Rishikesh: The Transformation

Hello Again!

Time flies when you’re traveling in India and have no concept of days...it's weird, it could be Wednesday or Saturday for all I know most of the time. As long as there's no plane, train or rickshaw to catch, there is a timelessness to each day that only adds to the confusion.

The inaugural Redback trip has come and gone. Everyone made it home in one piece with minimal sickness and experiences of a lifetime that our group will cherish forever. Course, it wasn’t all roses and we certainly got screwed (mostly in Delhi) but that comes with traveling in this country and it kept us on our toes. Our mantra is “Live and Learn” and each time something negative happens, there is always a positive on the flip side in which we learn a valuable lesson and try not to let it happen the next time. Our group was so patient and flexible which helped us get through such a fantastic few weeks!

I left you in Rishikesh at the International Yoga Fest that we participated in for a week. Words can’t describe what we all experienced here. The caliber of swamis and yoga teachers was about as good as they come. We took in more in a week than most will in a lifetime in the West. It truly affected each and every person and there was something exciting and interesting for every member in our group. They even had kid’s yoga for Sofie!

Ryan and I woke up super early to practice a little on our own…he would meditate in our room and I would go up to the roof to practice. It was so nice to sit quietly in the dark and just listen to the sounds…there is always music or prayers happening in some corner and even that early, music permeated the valley. Class started at 6am and various classes went all day until the Aarti Ceremony on the banks of the Ganges River at 6pm. There were a couple of 45 minute breaks during the day but it was pretty much all yoga, all day, all week. Oh yeah…

You ask…all yoga all day, how did you survive? Well seeing as though we are in India where the yoga is completely different, it was actually quite easy since many of the classes involved meditation, pranayama (breathing techniques) and lectures. What was quite obvious throughout the week is how much the West has managed to butcher yoga. Truly, the whole premise of this ancient science is spirituality. Yoga has always been a way to find God… God in the sense of the inner light that resides inside each of us…God that pervades all religions and is ultimately the same for every religion…The idea that “I am.” The physical postures and breathing techniques are merely tools to settle the body for mediation. Then meditation is practiced to sit quietly and ultimately become enlightened. Course, very few actually get that far but it is the daily practice which counts. Learning and practicing various yoga techniques to find stillness within is the key to unlocking this inner spirit and the key to tapping into our consciousness. Learning to love without attachments and give without needing anything in return is a practice that we must learn to cultivate on a daily basis and which has been so lost in our society.

One day, Gormukh, the Kundalini teacher, spoke about giving just for the heck of it all day and see how it felt. So I tried it…I gave smiles to the beggars and said Namaste to everyone. I gave a few handicapped people a little money and fed the dogs. She was so right, it felt great and changed my whole week for the better. So try it today…give to those you come in contact with…could be a smile, could be money, could be a hello, could be letting someone in your lane while driving. Just try it and see how your day changes. Then try it again tomorrow, and the next day…

We did have one active class a day…some chose to do Iyengar with a master teacher from Bombay who studied with BKS Iyengar for 20 years. Birtho wore these awesome diaper pants tied up around his belly and was extremely insiteful. I learned a few things I never knew in his first class where we did 3 poses in 2 hours (we there was a LOT of talking in between). Some took a Vinyasa class from Duncan Peak who is a famous instructor in Australia. And the rest went to Gormukh, the preeminent Kundalini teacher from LA who studied with Yogi Bhajan for over 30 years. Her class did not disappoint. About 200 people joined together on the banks of the Mother Ganga to do the yoga and be a part of her inspiration. I know I can speak for the women who felt the transformation from her classes…she left us with such a grounded feeling of empowerment, love and respect for the spirit. We really dove deep into the depths of our consciousness and each time, I left with a feeling of…Oh my god, what just happened? It almost felt surreal. As Hilary so poignantly said after her second class, “Let’s see….one free yoga class or 4 years of therapy?” Her classes were that profound.

For those who don’t know what the heck Kundalini yoga is, it’s a type of yoga where you do fast motion exercises for long periods of time (up to 11 minutes). The motions become meditations and chanting along to this great music cranked on the loud speakers kept us going. The exercises tap into the nervous system and get prana (life force energy) flowing from the base of the spine. It can be so challenging and make you want to kill someone but if you let go of your ego and close your eyes and chant and feed off the people around you, anything is possible…or as they say in India “Sub Kulch Malega.” Other times we did random meditations (like stick your tongue out and move it all over the place for 22 minutes) but each exercise had a purpose and each class had a theme. People cried, laughed, yelled, whatever….but the point was to let it go, to be free. Each day we danced in a humungo dance party shakin’ it all over the place to this awesome music. The crowd of Indians who watched us from above must have thought we were so weird! Even I thought I was weird but it just felt so good to let loose and get down.

