India! Im here, actually Im 6 weeks in now, and despite planning otherwise, Iv decided to spend the bulk of my time here in Rishikesh.
I flew to Delhi from Taipei, Taiwan - on January the 3rd, my birthday! And no, China Airlines didn't upgrade me for free as a birthday present, despite that being my goal!
I stayed 4 days in Delhi and hired a local (through my air bnb host) to take me to Agra so I could see the Taj - totally worth it! I wouldn't do it on public transport, it would take way too long - go with a private car / taxi if you can!
And then I headed further north (about 240 km) to Rishikesh - the 'world home of yoga'. Iv never been to India and because I wanted to do teacher training, the decision to combine the two was easy. Finding a yoga school is also fairly straight forward, via www.bookyogaretreats.com. Price was a deciding factor as they vary widely, as well as styles of yoga taught. I wasn't so keen for acro, or iyengar - i wanted to keep it simple. Actually, I did choose a school and even paid the deposit, but a week before I came, I changed my mind because I wasn't feeling a nice vibe from the guy I was communicating with. Let's just say - always listen to your gut! Im so pleased I did, and I found another school with a great price, and the yoga taught was Hatha and Ashtanga - perfect!
I chose Ekam Yogashala. I arrived 2 days before the classes began, and we were only 8 students, with one extra who attended half of the classes only as he wasn't doing the certification.
I have practised yoga on and off for 20 years now, I have done ashtanga once and did not like it at all - so I had slight reservations about coming face to face with it again. Anyway, I needn't have worried, everything was great! We were a tight knit, mixed bunch and Iv made life long friends from this experience, including with staff members from the school.
Classes were a mix of everything yogic, from pranayama, to asana, meditation, philosophy and alignment. The biggest learning curve for me was sanskrit terminology and philosophy, but I accepted my short falls and carried on. All of our teachers were absolutely amazing - all male, all Indian. Something Iv noticed here in Rishikesh - Iv yet to come across an Indian female yoga teacher!! So different to at home, and I like it.
My course was about 25 days, I don't remember precisely, but that seems to be an average number. We started our day at 6.30 with Hatha yoga and the last class of the day was meditation at 6pm. Im so happy I chose to come in January as I enjoy cooler weather - but high tourist season here is from February to July or so. Apparently it gets up to 45 degrees by day, no thanks, not ever!
We had 3 meals a day provided, all vegan, which isn't my thing any more, so I was eating sometimes at the local organic cafe. They have a comprehensive menu and great egg dishes to satisfy protein wants. A note on that, most places here do massive portions to cater to their western clients! Some days I only needed to eat once!
I got a dose of Delhi belly during the first week, and while well-meaning people will make assumptions on the cause, Iv had food poisoning before and this didnt even come close. My diarrhoea was severe to say the least, so after 48 hours the school receptionist took me to a local hospital, where i proceeded to go daily for 4 days, to get bags of fluid. So, I was sporting a cannula for those days, which meant no yoga practice. However, I still sat in the yoga classes, I wanted to feel involved and observing is also good learning! (it turns out, during the course, everyone takes an easy day here and there!) The other classes were unaffected. And another thing, while I originally poo-pooed the idea of my being ill because I was 'going through something from the yoga', well, maybe! When I took my carcass to the hospital the first time, they took my blood pressure and it was text book perfect, which really surprised me, seeing as I was basically a raisin by that stage.. hmm anyway, thank god iv recovered!
And here I am now, strolling through the days attending yoga classes and eating great food.. I havent noticed a great change in tourist numbers yet, and the weathers still cool, although we get the hot day here and there.
Time to shower and go and look for a class to attend this afternoon!
Namaste peeps! xx
