YTT 500: The Last Days of India

Saturday and Sunday were our chill out days in Laxman Jhula, last minute souvenir shopping and eating. It's nice to hang out with my new friends without any conversation about class or technique, although, obviously, our conversations always went back to Yoga anyway. 

On Monday, AC, MB and I left after Fire Puja for a quick ride to Dehradun to fly back to Delhi. We destroyed a bag of tangy tomato banana chips and snacked on a light picnic of German Bakery bread and General Store yak cheese. Awesome day. We checked into Colaba House, this tiny four-room guest house tucked away from the hustle and bustle. VF recommended it and she knows everything about traveling in India :) We spent a lot of time just hanging out with each other, writing, and packing/repacking. Stupid weight limits. Stupid affordable yoga books.

This is where it all goes sour. After our fancy graduation dinner last Friday of puri, pumpkin, and peanut goodness, a pile of us all went out to Tattv for dessert and goodbyes. CW ordered the nutella banana fritters and I heartily partook. She was resultingly sick for the rest of the weekend. *I* don't think it was the fritters' fault, but i do think there was something. I was feeling kind of off all day Saturday, paid for it all night Saturday night, felt better Sunday (low appetite, which is peculiar for me), felt fine Monday (still low appetite), and then DIED on Monday night echoing some of the sentiments described in CW's poem "The morning after Banana Fritters" (but again, I don't think it was the fritters). The point is, I prevented everyone from sleeping on Monday night while I clutched at my stomach and groaned in pain. I even tried Child's Pose and Brahmaree breath, just in case something would soothe it. 

Side note: Charcoal tabs create some pretty funny reactions in your stomach as it's absorbing all the toxins. 

Somehow, yesterday, I was able to pull it together (I know exactly what it was - thanks for the drugs, AC), and MB and I left Delhi at 5 AM to go to Agra for the day. She hadn't been to the Taj Mahal before and I could go again and again. We had booked our tickets at Red Chili in Tapovan and had an awesome assigned reclining seat with free bottled water, tea, biscuits, and breafkast! It was pretty cushy. We savvily negotiated an auto-rickshaw ride to the Taj and spent the next few hours checking out the marble and taking yoga pictures. SO FUN. When we'd had enough, we had a picnic outside and walked through the markets. Then, my favourite part - we found a coffee shop and looked at pictures while enjoying coffee with ice cream and microwaved chocolate cake (I love you India). We wandered back out into the market and hired a bike rickshaw to take us back to the train station so we could make it for our 3:30 train back to Delhi (arriving at 7:40).

Except when we got to the station, we found out our train had been cancelled. And when we went to General Enquiries, they told us to go to the ticketing booth to get new tickets. And when we got to the ticketing booth there were nine lines for men and only one for women (and even then, men walked up to the front, pushed their way in and bought tickets and left). And when we got to the front at 3:56, the man behind the window said that our train was cancelled and we'd need to pay 124 rupees to change to the next train. And when he gave us our tickets, we realized that the train was at 4, so we had to run around and try to find out trains. 

This sentence structure could go on and on but you get the point.

We couldn't actually read our train tickets (and neither could anyone else) so asked around until we found people who said they were going to Delhi as well. The train arrived and we ran on and off every car until some English-speaking people (an Indian and American who both teach English in China and speak Mandarin fluently) told us to have a seat and wait until the collector came around and we could ask him. We were in the sleeper class cabin with bunk beds and sheets and pillows. MB and I took up residence on the top bunk and laughed about the situation. I guess the Universe just wanted us to have a real Indian experience! That's about when the ticket collector came around and the Universe turned the page and said "HAHA!!! THERE'S MORE IN STORE FOR YOU!"

He was pissed we wouldn't bribe him (and we were pissed we didn't get a refund from our cancelled train) to stay there so he kicked us out and brought us six cars back to non-AC sleeper class cabin with bunkbeds with NO headspace. MB was not happy at this point. We were hunched for another two hours until the next fare collector came and tried to kick us even further back (to the standing-room no chairs section? I don't know; I'll never know) but luckily there was a short conversation in Hindi with the family below us and the fare collector just let us sit there. 

Around 7:15 we climbed down to go back up front to find the nice teaching couple because they said they'd be getting off in Delhi. Around 7:40, the train stopped for an hour. At 9, we all finally got off the train. 

