Saturday Morning silence

I had to ask someone what day it was today. I am not sure what that's saying... apparently it's Saturday. Saturday. Saturday... got it.

So the morning class today, besides being wonderful!, was full of chanting and based on the theme of Self Respect. In my teacher's (self-proclaimed Hin-glish) the importance of self-respecting yourself and self-respecting others. This might sound like a quaint idea but in fact I think there is deep truth here. Self respect for your body and also for the energy, emotions and positions that come with it.

Other gem of wisdom I've learned (and this is still technically "jet-lag" days... the course starts Monday! what can I say, I'm a keener!) is from my first morning of silence. It was only half a morning actually... they're easing us (read: me) into this. *phew*
Lesson 1: morning silence makes you realize, afterward, just how much you say that is really useless. Not in a negative self-depreciating way but in a "wow-that's-just-filling-sound-space" way.
Lesson 2: during morning silence you realize how many inane thoughts run though your head and how easy it is to find yourself devoting all your mental capacity to trying to analyze the number of chickpeas fit in your spoon or (worse still) whether or not the small bottle of shampoo will run out before the end of February. Really? I've got years of life experience and wonderful education and I am thinking about plastic shampoo bottles and chickpeas as though it'll make me a better person? Well, here's to learning what silence will bring.

Welcome to Rishikesh

I'm sorry I haven't got a chance to upload a picture here for you but these hills are breathtaking. I love the ashram and the flowers and colours. I love the sun rises during the first yoga class and I love the dining hall with its individual floor-tables and no chairs. This is going to be great!

I should have known how lovely it would be when we got the official Rishikesh welcome. There was a little white "WELCOME" message scrolled in chalk on the pavement near the door and a handful of the wonderful staff there to greet us. Then we had a ceremony (of which the official name alludes me) where each student received her (or his... in the case of one of the 34 students at this YTT course*) a careful dot of red dye and a grain of rice on our third eye (in between the two visible eyes we all know and love) and then a fresh garland of marigolds. We were each fed a small sesame sweet (a bit gummy like thin Jello but more paste-y like fudge.) It actually made me feel so welcome I almost shed a tear. Awww. I know.

I also composed a short poem:

placing an offering of time

hearing nothing in return

seeing nothing in return

feeling everything at once.

At least it wasn't one of the S.T.D. shops we saw along the way to Rishikesh. Some were closed and some looked welcoming. I was going to take a picture but I'm sure you can imagine it... little blue or yellow hut resembling a phone booth or an old-fashioned ticket booth. Just big enough for... uh... well...I had to ask what that was all about because I was both confused and disturbed. Luckily I found out I would not need to visit the STD shop and would not have to explain myself to any medical professionals in the near future... as long as making a cell phone call doesn't suddenly have awkward physical symptoms. Although I didn't look any further into the exact meaning of the acronym it has to do with getting a cell phone card. Intuitive? Not so much. That is one shop that could definitely benefit from a visual logo... of A CELL PHONE.


*YTT is the Yoga Teacher Training and I will use the shorthand of YTT or YTT200 to keep things simple!

250km by Bus

First, don't use Canadian-Prairie standards when judging the time it takes to drive 250km by bus.

Now I know.

I also know just how "creative" the creative driving here can be. We had an excellent time comparing the tune and duration of horn honks as the typical bumper "sticker" is PLEASE HONK (when passing) and I am quite sure most disregard the latter... the best way to compensate is to play a little game called "Use this Honk as a pitch pipe and try and sing along" (when the horn blast is shorter, of course) or, simply "Dance Off" (for longer honks). All in all it was an interesting ride.

