A quieter start than usual for me my first few days here with a recovering foot and nasty cold. Back to the land where your snots are black. My sinuses apparently were not pleased with the air quality this year. But let's backtrack to my arrival at Swati's after limping across the bridge and trekking up the hill. She was there to greet me at the entrance of her home, showed me to my room (one of the two new guestrooms they added to their home since my last visit) and then it was time to meet Arna, a beautiful baby girl she gave birth to on December 21st. Caught up with Swati over chai and snacks, and soon smiling Arnav ran in from school. He is thrilled about being a big brother after an 8-year wait. Went up to my room to unpack, lay down to rest a bit, waking up several hours later, in the middle night, to the sound of barking streetdogs. And so the jetlag nights begin. Around 4am I was awake again, this time with the background sound of chanting from the nearby ashram.
Awake again at 6, as the sky starts getting light. My room has great big windows on two sides, and from one I can see the sunrise over the mountains, from the the other the sunset over town. And from the roof above my room, I can have it all. First destination was the chai street stall, then Prem Baba for satsang, where as always there were many familiar faces. Beautiful music, beautiful talk. Back in my room, I lay down for an afternoon nap, and again didn't wake until hours later.
Next morning I woke up congested, and would barely be able to breathe for the next few days. Took it easy, walked around town checking out the posters, looking for inspiration on how to spend the next few weeks. Wrote some postcards, read from my Bhagavad Gita (which I think I will finally get to the end of this year), and ate some yummy Indian food.
On Friday, Manisha's water broke. She is the wife of Anup (Swati's brother-in-law) who moved into the family home a year ago after they got married. By the next day, mom and baby were home from the hospital with a healthy baby boy. Grandma is excited about the growing family and all the action. As for me, with my hurting foot, congestion and constantly runny nose (having required a full roll of toilet paper and 6 packs of kleenex so far) I still wasn't up for much besides strolling, reading, and Prem Baba. (Four days in, and still no yoga!)
Sunday was a rainy day, which means the streets turn into puddles of animal urine and cow dung. Always quite the sight and smell. And walking must be done with full awareness. Managed to keep my feet clean so far, getting the hang of it. Started my day with a chai by the ganga and ended it by treating myself to nasya therapy, an ayurvedic treatment to help clear sinus congestion. Starts off with a face massage, then herbal facial steam, and ends with medicated oil being dropped into the nostrils. Don't think I've ever breathed so clearly my entire life (but it was only temporary relief). I was at the center where Swati's brother, Ankit, works, and being friends with the guy at the front desk comes with its perks: he needed a head massage model for a woman taking a massage course and asked me if I was available. Um, yes! So the teacher demonstrated the oil head massage on me, then the student practiced, then the teacher showed again so the student could record, and finally the student practiced without notes. That's right, after my nasya treatment I got 4 consecutive free head massages. Whether it was due to that or from pulling my blinds closed completely for the first time, I slept through the night like a baby. Jetlag done, sinuses partly relieved, foot healing slowly but surely, I was ready to take on a big week starting Monday morning. All about my 2016 Rishikesh routine in next week's blog. To close as Prem Baba closes each satsang, Blessed be each one of you, until we meet again. Namaste.
Awake again at 6, as the sky starts getting light. My room has great big windows on two sides, and from one I can see the sunrise over the mountains, from the the other the sunset over town. And from the roof above my room, I can have it all. First destination was the chai street stall, then Prem Baba for satsang, where as always there were many familiar faces. Beautiful music, beautiful talk. Back in my room, I lay down for an afternoon nap, and again didn't wake until hours later.
Next morning I woke up congested, and would barely be able to breathe for the next few days. Took it easy, walked around town checking out the posters, looking for inspiration on how to spend the next few weeks. Wrote some postcards, read from my Bhagavad Gita (which I think I will finally get to the end of this year), and ate some yummy Indian food.
On Friday, Manisha's water broke. She is the wife of Anup (Swati's brother-in-law) who moved into the family home a year ago after they got married. By the next day, mom and baby were home from the hospital with a healthy baby boy. Grandma is excited about the growing family and all the action. As for me, with my hurting foot, congestion and constantly runny nose (having required a full roll of toilet paper and 6 packs of kleenex so far) I still wasn't up for much besides strolling, reading, and Prem Baba. (Four days in, and still no yoga!)
Sunday was a rainy day, which means the streets turn into puddles of animal urine and cow dung. Always quite the sight and smell. And walking must be done with full awareness. Managed to keep my feet clean so far, getting the hang of it. Started my day with a chai by the ganga and ended it by treating myself to nasya therapy, an ayurvedic treatment to help clear sinus congestion. Starts off with a face massage, then herbal facial steam, and ends with medicated oil being dropped into the nostrils. Don't think I've ever breathed so clearly my entire life (but it was only temporary relief). I was at the center where Swati's brother, Ankit, works, and being friends with the guy at the front desk comes with its perks: he needed a head massage model for a woman taking a massage course and asked me if I was available. Um, yes! So the teacher demonstrated the oil head massage on me, then the student practiced, then the teacher showed again so the student could record, and finally the student practiced without notes. That's right, after my nasya treatment I got 4 consecutive free head massages. Whether it was due to that or from pulling my blinds closed completely for the first time, I slept through the night like a baby. Jetlag done, sinuses partly relieved, foot healing slowly but surely, I was ready to take on a big week starting Monday morning. All about my 2016 Rishikesh routine in next week's blog. To close as Prem Baba closes each satsang, Blessed be each one of you, until we meet again. Namaste.
Chère Erika
ReplyDeleteJe supppose que c'est normal de se sentir moche et de faire une rhinite après un long voyage qui a été précédé par d'intenses préparations.
Enfin tu pourras maintenant profiter de bien-être que cet endroit te procures.
J'espère que je vais pouvoir faire ce voyage avec toi au moins une fois.
Question: est-ce que tu penses qu'on t'a donné une première classe pour les trois dernières heures de ton vol d'avion parce que tu n'as pas fait d'histoire avec le soulon qui était assis près de toi pendant les douzes de vol?
Bisoux
Réjeanne
xoxoxoxoxo
Haha, Cindy (ma prof de yoga) m'a pose la meme question par rapport au vol. Je ne pense pas, mais c'est possible. Je crois plutot que a cause que c'est mon 4ieme vol en Inde avec Qatar et que j'accumule de points qui peuvent donner des bonus.
DeleteEn effet, je profite pleinement de mes journees maintenant que la sante est revenue. Je serai super heureuse de te faire decouvrir ce coin du monde un jour :)
xoxoxo