As soon as we ran outside, we knew weren't in the right place. It turns out there are two train stations in Delhi: one in New Delhi, which is where we were in the morning and where we hoped to return. THe other was in Old Delhi, which is where were were that night.  So the car we'd booked with Colaba House? It went to the New Delhi Station, but we were at the Old Delhi station.

*deep abdominal breathing*

A taxi driver said he'd bring us back to the hotel (we gave him the hotel card) but had to stop for directions 12 times and drove so fast and jerkily I would have thrown up, except there wasn't much in my body. 

I'm happy to say that in only another hour, we had gotten our luggage and were checked in at Delhi airport. By the time we'd gotten through security, it was already after midnight. We needed dinner! V*ji was at the airport too (coincidentally sitting next to MB on the leg to Amsterdam) so joined us for a quick bite. 

I'm alone now. We had a goodbye at my gate, I fell asleep even before our plane took off, and I'm currently in Vienna waiting for the next 10-hour leg back to North America. I miss my new friends and I miss how cheap stuff was in India. I just spent nine weeks in one country that wasn't my own. What is life going to be like when I return home? 

YTT 500, Days 43-44: Graduation!

Are you surprised it's been an emotional couple of days? Yesterday we came to the realization that it's all coming to an end, talked about some more yoga therapy, personal trigger points, and reintegration (since we've been away from our "real lives" for so long now) and today alone we had a mock mini group therapy session, a "Car Wash" closing exercise, a Closing Sharing Circle, AND our graduation AND our amazing slideshow. Plus several of our very good friends are leaving before morning. 

But on the bright side, (fingers crossed it doesn't rain tomorrow) the course is OVER. We've graduated with our 500 hour Yoga Teacher Training certification. I can teach Classical Kundalini, Akhanda Yoga, Hatha-Raja Yoga, Restorative Yoga, Prenatal Yoga, and private classes integrating Yoga Therapy.

YTT 500, Days 40-42: Middle C

Today is an auspicious day! 12/12/12... what did you do today? I've been noticing some changes about myself.. a few too personal to mention here, but one that is interesting. My voice is naturally pretty low-pitched, and my OM's are generally somewhere around a G below Middle C. I just didn't find it comfortable to make a Middle C sound.. but somewhere in all the brahmaree breath, I've been starting to make Middle C sounds naturally. Today I actually tried out a few different pitches. The G below Middle C still is my strongest breath, but now Middle C is natural. weird?

discuss. 

Our last week in Rishikesh.. our last week of our 500 hr teacher training! This week we have been focusing on Yogic Lifestyle Coaching, an introduction to Yoga Therapy where we can effectively be part of a larger therapeutic program for students with depression, anxiety, eating disorders and addictions, amongst other things. 

On Monday, P* gave us a huge base to work with and we had an awesome class that had restorative-style postures. Yesterday (Tuesday) and today we had a lot of experiential yoga therapy activities. What's most interesting about this stuff is that I've already been falling into this role with many students and friends. This course is giving me some more strategies to employ... and because I'm hyperparanoid, I've already been recommending licensed counseling when necessary.

MB, AC and I have also been putting around trying to savour our last moments in India by visiting restaurants and shopping for our souvenirs. 

and the very best things happened today, this wonderful auspicious day - One of my favourite mantras in meditation (Om triumbakum yajamahe sugandhim pushtivardanam urvarukamiva bandhanan mrityor mokshya mamritaat), Yoga Nidra with V*ji this morning, meditating on "You can do anything and still be loved", and the most beautiful healing class by KE with his amazing crystal singing bowls. LOVE. 

YTT 500, Days 37-39: Kirn Kali

Before I came, a few people asked if I would be coming back to Canada with a sanskrit name. V*ji is only a few hours from my hometown and visits every year. I know that I will keep in touch with him and see him regularly. And this trip has been very very.. energetic. I am a total believer. So, Friday after my final practicum with M in the morning, we had a beautiful ceremony. Everyone dressed up, we wore what limited makeup we brought, we took pictures, and then we got names. My name is Kirn Kali - bud of the light. 

I have a sanskrit name! I'm still me. I'll still be me in the spinning, yoga, and real life worlds, but this name is my spiritual name - something for my "true nature".

