During the afternoon break, I went to a short (optional) Palmistry lecture in our yoga hall. When I saw the poster for it, I figured it would be a good follow-up to yesterday's brief reading, but it didn't turn out to be much. Just a very general intro after which you could sign up for a 10 day course on how to do palm readings. Considered it briefly, but think I'll save my mini-courses for after the training is done, and will probably take one on ayurveda rather than palmistry. Think it might come in a little more handy.
Halfway through week two, the sound and vibration of 48 teachers in training "Om"ing with Roshan is exquisite. And after releasing our palms and gently opening our eyes, the view of the Himalayas under a blue sky through the large hall windows is breathtaking. All is good in Rishikesh. All is more than good.   

This and That

Wonderfully relaxing yoga nidra class with Faraaz yesterday evening, and bootcamp with Timea this morning... guess we need a bit of both.

Great sleep again last night. Still a very brief 3am wake-up, but still restful and rejuvenating. Tried a little yoga nidra before bed, and got up at 5 for my morning meditation. And successfully completed day 2 of no sugar - even resisting a piece of birthday cake for one of the girls here. Now that's control! I did rush out pretty quick after dinner, not wanting to drool over those enjoying their cake. Result: tummy trouble gone!

You never really know what you're going to get for water heat during showers here, but today I was blessed with a 10 minute scorching hot shower - oh, the little joys!

Walked into town with a couple friends this afternoon, and as Eryn went to see Prateek (my astrologer from last year), Jalene and I went next door to get a palm reading (my first) from his brother. It was free and only lasted a few minutes, but he gladly chats with you for as long as you want after. Gem of a man. (Interesting reading, that corresponded well to what his brother told me last year.)

One more book purchase today: Iyengar's The Illustrated Light on Yoga. (Much smaller and lighter version than yours, Cindy.)

In anatomy class at noon today, it was like Christmas! We got a small anatomy book, then a large coloring pad, crayons, sharpener, and geometry set. Everything but the anatomy book is for our second homework: drawing the 7 chakra (energy centers) symbols and 5 yantra (archetypes of the mind) symbols. So much fun!

Two quotes from facebook today:

"If you realized how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think a negative thought again," and

"If you can't find the light at the end of the tunnel, it may be that you are that light." 

Into Week 2

A one-day weekend sure does fly by! Ganga Aarti at sunset yesterday was lovely - can't believe I never once went down for it when I was here last year.

Last night, I skipped the post-supper tea, and as I had hoped, made it through the night without going to the bathroom. Still woke briefly at 3:30, but managed to go back to sleep right away. Now that my sleep pattern has adjusted to Indian time, I've decided to set my alarm for 5am rather than our required 5:30. That way, I have time for a half hour meditation before starting the day. For the first time in my life, I fall asleep almost right away when I go to bed. After a little reading, I'm asleep before 10, giving me a solid 7 hours until 5. And I've discovered something quite astonishing (that may shock those who know me well): I'm a morning person!! I feel energized, vibrant and sociable in the morning, whereas in the evenings I retreat more to myself, feeling more calm and contemplative. The things you discover about yourself in Rishikesh!

After 24 hours of hanging on my railing, my laundry is finally dry. Not much sun on my side of the building, which I'm sure I'll be happy about once it gets really hot. Had our first written homework assigned last Friday, and I happily got it done sitting on the roof of our guesthouse this morning, soaking up some vitamin D.

I mentioned starting my day with meditation, and as I'm usually too tired to get much reading done before bed, I will attempt a nightly practice of yoga nidra - a state of very deep relaxation that leads to profound sleep and potentially to lucid dreaming. Finally, one more thing for this week: my tummy has started acting up a little again, so I'm going sugar-free and dairy-free for 7 days. The dairy won't be too difficult - our food is mostly vegan anyway - but the sugar will be a struggle for me with my sweet tooth. We get a daily yummy dessert every night which I'll have to work hard to resist, and skip out on the honey in the tea, and I'll have to close my eyes and nose as I walk past the bakery down the road. It's just 7 days Erika, you can do this!

In my list of student nationalities, I forgot one: Indian!

Coming from the street outside this internet spot is the same Shiva chant that played over and over when I was here last year. Still not sick of hearing it!

From Sally Kempton's Meditation for the Love of It, a quote by Lao-Tzu:
"Use your own light and return to the source of light. This is called practicing eternity."   

Week 1 complete!

We made it! Survived the 1st week of training, and everyone is still smiling. Just one has dropped out so far, due to his grandmother's passing shortly after the course began. So we are now 48 students, split into two batches for accommodation and physical classes, but together for meals and theory classes. There are people from all over the globe: lots from Canada and the US, Australia, England, France, Peru, Brazil, Iran,  Germany, South Africa.

