One month has come and gone, only two weeks left!
Monday morning during class with Ashish: We were in trikonasana (triangle pose), and I thought mine was pretty darn good, but he walks over and says, "Look her." Myself, and others, are used repeatedly during these workshop style classes to examine the postures and the precise functioning of the body. So he asks for 3 assistants, gets two straps and a metal pole, and says, "Ok, now we gonna break her." Oh boy. Haha, it wasn't as painful as it sounds! At PK class that afternoon I learned the dry body scrub, which I would then receive on Sunday, my final day of class. Highlight of my day was the evening, when I got to Skype with Theo, my 6-month-old nephew, who showed me his two new front teeth :) And then, as it was the full moon, I went up to the roof for a few rounds of Chandra Namaskar (moon salutation sequence) and a full moon meditation.
Back to the roof on Tuesday, but this time for reading my Surya Namaskar (sun salution) book while soaking up nourishing noontime rays. At PK class it was Basti day (enema colon cleanse). I helped prepare the medicated oil solution which would then be inserted and expelled. I will spare you the details, but it's a relatively easy and gentle procedure. Followed the treatment with a nice kitchri at Soul Kitchen (gotta love the resto names around here!). That night, while hanging out in Swati's room, I was holding Arna - who only wears a cotton cloth nappy, not a diaper, so when she decided it was pee time, I got it all over me. A while later, I watch as Swati removes the nappy, pulls a bucket close, holds Arna over it, makes a 'sssssss' sound, and Arna pees into the bucket! Whaaat?? You can control her pee? I ask. Swati grins and says, "It's called mother-daughter connection." I am still a little perplexed by the event.
Not much to report for Wednesday. At PK class I learned about specific Marma points, used for a deeper - and sometimes a little painful - massage.
Thursday I stopped into the Juice House for the "I love India" blend: pomegranate, mango, papaya, beetroot and pineapple topped with little pieces of chikku fruit. Scrumptious. At PK class I learned how to prepare the medicated oils they use for massage, cooking fresh herbs into sesame oil. One of my teachers took me for a little walk to show me where these herbs grew wild nearby.
Friday, I finally found a room for Isabelle (a friend who is arriving this Thursday) and I to share. No small feat at this time of year in Rishikesh, with the annual International Yoga Festival from March 1-7, attracting plenty of foreigners, and the week-long celebration of Shivaratri, culminating on March 8th, attracting masses of Indian tourists. At PK class, I learned one of my favorite treatments, the heated rice packs. We cook up some rice and milk and herbs - and a few other things I can't remember right now - until it becomes a porridge-like mush, then scoop the mixture onto a small cotton cloth, close it up, twist it up, forming a nice little pack, then use it (still hot and regularly submerged in warm milk during the treatment) to rub in circular motions all over the skin. Feels fantastic and is wonderful for deeply moisturizing dry skin (without all the chemicals in our regular creams). At the end of class, I had to down a cup of my prep drink for Sunday's big finale, virechan - the intestinal cleanse. The drink, a blend of water, milk, ghee, sugar and trikatu (a 3-pepper mix) is to prepare my insides for the cleanse. Wasn't so bad, but very oily from the ghee.
Saturday morning I headed to my second satsang with Mooji, which I'll return to one more time with Isabelle. Caught a rickshaw over, but took the nice long walk back along the Ganga. At PK class I learned vamana (a vomiting cleanse technique) but did not do it, as it is only prescribed when very necessary due to its intensity and possible complications. Gulped down my second, larger prep drink for Sunday as I watched a mouse scurry across the floor. My teacher looked over at me, grinning, "Are you scared?" Haha, no, just amused. I also see the occasional mouse while eating breakfast at the muesli spot. When in India...
Sunday was set aside for virechan, my final PK class and treatment. I went early at 9am for a full body scrub (a massage technique I learned earlier in the week). Can't say I particularly enjoyed this one. It was kinda painful - felt like having wet rocky sand vigorously rubbed on your skin. Great for exfoliation though! Then I drank the virechan mix, similar to the prep drinks, but this time with added herbal medication crushed into it. After successfully swallowing my last drop, I received my certificate, took a few photos with teaching team, and headed back to my room where I would spend the next few hours... evacuating. Well, it worked. Details upon request when I get home! I wasn't supposed to do much physical activity that day, but still took a gentle walk to Laxmanjula (next town over) to meet a friend and try to get an appointment with Prateek, the astrologer. We've been trying to catch him for a few days, but his brother (Puneet, the palm reader next door) tells us he is sick and doesn't know when he will be in. Stop into Soul Kitchen for a bowl of spinach soup (I had to fast until then for the virechan - allowed liquid food a few hours after the treatment). The walk back to my end of town was pretty exhausting (hence the prescribed non-activity) and I barely made it up the stairs to my room before crashing on my bed and immediately falling asleep. Took a nice rejuvenating late afternoon nap, then met up with my friend Philo(mene) - a great fellow Montrealer I met a couple weeks before - at the Ayurvedic Cafe for a nourishing bowl of delicious spinach-pumpkin kitchri, the only other food I was allowed to eat that day.
That wraps up week 4, hello March! Weather continues to warm up very fast, bringing with it the nighttime mosquitoes. Isabelle was hoping for heat when she got here, a little skeptical about it with my early weather descriptions, but the forecast for her arrival on March 3rd: daytime high reaching 30 degrees and nighttime low in the comfortable mid-teens. I think she will be pleased! All about our adventures together in next week's blog.
Love from the land of monkeys, babas, honking, chai, and - of course - magic.