I must admit that like my fellow passengers (about 30 of us in the YTT 200 program and then a few others in the way of staff and drivers) liked the Fresh Banana stop, the Roasted Peanut stop and the Half-Way There stop. The little garden restaurant would have had me at "no honking" but it went further and amazed more. There was a small "Chickens of the World" Exhibit - which is exactly as it sounds: about 10 chickens in cages (with majestic and impressive plumage, no doubt) and their respective countries of origin. THEN there were the lovely English signs reminding us not to take glasses on the stone patio and to "Treasure Cleanliness." I would have been done then but as we were snacking on Chai Masala, deep fried tofu, deep fried cauliflower and deep fried leaves (yes, leaves) some monkeys (that we learned later are the "grouchy" type) peeked out of the trees and off the roof to try and join us. Sweet! (and no, I didn't take a picture.)

After the 6.5 hours required to go the distance from Delhi to Rishikesh we arrived (close to) the Ashram. Since the bus couldn't turn down the tiny road properly it just let us off and we walked the last "block."

Since then things have been great. I don't have much time right now to share more but I hope to add a few more posts this week before the YTT 200 course "officially" begins. They call the first three days "jet lag days" and we've got a tour of the neighbourhood, two yoga classes a day, delicious food and a hike to a nearby waterfall all before Sunday! So far so... great!

p.s. in the first 3 hours... the cow count was approximately 310. The cow count is officially terminated.

Delhi Day!

I saw myself here a while back - a welcoming, sensory over load in the most serene way. Something yellow. Something green and the sunlight and the sliding doors... the placard help by the assistant of my soon-to-be-yoga-teacher. Confused? Sure. Amazed? Most certainly.

After all my flights (4 to be exact) I arrived almost 30 minutes early. Early!

So far I've already learned:

the driving-lanes mean nothing - true.
the proliferation of cows - true (saw six in five minutes)
the warmth - true! (it's 17 degrees Celsius)
the chaos at the airport? No longer true... or I magically missed it. It was very clean and orderly. Some of the hallways were almost eerily empty.
the smell I'd been warned about? Also not true. Sounds like things are off to a good start!

The hotel is fine too. I met one of the other yoga students (who was on the same flight from London) and we introduced ourselves, took the car together to the hotel and became roommate. And I thought Facebook was the quickest way to find roommates... and now: 1 room, 1 key... 1 bed. Yes, well... nice to meet you. Oh well. The shower and possibility of sleeping not in an airplane seat or airport chair is quite a treat after 36 hours.

So that's it. Here I am. I am here. I have had several moments of inner escatic joy and blinding fear (usually in quick succession) but the trip itself? Pretty much perfect!

p.s. during my 6.5 hour wait in Munich I was interviewed and photographed by a woman from a local newspaper doing a piece about the travelers in the Munich airport; where they are from; what they are doing and why they like Munich. Yep, I'm pretty much famous now.

Oh and Happy Republic Day India. :)

Lyndia to India

As of now... I am iPhone free, job-free, car-free, apartment-free, debt-free and all-free... to fulfill this dream.

A sad goodbye to Canada (and winter!) Lyndia is off to India.

Only 4 flights away! And I should be just lifting off from YEG.

ETA: DEL (Delhi local time) 10:25AM January 26th (Republic Day)

p.s. I don't know if I've said this before but I am looking forward to hearing from you all too! Keep your comments, emails and psychic messages coming ;)

Lift-off Lessons

Write about cows, peanut butter-banana sandwiches and leaving space for spontaneity.

Those are the last three requests I've had before I embark on my India Adventure (t-minus 12 hours to departure... then about 36 hours of traveling via Edmonton - Chicago - Munich - London/Heathrow - Delhi. In that order.)

Besides the "safe" and "fun" stuff which is standard and generally quite important! I have to admit it still seems surreal, but coming closer to comprehension with the final "farewell dinner", goodbye phone calls, confirming departure times and the moment of sliding the keys to one's beloved, and now former, apartment under the door locked for the last time (in a makeshift envelope of semi-scrap paper...)

Yep. I guess, I'm going. And maybe, just maybe my lack of panic means... I'm ready to do this!