Tummy was a little off my first few days here, but nothing serious, and like the sleep, I have now made it past the adjustment period. Only waking once per night for a pee. Must be due to the 6 glasses of tea per day!

Today is Sunday, our day off. So I didn't put my alarm on and lazily slept in until 7am. What a treat! Read some Ken Wilber and Sally Kempton before heading down for breakfast. Not much of a crowd in the dining hall this morning - we are still provided with our course meals on Sundays, but as we have the day to ourselves, many choose to eat out. I'm going to try sticking with our meals - despite them becoming quite repetitive. Farraz was teaching us that once you get bored with something, that's exactly when you should go deeper into it. He probably wasn't referring to food, but I think it applies. I'll save the eating out for the two weeks I have here after the course. (Except for a few sweets from the bakery every so often.) Got some bucket laundry done after breakfast, practicing our daily chants as I scrubbed away at my socks and underwear. I seem to be much more efficient at the process than I was last year. Even though I haven't had much practice since then, I guess it's like riding a bike - once you get the hang of it, you don't forget. But I think I'll only be doing my small pieces, and sending the bigger stuff for a machine wash. After laundry I walked down into town to, you guessed it, the bookstore. Walked out with two more (the reasonable limit I've given myself for every time I go in... just have to work on minimizing the entrances!) - one on Yoga Nidra (yogic sleep), and Pattabhi Jois' Yoga Mala. Then it was back for lunch, only 5 of us showed up. Back in town now, and after blogging I'll head down for some reading by the Ganga.

Tonight we have our first extra-curricular activity. We are all meeting to head down to the ghats in front of Parmarth Niketan Ashram for Ganga Aarti (daily devotional ceremony where offerings are given to the Ganga). I had attended one on my own in Haridwar last year at the end of February, and again with my dad in May, but never in Rishikesh. Looking forward to the sights and sounds!

If anyone wants to join Jack, I've added the followers box on the right of the blog page.

Wishing everyone a beautiful Sunday, filled with as much love and light as I'm soaking up here in Rishikesh :)

Books, Day 5

I wasn't able to hold off as long as I had hoped... the book buying has begun. So far, one on urine therapy and Ken Wilber's A Theory of Everything - An Integral Vision for Business, Politics, Science and Spirituality.

Post wedding, sleep progress continues. Lights out at 8:30 last night, and didn't wake until 4. Sleep on and off after that, but with a solid 7 hours, I had already surpassed the recommended yogic 5 1\2.

After yesterday's blogging, I walked down to the Ganga and did some reading on its sunny banks. Along with the return of blue skies and afternoon warmth, my Rishikesh perma-grin is also back :)

So, back to Roshan and his path to yoga. Why did he get into it? Money. Yup, just to make a quick buck. He was working the night shift as a guesthouse receptionist here in Rishikesh, and feeling rather unfulfilled financially and mentally. So he walked around Rishikesh, asking himself: what kinds of businesses are thriving  around here? The answer: guesthouses that offer yoga classes. So that's what he decided to work towards. Not knowing much at all about yoga, rather than just taking courses, he walked around and sat down for conversations with people, asking questions, inquiring about experiences, finding his gurus. That was in 2005, and he now owns one of the most successful yoga schools in Rishikesh. What he was initially looking for - money - was flowing in. But the more it came, the more he realized he didn't care about it. His search had led him to much more. Yog Peeth is now a non-profit, and the money coming in is being used to build an ashram in the nearby hills, to give his many students a more serene place to discover yoga and themselves. The construction is underway, and should be complete in the next couple of years. I look forward to taking some courses there when I come back!

Class quote for today: "Once I understand myself, I have no need to understand you, because you are me." 

Wedding, Day 4

Like last year, wedding #1 was not seen, but it was heard. Started two nights ago with ceremonial drumming (pre-wedding celebrations) and last night was the wedding. Let's just say it kinda got in the way of my sleep progress. Lights out at 9:15, and soon after, the loud dance music came to end, giving me hope. (But really, from last year, I knew it was not the end.) I actually slept through the midnight re-emergence of sound, but when the drumming started up again at 3am, that was the end my night's sleep. Music and drums on and off until around 7am.

After yesterday's post, I headed out to Oasis cafe to meet Alice, my Belgian friend from last year's Trika course, who's back for Trika Level II. Was great catching up with her. She's just started a 10-day brown rice diet (yes, breakfast, lunch and dinner) which is supposed to completely refresh your bloodstream. Look forward to hearing how it goes!

