Yoga Teacher Training India

It took three days and five flights to get me to Khajuraho. If you ever get the opportunity to fly Quatar airways, or see the Doha airport - Do it! It's luxurious.

I got really airsick, and thereby homesick, on my last three flights with Air India, and could hardly sleep, as I kept waking up with the shoulder pain I left with. Alas, there were six or seven others enroute to the Ashram that joined me from Delhi to our final destination, and I was comforted by them immediately. Adriana is Brazilian, but lives in Spain. She was to my right, and Laura from Holland was to my left. Laura had just seen a Shaman in Peru and after her cleansing experience, assured me my vomiting didn't bother her.

Puppies greeted us in the parking lot as we waited for Laura's lost luggage; the little black one's paw had been run over :'( 

We checked in to the Ashram, and I adjusted to the 13.5 hour time difference without a problem, sleeping through the first night. I got up the next morning with the stars still shining, eager for my first day of "school."

My daily schedule was as follows: Rise at 4:45am (in a cold, concrete room), intensive Pranayam from 5:25am until 6:15am and still, seated, silent meditation until 7:15am. Breakfast was always in silence. We got two bananas and a mushy yellow, flavorless grain with tea daily. From 8:15am-11:15am we had "How to Teach" where we had a combination of lecture and practice teaching with the other advanced teacher trainers (there were 15 of us in the 300 hour group). Lunch was always rice, sometimes a lentil or bean, over boiled veggies and a salad of raw cabbage, tomatoes and cucumbers (eaten in silence). I didn't always know what we were eating, though my Chinese roommate Yin (my wife from another life) could usually tell me what it was, like Tarrow for example, or Burdock. After lunch we had Karma Yoga. Duties varied, but I was responsible for sweeping, mopping and cleaning Hall 2 with Laura from Holland and Ilke, an Irish truck driver living in Belgium. We had apx 30 6' x 4' rugs to shake out, an alter to dust and one white board to polish. Then we had two hours of Asana - Day one we were holding headstand for three minutes and doing scorpion pose. I got bad "mat burns" on my elbows which increased the difficulty and took 2.5 weeks to properly scab over. By the last week we were holding headstand for ten minutes and I could get into scorpion on my own :)

After Asana we had Philosophy, Anatomy, Physiology or Ayurveda from 3:30pm-5:15pm. Dinner followed - We got one or two pieces of fruit at dinner which was always worth celebrating, along with the fact that we were allowed to converse over the meal. I knew I loved pomegranate seeds prior to my arrival, but I learned to properly peel one, and I fell head over heels with guava. After dinner I'd usually gather my clean uniform from the laundry line, "have a bucket" (/shower) as Jo from London would say, and then we had chanting and silent meditation. Tea at 8:00pm and lights out by 9:30pm, though I was usually asleep by 8:30pm, physically, mentally and emotionally drained.

Two or three days in, I was shocked I hadn't felt any shoulder pain. One night at dinner I was discussing with Bam from NYC (the only other American at the Ashram) how surprised I was - and her response was, "Well, you believe your food is your medicine, and what makes you sick, right?" - It struck me, obvious, and not hard to believe, but still somehow surprising... And wouldn't you know, the first time I had shoulder pain again, was after our first free day - when I had access to sugar! I later learned upon my return home, caffeine bothers my joints too. Something I had considered, but dismissed was my Lyme Disease. I was diagnosed in 2012 at stage three, with terrible arthritis, heart palpitations and many other symptoms. I was treated with heavy rounds of antibiotics for three months, but the joint pain never fully diminished. This lesson and first hand experience with a clean, farm fresh, vegan diet is invaluable.

(This little frog lived in our clean drinking water closet. I loved him like family.)

