Set Your Intention - So Fitting for my Final Thought

Follow the Sun

Follow, follow the sun
And which way the wind blows
When this day is done.
Breathe, breathe in the air.
Set your intentions.
Dream with care.
Tomorrow is a new day for everyone,
Brand new moon, brand new sun.
So follow, follow the sun,
The direction of the bird,
The direction of love.
Breathe, breathe in the air,
Cherish this moment,
Cherish this breath.
When you feel life coming down on you,
Like a heavy weight.
When you feel this crazy society,
Adding to the strain.
Take a stroll to the nearest waters edge
Remember your place.
Many moons have risen and fallen long, long
Before you came.
So which way is the wind blowin',
And what does your heart say?
So follow, follow the sun,
And which way the wind blows
When this day is done... Xavier Rudd

I heard this song on my flight home and it inspired the words of my final blog and was very reminiscent of everything I felt on my final beach walk as I stared out to the ocean, with its powerful waves and high tide.

How do these words impact you, your day, your reality on this present moment?

I feel these are very introspective and impactful lyrics.  They can change a day, a moment, a perspective.

I hope you all enjoyed my journey throughout this last month.  It was an incredible experience; one that's impacted me greatly and has inspired growth in so many elements of my soul.  Thank you for sharing my journey.  I will let you know when you can come back and revisit with all the photos to document the moments.

Namaste

J

Day 30 - Lokah Samastah Sukkino Bhavantu

"Lokah Samastah Sukkino Bhavantu - May all beings everywhere be happy and free and may the thoughts, words and actions of my own life contribute in some way to that happiness and to that freedom of all" - the Yoga Sutras

What I know today

Sometimes life has a way ... The People of India Have Surely ...

... Had a way of restoring my faith in humanity on this journey.

In all my travels I have not met souls with as much humility as I found in Goa.  I know that India has much broader scopes than that which I discovered in Goa.  But the people of Goa have found a deep embedded space forever in my heart.

Some simple things and random acts of kindness ... Perhaps to produce good karma in their lives for their future lives, perhaps because the simple and pure nature of their world leaves a mark of true peace in their hearts.

Walking through small villages people would just smile and be so happy to have your graces pass them by, they would be so happy to have their photo taken if only to have their presence be recorded in history somehow or perhaps the simple joy it brought to them see themselves smiling in digital space.  Never has my request to snap a photo while travelling in another country been met with such joy and without want for something in return.  Taking photos of the people of Goa gave me such pleasure simply in seeing the joy on their faces, or the giggles of children when showing them the photo you just took.  Often I would be asked, "Take my photo?", or I would ask them permission, and after I would snap my camera, what I got was the cultural Indian head bobble and "thank you madam" or a request from a father or mother to the children to say thank you.  My heart swells at the memory.

Beatrix and I hired a scooter taxi driver to take us to Chaudy and then to Patnem beach from Palolem and he waited while we did what we needed and when he dropped us back, offering to meet us the next day at 10 am to return to Chaudy, he refused payment.  I assumed it was because I would just pay him in full the next day.  There he was the next day at 10 am waiting to drive Lindsay and I to Chaudy.  Again he waited for us and again he refused payment even after we took rupees out to hand to him.  Just pure goodness.

On my final day in India as my flight landed in Mumbai I asked the man beside me if he could tell me what a fair rate in rupees would be to hire an auto (Mumbai style Rickshaw that had space for all my luggage) to take me to my hotel which was a short distance away.  He told me that I would likely not find a driver willing to take me as they all wanted long journeys for more money.  He said if I didn't have much luggage I could just walk across the street.  But that would not be possible in my case.  So he offered that he could have his cab drop me at my hotel.  He asked about my purpose in India, was it my first trip there, how I came to yoga, genuinely interested in my story.  When I told him I was a respiratory therapist he told me his wife was a doctor and that she had done studies on the effects of yoga on people with respiratory illnesses or diseases.  I thought it was meant to be.  He gave me some helpful tips for a future return to India, bid me safe travels on the rest of my journey and told me India was rich for having me travel there.  I could have cried in that moment.

These are only a few of the memoirs of people I experienced in India that touched my soul.

