Halfway There

Episode 6

Saturday, June 4, 2016

We’re halfway through the 300-hour course and at times I feel like I’m livin’ on a prayer. Highlights from Week Three include:

More…

·      High temps

·      Progress in jumping toward my handstand

·      Willingness to try formerly fearful poses

·      Shopping

·      New friends

Less…

·      Naps (though I still take naptime to rest my eyes)

·      FEAR

·      Confusions in anatomy class

·      Gecko interaction

NONE…

·      Leaving lecture class for a “quick” power nap

·      Intestinal sickness

Pointing out the obvious, it’s incredible what progress one can make on poses when one practices them every day. Whenever someone asks me about my yoga focus, I always say asana is secondary for me. It’s true that I’m more comfortable with pranayama and meditation, and I don’t want to engross myself in a competitive nature. I try to stay calm with poses and not set goals. If I’m going to make progress with the asana, I will. If it’s not the asana for me today, maybe it will be someday or maybe never. The physical and emotional state of the body varies by the second, so I can’t always count on an identical practice to the previous day. I’m patient with myself and with my progress.

Unexpectedly, I’m making progress with my kriya practice. Episode 3 focused on the first horrendous experience, but I would hardly deem the subsequent practices horrendous. I’m beginning to feel the effects of jala neti (neti pot), though maybe not as intensely as someone who struggles with nasal issues. My nose feels clogged on Sundays when we don’t practice jala neti. I practiced sutra neti (catheter in the nose and out the mouth) in front of a mirror to feel where the catheter tickles the back of the throat, but it was still so uncomfortable. I’m letting it lie for now. Maybe I’ll do it someday, maybe I won’t. Vaman dhauti has been the biggest surprise throughout the progression of my kriya practice. I no longer gag during the practice and my shock and disgust has disappeared.

Saturday mornings are devoted to teaching practice with a partner, in order to reinforce the cues Krishna has been using all week. I couldn’t wait to say, “Suck in the metatarsals!” “Sternum up!” “Show your clavicle!” Vicky was my partner this week, and she wanted me to teach first so she could listen to my English cues. She is a French native speaker. The same thing happened with Kae last week, wanting to listen to my English as she translated it from her native Thai. I’m happy to help my new international friends with their English. I didn’t mind teaching first because I’m accustomed to cueing and teaching spontaneously over the past year. I’m working on more subtle cues than the typical placement of limbs, hips, and gaze. I’ve been surviving on simple cues throughout my first year of teaching, but aspire to graduate to cueing specific muscles. Mostly, I teach beginning yoga students who may not recognize those cues, but that’s how I learned certain muscles and Sanskrit terms during my years of study. My teachers had broad knowledge that they passed on through their teaching.

Another highlight of the week was meeting my Facebook friend Alyssa for the first time, in-person. Alyssa and I met on Facebook about a year ago when she was searching for yoga teacher training courses in India. She contacted me to enquire about my experience at RYP. Of course, I gave the school a glowing review, and didn’t mention my trips to the hospital! Eventually, I confessed that I acquired a parasite, only so Alyssa could take precautions and not have the same setback. Alyssa set off on her trip and had some Indian visa complications at first, but worked it out so she could remain in India for a course and ample time for travel. When I made the decision to complete a 300-hour course, I contacted Alyssa and we serendipitously found ourselves in Rishikesh at the same time. We decided to meet in front of Freedom Café in Laxman Jhula, where we enjoyed a lunch overlooking the Ganges. Parenthetically, most of the cafes in Laxman Jhula overlook the Ganges! I fed my paneer addiction while we chatted, comparing notes on our 200-hour courses, at the Royal Café, inconspicuously tucked within an ashram. We walked around a few shops before we parted ways, hopefully to meet up again before I leave. Again, it’s amazing how we can meet friends online, already slightly vetted by their postings, and then meet up, akin to reconnecting with an old pal.

On the walk back to Ram Jhula, I passed by a particular vendor stall. These stalls line the road and you can find anything from a refreshing drink or snack for your journey to jewelry and mala beads. I was looking for my friend Dadu and greeted him as I passed by. “Hello! How are you doing? What are you selling today?” Dadu answered, “My friend…I want to give you something…my gift to you.” He pulled out a box from under the cart and slipped a badass kundalini snake arm band on my upper arm. I was so grateful, mostly because I would never buy anything like it for myself and now I had one. The kindness of my Indian friends increases my gratitude every day. On to Week Four and the second half of the course!