And then we partied it up at the Hare Krishna temple, MO and F did some Reiki on me, and I slept a dreamless sleep for the first time in weeks.

Our weekend was low key. Yesterday, we met Swami Yogiananda who's 103 and is freakishly strong. P*, the newest member of our teaching team, explained what to expect over the next week of our training, and then AD, MB (Jyotika), and AC (Divya Kali) and I went gallivanting all about the other side of Laxman Jhula, our hood for only one more week. Chai and fake banoffee pie at Little Buddha Cafe and then we watched the documentary, I AM with Yogi U* in the lower meditation hall (*sob*) (must see!).

Today after Karma yoga and our internet dates with our significant others, AC, MB and I went to the beach where the rafts enter the Ganga. It was SO beautiful. Of course, in India, people don't go to the beach to sunbathe or swim. We did some beach yoga and took a lot of beautiful pictures!  We went to Ramana's Garden for one last piece of cheesecake (it's much better when I think of it as good ice cream cake rather than bad cheesecake) and then putted around this side of Laxman Jhula. I'm really going to miss it here!

YTT 500, Day 36: Eat, Pray, Love

Before I came on this trip, a lot of people asked me, "Oh, are you doing an Eat, Pray, Love thing?" and "Are you going to have to clean the floor of the ashram like on Eat, Pray, Love?" The question came so often I was really starting to resent it. Of COURSE not, I came here for a TEACHER TRAINING. And I'd be having all sattvic ashram food, and my true love is at home in Canada. But in a way, I kind of am having my very own Eat, Pray, Love experience.

Eat: Oh Sattvic ashram food, how I love thee. No wait.. How I accept th.. How I ... oh screw it. I am totally over ashram food. it's Day 36 after all. I am over daal and I am over yellow lunches and I am over bitter greens. I'm not really over chapati or uppama or banana samosas for breakfast but you know. I used to even love saturday night kitcheree but they ruined it for me during the cleanse. Anyway. For the first few weeks of this course, MB and I were going to the sitting room after dinner at to the upper yoga hall at lunch to study/practice and we kept thinking, "where IS everybody?" ... we just thought they were studying in their rooms but it turns out they were LEAVING the ashram regularly. WHAT? The letter clearly said (and I think it was bolded), "Please do not leave the ashram during the week except to buy fruit or to go on contemplative walks. There is no internet. If you must, you may walk 10-15 minutes into town to use the Internet Cafe. Please tell your family and friends that you are embarking on a spiritual journey and you will have limited internet access."  finally we left the ashram during the week too, and it was AWESOME. I immediately felt more balanced and more prepared to take on the schedule. Plus, we've been hanging out at Tattv and German Bakery a lot. Seriously, the German Bakery has the best bread ever. Burgers are so delicious. 

Pray: I thought that I might be encountering a pile of hardcore hippies (only one guy has dreadlocks) and lithe-bodied yoga superstars and thought they might all be nutso.. but given feeling KE's crystal singing bowls presentation yesterday and my reaction to Chakra Toning and fire puja vibrations, I am maybe even more nutso than some people here. Or maybe it's not nutso at all.. maybe it really has been this intense spiritual journey. 

Love: I promised The Boy that I would do no loving of any sort, and I am sorry that I have broken that promise. I love everyone on this course. There are some obvious people (I am addicted to MR's voice, DD's kindness, and I will always have a special place in my heart for MB, AC, and AD) but even the not-so-obvious people.. even if we have only had a short conversation in these past five weeks, I love them. Everyone here has taught me something: anatomy, kiirtan, cerebral spinal fluid, courage, strength, integrity, vulnerability, gratitude.

So maybe I shouldn't have resented that question so much after all. 

YTT 500, Days 32-35: Winding Down

We're on the downswing now with less than two weeks of classes left. On Sunday MB and I had a big souvenir shopping day and bought a lot of our yoga books. I was working on the assumption that I'd have two 25 kg suitcases to bring home but it turns out that Austrian Airways only allows ONE 23 kg suitcase to be checked. If I didn't hate them before (I do, since my flight here), I hate them now. How frustrating. Well, even with shipping the books home, they will be cheaper than if I bought them at home. 

On Sunday, MB and I also finally visited The Office for "the best samosas ever" and it was true. The potato pea was the best of its kind I'd ever had, the banana chocolate was absolutely divine, but the apple was my favourite. MmmmMmMmM.. 

