Ish’s Top 10 Stories from India

I love my home base. I love that as soon as I land in Florida my family is eager to see me, hot sinigang soup is at the dinner table, and I have a new baby nephew to meet for the first time. I had only 8 days before I flew off to LA and then to China; I felt that I had to quickly close the India chapter of my life so I made it a point to organize my photos, unpack and pack quickly, and then visit as many family and friends so that I can share my adventures and once again thank them all for pushing me along to travel and explore this year. It was tough picking out which stories to share first. Many experiences were special to me and worth telling, it is impossible to say all in one go. This is why I need a Top 10 list; I just know it'll be fun journaling this especially since I am on a plane right now for the next 5 hours, sitting by the window with only God’s cloudy skies to accompany me.

10. Turbans are cool
-I don’t mean in the fashion sense but rather in what they stand for. Don’t worry, as my grandmother Julie once said “I was born a Catholic, I will die a Catholic” and that she did. Just like her I seem to find myself being exposed to many religions during travel and making the best of friends with beautiful people who are so different. This never confuses my faith though; in fact it just brings me closer to God. He made the world really a fantastic place and I am able to form new opinions of how awesome His works are.. For example, the common stereotype of turbans=terrorists is now for me, turbans= courage, unity, practicality, yogi wisdom, and even an art form. It takes friendship to help open your eyes and I just want to thank brothers Amrinder and Arvinder for giving me the ultimate India adventure tour during my first week. I swear, I often felt like I jumped into National Geographic Travel Channel with all the places we visited and the various ways we got ourselves there. Forever Shookria and Namaste to both of you!

9. Childhood Dreams Come True

(Trish and I wanted to travel together someday, we were sixteen then...10 years later we were off to INDIA).
-Friends divide burden and multiply joy. This saying is a no-brainer but to actually experience it intensely for two whole months in a foreign county creates all kinds of crazy stories and special advantages. To name a few: we get to capture the best photos because we can anticipate each other’s special moments; splitting the costs (I only paid $6 a night to live in a spacious and cute beach hut), shopping without money, walking together in pitch darkness with our pepper sprays right after being offered drugs, accidentally locking Tricia inside our hut that she had to yell so that she wouldn’t be late for our yoga class, and just countless more.

To be continued....my computer battery is dying!!!

Won't Write till my Laundry is Done

I am back in Florida with a trunkful of adventure stories of my time in India. My life is just wonderful!

I want to write, really truly write, but I just can't enjoy writing knowing that my room is a mess and I have to finish my laundry. Just to give you a picture of the mess I have to clean up, our dog Hanna Zishu went up to my room last night and had a great time tearing up all my travel tissues, wet ones, and sadly....a lot of tea bags I bought from India. I have tea powder all over my bed and my carpet. Still, Hanna is too cute to get mad at...plus what can you expect from a dog?

Studying Asians in India

Pema was laughing. I look at her and she says “We are such a stereotype!”
It’s so true. It is Saturday afternoon, everyone else is enjoying their precious weekend and yet here we are at Ocean Side Restaurant, our yoga textbooks scattered on the table while we do our homework. Pema is Tibetan, Trish is Chinese, Marissa is Japanese and I’m Filipino. We all laugh and continue to study. I think for the most part, this stereotype suits me. I love to have fun and the best way to have fun is to do so when you are completely free, a.k.a. no homework waiting to be done.

Plans this weekend: Watch the sun set by the beach with Eddie and Maja playing drums, attend Sunday mass in Konkani language, Panjim Market and Bookstore, an ayurvedic massage with guru, and endless fresh fruit shakes with every meal. Life is good.

I Want to Control my Psoas Muscle

I love Yoga Anatomy. So far during asana practicum where we begin teaching our own classmates, my feedback is that I create a fun and warm atmosphere. What I want to add to this is also having the smarts so that I can communicate why yoga is good for you. Anatomy is one aspect of this and really my teacher Jim is brilliant. Our textbook is brilliant too. It’s a bit overwhelming to study so many muscles and how they move but this excerpt makes it seem worth the effort…

Body Clairvoyance
The word clairvoyance means “seeing clearly”. Body clairvoyance refers to the ability of the awakened body to anticipate action and use the most efficient muscles to accomplish it. Practicing Yoga creates this type of phenomenon, a feeling of “knowing” what to do.

Soooo yeah. Are you convinced my blog readers and future yoga students?

Waiting for a breakdown

Three weeks have passed and many of my yoga classmates have reached a breakdown, the type of breakdown where you are so physically exhausted that spiritual growth just happens. We took our 3rd contemplative walk by the beach this morning and this time I asked God why I haven’t cried yet or received any grand revelation about my life during this intense yoga retreat. I sat down on the sand for a while, just watching the river touch the ocean. I saw a tiny crab climb out from its hole and after a few minutes, many more crabs started walking by me because I was very still. I waited until God talked to me.

