So it has been almost two months since returning from India. My reunion with my family was wonderful. There were some setbacks to say the least with my flights and ended up home a day late with baggage issues. C'est la vie they say . . . I say never travel United or fly through Chicago O'Hare.
I miss my yoga family immensely but I have many beautiful places throughout the world to travel to and visit. Perhaps an annual reunion at Ourem in Goa for wine and an amazing meal with my ladies. Perhaps another retreat some day. What I gained was so much insight, a peak into my soul with a discovery of so many things I never knew existed or that I was capable of . . . and some lifelong friends.
I have yet to teach a yoga class. But now that I have started a Facebook page of my own and posted events hopefully things will come together. It's difficult trying to get enough people to commit on weekends here in Winnipeg as our weather hasn't been the best and we are just now starting to see some days of summer. Therefore, everyone is off to their cottages or other people's cottages, and out at the multitude of festivals we have here. My FB page is called Daya~Ahimsa Yoga;
daya meaning compassion and
ahimsa meaning non-violence in thought, action and word, believing that all beings are connected. I became very connected to the word
ahimsa while I was in India, as you will gather from the numerous mentions of it in my blog. I decided to have it tattooed on my wrist, facing me, so that it is always in the forefront of my consciousness.
I am making it my priority to get some classes underway.
Also I am into Week 5 of my Chicago Full Marathon training. It will be my first full marathon, after having only completed my first half marathon last year. I am excited for the challenge. The marathon is in October.
I joined a new yoga studio, Yoga Public and started a 30-day challenge June 1st to keep myself in my rhythm. This studio is very Ashtanga based and has a full primary series class every Sunday. They also have Mysore, which is the Full Primary Series which you do on your own, at your own pace, but with the presence of Ashtanga instructors to assist with adjustments. However, my work schedule does not allow for me to attend that class as I start at 6:30 a.m. Perhaps sometime they will create different hours for different schedules. The whole purpose of Mysore is to start your day with your Ashtanga practice.
The studio also has TRX, meditation, Yoga Nidra . . . all the things I just spent four weeks learning . . . I felt at home as soon as I walked through the doors. They also have internship program, and so I believe that with my continued practice at the studio, an opportunity for them to get to know me as a human being, a fellow yogi, and a potential teacher I will have an opportunity to pick up some classes there.
In the meantime, I will continue to post events on my social media page inviting everyone who can come to a yoga class in the park. I'm excited to share my passion for something that has enriched my life so much.
After I left, at the end of June, Upendra got married in his home town. Ellie, Helen and Satara attended his wedding.
Here are a few photos of my fellow yogis that I didn't post throughout the blog but want to keep memory of, and also some photos that they have posted from their continued travels through India after our time at Kranti.
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| Cheska and "Pendy" . . . two of my favorite people |
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| This butterfly just kept landing on people, and we finally captured some beautiful shots on Alicia's hand . . . it actually looks like it has Sanskrit on it |
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| Rose imitating Upendra |
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| Photo courtesy of Cristina - we thought they were mating at first, but they were fighting |
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| Hanging out on Laura and Lindsay's stoop |
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| Ellie and Helen sari shopping for Upendra's wedding |
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| What a beautiful photo that Emma took of Alicia after the fire ceremony |
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| My favorite photo of Bernadette . . . someone splashed cold water on her |
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| Gaya (aka Rabbit) |
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| The dogs and their typical daily antics . . . that and Kapha getting his head stuck in the garbage cans |
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| The following 8 photos taken by Victoria |
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| Alexa in Chaude holding an Indian fruit that I cannot remember the name of, but apparently it smells really foul . .. she bought one and shared but I decided not to try it. |
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| Bex and Bernadette |
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| Bex said he was singing a song about her but she didn't understand what he was saying lol |
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| Bex |
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| Northern India (many shots below courtesy of Satara) |
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| Lindsay at the Taj Mahal |
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| Families on motor bikes |
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| After our "graduation", Rose spent the following week at Kranti volunteering at a dog shelter . . . xoxo |
Since graduating, I know that both Bex and Cheska have started teaching regularly. Bex's Facebook Page and website is http://www.theomtree.co.uk The Om Tree . . . check out her page. And Cheska's Facebook Page is Pukka Yoga . . . check out her page as well. She's done a tonne of teaching since arriving home and was even invited to teach as a guest instructor at Lululemon this past weekend. Alicia also is teaching classes on the beach in Florida, and Emma is teaching classes at her gym. I'm sure others have done a bit of teaching as well, given that Alexa was already doing some teaching before she came to Kranti. I'd love to hear of everyone's experiences since returning home. Super proud of all my fellow yogis. I can't wait to take your classes in your end of the world when swing by for a visit.
Love and light.
Namaste
