You want me to shove that... WHERE?!

I’m hovering right now between being in the mood to write and, well, not.  This may take a few sit downs because right now, I’d rather read my book on my glorious Kindle.  I love you Kindle and I love Emelie for doing the hard sale on the 3G one.  

So I’ve mentioned in a few posts how the actual asana practices of my schooling has been really mellow and calming and pretty easy.  I friended Manoj, our evening practice teacher, on Facebook and I think he read my blog because he fucking kicked our asses Saturday night, with a smile no less!  I think at one point during the class he said, “this, is punishment.”  If THAT is what our asana practices will look like from here on out, not only will I be able to finally float like a cloud but be mother effin ripped by the time I leave here!  GOOD LORD!  The fact the nice to stormy breeze flying through Rishikesh went AWOL, the room was filled with hot, sticky, stagnant air and I was finally dripping with sweat and pretty much soaked my pants w/in 5 minutes.  It was RI-DIC-U-LOUS!  I loved every second of it.  Now, due the immense ass kicking (I think it was the 10 float back to chatturanga and float up to forward bend w/ each breath that may have started the death), I passed out during yoga nidra in the first 5 minutes… it was 25 minutes long.  Hey nap time!  Catherine tried to wake me up a few times but our plan to pinch each other didn’t work because I didn’t feel a thing! LOVED.IT!

Now, this morning on the other hand, while prepared for this because we were warned, you’re never really totally prepared for something you NEVER thought, nor ever wanted to do.  Each of us was handed a rubber tube and Roshan proceeded to show us how to shove that tube up our nostril and pull it back and forth from our mouth.  Nom!  This process is called Sutra Neti and it’s one of the cleansing rituals done to help you know, keep things healthy, clear and stuff. J  Look it up on the wiki’s if you want more info.  I’m excited to report, I shoved that sucker, gingerly, down my right nostril like a champ, drooled all over myself in the process, quickly went back and forth 3 times and pulled it out!  I’m sad to report, I didn’t to the left because one was just enough for the day for me.  Documentation was not captured, thank god!

The rains are coming so the bugs are coming and I hope to god these mosquitoes that have bitten me thus far don’t have the Malaria.  That would suck!

Took a wee break from writing!  I must say, the nice heat here is a fantastic clothes drier and *I* am a superb clothes washer!  I was going clean freak today and I wanted them to give me some bleach and a cloth so I could mop like… everything in my room but it hasn’t arrived yet so I managed to spend my afternoon editing photos and uploading them to FB. Dominic also did Reiki on me, my first experience, and I have to say, I have been a skeptic in the past and after all my personal transformations over the past year, I thought, what the hell.  I felt weird tingly sensations and as were going over a certain aspect of the session, I felt my chest expand and whatever energy was being released filled my entire body, all radiating from my heart center.  Fascinating stuff, really.  He’s quite fantastic too but I think I’ve mentioned that before.

Today in class we spoke about all the various forms of yoga and it was helpful with clarifying things, especially because in the West, we kinda get things a little screwy, for the sake of marketing.  When we were talking about the joys of Mr. Bikram, who’s practice I will never participate in because I think he’s a completely greedy douche monster, Roshan talked about attending this conference.  At the conference they spoke of how yoga is part of human nature and it’s part of everyone inherently so the purpose of yoga is not to make massive profits off people who already have these abilities but to teach.  THAT is why Rishikesh Yog Peeth is so affordable! By affordable I mean, I could have JUST come to India on a round trip ticket for this training and STILL paid about $2k LESS than if I had done the 200-RYT with my favorite studio in Seattle.  Roshan said, “yoga is for everyone,” and that’s not just about ages, races, sexes but also economically.  The school is run by all these wonderful people who charge enough for it to sustain a themselves and their families comfortably, not with too little and not with too much.  If I thought I couldn’t love this place anymore than I already did, I do now and I will recommend it to anyone wanting to get certified.  Each day just seems to get better and better.  Their ultimate goal is to have a completely self sustaining facility higher in the mountains, away from the hubbub and reduce the tuition even more.  This is SO refreshing to hear and something I’ve been grappling with personally when it comes to what I will do with this acquired knowledge when I return home and how, if I decide to start my own business, integrate yoga into it and keep it as pure as possible.  I tried to have a discussion w/ Number 2 about this prior to me leaving for November but she wasn’t in a discussion mood apparently.  How can you keep something so natural to all human beings, so pure, the way it is supposed to be in a country that is so tied in with greed and profits like the US?  I will try to find a way!

Yesterday Sanjay, our morning meditation, chanting, pranayama, asana teacher, and Ashish, took us to Parmarth Ashram for the Sunday Aarti/Puja.  It was so lovely and so festive.  Looking out at a crowd of hundreds of people, colorfully dressed, singing traditional Hindu chants and songs was lovely.  I seem to get followed by adorable little inquisitive kids, whether in the street or at this ceremony.  I don’t mean like in Mexico when kids chase you down the street trying to sell you Chicklets but just bouncing around next to me, smiling and saying hi and wanting a wave or to give me a high five of sorts.

Something I’ve been toying with is completely cutting myself off from the outside world for the duration of my schooling and only maintaining my blog and alerting FB to when I’ve updated it.  We’ll see how this thought manifests because it seems, since I have access to all this stuff, I’m addicted to it.  I have been spending considerable time researching other schools because surprise surprise, since I’m here, I may as well get my bloody 500 RYT =)  One of the girls here, Jade, has the same mission in India, YOGA with a focus in Iyengar and Ashtanga Vinyasa (I learned the difference between Ashtanga Yoga and Ashtanga Vinyasa today…weee) so exploration is definitely likely.

It’s hot, I’m boring.  As promised on FB though, I have a present for my readers!  If you dig new music as much as I do, check this out!

Bombay Beats

xxxo,

dirty

p.s. Just did our first evening class since the ass kicking and I think Saturday was to prove a point.  Today, prepared w/ my bandanna to catch my head sweat, towel to wipe my everything sweat and yoga towel so I don't face plant in downward dog... none were needed.