This is what He told me… You already know why you are in India. You asked for it and I granted it because we both knew it will be good for you. You are not searching at this moment in your life. You are living my blessing and the purpose of now will eventually be clear when you are experiencing other life experiences that I have written out for you. Right now, just be.

Wow. Just be. That’s pretty profound. Very Yogi-like. I’ve been reading my travel bible and have just finished Genesis. Several times I saw the author write “God was with Joseph” and he lived for 110 years. I know I am not going to be living that long but I feel that God is always with me too. For that I am really grateful.

More on Meditation

Just in case you are wondering what else we do during our early morning meditations, here’s what I did when it was my turn to trainee lead….I feel confident posting this because Maeve told me that Moorthy (our yoga philosophy teacher) reported that he really loved it. Now that is a complement I feel super happy to receive. I also enjoyed it because I was able to combine singing, writing, speaking, and sharing my imagination to others all in one go.

Om
Sahanaa vavatu
Sahanau bhunaktu
Saha veeryam karavaavahai
Tejasvi naavadheeta mastu
Maa vidvishaavahai
Om shaanti shaanti shaanti hi
(Protection, Nourishment, Learning Attitude, Brilliant and Effective Journeys, No Misunderstandings, Peace)

It’s time for a guided meditation. Follow my directions.
If you are feeling sleepy, open your eyes and blink a few times. Feel free to change your sitting position. Now close your eyes. Take a few normal breaths and visualize.

Today is Sunday. It is a free day. There is nothing on the agenda. Today you can sleep in and stay in bed if you wanted to. But for some reason as you open your eyes, your body feels strong and your mind alert. You realize that the sun has yet to rise and you have a strong desire to see the new day begin.

So you rise out of bed and you open your door. In front of you is the beach, it reminds you of the contemplative walk you’ve taken twice before. You are delighted that it only takes on step for you to feel the sand underneath your feet. The breeze touches your face and you breathe in deeply. Your body is light and your mind is clear. You begin your journey, taking in all the beauty of a slow sunrise. The waves are calm. The beach is empty. Take this time to just live in the moment.

After a while, you notice five white birds flying across the sky. They symbolize five simple gifts you’ve been blessed with in your life and in your being. These gifts are your talents. Whether it is playing drums with your friends in the beach, getting into a proper headstand, or successfully accomplishing your favorite kria. You begin to remember five things that make you special.

While you continue your walk, pick one talent and begin to plan how to make use of it today. Focus your thoughts on this one talent and how it can bring joy to you and others.

The rays of the sun have touched all of the earth. You look beside you and there you see the colorful entrance of our shala. The day has fully begun and you dust the sand of your feet. Entering the shala, you realize that today is actually Wednesday. Today you declare it a good day. Because you are blessed and capable of bringing light and joy to others.

Now slowly bring your awareness back to your body. Breathe deeply.

Together we chant 3 Oms.

Om. Om. Om.
Open your eyes. Namaste.

At Meditation today....

So after some chants and breathing exercises, I hear Rachel yelp beside me. It takes me a while to pull myself back, after all we've already been in sitting meditation position for about thirty minutes. I blink a few times and glance to the left. In between us is a crab. I scoot over and I just find it funny, only in India will things like this happen...

Speaking of which, a cricket fell in my toilet last night. I tried flushing it several times but this cricket is a stubborn swimmer. He just keeps swimming until the mini tide pool flush is over. So I go about my shower and I clean my entire room thinking I can flush him later and that'll be over. My room mate arrives and she tries to flush him too. I am really annoyed by this little cricket cuz he does not give up. I really don't want to do my business with him still swimming around. So I pick a stick from outside and thought to poke him down as I flush. I realize this is really mean now that I am blogging about it...very NOT ahimsa (non-violence to all creatures). BUT the story ends well. Persistence really is a virtue. When I poke the stick in, the cricket climbs up!!! I scream a little and I suddenly run out of our beach hut and throw the stick by the grass. The cricket is alive and goes about his way.
Our beach hut with our laundry (yoga uniforms)
It's been about 3 weeks of non-stop yoga and I chose to tell this story among many others. I don't know why but this is what I want to write about this moment. I am still as busy as ever, happy yes, but my mind and body is really working hard. More on this later but just know that I have no regrets. Yoga will forever be part of my life and I will be most happy to share why once the program is over and I can get back to this other love of mine, writing.

By the way....I have a new nephew!!!! Namaste Milo! Welcome to the world and to our family!!!!