Another amazing aspect of the festival were the lectures and question/answer sessions, or “Satsangs” with the revered Swamis. Their messages on yoga, or the union of body and soul, love, reincarnation, the western vs eastern view of death, how to live a happy life and a million other topics left everyone in awe. They answered some great questions asked by young children and truly affected all those who heard them. The most impressive Swami, H.H. Sri Shankaracharya Swami Divyanand Teerthji, wore yellow sandalwood paste all over his entire forehead with a HUGE red dot in the middle, an orange cloth, some big mala beads and these sandals that I still have no clue how they work…basically, they were a wood plank with this mushroom looking wood piece where a flip flop’s toe piece goes. The catch was that there was no strap and the mushroom was extremely wide. So he put that in between his toes and walks? Whoa. Then a guy with an orange staff followed him wherever he went. How cool would that be to have an assistant staff holder wherever you went? Shankaracharya looked imposing to say the least and would chant in this very deep voice which only added to the mystery. But the second he opened his mouth, he spoke in perfect English and quoted phrases from the Bible, the Bhaghivad Gita, The Yoga Sutras and countless English poets. He completely captivated the audience with his insight and brilliance.

The last major highlight (there were about 100 at least) happened one morning when the entire festival participated in an event called the Yoga Aid Challenge where we raised over $60k for children in need around India. Twelve teachers led 9 sun salutations each to comprise of 108 total. Held on the banks of the Ganges, it was so fantastic to all join together in our love for yoga to help those in need. We did twelve totally different styles of the traditional sun salutation…a Japanese taught a totally unique set, a Kundalini teacher taught her own version, David Saul Raye did his own unique style and on and on. Who knew there were so many ways to do the same thing? The first day of the festival, I received a letter under our door asking me to be a leader. While flattered, I avoided responding to the organizer for a few days. I was just too nervous. I mean, it’s one thing to teach your friends, but something totally different to lead 400 people, many of whom were teachers themselves. But something inside me just kept saying that for some reason I was asked to participate and it was up to me to step up to the challenge and help the children. So there I found myself up on the stage standing next to a 98 year old revered Swami wearing an orange robe and the guru of the Ashram, Swamiji overlooking a sea of people with a microphone on my chest. My theme was for everyone to “give” their salutations with their heart to those in need rather than “do” their salutations with their muscles and bones. Leading each move with their heart center in order to radiate the inner light and soften their bodies added to the love felt from everyone on that special morning. It was definitely my biggest challenge as a teacher (and public speaker) and to be in the presence of 11 other heavy hitting yoga teachers was a little overwhelming but I held my own and even had a cheering section from my group at the end. Thanks team Redback!

Anyway, I could go on and on….the festival was definitely the highlight of my yoga career and one of my favorite experiences ever in India. People joined together from all over the world and even though we spoke many languages, we all united in the language of spirituality. We left feeling inspired and with a renewed sense of self and an inner peace that will surely continue even through the craziness of our lives at home.

Other fun activities the group participated in were swimming and cleansing away our sins in the Mata Ganga, visiting the abandoned ashram where the Beatles were inspired to write the White Album, eating organic salad and fresh rhododendron juice at a children’s orphanage and of course…SHOPPING! I think our group definitely bought at least half of India and certainly supported the local economy.

Check out more details about the festival at www.parmarth.com/yogafestival.html

From the festival, we sadly left to get on the train to Delhi. Sadly is the key word here because we were on such a high. We arrived at the train station only to have my small bag missing and Laura’s suitcase gone. Randomly, an Australian approached our group carrying my bag. What? Somehow it got mixed up in their stuff. Then we luckily found Laura’s bag at the Ashram…it never got on the porter’s cart! At least it wasn’t gone and with some serious logistics, we managed to get it on Gormukh’s bus and at their hotel where it was picked up successfully.

Then sadly sadly sadly….we arrived in Delhi where I went to get my camera bag and…and…it was GONE! My brand new, super fancy camera….GONE. Needless to say, I just about died when I figured it out. All week we discussed non-attachment. OK. Did we really need to practice it right away with my pride and joy? The New Delhi train station was totally traumatizing with the sea of people at our feet and total chaos and losing my camera felt borderline suicidal. I left the group so that I could go to the station manager (total nightmare and one of those times when you realize how ass backwards this country really is). Then I found Ryan but we lost the group. Then we found the group at the hotel. Oh man…it was horrible. But thank god for everyone having a laminated emergency contact card with all the hotel info because they all got there in one piece. Phew!

