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| Our mats hanging on the line |
This is the Shala (Moksha) we did our first session in this morning ... At 7 am instead of 6 for those still dealing with jetlag. We started immediately with the entire Ashtanga sequence 2 full hours) ... Including many poses and binds I've never attempted or seen before. It was quite difficult not having slept entirely well the last two nights, a slight headache this morning, not having had my usual morning breakfast to start the day (we share breakfast together after morning practice), and being sore in the upper back and neck. All these kinks will work themselves out over the next month as I increase my strength and stamina.
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| Julia leading our class |
I however started my day with an INTENSE headache, and a very locked neck and upper back. Attempting the headstand was a big mistake. I felt very fluish after the session. But attributed it to the fact that u had taken an antihistamine for my bug bites at 3 am and was probably feeling the effects of that.
I finished my breakfast by filling up a cup with masala chai and hot ginger and walking to dip my feet in the ocean to thank the universe (and my supportive husband) for making this incredible experience and journey possible.
I'm quite grateful for the month long challenge I chose to do before leaving to prepare my body for daily practice.
Today ... After breakfast I laid in my bed to welcome some peace into the slight angst I was feeling. I shed some tears as I'm really missing my family in this moment even though I'm surrounded by this incredible Kranti family ... Sometimes blood does run deep.
Later we had our fire ceremony and it was amazing. We were all dawned with the red/orange paint with rice on our foreheads (tilaka) and the red and yellow sacred thread (Kangan in India, Kalava or mauli in hindi) ties around our right wrist. We chanted and offered rice to the fire and put in with it all that we wanted to rid our lives, emotions, and thoughts of. Then we took back from the fire all we wanted to gain. Then we spread to one another every positive vibe we could muster. We were given wreaths of beautiful aromatic flowers in white, yellows and purples and were asked to just hold them in our hands. And them we turned to our neighbour (friend) and put the wreath of flowers around their neck. It was a beautiful ceremony.
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| All the meditation pillows laid out for us yogis for the fire ceremony |
In the photo above it may look like there's a swastika on the wall, and it is, however it has a very different meaning in India. Its name comes from the Sanskrit word
svasti, meaning good fortune, luck and well-being. It also has many religious meanings as well. The right-hand swastika, as seen on our wall, is one of the 108 symbols of the Hindu god Vishnu as well as a symbol of the sun and of the Hindu sun god, Surya. It is usually a major part of the decoration for festivals and special ceremonies, like our fire ceremony (or weddings).
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| Annika and I |
The tilaka is usually a paste made from a red powder (saffron or abir) mixed with yogurt and grains of rice. It is most commonly applied by the thumb in a single upward stroke and it is worn often during religious ceremonies (like our fire ceremony).
The Kalava or mauli is a sacred thread when tied to close friends or neighbours calls for harmony in social life, and calls upon everyone to co-exist as brothers and sisters. In Tibetan Buddhist ceremonies its tying restores the natural order of things and brings people closer together.
I'll borrow some words that I read in a blog about the sacred thread where the author said when rituals are deeply rooted they sustain us and "strengthen our hearts as we navigate the various hardships of life. They induce connection, open up channels of communication, and give us an opportunity to rediscover that which is the most human within us. What is common to these myths and rituals is a sense of caring and connection between people . . . perhaps a call to increase our acts of kindness, there is a thread of humanity that runs through all of us, unrestrained by culture or class, race or religion". Given that we all made our way to Kranti Yoga for this amazing journey from various places throughout the world; all different races, religions, cultures and class, we all arrived with similar goals but goals stemming from different places in our hearts and different experiences in our lives.
The fire ceremony was an amazing way to bring us all together and begin the lifelong bonds that many of us will share with our fellow yoginis.
One of the girls' mothers came with her, not for the training but to support her and have a vacation and Kranti invited her to the circle and when her daughter places the wreath around her mither's neck I couldn't help but become overwhelmed by emotion.
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| Bex and her beautiful mom Bernadette |
Rose, a lovely girl from the UK is a massage therapist and she offered to massage my neck and upper back. She even brought her oils. So on a lounger on the beach at sunset with the sound of the ocean filling me up she worked out some of the knots and tension. It released very well.
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| The lovely Rose |
A few of us girls decided to take a Tuk Tuk to Palolem as we needed the ATM and I wanted to buy the meditation singing bowl I saw yesterday. I ended up getting it for 3,000 Rupees which equates to about $45 CDN, CRAZY!!! In Canada they cost in the $100's of dollars.
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| Cheska, Elaine and I |
I apologize this blog is a day late. As every person here has the same time intervals free everyone is online which jams up the availability. I am hoping for a better physical day tomorrow.
Namaste
J
