So I thought I’d use this entry to give you an idea of a typical day on my yoga course.
The alarm will go off at about 7.30 (I know, it’s like being at WORK), then Lindsey & I first have to do our purification (kriya) yoga.
We start off with a tongue scraping using a special metal implement. It’s gross. Then we cleanse the rest of our mouth by scrubbing out with river salt - across the teeth & gums, inner cheeks and roof of the mouth.
Next is the easy one - splashing the eyes with fresh water - as veteran contact lens wearers this one holds no worries for us. The final one I hate the most.
We have a plastic pot called a Neti. You fill this with warm water and some river salt. Then, breathing through the mouth (veeeerrrrrryyy important), you pour the water gently up one nostril, and it then pours out of the other. Obviously I haven’t got the hang of it yet, and water goes all over the place, added to which, the whole process makes you feel like you’ve done a somersault in a swimming pool and the water’s gone up your nose.
I’m not sure I’ll be continuing with the Neti pot after I leave here…….
I then take my Ayurvedic herbs, plus the two extra to mix into my yoghurt later. I went to an Ayurvedic doctor to see what they say. All they do is take your pulse, then reel off the list of your ailments. He was pretty spot on, so I now have a myriad of herbs to take morning and night. All of which taste foul.
We leave the guesthouse at 8, clutching our ginger tea, then head down the road from Laxshman Jhula (where we live) to Ram Jhula (where the yoga hall is). It’s about a mile walk, with great views of the Ganges, and plenty of life to keep us occupied: cows wandering around, jeeps careering round the corner with horns blaring, stalls trying to sell us nuts & spices, the constant attempt to avoid cow shit and Sadhus (holy men) begging for rupees.
It takes us about 20 minutes, then we stop at a chai (tea) stall for Lindsey to get her morning tea before we head into class. Each morning we learn a new posture or asana, so as it‘s day 9 we‘re now up to 9. At this school, the emphasis is on holding the postures for a long period of time - currently about 6 minutes. One of the great things I’m finding is that each day, the poses we learnt in the first week are becoming easier - I’m stretching further, holding for longer. Unfortunately the new postures are killing me - particularly in the arms. Apparently this means I am very impure in my Svaddistdharra chakra - the chakra of physical and sensual pleasure. Oops. I need to get onto a higher plane. Sigh.
After class, we head back to Laxshman Jhula for breakfast at the Freedom café: a huge bowl of muesli, fruit and curd (yoghurt), which I now mix with one of my Ayurvedic remedies: Ginger and pepper. It’s actually not too bad. This meal does for both breakfast & lunch. We’ll then typically do some reading, or chatting, or internet until about 3.30 when we head back to Ram Jhula for our next class.
We do manage to mix it up a little though - one day a belly dancing class, another day we walked to the Beatles Ashram (where they wrote most of the White Album, which is my favourite) and of course we had to bathe in the Ganges to purify ourselves and remove our bad karma from all our dark deeds.
So I’m now pure, despite my Svaddistdharra impurities.
Our next class is at 4pm, and is similar to the morning, with the addition of the Sun Salutations which I love - we even do chanting which sounds beautiful. After class, we have an hour & a half free to have dinner. Lindsey & I have our favourite dining spot called Ganesha’s café which does the most amazing Thali for only 50 rupees (about 75p) - you get 3 types of curry, typically lentil dhal, paneer masala and aloo gobi, rice, as many chapattis as you can eat, and plain yoghurt. Delicious.
Rishikesh is both a vegetarian & a dry town, so I’ve eaten no meat or alcohol for some time (in fact, I’ve eaten no meat since coming to India). The healthy diet, 4 miles of walking and 4 hours of yoga a day MUST be having an impact, surely?!
At 7.30 we return to the yoga hall for the final time, this time for a lecture on an aspect of yoga. The school we’re at goes into full yoga teaching - not just the physical side as we tend to learn in the west, so I now know more than I ever needed or wanted to know about chakras, astral planes and the like.
I have to say, it’s a bit of a struggle to remain open minded with some of the concepts - you see I’m just too rational for this stuff - I like proof, and evidence. But I shall persevere, and I’m really enjoying the classes, and I've met some fantastic & interesting people.
After class, which usually finishes at about 9.30, we’re pretty tired, so we head back to Lax for the final time, then trot off to bed, ready for the next day’s class.