Then it was back to Krishna Cottage for afternoon asana class with Faraaz. We did yin yoga, and I'm hooked. Absolutely fantastic class.

Yog Peeth teachers:
Roshan is the founder and he gives the philosophy and anatomy classes every day. Fascinating content and superb speaker. (Later I'll share his unusual path to yoga.)
Timea (from Budapest) and Neepti (from Delhi) teach us the morning asana classes, alternating every 3 days. Timea appears to think we have all arrived equipped with spaghetti limbs and abs of steel - like her. She really pushes us, and although sometimes I feel like it's too much, I look forward to seeing how my body will respond to 6 weeks of yoga bootcamp with her. Neepti is much more gentle, soft and attentive (which my body thanks her for at 7am!). So it's a nice combo that brings growth in different ways.
Faraaz and Narindra (both Indian) teach the afternoon asana classes, alternating every day. Faraaz's areas of specialty are pranayama (breath control) and dhyana (meditation). He does an excellent job of guiding us through both. Narindra's focus is on yoga therapy - using it to help heal and prevent injuries. His explanations are fantastic. Again, the teachers complement each other wonderfully, bringing us a global understanding and experience of yoga. The three men (Roshan, Faraaz and Narindra) seemed stern and serious at first, but each one has us laughing hysterically during each lesson.

My favorite quote from philosophy with Roshan so far: "Understand and know the Self, and then become selfish." Food for thought... much more to come!

Oh, and today, nothing but sun and blue skies :)

A little sun, Day 3

Everyone smiled giddily this morning when we saw a patch of blue sky and a few rays of sun. Didn't last long, but gave us hope for the coming days... mini-monsoon will indeed end.

Sleep update: almost there! Lights out just after 9, and only woke twice (2am and 4:30), managing to fall back asleep both times. Didn't even turn the lights on until 5:30 when I was woken (at last) by my alarm. By the end of the week, I should be sleeping right through the night :)

Meals: breakfast has always consisted of 2 unripe bananas, 1 mushy apple, and a bowl of porridge/cream of wheat or chickpeas. Lunch and dinner have been much more pleasing to the palate: delicious dhal with rice or other grain, scrumptiously prepared mixed veg, potato curry, spinach/mushroom/sesame salad, and for dessert, rice pudding, sweet cream of wheat, or sweet noodle soup (I always laugh at this one, but it's one of my favorites!). With each meal, we get a a choice of fresh teas: after breakfast, I've been going for ginger-lemon-honey; after lunch, green tea; and after dinner, mint-lemon.

Classes continue to be fascinating, and this morning, during philosophy, Roshan's voice was interrupted not by the heavy rain, but by the heavy feet of monkeys playing tag on the roof.

Just looked outside... rain has started up again. The earlier sun gave me hope of venturing out during today's afternoon break, but looks like it'll be reading under a blanket in my room again. Well, I guess things could be worse ;)

Monsoon, Day 2

Yesterday's strong rain was but a drizzle compared to today's monsoon. The winds are wild, the sky is thundering, and the electricity is reacting accordingly. 

Managed not to sleep before pm class yesterday, but did lie down and rest my eyes. Felt great. The afternoon class was wonderful, though concentrating on our breath and going within was no easy task with the violently rattling windows and walls of the yoga hall, which is on the fourth (highest) floor of the guesthouse, and not built very solidly. 

As usual, went straight to bed after dinner. Every night, there is a little progress, but it's now 2:45pm, and I've been awake since 2:45am! Feeling pretty decent though. Slept a solid, uninterrupted 6+ hours from 8:20-2:45. Longest stretch yet! Lay in bed till a little past 4, then continued reading Sally Kempton's Meditation for the Love of It, followed by my own 20 minute session. Got up at 5:30 and got ready for Day 2. (Forgot to mention that the schedule I described yesterday is 6 days a week, with Sundays off.)

Our philosophy and anatomy classes started today, and I'm loving them! Roshan had to stop his talks a few times, as his voice was being drowned out by the noise of the heavy rain coming down on the roof.

Couple hours till pm class, rain has calmed, will run up to my room while I can get there dry! 

Rain, Orientation and Day 1

In 5 months combined in India last year, I never saw as much rain as today. Quite unusual for this time of year, but as Rohan (our main teacher and the founder of Yog Peeth) said, it's mother nature telling us that the seasonal shift is happening - winter is ending, spring is starting. (Which was a relief to those who hadn't expected it to be so cold here. Days are generally warm and sunny, but early morning and evenings still require woolly socks, shawls, and a hat. For sleeping - leggings, wool sweater, heavy blanket.)

