AHH...INDIA

GOT MILK?

India has a way of cutting to the chase and that is what I love about it.  Although, it can be a love-hate relationship.  Usually by the end of my stay, I can't wait to get back to the comforts of my home and then it is only a matter of time before I am planning my next trip.

You need all of your senses to fully appreciate India...the colors, the smells, the noise, the chaos.  But at the same time the sensory overload makes you absolutely crazy.  At home I am flooded with abundance, most of which I take for granted and why shouldn't I....it is all I have ever known.  I live in a nice house and drive a hybrid car on paved roads with structured traffic patterns.  I open my eyes and mouth in the shower.   I drink from the tap and eat raw vegetables (organic of course and with proper utensils) to my heart's desire.  People (for the most part) don't burp and spit at any occasion.  Honking the horn is a sign of aggression and rudeness, and cleanliness (again for the most part) is culturally expected.  I won't even go down the road of how much freedom I have as a woman in the west.  So arriving in India, I am aware of how limited my life experiences are, but it is this extreme that makes India so transforming.  I am grateful to step out of my comfort zone and stretch myself in ways that I am not used to, but only because I know it is temporary.

Journey to Mysore

I had several students ask me before I left if I would blog about my trip to India.  Over the years, I have read many Mysore blogs and found most of them to be quite entertaining, but since I had to travel around the world to completely disconnect from my responsibilities, the only thing I am committed to for the next month (with the exception of my husband of course) is 'being a student'.  Therefore, this may be my one and only post, we'll see how inspired I am.

After seven years of practicing Ashtanga Yoga and two prior trips to India, I finally made it to Mysore.  Traveling to India takes a tremendous amount of planning and support from my family, students and teachers so that life goes on while I am away, not to mention the cost of the trip.  I ran around taking care of endless details for weeks before leaving so that by the time I got on the plane, I was completely exhausted.  After two days of flying and sitting in airports, I arrived in Bangalore at midnight and took a 3 hour taxi ride to Mysore where honestly, the driver could have taken me anywhere and I wouldn't have known the difference.  So if I am completely honest, yes I continuously have moments where I wonder "why the hell am I doing this?"  And somehow, here I am.

I guess you could say it is Sraddha.  The word Sraddha is best translated in English as faith.  Faith that is generated out of conviction, which may not be the result of any rational belief or intellectual wisdom, but a spiritual inspiration.

All of my yoga experiences led me to this place and looking back, I am aware that this is exactly how it should have unfolded.  I am here without any expectation for my asana practice.  I am here to immerse in the lineage.  The shala is a reflection of Guruji, you can feel his presence everywhere.  I can imagine him sitting in the empty chair on the stage and hear his voice saying "eeekam".  The room is filled with pictures of Guruji and Amma, Krishnamacharya, Saraswati and Sharath.  This is the source!  During my first two days of practice, I ended up in relatively the same spot and during my closing postures (while upside down), I had a clear view of this picture.  Not only is this one of my favorite pictures of Guruji, but a sweet reminder of why I am here....Sraddha.