Travel. Food. Yoga. Books.: January 2016

When I finished my PhD coursework, I vowed to never take another class. Last summer, I found myself in yoga school, sitting in class and studying outside of class. I even checked out books from a library again, grimacing at the thought of the waist high stack of books I checked out from Honnold Library while I was writing my dissertation. I survived, and though I can attest that earning a RYT 200 certification drastically varies from the stressors of graduate school, some portions are similarly taxing. My daily schedule, with the exception of Sundays, is described below.

5:30 Wake up

I'm not a morning person. One of my former colleagues still teases me about how her friendly morning hallway greeting was usually met with a terse grunt. However, when your alarm rings at Rishikesh Yog Peeth, you know you have two hours of asana class in your immediate future, not a commute to work. In that case, I was willing to wake up. In the spirit of California water conservation, I was accustomed to taking one shower per day, and when I arrived at the height of the 2015 Indian Heat Wave, a nightly shower was a necessity. However, after philosophy class was underway and we delved further into the niyamas (observations of your personal life), I began to practice saucha, or cleanliness, by showering before my asana practice. In the temperamental and oftentimes frigid water, showering in the morning didn't take much longer than just rolling out of bed. I did feel more emotionally cleansed and prepared to practice after a morning wash.

A lovely morning view from my room, Krishna Cottage 107.

6:00 Tea and Neti Pot
Glasses of herbal tea awaited the students in the dining hall. Most people took their tea to the courtyard to contemplate the day, but I usually sat in the dining hall to consume mine. I liked to have a few moments of solitude while I drank my tea to begin my day. Out on the lawn of the courtyard, two metal vats of lukewarm saline water were prepared for our neti kriya, or nasal cleansing ritual. After filling the plastic neti pot from the spigot of the saline water vat, I chose a spot along the perimeter of the courtyard, squatting over a boundary of shrubs. I tilted my head slightly to the side, nestled the tip of the neti pot inside the top nostril, and dribbled the entire solution so it exited the lower nostril. This procedure was repeated on the opposite nostril after refilling the neti pot. This ritual resulted in much sniffling, snorting, exhaling, and coughing among the students, resembling a tuberculosis ward. I returned my neti pot to my room and grabbed my mat to ascend the stairs to asana class.

6:30 Asana Class
We arrived to asana class a few minutes before 6:30 to set up our mats and props, and to ground ourselves before the teacher entered at the stroke of 6:30. Three asana teachers, Narendra, Deepa, and Jeet, rotated through the three classes for two days at a time. However, sometimes the typical rotation was upset by extenuating circumstances, and the teacher who walked through the door was not whom you expected. I enjoyed the different styles of each teacher and admired them as both mentors and practitioners, but each of them possessed a different level of intensity. Depending on my mood or level of fatigue that day, I either silently groaned or silently cheered when the teacher walked through the door. Usually, the morning practice was less physically intense, focusing on more pranayama and meditation. Kapalabhati (breath of fire) was the typical morning pranayama technique, and I was impressed that I achieved the goal of 100 strokes by the end of the course.

Deepa, our asana teacher who completed her teacher training at RYP several years ago.

9:00 Breakfast
I never thought I'd be able to practice asana for two hours on a completely empty stomach, but my body adjusted to it. Breakfast was always a ravenous affair, consuming two to three bowls of fruit along with the rice or the RYP favorite, ramen noodles. I always drank a black tea in the morning, as a psychological substitute for coffee. Sometimes, if the asana class was especially taxing, we stepped out for a coffee at the local Ayurveda Cafe after breakfast.

10:00 Philosophy Class
Roshan is in the echelon all teachers aspire to achieve. He is brilliant, passionate, and highly experienced in yogic philosophy. We were lucky that our course coincided with the first ever International Day of Yoga on June 21, 2015. Roshan organized a gathering on the banks of the River Ganga that included most of the yoga schools in Rishikesh (the ones that chose to participate). Though we had been studying yogic philosophy within the confines of a four-walled classroom, being present with so many yogis in one location reinforced the interconnectedness and collective consciousness we sought during our studies.

Roshan, the man and legend.

11:00 Self Study
For the first few weeks, I used this time for reviewing notes and reading texts I had checked out of the library. I had started reading Light on Yoga by BKS Iyengar before I left home, but struggled with applying the context outside my own practice. During the course, I strived to adopt a teacher's mindset as I was absorbing the information as a student. I had completed 15 years of elementary school teaching, so I knew the teaching aspect wouldn't confound me. Teaching is teaching, no matter what the topic, as long as you know your content. This course was more about learning content and lesson planning than attaining comfort in front of a group of students.

