Favorite

Favorite photo on this mountain,

in my favorite city in India, 

with my favorite person.

My Letter To New York

NY '09, I was so excited, I couldn't hide it.

I found something scribbled onto the back of a printed flight itinerary in my desk today (spring cleaning! yay!).

It says:

Dear New York,

Every night  

I arrive on my flight 

On my return flight back

You are always a dream
I wake up from
on my return flight home.
I want to hold onto
that feeling.
Make dream into reality.
But I know
then
my visits to you won't be as magical 

Love,
Yulree

Circa 2009 

The People I've Met

Every sunset, the beat of the drums gather all sorts of travelers and locals to join in dance and performance

One of the best things, if not the best thing, about traveling is the people you see and meet. On my trip, I met plenty of inspiring people, most of who were far more brave and courageous than I, and I found myself as a perpetual student, constantly learning about and soaking in the complexities/simplicities and the never ending possibilities of life.

Fellow travelers we bumped into during Holi, the Festival of Colors

There were indeed a lot of philosophical discussions had on life, death and spirituality. However, just like the variety of people you meet during travels, the discussions, too, vary and there were a lot highly entertaining talks about music festivals, UK/US celebrities, sex, food, drugs and day-to-day life.

Graduation day with Natalie, Heather and Marcia

Speaking of sex, food and drugs (j/k!), in the span of 5+ weeks, I got to know three really badass girls. We are bound for life through our love for yoga (especially our vrksasana) and all the experiences we shared in India. They definitely kept me sane and quelled any sense of loneliness during my travels.

Most of my yoga family

As always, my travels only intensifies my hunger for more travel. Meeting fellow travelers and hearing their stories of home and the places they've been....you find that there are SO MANY places you want to go to that you never considered or wanted to visit (for me, two new places are Nottingham and Rishikesh).

Seti and Chan, also part of our yoga family

I look forward to seeing the new friends I've made in my future travels. Til we meet again!

The Power of Intention

Less than a year ago, I told myself I'm going to India to deepen my practice of yoga. Despite the odds (job with long hours and lots of responsibilities, not enough money or time), I made it. I'm here. Shanti, shanti, shanti.

Sights of India

Some sights I'm appreciating in India:

Took this yesterday morning. It was our day off to study but we decided as a group that we'd like to see some dolphins before we got our studying on. Dolphins, unfortunately, we did not see. But we did get to see the sun rise. It was lovely to feel the waves of the ocean - it put me in a very meditative state and the rest of the day ended up being very relaxed.

Met this little girl in one of the small textile shops. Her eyes were STUNNING and they took up half of her face. She greeted me with the most gentle pull on my hand. I asked her father if I could take a picture of her and when we told her, "picture," she put her face to my camera. Every time I walked back, she kept coming forward, planting her face on the lens of my camera. So adorable.

This tree is on the path from my room to the yoga hall. Ain't it beautiful? There's so much life here, many different kinds of plants and creatures. I will do a post on all the different creatures and plants I've seen later.

Cows on the beach! These cows are exquisite, with smooth hides and long horns.

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P.S. I took my final exam today. We did the performance part a couple days ago where we each had to teach a 2 hour class. Today's was the written part. Bandhas, mudras, pranayamas, bones, sutras galoreeeee. But we're finally done (that's why I can be at the internet cafe at this hour!) and we find out our test results tonight. 

Neti-fied

I have become a neti-er! The notion of putting salt water up my nose always seemed a bit weird to me. Why would you consciously choose to feel like you're drowning in the ocean?

First of all, it doesn't feel like that. And I get it now that I've tried it. It really clarifies your breathing.And when you breath clearly, you get more oxygen. And when the body is properly oxygenated, you just feel so much better. And when you feel better, you feel happier.

I'm not trying to sell neti pots, no. :D All I'm saying is, don't follow my path and dismiss it before trying it. During travels, it's always good to keep an open mind and to not dismiss things before experiencing them for yourself.

Here's a picture of me doing it over two weeks ago.My hair has grown out a lot since then. It's currently in that awkward stage where it's extra poofy but not long enough to style. Perhaps I'll share a photo of my current hair in the near future. Perhaps I won't. :D

Happy Neti-ing!

Blessed

I am truly blessed and so thankful to be here in India. I lucked out and have the two most wonderful teachers who are amazing and joyful human beings. They both are insanely wise but still retain the wonderment towards life that you often see in children. I'm enjoying the growth, the talks, the classes and everything in between.

My main teacher is Akhilesh. He's the one who put the program together. He's so lively and the way he tells stories is phenomenal. That's him playing the drums during Satsang, where we all gather together after dinner every night to discuss truth. Sometimes, we end up singing, drinking chai with sweets (Akhilesh has a lot of students/fans who visit him from Europe and they bring the best chocolates!) and talk about random things like traveling, governments, Indian tales and such.

This, above, is the open area where we sit for Satsang. We lounge here to study and chat during the day as well. And following is the view from the sitting area. The building in the photo is our yoga hall.

 

Probot, our philosophy and mantra teacher, seems at first very reserved and serious. But oh, the smile and laughter that man has! He is fascinated by pop culture (I told him what flash mobs were the other day and he used it as an analogy in yesterday's class) and is the most humble person I have met.  Just above is a picture of him in our yoga hall.

Breathing, eating, sleeping (just the other night, I woke up in a yoga position), dreaming, thinking, meditating, studying, reading, practicing yoga for a month is really preparing me to be a yogi. Initially, I was thinking, "there is no way I'd be ready to teach," but Akhilesh and Probot are really training us well. :)

Hope everyone else is living happily and soundly. Sending y'all much love from India.