The next morning we woke up super early to get back on the train to head to Agra. I had to file a police report which was comical except for the subject matter. Police are NOT your friends here…they are lazy and corrupt and hate working. I explained my story: Basically, when we got on the train, I put my backpack and camera bag on my seat. Then Ryan and I helped our group get on the train (we only had a 5 minute window) and get their bags up on the rack. My eyes had left my bag and Wham! Camera was stolen. In hindsight, I had taken a photo of the group waiting for the train and someone must have watched me and followed me onto the train. So many lessons I have learned as a result. The old "live and learn" mantra came back with a vengeance this time.

Before the police would remotely help, we sat and drank chai. Typical.Then I sat through their version of work which was painfully slow…each time the officer filled out a sheet, he had to put 3 carbon copies (lined up perfectly) under each sheet. I was in a hurry and thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown. As they say in India….slowly slowly! My favorite part was at the end, when the “staple guy” swooped in…his job was to staple my sheets together. Only he couldn’t find the stapler so he used a pin instead. I guess everyone needs a job here, huh? Finally I got my report and ran to the train which left 5 minutes after. Phew again!

Our fast train to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal was easy. Sanjay our guide met us with long necklaces made of fresh roses, jasmine and marigolds and escorted us to our huge bus. Were we in Hawaii? Oh, I guess the hawkers and beggars would make that a negative. But for a second, we felt nice. On to the Hilton….or should we say paradise? After staying at the cold Annex, the small and not as clean as I remember ashram and an ok but in a sketchy neighborhood hotel in Delhi, this place felt like the best hotel ever. Funny how our outlook had changed after such a short period. It really made us all appreciate the little things…shampoo, hot water with a real showerhead, the hair dryer, a buffet breakfast with all sorts of yummy foods that we hadn’t seen in weeks. They even had a credit card key that we could have two of if we wanted. We were living LARGE! Compared to the other guests at the hotel (stuffy and way too clean) we looked sooooo hilarious….as Adam would say we were officially “India’ed Out”….flowing clothes, bangles, jewelry, dirty hair, flip flops…the whole 9 yards. We were pros at this point.

Our first stop was to have Lungar at the Sikh Temple. Our guide said it was the first time he’d ever taken a group there. We were officially seeing the real India. Basically, if you go to any Sikh temple, they will serve anyone and everyone a free all you can eat meal consisting of rice, spicy dal and a chapati. The only catch is that you can’t leave anything on your plate. We sat on the floor while these Sikh guys with swords on their belts served it up. After our breakfast feast, we weren’t exactly starving but we chowed down anyway. It was so cool!

From there we visited the historic and amazing Agra Fort and went to a marble factory to see how they make inlayed marble which was pretty interesting except for the annoying sales people pushing marble afterwards. Then it was back to paradise and to the bar…a BAR? We managed to throw back a bunch of Kingfishers and red wine. Our yogi ways went to the wayside that night but after all we’d been through, we needed a night to have fun with the girls! Poor Ryan probably wanted to curl up and die but he’s a trooper and we had a blast.

On our way back to Delhi we stopped for a fantastic lunch at the main Hari Krishna temple and checked out another famous ashram. The drive was long but as always, non-stop excitement. It only took us about 4 hours to go 30 miles.

The group left that night and into the morning. Trish and Martha stayed an extra day in Delhi so we went to Fab India and I managed to find the cutest store where we all went crazy. We also managed to send a small shopkeeper to the police buy merely buying his spices. The mafia is everywhere and the big guys win. We inadvertently didn’t buy from the main guy so he called the police who took our little friend off to jail. Oh India. Sometimes it can be so tough. Rather than “getting screwed” we accidentally “screwed” someone else. It certainly didn’t feel good and hopefully the man who took my camera isn’t feeling very good either.

As usual, this country never ceases to amaze me. The roller coaster one rides here has so many ups and downs. One second the elation is so high, while just moments later the feeling of utter devastation awaits. It’s this constant reminder that nothing is permanent. Attachment to anything only leads to frustration. Have no expectations and one won’t be disappointed. Expecting things to be a certain way is virtually impossible since things changes at a second’s notice so when something amazing happens, it feels that much more special. Finding the stillness within oneself amongst the chaos outside oneself becomes the true challenge. Patience, flexibility, non-attachment to both the material and also to something like a schedule are keys to finding peace within…if one can achieve these qualities, then life here becomes quite simple. Ha…Good luck!

Lastly, to our group….thank you so much for possessing the ability to be flexible and patient. We were so fortunate to have such an amazing group of women (and little Sofie) to share our love for India. We know that you are all going home with a new outlook on life and there isn’t one person who wasn’t affected in some way. After what we learned, shared and experienced, we are all in each other’s hearts forever. Like someone who was at a Dead show in ‘77 or a Panic show in ‘97….you were there!

Love and light to you all….