Chanting was my favorite part of our routine. The 200 hour and 300 hour groups came together. Sometimes we'd sing Amazing Grace and I'd be covered with chills. Om Namah Shivaya was the crowd pick because we got to clap, play tambourines and dance - One night while dancing I found myself overwhelmed with joy and bliss. Though, "Bansuri" was truly always the highlight for me to sing. It goes:

Bansuri Bansuri Bansuri Shahmukhi
Bansuri Bansuri Bansuri Shahmukhi
Hey Rama (x8)
Hey Krishna (x8)
Hey Allah (x8)
Hey Jesus (x8)
Hey Buddha (x8)
Oh my Lord be with me, oh my Lord, set me free
Oh my Lord be with me, oh my Lord, set me free

Sometimes we went for walks instead of meditation. I enjoyed this as much as chanting. Most of the time they were silent walks and phones weren't allowed (even for photos), but occasionally we could talk on the way back or bring phones to capture the view.

The poverty there, and the way the majority of people lived was deeply humbling. 

What scarred my soul the most, though, was Owie Dog. There were two dogs living near the Ashram for the last six years. Mama Dog who was very bony, had just given birth to four pups. I saved my chopaati from meals for her so she could produce milk and visited her shivering family every morning (I also gave them my towels for bedding). Bam left a blanket for them one night, and it was gone the next morning. A guard told me a boy living in a shack behind the dining hall took it (we knew he needed it as much if not more).

Owie Dog suffered a deep wound three months prior to my arrival and was still far from healed when I met him. It was as if he would seek me out when he'd come around. He'd look at me and cry loudly, as if he were begging to be helped. Claire from Paris hardly spoke English but managed to raise a small fund for the dog. Those of us who donated felt that in the least, it would send a message that we cared. I shed many tears and cried myself to sleep many nights for this dog. One day, I couldn't stop crying. We were holding shoulder stand for ten minutes in Asana, and I broke down. The tears wouldn't stop streaming down my cheeks, and I tried to keep my sniffles silent, but Ram (the Owner of the Ashram, and our teacher) came to my side and said, "Release the pose! It's ok for you to come down." I replied, "No, it's not the pose." After class he asked me what happened and I told him it was the dog. Soon after, I filled in a feedback form. I felt that if they wouldn't get the dog help, in the least we deserved for it to be addressed. Within a day, Ram took a moment to speak to our class about it. Veterinarians in India only treat livestock.  They'd reached out to one 40km away and he refused to treat the dog. There were no animal doctors in the nearby town of Khajuraho. Also, Ram was bitten by a wild, infected dog when he was a young boy and that changed his view toward Owie Dog. He asked that no one feed the dogs so they would leave the property. I continued to carry a heavy heart.

I got three "Free Days" at the Ashram, where we'd take a Tuk Tuk into town, shop, explore temples, and eat spicy, traditional vegetarian meals. I also visited an Ayurvedic spa on two occasions. Notable cultural differences: They don't use toilet paper in India (though it can be purchased), and most homes don't have toilets - you poo and pee on the floor, pour water on it, and flush it out a tiny hole in the wall; many children don't have shoes; clean water is a problem; currency is also a "problem"; cows, pigs, monkeys, goats and dogs roam free (stay tuned for another post on Ahimsa, the Yamas/Niyamas and eight limbs of Yoga) and hungry; and women smear cow poop in front of their doors every morning.

 (Yin to my left and Elke from Germany to my right in our first Tuk Tuk)

Overall, this travel has changed me more than seeing Europe or the Caribbean ever could. And in the end, I graduated (Ana from Sweden left early, and another one of my classmates didn't pass exams). I'm officially a 500 hour Registered Yoga Teacher, I've learned a lot of advanced postures, I'm transformed as a teacher, I have a new appreciation for being American and having English as my first language, I'm more likely to move or softly relocate a spider than kill a spider, and I have new friends from all over the world.

As soon as I saw TSA/Border Patrol interact with the bomb sniffing dogs at the Washington Dulles International Airport, I welled up, relieved and grateful to be home.

“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.” ― Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky

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