Yoga Capital of the World

I got up at six am to start traveling to Rishikesh. The train left at seven and I got to the Haridwar at about two in the afternoon. The train was only a sitter, unlike all the others I had previously traveled on. I was next to two young women who spoke a little English and kept offering me their food; it was very sweet. When I got off the train, a taxi driver told me he’d take me for 800 rupees. Are you NUTS? It’s a half hour drive to Rishikesh, I paid 137 for the nine hours to Haridwar!! I said no way and that I’d take the bus; he said there wasn’t one and I looked him in the eye and said, are you sure? He said yes without batting an eyelash and I shook my head because I knew he was lying. Karma, Buddy, Karma. There’s a tourist office at the font gate and the woman told me where to go and that what the taxi driver was doing was illegal: I’m proud of myself for not getting monetarily screwed as much as I used to.

The bus was ten rupees, though hard to find because there are about fifty buses and no designated spot for the one to Rishikesh, so everyone keeps pointing you in another direction. I ran into a couple from Germany who helped me out since they had been here before. We finally found the right one and got there in no time. Being that they had been here before, they also helped me get to the Ashram I wanted to stay at, Ved Niketan. It’s along side the Ganges River. I’m not going to lie, it looks a bit like a prison; it’s bright orange and has a wire fence around it. The rooms are in a two-story square around the complex, in the center another building sits where there are yoga classes. I can practice yoga twice a day, plus a spiritual discussion and have my own room for 100 rupees; 2 American Dollars!! I had two Indian teachers, however, they didn’t do much adjusting which I need since I am painfully new to yoga and have no real clue what I’m doing. I met a girl, Courtney from Canada, when I was having breakfast and she told me to try out her place, Trika Yoga. This was so much better! The class is smaller and the teachers explain the poses (asanas) and the energy it uses as well as the physical and emotional reasons for practicing each posture. I am willing to pay 7 dollars for two, two hour classes and a lecture daily from a hot Scottish man, a cute Canadian girl, and a funny Indian guy. I’ve even been able to get up and go running along the Ganges River on a road through the woods, which has been oh so peaceful!

The lectures have covered a lot of interesting and controversial subjects (at least, for me). There have been a couple concerning different types of meditation and yoga, the reasons behind each of them and who should be practicing each, as well as Chakras, healing, and karma. We also have discussed different purification techniques. I will start this out by saying I have not done any of these (though I might try in order to relay a good story for everyone, yes, I will be your humorous guinea pig). The first of which is Urine therapy; I wasn’t actually here for this lecture, but I’ve heard about this technique from a friend in Thailand (Apparently, there is a good book about it called The Golden Fountain. I’ll read it soon and report back). The main part is that when you urinate in the morning you’re supposed to drink it. Yep, sounds gross, but apparently it’s a really rejuvenating way of bringing nutrients back into your body that haven’t been absorbed as well as antibodies that your system has been producing. Also, another usage is to use it in order to heal cuts, burns, and it is also apparently an anti-aging agent- yep, rub it all over your face and say bye bye wrinkles. I will admit, I put some on my face. I have some sort of skin issue right now where I have a few infected cuts that won’t seem to go away. Apparently, this is part of the purification process from all of my yoga practices, my body is letting go of toxic/negative energies though really attractive sores on my forehead (thank God for bangs). I did it twice, it wasn’t so bad, I don’t know if it helped at all, though, because I gave up and went to a Homeopathic Dr. for some aid (I’ll talk about that in a minute).

Anyway, purification technique number three, Vamana Dhauti, the cleansing of the mid section. It sounds exactly like what you’re going to do—vomit. Basically, the concept is that when you go to sleep at night you should digest everything that you have eaten the night before. However, if food is still left in your stomach, it has become a breeding ground for bacteria, which will then mix with breakfast. Here’s what you’re supposed to do. After you wake up, you’re supposed to drink a liter of warm water quickly and then shake around for about a minute to mix it with whatever may still be hanging around. Then, “the fun starts” and you stick your hand down your throat and puke it all back up. This I have not done, but apparently it isn’t so bad because what is released isn’t acidic like what we’ve all experienced every other time we puke due to sickness.

Ok! Fun huh? Here’s number three Shanka Prakshalana- cleansing of the intestines. So, basically what’s going on is every day we all poop, defecate, shi*t, whatever you want to call it, and when everything is moving through our system it leaves a smear, “like peanut butter” according to the Yogi, along the intestinal walls. This, intern, creates what is called the mucoid plaque which slows down nutrient absorption and excretion, destroys useful bacteria and basically creates a toxic bowel (in turn creating toxic blood/lymph, etc making a breading ground for disease). How, oh how can we fix this? Through pure misery for a half day or so, that’s how! Pick a day where you don’t have to do anything or go anywhere and plant yourself in your bedroom, living room, wherever and close to a toilet with 5-7 liters of luke warm water and one tablespoon of salt to mix into each liter. Sit yourself down and drink two glasses of them and do a few sets of some specific exercises that get the salt water down into the intestines. After about 6 glasses the “release” starts. Keep repeating the process until what comes out looks like the color of what you put in. There’s a healthy colon, kids!

Other than learning how to destroy myself in order to remain in a purified state, I’ve been living a relatively mellow lifestyle; it’s nice to be in a routine that’s good for the mind, body and soul! I did take a trip to a homeopathic doctor in order to try and clear up my skin purification process. I’ve never been to a homeopath before, it’s interesting, they don’t just care about your symptoms, they want to know about your eating and bowel habits, dreams, if you’re tidy or not; the medication is for you specifically, not only your symptoms but who you are as a person. I have two small bottles with tiny round white pills that I’m supposed to take, without touching, twice a day—they taste like candy, but it’s working!

Also, I went to see Maharaji the 85 year old enlightened man in the neighboring village. At nine in the morning they open the door to his room in the Saacha Daam Ashram and people file in to kneel and bow in his presence in order to absorb his energy. You sit in silence outside for a little while before you go in and while I was in there he never said a word but held eye contact with me the entire time. My heart was beating out of my chest and, while walking out tears started streaming down my face. I sat in silence for a while after, as well, until I could stop crying. I can’t really explain what happened, but it felt really good to let go. Something must have sparked inside of me to let go of old emotions because, while reading The Time Traveler’s Wife, a sad part came up and I sat crying over my book for an hour. I mean, it was a sad book, but not to the point of convulsing in tears for an hour. Maybe there really is something to this yoga/meditation/purification stuff; I know there are a lot of old pent up emotions inside of me that I have never really let go of and I feel like now I can and I have (or at least, some of it).

Sadly, my time in Rishikesh is quickly coming to an end. Tomorrow, I leave to go back into the hectic world of bustling India to see the Taj Mahal!


AWKWARD MOMENT:

You may or may not have noticed that I stopped doing the awkward moment; this is because every day and most of every post is awkward so I didn't feel like being redundant. However, here's a little ditty. Yesterday a group of three teenage boys walked by me and one put his hand out and touched my arm. I turned around and yelled at him, like a dog, per usual.

Hey! Don't touch! Do you understand me? You never touch women, you got it??? NEVER TOUCH ME!

His friend kept apologizing while the offender walked away. I created a little bit of a scene; there were two Indian men and one woman walking behind me, obviously tourisits in the area. The woman stopped and turned and shyly yelled "asshole." Hah. It was so cute; she obviously wasn't used to speaking her mind in public. I was so appreciative that someone else, for once, noticed my mild distress. However, when I turned around and saw everyone staring it was definitely a bit....