A Day in the Life of a RYP Yogini

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.

Asana class on the beach of the River Ganga.  Here, we were filmed for a BBC feature about International Day of Yoga.

Our lovely group of new friends and yoga teachers, who are now spreading yogic knowledge all over the world.

Indian Intestinal Adventures

Any travel guide, blog, or seasoned traveller will tell you that it's virtually impossible to avoid intestinal troubles while travelling in India.  Yes, there are ways to stay safe, but those tactics are also boring when you are presented with enticing food and drink as you stroll down the streets.  I didn't eat anything unusual or anything my fellow yoga students didn't try.  I just suffered a major stroke of bad luck, incredibly bad luck.

A special heartfelt thank you goes to the staff and teachers at Rishikesh Yog Peeth, who deal with these issues regularly.  My fellow yogis comforted and supported me when the trauma seemed insurmountable.  Obviously, I surmounted it, as I am writing this story and now hold a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT 200) certification.

Click here to read my story on Pink Pangea, but wait until you are finished eating.

Post-hospital touring at the abandoned ashram where The Beatles stayed during their time in Rishikesh.

A Culture Shock to End All Others

"How am I supposed to survive for six weeks without air conditioning?"

"I can't leave my door open because the monkeys will take my stuff!"

"Um, that motorbike just splattered cow shit all over our legs!"

"Will diarrhea become my new normal?"

Welcome to India. 

I entered my room at Rishikesh Yog Peeth ashram, engaged the lock, and had a good cry as I collapsed on my bed. I messaged Melanie, my yoga teacher at Open Door back home, who assured me that she felt the same way upon her arrival and that it would soon pass. It didn't help that the temperature was hovering around 105-110F when I arrived. India was suffering a deadly heatwave, and I wondered if, all factors compounded, I would meet my demise during my visit.

1. No air conditioning

Central AC is largely an American phenomenon. I'm reminded of this luxury when I travel. I didn't know how I would manage six weeks without it. Three weeks in, my ceiling fan is doing a fine job, and it's relatively bearable. When the power cuts, the generator gives it a nice surge.

2. Frequent power outages

Indians are some of the most intelligent people I've ever met. I don't understand why this problem can't be solved. I suppose it's out of their control. The power cuts every day, at least five and sometimes ten times a day. Amit, one of the intensely dedicated staff members, drops what he's doing and cheerfully kicks on the generator. I started to keep a tally when I first arrived, but it became more time consuming than my studies. I've accepted it as a fact of Indian life.

3. Temperamental hot water

During the heatwave, I didn't mind a cold shower. Even at 5:30 am, before asana class, it felt refreshing after writhing around in sweat all night. Some students showered multiple times a day, merely to cool off. I got into the habit of showering twice a day. It's especially repulsive to sink into your bed at night after wading through cow dung, so the nightly shower became a refreshing necessity.

4. Cow dung in the streets

Cows are sacred in India. In Rishikesh, meat is illegal. That said, they roam the streets, eating the food scraps and mingling with the residents. I'm a vegetarian, actually almost vegan, but I cannot imagine eating one of these beautiful creatures after coming into such close contact with them. The bulls can be aggressive at times, but that's rare and he's usually pacified quickly.

5. Monkeys!

Only a few days into my stay, I was reading with my door open. I thought the resident cat had entered my room, but it was a monkey that looked to be about 20 lbs! She was looking for food and she found it: my precious Trader Joe's granola bars that I was saving for a special occasion, mostly an occasion which didn't require a spoon to eat them. I'll tell the detailed story in a future blog post.

The school was forthcoming with these five items, listing on their website to prepare to face them. They also insinuated if you didn't think you could embrace this lifestyle, the course isn't for you. I tried to prepare myself, but experience is the best teacher.

Now in my third week of the program, I can't imagine passing up on the opportunity to earn my yoga certification in India at Rishikesh Yog Peeth. The teachers are world class, the staff is delightful and helpful, and the food is delicious and plentiful. As with any travel destination, flexibility and a sense of humor are essential. Spoiled entitlement doesn't fly here. Once I pulled myself together and realized how fortunate I am for this opportunity, which didn't take long, I began to savor and internalize every moment of this journey.