On the cab ride to Goa airport I was listening to my yoga playlist which is comprised of Indian music I would consider playing in my own yoga classes one day, songs that relax me and ease me into states of calmness when I need them most, and many of the songs I've realized after my time with Upendra and our mantra classes why some of the mantras we learned seemed so familiar ... It's because I've been listening to these same mantras all along.  I was meant to come to this country.

India holds a special place in my heart and having just departed on my way home to the people who mean more to me than words can ever describe, it already calls very strongly to return very soon.  I know this will not be my every experience upon my return and that Goa was a unique, quiet place filled with local Indian people living simple lives rich with tourism.  I've seen only a glimpse of the chaos that exists in other places but nonetheless I want more than anything to experience all this country has to offer, but will not be returning without my soulmate, John D.

My heart is full.

Namaste

J

Day 29 - I Bid Goa, India and my Yoga Family Goodbye ... Hello Loves of My Life

I am so grateful ... I feel so blessed...

I am grateful for my limits

that teach me patience and pace

"I am grateful for challenge, defeat, and loss

They teach me hope is not a light at the end of the dark tunnel

It’s the ember burning within me that I forgot to fan

I am grateful to my teachers

for introducing me to myself

I am grateful for my past

that has delivered me to my present

I am grateful for all I have found and all I have lost

Both remind me I can live with and without

I am grateful for silence and for laughter

And for my ears that can hear both

I am grateful to my heart

that beats and breaks and heals

I am grateful for the fullness of my life

For the brief, heartbreaking, heartwarming fullness of life."

As I took my final walk on Patnem Beach in Goa this morning the words of this poem rang strong in my heart.  It has been an incredible journey here in India, one that I am passionately grateful for.  I have met some incredible people, learned so much about myself and my practice, and the teachings I received via Julia at Kranti Yoga, an incredible, strong woman and teacher, I take with me a rich knowledge of yoga.  From Upendra, an incredible spiritual man with the soul of a little boy, I am rich with the traditional teachings of meditation and pranayama in a manner which only would have been possible in India.  The workshops we did with Kranti were invaluable.  The opportunity we had to listen to Swami G from Hare Krishna was an experience I have no words for.  The yoga family that I was a part of were filled with so many amazing souls from all around the world and from each my own soul was filled up making the distance from my own family a little easier to bear.  

The ladies at Kranti; Faye, Helen and Mama Earth Ellie were a joy to share my experience (Ellie you will make an incredible mom one day).  All the staff at Kranti are wonderful hardworking souls; Nitesh and Abuja in the kitchen provided us with the most delicious Indian food (and pancakes made with rice flour stuffed with fruit and served with chocolate sauce was a treat we all looked forward to), and very quickly it got so I would come to the kitchen and only have to look at Nitesh and he could answer my question "wheat or no wheat" without my asking.  Rupesh (the dancing machine) and Frankie buzzed around the Shala like the busiest bees making everything run so smoothly (turning fans on to cool us, adjusting the mic sound, booking appointments and taxis for us, is only a drop in the bucket), Gotem was forever stuffing the machines with laundry and keeping the dogs ... Shanti, Kapha, Bella, Rabbit aka Gaya ... In their appropriate place while we did yoga or were eating, and Priya and Puja kept our rooms clean.  There are so many others that made the Shala the experience it was for us all.  

On my final walk today I thanked the universe for the opportunities I was afforded to come to India and be a part of Kranti and to share it with so many incredible spirits.

Final walk

The ocean trees in the sand mixed with the foot prints of the pups of Kranti that I will miss, especially miss Shanti

I bathed elephants, experienced Indian Temple, was a guest at an Indian wedding ceremony and immersed myself with life in India!

Namaste

J

Day 28 - Vivaha

The Sanskrit word for marriage is Vivaha.  The Vivaha ceremony is a symbolic and sacred combination of rituals and traditions, creating a union that supports a man and woman throughout their married life.

The bridegroom arrives first and waits under the wedding mandap for the bride.

