Walking to Moksha Shala this morning for 6 am practice, and I catch out of my periphery a cow headed in the same direction as me up ahead, and then I see Dan has just walked passed it towards me . . . and it just felt so surreal in that moment. I said to Dan, "When you go back to Toronto, isn't it going to be sad knowing that you won't be walking past cows in the morning?" He chuckled and said he'd been thinking the same thing. When will this happen for me again? That cows have become a part of my family . . . I share space with them . . . hope that I don't slide into another massive pile of their manure in the dark . . . another gentle animal, peaceful somehow in this environment. I realized in that moment that they keep me present in the moment as to just where I am and how fortunate I am to be here.
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| Jill joining the bull for some cat-cow |
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| Danielle sunbathing with the cows |
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| Shanti herding the cows |
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| A random cow walking through the shala |
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| The cows even shop in the market |
We had a fun anatomy and alignment of asanas revision session today where we drew on each other's bodies with markers as many of the muscles as we knew, their origin and insertion and the names of each. We all looked like a roadmap of muscles.
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| The gorgeous Bex |
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| Brooke drawing on Cheska |
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| Lindsay, Satara, Cheska |
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| Rose and Alicia |
I took advantage today since I spent my entire day studying yesterday to enjoy Goa. I walked with Bex to Palolem just to see up close what we whiz past in the Rickshaw every time and then we enjoyed an ice cold coffee. It was a lovely walk spent with a lovely lady. On our way we walked past an India woman who was waiting for a ride and then after we said good morning she decided to walk along with us and have a little chat and walk to her destination. Have I mentioned how much I just love the people here?!?! They want absolutely nothing from you . . . they just love that you're here and love to interact with you.
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| What a dichotomy |
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| The bright orange flowers from the Gulmohar Tree |
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| We thought this was kind of eerie |
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| Kingfisher, the beer of India |
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| Bex walking with the local lady who befriended us |
I find it just incredible really.
Another thing I realized that I'm going to miss when I get home or that will seem kind of strange is that everyone around me will speak like me - have a Canadian accent (can't believe I'm admitting to the accent) . . . I'm so used to hearing UK, English, Irish, German, Russian/Ukraine, Austrian . . . you name it, around me. It will seem foreign to my ears to be home.
We had another revision session with Upendra for pranayama, kriyas, mudras . . . I realize my very tired "sometimers" brain is going to have a bit of a difficult time memorizing some of the things I need to know for this exam. All I can do is my best and represent I have an understanding of what I learned here.
Later in the evening since the walk was so great, I decided to walk again with Alexa to Palolem. I got a photo of a beautiful purple/pink sky as the sun was setting.
Tut tut it feels like rain . . .
Namaste
J
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