I did make it to dinner two nights ago, again meeting more great people. Meals are delicious (sometimes a wee bit on the spicy side for me) and set up in mini buffet style. Despite the lovely company, I headed to my room right after dinner for bed. Lights were out at 8:30, and I woke at 10, animated chatter still coming from the dining hall below. With earplugs and an eye mask, manage to fall back asleep until about 1, with a few short wake-ups in between. Lay awake from 1-2, and seeing that sleep wouldn't come, turned on the lights for some reading. Turned them back off at 3:30 and slept till 6, again with a few wake-ups along the way. Lay awake from 6-7, then got up for the day. Breakfast was only at 9, so I read a little more, then got settled for my first meditation in my new room. It was lovely. As I finished, the strong Rishikesh early morning winds were dying down and the sun was coming through my window.

Met back up with Erin (whom I had met in Delhi) at breakfast, then took her and few other girls for a little tour of the area: chai stall, blanket shops, bookstores, Parmarth Niketan ashram, Shiva statue on the Ganga. After lunch I took another small group of people over to the Laxmanjulah area, pointing out Prateek (my astrologer)'s shop, and the ashram where Prem Baba will be giving satsangs again in March.

Tour guide duties done, it was time for our course orientation at 5pm. First was Puja - devotional prayers and rituals performed by a group of 5 Indian men. Then each student got their red spot mid-forehead with a few grains of rice stuck onto the goopy red mixture. We went over the daily schedule, had a little Q&A, then collected our class materials: yoga mat, notebook and pen, neti-pot, and 500 page brick of a textbook. After dinner, I again went straight to my room for bed. With the accumulated exhaustion from lack of sleep, I hoped this would be the night.

Not quite, but getting there. Lights out at 9, woke at 10:45, back to sleep pretty quickly, then awake again at 3. I've been up since then. Hey, not bad, almost 6 hours of sleep! Got started on the textbook after turning the lights on a little after 3. Electricity went out for a bit around 4 - torrential winds outside. Out of bed as planned at 5:30 (looking forward to actually needing my alarm clock to wake me), and Day 1 of the course was underway.

Here's our daily schedule for the next 6 weeks:

5:30am - Wake-up
6am - Herbal tea in dining hall
6:15 - Neti pot nasal cleansing
6:30 - Pranayama (breath control)
7:00 - Chanting
7:15-8:45 - Asana (posture) class
9am - Breakfast
10:30-11:30 - Yoga philosophy
12-1pm - Anatomy and Physiology
1pm -Lunch
4:45-6:45 - Asanas, pranayama, meditation
7pm - Dinner

I'm now on my first long post-lunch break, and can barely keep my eyes open to type. But I try not to nap in the afternoon to encourage my body to sleep at night. The schedule will be a little grueling if this keeps up. But another few days and I should be adjusted. I hope. Today, as it was Day 1, the philosophy and anatomy time slots were replaced by each of us presenting ourselves in front of the group. Such a nice mix of people, backgrounds and reasons for being here.

A little downtime in my room before our afternoon asana session. I will try not nap, but please send deep sleep energies my way tonight!    

Onward to Rishikesh

I have no idea how I'm functioning right now. I suppose the joy of being back in Rishikesh and all the great people I've met along the way are what's keeping me conscious. Last night's hoped for good rest: not even close. Lights were out at 11pm after making sure I was all ready to leave in the morning, and when I got out of bed at 5:45am, I had not yet slept. From 11-12, I was in a semi-sleep state where I had very vivid dreams but was still conscious of my surroundings. At midnight there was loud talking at the reception as well was out in the street. Tossed and turned for a couple hours in the dark, then turned lights on and read a chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. Lights back out, tossed and turned some more, lights back on at 4am, at which point I was very discouraged and resorted to turning on the TV to see if that would put me sleep. No luck. Dogs were barking, cats were whining. An hour and a half later, I reluctantly accepted that there was no sleep to be had. So after what seemed like a never-ending night, I got up and got ready for my train. Walked 10 minutes down the street to the train station, where I was meeting a girl from my course who had already bought train tickets for a few us since she arrived earlier. The meeting was successful, but one girl never showed up. Journeyed with Alysia from BC, Kayla from Alberta, and Luis&Patricia from Peru. Thought I might sleep on the train, but the conversations were much too captivating to zone out. Eyes were getting dry and itchy. Great ride to Haridwar, then led the group (with an extra recruit from Israel who was heading to Trika) a little ways to the bus station. Found the bus to Rishikesh and 45 minutes later, we were climbing into two tuk-tuks for the 10 minute ride to Ramjulah, then again led them on the 20 minute walk to Krishna Cottage, our lodging for the duration of the course. Lovely place, great rooms, and felt so nice unpacking knowing that it was for 6 weeks. Brought Alysia and Kayla to Oasis for a delicious lunch, then made my way over to Swati's for a happy hug-filled reunion with her and her family-in-law. On my way there and back stopped several times at shops/travel agents/internet cafes whose owners were sitting at their entrances and upon seeing me, stood up and waved: "Hello my friend! So nice to see you again!" Ahhh, feeling the love in my beloved Rishikesh :)
And now, since I haven't had a few solid hours of sleep since home, I will try for a quick nap before our dinner is served at 7. If I do manage to fall asleep, I'm afraid I may not make it to our first group meal...      