Tonight at sunset I attended a wedding on the beach for Gwen and Jesse which they invited me to a couple evenings back.  They have been in Goa for 6 weeks and have been attending the drop ins at Kranti and have become friends of the Shala here.  It was an honor to be invited.  She looked absolutely gorgeous and was decked out head to toe in traditional Indian wedding attire in here sari and jewellery and Jesse in traditional clothing as well.  The mandap was draped in the most beautiful orange and pink fabrics.  The ceremony was beautiful - I just love watching ceremonies in other cultures.  I think this was such an incredible experience for them both.

Helen and Faye

Julia

Jesse

Gwen

Earlier this morning I started my day with Ashtanga self practice Primary Series.  I was super stiff when I started but like always felt amazing afterwards.  Lindsay and I headed into Chaude to get some bindies and Indian sweets to take home.  The man that drove Beatrix and I home from Palolem yesterday on his scooter and would accept money was waiting for me just as he said and took us to Chaude and again wouldn't accept money.  Karma Karma Karma - amazing Karma will be bestowed upon him.  I just love the people here.  We ran into Faye, Ellie and Helen there.

Selfie on the back of the motorcyle taxi

Came back and chilled on the beach for a few hours and then I headed to Palolem to see Dashana for my henna.  It's beautiful.  Got back just in time for the wedding.

Afterwards Gwen and Jesse invited us to their home for food and to celebrate with them.  Ellie fed us all Indian sweets as it's tradition.

Lindsay in the candlelight when the generator stopped

I will miss this place and all the wonderful ladies of Kranti! xoxoxo

Namaste

J

Day 27 - Sharing a Sun Rise . . . with the dogs

"The nature of the universe is such that the ends can never justify the means.  On the contrary, the means always determine the end" - Aldous Huxley

Even though I didn't get to bed until 3 am, Elaine and I had made a plan to head to the other beach to watch the sunrise the next morning . . . this would be Elaine''s last Goa sunrise and we don't get the chance to watch regularly because it rises behind the way we face for self-practice and on Sundays, our day off, we are interested in sleeping in.  So off we went.  Shanti and her new little companion joined us as they usually do.

We walked all the way to the fishing village and took some really awesome pics of us in tree pose and dancer's pose with the sunrise behind us.

Crab art

Emma, Elaine and I

Sunrise - Emma striking a pose

Jen's Tree pose

Elaine's Tree pose

Elaine's Virabhadrasana B

Jen's Dancer's Pose

Elaine's Dancer's Pose

I walked back afterwards and managed a skype call with John which made my day, AND I got to talk to the boys and see my fur baby.

Shared some tea and conversation with the girls on the swinging bed in the shala.

Many of us left late last night - so hard to say goodbye.  Many more are leaving today.

Went with Ellie and Faye to say goodbye to Gudrun over at the aircon hotel.

The look on Ellie's face EVERY time she has to say goodbye to someone . . . "Nooooo, don't leave!"

We had breakfast and I decided that I was going to move across the road to the rooms with air conditioning so that I could get some reprieve from the heat and the bug nets.  The whole shala and the beach front cabins are getting deconstructed today.  It's so strange.

We hung out on the beach today and then Beatrix and I went for  walk to Palolem so she could get shirts for her brothers.  We saw the litter of pups from the beach by the lifeguard station (they were one month old) and another litter of pups under a bridge in Palolem.

Crab art

Local guys swimming at Palolem Beach that REALLY wanted their picture taken

A hot midday snooze

Selfie on the back of a motorcycle taxi

I booked my henna appointment for tomorrow - got a great deal so I'm excited for that.  And I'm going to a wedding on the beach at sunset tomorrow so it will be beautiful for that.  I'm super excited for that experience.

After Palolem we got a ride from a motorcycle taxi to Chaude - 3 on one bike . . . fun!

Lindsay and I went down to the beach to watch the super amazing sunset - absolutely gorgeous but our photos don't do what we saw justice, so it will forever be in our memory.

Went to my aircon room after dinner to pack my bags so I don't have to worry about it tomorrow or after the wedding.

What a relaxing day.  Just perfect.

It's now just myself, Rose, Lindsay, Beatrix and Line remaining.  I'm missing my Bex.

What is going to be really strange when I get home is that I've gotten so used to hearing most people around me speak with an English, Austrian, or Irish. Dublin, or some form of UK accent that it will seem foreign to go home and hear only Canadian accents.  I will miss that a lot!

Namaste

J