The Long-Awaited Organized Thoughts

It's hard to talk about India without getting into a discussion that lasts for hours, maybe days. It's most interesting when there is direct feedback from other people. So I don't know how writing about it will go.

There are two things: India and yoga. So, India. I didn't get to see much of the country, but what I can tell you is that it took 9 hours to drive a couple hundred kilometers from Delhi to Rishikesh. Traffic is wild and includes cars, trucks, buses, tractors, motorcycles, bicycles, horse-drawn wagons, pedestrians, and cows. If you blow your nose in Delhi, you will turn the kleenex black. The people near Rishikesh were happy and friendly. The kids loved to have their picture taken and loved to ask you for chocolate.

Rishikesh is a yogic community, so there is a lot going on that deals with that and spirituality.

Which leads us to "So, yoga."

There is so much to yoga that the average westerner doesn't realize. And we covered the beginnings of much of that. There's still so far to go, of course, but it's a start. I could talk your ear off about the yamas and niyamas, metta meditation, chakras and energy, ayurveda and the constitutions, and of course reincarnation -- but at best, you might get confused and at worst, you might get angry. Sometime, when we're hanging out over a bottle of wine (except not wine, because that's not a yogic thing to do to your body), I'll get into these things and more. For now, here are some pretty pictures, in no particular order:


With my teacher after the graduation ceremony.


Natarajasana.

At breakfast after the naming ceremony with Naomi and Jessica -- er, Mukta and Ujaisa.

During the naming ceremony where we were given our spiritual names.

The Ganges.

My first attempt at jal neti, a cleansing technique.

Getting on the bus in Haridwar.

Making wishes and sending them afloat on the Ganga.

On graduation day with some fellow classmates, Amy and Marta.

Monkey! Danger!

Explains itself, huh?

Shiva statue at the arti.

Tuk-tuk (a taxi -- they pack them with people). We had to get out of it so it could make it up the hill.

Waterfall.

Locals near our ashram.

Om, India.

I'm back in my country again, after an eight-hour car ride, a six-hour wait in the airport, and a 15-hour flight.

There is so much to share. A book's worth, at least. And my thoughts aren't yet organized enough for that.

So for now, the basics: I completed the yoga course, so I'm a certified yoga teacher. I learned so much, perhaps more than I even expected to learn. I'm eager to put this to work.

India is quite a time. I enjoyed it, and would like to return at some point to see more of the country and eat more of the food.