Book Packing In McLeod Ganj
[caption id="attachment_542" align="aligncenter" width="640"] How can FedEx compete against this charming setup?[/caption] Yes, that’s Book Packing in McLeod Ganj, not Backpacking. The latter being a travel adventure for those exploring the Himalayas in (most likely) scruffy-baggy-unisex trousers and cotton rasta-colored friendship bracelets; seeking budget accommodation, ethnic meals and meaningful inter-cultural connections with locals and likeminded international explorers. The former being an...
Goodbye, McLeod Ganj
It's our last day in McLeod Ganj and my sunrise walk took me through the peaceful woods on the way to the Buddhist temple - a kaleidoscope of Tibetan prayer flags flapping in the breeze, prayer wheels spinning to the hum of Om Mani Padme Hum, stray dogs lazing in the early sunlight. I realize how little quiet time we've...
Yes, I Have a Yoga Name
I've always thought it was faintly ridiculous when I'd hear someone in the US use their "yoga name", especially when clad from head to toe in Lululemon lycra. I had cynically joked about how my chosen yoga name would be Yogini Sri Shakti Jai Murphananda. [caption id="attachment_1384" align="alignright" width="200"] Yogi Sivadas on Sitar[/caption] But, here in India, after several weeks of advanced...
Ayurveda and Yoga
Ayurveda is the Vedic science of healing for both body and mind, developed in ancient India around 1500 BC. The word means "wisdom of life". It's a vast subject, and I like the way it's summarized in the book, Yoga for Your Type - An Ayurvedic Approach to Your Asana Practice (David Frawley and Sandra Summerfield Kozak): "We develop disease because of...
Daily Scenes of McLeod Ganj
[gallery type="circle" ids="522,69,91,114,120,145"] Halfway through the teacher training tomorrow; amazing how quickly it's whizzed by and how the foreignness of things has subsided into the new normal. The monkey that came ransacking last week appeared again tonight at my door and this time I was armed with my squeegee/mop thing to chase him off the balcony. I am officially a local! Other...
Hanuman Comes Visiting
[caption id="attachment_1396" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Monkey Business[/caption] Today, a monkey strolled into my yogi cottage. And when I advanced towards him, shooing him away, HE advanced towards ME, and bared his teeth. I backed off and watched as he made his way to the kitchen shelves and started to pick things up and toss them across the room, while I tried my...
Yoga Kriyas and Welcome to the Digestive System
Yogi Sivadas' teaching of yoga is classical and is also strongly influenced by Ayurveda, the ancient science of better health. He believes that most emotional, hormonal and physical imbalances and agitations of the mind are caused by bad diet, poor digestion and a sedentary and/or stressful lifestyle. Healthy digestion and elimination is crucial. The exasperated expression, "Oh, she's full of shit!",...
Delhi Belly, Grumpy Yogini
Oh, woe is me. I have the dreaded Delhi Belly, which apparently doesn't restrict itself to just that ancient city. Who knows where I got it from, whether it was last night's meal, or if I inadvertently got water in my mouth as I washed my hair and face in the shower, but I feel pretty miserable today. Ah, well,...
Bhakti Chanting, Sanskrit and Mythology
Out of the mountain of our yoga teacher training study materials, I was immediately drawn to the chanting books; Bhakti or devotional chanting, which I love. We sing the invocation to Patanjali every day, and it's nice to begin asanas with this familiar chant that I know well from many Iyengar yoga classes back home. For the first week, we have...
Little Tibet: Settling In
[caption id="attachment_73" align="alignright" width="300"] Vibrant and happy yoga room[/caption] Loving it here! It's a combination and contrast of chaos and peace! Goats, dogs, cows, bikes, tuk tuks, taxis and people, all claiming possession of the narrow main street; vehicles missing you by millimetres as their horns blast loudly in your ears. And then inside our tranquil little yoga school perched on the...