Monday morning during class with Ashish: We were in trikonasana (triangle pose), and I thought mine was pretty darn good, but he walks over and says, "Look her." Myself, and others, are used repeatedly during these workshop style classes to examine the postures and the precise functioning of the body. So he asks for 3 assistants, gets two straps and a metal pole, and says, "Ok, now we gonna break her." Oh boy. Haha, it wasn't as painful as it sounds! At PK class that afternoon I learned the dry body scrub, which I would then receive on Sunday, my final day of class. Highlight of my day was the evening, when I got to Skype with Theo, my 6-month-old nephew, who showed me his two new front teeth :) And then, as it was the full moon, I went up to the roof for a few rounds of Chandra Namaskar (moon salutation sequence) and a full moon meditation.
Back to the roof on Tuesday, but this time for reading my Surya Namaskar (sun salution) book while soaking up nourishing noontime rays. At PK class it was Basti day (enema colon cleanse). I helped prepare the medicated oil solution which would then be inserted and expelled. I will spare you the details, but it's a relatively easy and gentle procedure. Followed the treatment with a nice kitchri at Soul Kitchen (gotta love the resto names around here!). That night, while hanging out in Swati's room, I was holding Arna - who only wears a cotton cloth nappy, not a diaper, so when she decided it was pee time, I got it all over me. A while later, I watch as Swati removes the nappy, pulls a bucket close, holds Arna over it, makes a 'sssssss' sound, and Arna pees into the bucket! Whaaat?? You can control her pee? I ask. Swati grins and says, "It's called mother-daughter connection." I am still a little perplexed by the event.
Not much to report for Wednesday. At PK class I learned about specific Marma points, used for a deeper - and sometimes a little painful - massage.
Thursday I stopped into the Juice House for the "I love India" blend: pomegranate, mango, papaya, beetroot and pineapple topped with little pieces of chikku fruit. Scrumptious. At PK class I learned how to prepare the medicated oils they use for massage, cooking fresh herbs into sesame oil. One of my teachers took me for a little walk to show me where these herbs grew wild nearby.
Friday, I finally found a room for Isabelle (a friend who is arriving this Thursday) and I to share. No small feat at this time of year in Rishikesh, with the annual International Yoga Festival from March 1-7, attracting plenty of foreigners, and the week-long celebration of Shivaratri, culminating on March 8th, attracting masses of Indian tourists. At PK class, I learned one of my favorite treatments, the heated rice packs. We cook up some rice and milk and herbs - and a few other things I can't remember right now - until it becomes a porridge-like mush, then scoop the mixture onto a small cotton cloth, close it up, twist it up, forming a nice little pack, then use it (still hot and regularly submerged in warm milk during the treatment) to rub in circular motions all over the skin. Feels fantastic and is wonderful for deeply moisturizing dry skin (without all the chemicals in our regular creams). At the end of class, I had to down a cup of my prep drink for Sunday's big finale, virechan - the intestinal cleanse. The drink, a blend of water, milk, ghee, sugar and trikatu (a 3-pepper mix) is to prepare my insides for the cleanse. Wasn't so bad, but very oily from the ghee.
Saturday morning I headed to my second satsang with Mooji, which I'll return to one more time with Isabelle. Caught a rickshaw over, but took the nice long walk back along the Ganga. At PK class I learned vamana (a vomiting cleanse technique) but did not do it, as it is only prescribed when very necessary due to its intensity and possible complications. Gulped down my second, larger prep drink for Sunday as I watched a mouse scurry across the floor. My teacher looked over at me, grinning, "Are you scared?" Haha, no, just amused. I also see the occasional mouse while eating breakfast at the muesli spot. When in India...
Sunday was set aside for virechan, my final PK class and treatment. I went early at 9am for a full body scrub (a massage technique I learned earlier in the week). Can't say I particularly enjoyed this one. It was kinda painful - felt like having wet rocky sand vigorously rubbed on your skin. Great for exfoliation though! Then I drank the virechan mix, similar to the prep drinks, but this time with added herbal medication crushed into it. After successfully swallowing my last drop, I received my certificate, took a few photos with teaching team, and headed back to my room where I would spend the next few hours... evacuating. Well, it worked. Details upon request when I get home! I wasn't supposed to do much physical activity that day, but still took a gentle walk to Laxmanjula (next town over) to meet a friend and try to get an appointment with Prateek, the astrologer. We've been trying to catch him for a few days, but his brother (Puneet, the palm reader next door) tells us he is sick and doesn't know when he will be in. Stop into Soul Kitchen for a bowl of spinach soup (I had to fast until then for the virechan - allowed liquid food a few hours after the treatment). The walk back to my end of town was pretty exhausting (hence the prescribed non-activity) and I barely made it up the stairs to my room before crashing on my bed and immediately falling asleep. Took a nice rejuvenating late afternoon nap, then met up with my friend Philo(mene) - a great fellow Montrealer I met a couple weeks before - at the Ayurvedic Cafe for a nourishing bowl of delicious spinach-pumpkin kitchri, the only other food I was allowed to eat that day.
That wraps up week 4, hello March! Weather continues to warm up very fast, bringing with it the nighttime mosquitoes. Isabelle was hoping for heat when she got here, a little skeptical about it with my early weather descriptions, but the forecast for her arrival on March 3rd: daytime high reaching 30 degrees and nighttime low in the comfortable mid-teens. I think she will be pleased! All about our adventures together in next week's blog.
Love from the land of monkeys, babas, honking, chai, and - of course - magic.
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