Monday, Tuesday and today we did our experiential presentations in the mornings and more practicums in the afternoons.  My presentation was on the Gunas and food. I did a brief explanation on the three Gunas, or qualities (Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas) and how they relate to food. Then, I gave them a taste test of five different foods to see what kind of qualities they might possess and what category (categories) they fall under. I had a great time doing it. We also learned a bunch of great things like reinforcing your energy field, yoga nidra, and using sound toning and crystal singing bowl vibrations to heal your body. I am a total believer.

We also met P*, the last member of our teaching team from Calgary who is teaching us the Yoga Lifestyle Coaching section next week and this week.. how to dance. Seriously. I don't know much about him yet but he seems really fun. 

Our lunches were also fun. On Monday, MB and I went for a walk around Tapovan and looked at books (more books!) at the bookstore next to the German Bakery (sheer willpower kept us from actually going into the German Bakery). On Tuesday, KT, CW, JM, and a couple of the Japanese yoga family girls and I went to Rishikesh to pick up our punjabi suits (they were not ready) and we went for a whirlwind Lassi and sweets tour too. Today, I had another interesting Ayurvedic massage experience.

It's been a bit weird here, but weird good. It's like we're all now acutely aware that the course is ending soon. Some of us are excited and some of us are resisting.

Me? Despite a rocky start, I think that I have been really good at remaining present. I rarely daydream in class, I'm paying attention to everything everyone is saying, but I do dream about other foods at our mealtimes. Do you know they serve us on metal plates? With only a spoon! This was really not good for dispelling the "Yoga Prison" myth. 

YTT 500: Days 29-31: Sweets and Saris

Thursday was kind of a blur. We had the real Indian experience with the unpredictable blackouts, practicums by candlelight, and an unexpected and beautiful masala chai break in the afternoon. Plus, rain! I hadn't seen real rain since that one time in Jaipur where it rained for 10 minutes only on top of the pool and the other side of the road was dry. I had my Classical Kundalini practicum which was super scary because it's so technical. When (if?) I teach this style at home, I must be more direct and less gentle when getting them in and out of the poses, but only in this style. I will also have to schedule in more mini-savasanas in order to spread the energy around the body. 

Friday was weird. We're four weeks down and so the pressure is getting to the group. Me, I had my breakdown two weeks ago so I'm feeling fine. 

Today was jam-packed full of adventure. Firstly, Kriya saturdays with Trataka (candle-gazing that helps to focus your concentration and helps to clear your eyes, except that I have been clearing my eye ducts just fine, thankyouverymuch), nauli, neti, and throwing. Then, our class took a trip about an hour north into the mountains and then back down to the Ganges. Punditji held a Pritki Puja for us to help appreciate our ancestors. We threw something into the Ganges for our mother's side and then for our father's side. It seemed sweet-smelling, but it could have been anything, and when I looked up, Punditji was motioning for me not to eat it. Afterwards, we enjoyed the peace of the Ganges (until some whitewater rafters woohooed as they paddled by), meditated inside a cave, and hung out on the rocky beach. Another nauseating ride back to the Ashram, lunch (Pumpkin!! AND chilli pickles!) and then C, MB, M from Ottawa and I took a tuk tuk (hehehe) to Rishikesh. We intended to look for music, books, and instruments, but the market there is more for locals (fruits, veggies, breads, clay pots, baskets, kids clothes, shoes) than for us. We did find two hindi bookstores and one english bookstore that specialized in math and physics books. We met up with some more ashram peeps later and went for Pappu Lassi, sari shopping (I bought a punjabi suit - I think it will be more versatile), and sweets shopping. The ladoo shop was brimming with all sorts of amazing Indian sweets, and we all came out with a medium box each for around 150 rupees. My favourite is the one that's shaped like a little fuji apple. I haven't even tasted it yet but i'm sure it's amazing. We ended off our evening with pizza and a movie at Ramana's Garden. I went last week after the cleanse and couldn't eat anything. It was nice to finally eat the pizza (thin, light, savoury but not salty, and the cheese was very light and creamy tasting) and cheesecake (more of a yogurt cake, a little tangy, melted into a puddle, but great crust and lovely little pomegranate seeds sprinkled on top). Awesome day. I'm pooped!