Departure, Flight and Delhi

Back in Delhi, back at RAK Hotel, back to the Brown Bread Bakery for dinner and internet. How nice to be so familiar with everything this time around!

This year's departure was a small notch less hectic than last year's frenzystresschaosdisaster, but still not the smoothness I was hoping for. Getting the apartment ready for my two subletters was quite a task, and with a little more time I would have liked to do more. Only started packing my bags around 4pm - had to be at the airport at 7:30. Once I was all packed and ready to go, I reached for my keys... but they weren't on the hook. Checked coat pockets, not there either. And then I saw them in my mind: on the wooden table in the basement near my laundry machines. The locked basement. Landlord was not home, and no one else was in the building. And Isabelle (first subletter) would need the keys the next day. A few e-mails and phone answering machine messages later, I had worked out a plan. Still haven't heard from Isabelle or my landord whether everything worked out... fingers crossed. And I had to leave my apartment unlocked when I left. Luckily my car key was separate so I could drive to my sister's!

Had a quick dinner with Liv before she drove me to the airport, and I arrived with plenty of time to spare. Flights went well, managed several short sleeps on the long leg (12 hours) to Doha, despite strong turbulence, crying babies, and many meal wake-ups. Flight left at 10:30 pm, they served us dinner 12:30, then a snack at 4:30, and breakfast at 7:30 (as we flew over Cairo). Lots of food considering that sitting in a plane doesn't work up much of an appetite (so yes, Isabelle T, I saved some snacks again!). Quick two hour layover in Doha (Qatar) - the land of men in white robes and women in black ones. Then 4 hour flight to Delhi. Babies in front, beside and diagonally across from me whose choruses of screeches and cries kept sleep from me. One of them threw up just before take-off, so it smelled like baby vomit the whole way there.

Landed at 3am, was out of the airport and with my hostel pick-up by 4. Friendly guy who was much more awake than last year's (whose eyes I could see shutting as I looked in the rearview mirror). But wild drive nonetheless. Luckily, there was a functional seatbelt this time. But non-existant suspension. The small car shook and rattled loudly as the driver picked up speed, zooming past cars, trucks, pedestrians and dogs in the middle of the road and ignoring red lights. Then thick fog came out of nowhere and his headlights were about as powerful as a dying flashlight from the dollar store. He slowed a little, but this is the point where my internal giggles at the situation turned to reminders to myself that I had to continue breathing. As always, I arrived at my destination in one piece, with nothing but a few nerves activated. Checked in at quarter to 5, and ready for bed at 6. Just in the time for the day's hustle and bustle to begin.

The familiar piercing sound of a loud bell went on for about 10 minutes around 6:30... still not sure what that's all about. Loud voices outside - my room is on the ground floor this time, so the window gives right onto the street. Still, managed to sleep on and off until 1:30pm. Got dressed and headed out into the streets of Paharganj (Delhi). Ahhh, the sweet smells of India: incense, chapati cooking on the side of the road, fuel smoke from the tuk-tuks, all mixed with the lovely aromas of urine. Quick web stop followed by a cup of chai at the German Bakery, then headed back to my room to get my camera. That's when I overheard a girl inquiring about trains to Rishikesh at reception. I hurried out of my room and went out to tell her I was getting the train there tomorrow morning. Turns out she's registered for the same yoga course as me! Erin from Pensylvania and I spent the rest of the afternoon together. I walked her to the train station to help her avoid a situation like the one I went through last year (for those who remember), and waited in line with her for two hours, having a great chat about yoga and life. The train I had my ticket for was full, so she's on the afternoon one. We had dinner together and I told her exactly how to go from the train to the bus, to the tuk-tuk, then the walk across Ramjulah bridge to Krishna Cottage (our course accommodation). She was extremely grateful for all the info and help I was able to offer today. As soon as I'm done typing, I'll head back to my room for what I hope will be a good night's rest before my 6 am wake-up for the train.

Next post from Rishikesh :)