Course Essentials: neti pot, nose towel, notebook, & woven mat (provided by RYP). I checked out these books from the library and found them most helpful in completing my projects.

1:00 Lunch
Many students took the opportunity to study at a local cafe and enjoy their lunch off campus before returning to the afternoon theory class. I rarely participated in this detour because I found myself doing more socializing than studying. I enjoyed meeting new friends during the course and consequently, our conversations drifted away from the topic of yoga. By separating the study and lunch times, I could be more present during the social aspect of lunch. Because of the long break between lunch and dinner, I usually helped myself to seconds, thus negating any weight loss the sattvic diet and four hours of asana per day might have caused. Typical fare was rice and dal (lentils or chickpeas), along with a cucumber and beet salad and chapati (similar to pita bread).

Attempting to study at the Health Cafe, but the coffee with coconut milk was too distracting. Once I read about the effect coconut milk would have on my cholesterol levels, I nipped that habit in the bud.

2:15 Anatomy Class
I am NOT a science person, and my liberal arts college only required one science course, which I took intensively during the summer twenty years ago. I knew anatomy would require memorization, so I employed some of my elementary instructional strategies to learn the terms and their functions. Roshan presented the information in a simple and straightforward style. He also reiterated that we were not expected to become experts in a short six weeks. I absorbed and internalized what I could, mainly the basics, with the knowledge that Yoga Anatomy was waiting for me on my bookshelf at home.

3:15 Self Study
I used the afternoon study time to slowly compile my asana portfolio, one of our final projects. Again, I tried to work at the outside tables, but became distracted by unrelated conversations. I was forced to confine myself to my room to study. The upside of this confinement was that I was always on top of my laundry. I put a load in the bathroom bucket to soak for about 20 minutes, rinsed each item, hung them up around my room, and by the next day the clothes were ready to wear. Once in a while, I gave myself permission to leave the ashram for a quick walk or errand during this time. My teacher at home had admonished me to balance the studying with the adventure of living in India. I certainly didn't want to banish myself to my room and miss out on an adventure, so when I felt on top of my work, I allowed myself a short excursion, even if it was merely a toilet paper run.

My "washing machine" went through several packets of Tide, sold at the local sundry stall for 10 rupees per packet (about $0.16 USD).

25 rupees per roll (about $0.40 USD) stocks you up on this essential. Don't forget to stash a bit in your bag during outings.

5:00 Asana Class
During the first few weeks of the course, when the heat was most unbearable, evening asana class was a dreaded occasion. I was assigned to Yoga Hall 2, which Narendra referred to as The Oven. I didn't dread my practice, but I dreaded the lethargy that resulted from the sauna-like conditions in the room. Air conditioning is not an accepted and authentic condition for asana practice. At the height of the heat, before Narendra arrived to class, one student turned on the AC to cool down The Oven. Needless to say, Narendra was not pleased when he entered the room and felt the refreshing luxury of AC. He controlled his frustration and offered a less intense practice to acquiesce to our chicanery. "Practice doesn't make the yogi! The heat in Rishikesh makes the yogi!" he exclaimed. We promised to humor him with an Ashtanga practice the following morning, and never turned on the AC again.

Brothers Narendra and Jeet, awesome and intense asana teachers.

7:15 Dinner
Somewhat of a nightly celebration, we gathered after evening asana class to congratulate each other on another completed day. Oftentimes, this camaraderie was more of a commiseration from sore muscles and confusing concepts than a relaxed meal. As I learned during my dissertation writing, foreign concepts will eventually elucidate their meaning and purpose if given enough time to marinate. I didn't stress and let the learning happen organically. Discussions with fellow students made me realize that I wasn't alone in my struggle. Eventually, as predicted, the concepts solidified.

Special Outings
Saturday was still a "work day" but was designed slightly differently. We were still required to attend tea and neti cleansing, but then set off on a hike through the local hills. It was a welcome outing after experiencing the same learning environment all week. As a meditative hike, it was refreshing to take in the local nature. As mentioned above, our timing was auspicious in the sense that our course coincided with International Day of Yoga on June 21, 2015. The BBC and other local media came to film our morning asana practice. We walked to the beach to provide a soothing setting, along the banks of the River Ganga. Some students were interviewed and I was featured in Navasana, my new claim to fame. We all felt fortunate to experience the first International Day of Yoga in Rishikesh, the yoga capital.

A hike through the hills above RYP. That's Krishna Cottage in the green.

I thought elephant pants made the perfect hiking attire until I had to climb up a steep precipice and split the seam. It was worth it to see this meditation cave.