Here are some random monkey pictures for your delight....we now have a 10 day old baby joining the herd. The baby has a curiously humanlike face. She is glued to her mother and grips on for dear life.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
A soft gray day
Last night the mist rolled in and has not yet left. Today is overcast and strangely comforting. I have now been in India for almost five weeks, and will leave on Feb. 12 for the Kerala beach towns of Cochin and Varkala. On Feb. 24 I will fly to Delhi and take a train to Rishikesh which is located in the foothills of the Himalayas. Rishikesh is the unofficial home of yoga...and the home of the International yoga festival. I did not know about the festival until I arrived here...an extra surprise! My yoga trainee buddy Diana from Mexico City and I will meet up at Parmath Niketan ashram to participate in yogic fun until March 7.
Dr. Senthil has been loading on the work...he outlined our final exams which will be both theory and practical. I won't bore you with the entire list but it covers pranayama, asana, disease and yoga therapy, chants and prayers, reports from patients we have worked with for therapy, and lots more. Diana figured out we are doing about 6 hours of yoga a day which is working visible changes in our bodies. My spare time is used for sleeping, studying and absorbing what is all around me.
Movie recc: The Three Idiots starring Amir Khan
A very funny Bollywood movie that cracked us all up..long but worth it. We watched it here at the retreat but it took 2 nights as we were all falling asleep after dinner...All is well!
Dr. Senthil has been loading on the work...he outlined our final exams which will be both theory and practical. I won't bore you with the entire list but it covers pranayama, asana, disease and yoga therapy, chants and prayers, reports from patients we have worked with for therapy, and lots more. Diana figured out we are doing about 6 hours of yoga a day which is working visible changes in our bodies. My spare time is used for sleeping, studying and absorbing what is all around me.
Movie recc: The Three Idiots starring Amir Khan
A very funny Bollywood movie that cracked us all up..long but worth it. We watched it here at the retreat but it took 2 nights as we were all falling asleep after dinner...All is well!
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Jala Dhouti
Warning: do not read this post if you are squeamish.
Kriyas are yogic techniques to clean the internal organs. They remove the waste materials from our internal organs that are not expelled normally. Dr. Senthil told us this morning would be our lesson on kriyas and to bring a bucket and a towel to class. Diana and I laughed nervously when he told us we would be vomiting, which is called jala dhouti. Essentially, the salt water washes your esophagus, helps digestion problems, and releases acids and gas from the digestive tract. When I asked him if that was also called bulimia he gave me the stare and said this was a serious technique.
Anway, we arrived at class, buckets and towels in hand and watched the good Dr. mix up a litre of warm water and salt. He then drank 5 glasses of salt water quickly and vomited into his bucket. If that wasn't horrifying enough the sounds he made were! He stirred up our vomiting solution and had us face the wall, sitting on stools with our buckets in front of us....Diana is teeny so after 2 glasses she was vomiting away, which made me laugh then ended quickly as I started gagging up the water. Fast forward to the end of class when we did kappalabhati breathing (fast exhales through the nostirls) tried to churn our abdomens, called nauli, and were told the capper of the class was basti (colon cleaning). Luckily, we were told to do that on our own time. The ultimate goal with jala dhouti is to have all of the water come out in one jet, like the water jet that comes out of the trunk of an elephant!
Result....we both felt great after!! Yogis are to do this technique once a month, accompanied by jala neti (nasal cleansing). Advice: don't try this at home alone :-)
Kriyas are yogic techniques to clean the internal organs. They remove the waste materials from our internal organs that are not expelled normally. Dr. Senthil told us this morning would be our lesson on kriyas and to bring a bucket and a towel to class. Diana and I laughed nervously when he told us we would be vomiting, which is called jala dhouti. Essentially, the salt water washes your esophagus, helps digestion problems, and releases acids and gas from the digestive tract. When I asked him if that was also called bulimia he gave me the stare and said this was a serious technique.
Anway, we arrived at class, buckets and towels in hand and watched the good Dr. mix up a litre of warm water and salt. He then drank 5 glasses of salt water quickly and vomited into his bucket. If that wasn't horrifying enough the sounds he made were! He stirred up our vomiting solution and had us face the wall, sitting on stools with our buckets in front of us....Diana is teeny so after 2 glasses she was vomiting away, which made me laugh then ended quickly as I started gagging up the water. Fast forward to the end of class when we did kappalabhati breathing (fast exhales through the nostirls) tried to churn our abdomens, called nauli, and were told the capper of the class was basti (colon cleaning). Luckily, we were told to do that on our own time. The ultimate goal with jala dhouti is to have all of the water come out in one jet, like the water jet that comes out of the trunk of an elephant!
Result....we both felt great after!! Yogis are to do this technique once a month, accompanied by jala neti (nasal cleansing). Advice: don't try this at home alone :-)
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Tea Time
Everday day at 4:00 tea is served (masala, ginger or green) and we gather round and shoot the breeze for a little while. Don't be disturbed by the people in robes, they are waiting for or have just had an ayurvedic treatment. I am dressed in white as yoga students have to wear a white uniform, very angelic. I feel a little nurselike wearing this. Another tea time in paradise.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)