Beginning of 2017, I felt I was ready to do my 300 hours back to back with my 200 hours, but at the last minutes, I pulled back.
My inner self was telling me to wait. Few months after my ego gave me a lecture telling me that I should have done my 300 hours, that I took the wrong decision and blablablaba…. you probably know the song too!!!
A year after the idea of completing my 300 hours abroad started to germinate; I was sure that 2018 was the right time and India the place I needed to be to complete my 300 hours.
After a few research, I came across yogpeeth in Rishikesh, I knew it was the place I had to do travel.
n February I was determined to leave and have wonderful experience abroad. By the end of February, everything was booked!! tickets to India, visa and the school !!
Not everything went easy of course; I booked the wrong date for my return ticket from India on 27 of June instead of 27 of July! But this did not stop me or upset me 😉 I just booked another ticket back to London from Goa for the end of July.
As the date approached I wanted to experience transport in India, I was really keen to travel from Delhi to Rishikesh by night bus. Everything was booked! Thank you to amazing people in London and India. I started to organize my bag, to buy some clothes, books and gathers essential oils as well as homeopathy. By the end of May the essential was ready, and by the beginning of June my bags packed and unpacked twice and finally packed for good.
The 9th of June I lent in New Delhi around 10 am, was picked up by a taxi then went straight to a hotel treat before my long night on the bus.
I was ready to take my sleeper bus from Delhi and experience something new. I was picked up at the hotel by the same taxi and I waited nearly one hour and half the bus; that finally never turned up. I ended up in two “normal” buses for an unforgettable road trip. I was in the middle of a huge cacophony for a good seven hours…. .
Exhausting trip yet, but what I experienced during this short road trip made me feel alive. I felt every second, the landscape, the people around me, the constant noises from the street, the road and the cars, trucks… blowing the horn every single minute.
7 hours later after a long night ride, I reached my final destination Rishikesh bus station.
From the bus station I had to take a tuk-tuk, here I was dealing the price of the rid to Rishikesh center; exhausted and no power to argue I ended up giving whatever he wanted.
After what sounded like 30 mins ride, he informed that he could not go further and that I had to go down. He kept shouting 5 mins walk 5 mins walk!!
I was thinking that I will reach Rishikesh yogpeeth in no time….. but….
Nop!!! First I was fully dressed with a temperature around 35 degrees and I was drenched! Took my little book note trying to find the yoga school. Well, let me tell you trying to find any yoga school in Rishikesh is like trying to look for a needle in a haystack.
Slightly disappointed and tired I gather my stuff and started to walk through the town. I walked up and down, came back on my path, turned right and left… I asked people either they did not know or information got lost in translation. No sign of Yogpeeth…. After 30 mins, my clothes were wet, my bag-pack felt like it weighed 30 kg, my rucksack at the front was getting heavier and heavier….I was thirsty, did not have any more water, could not stop to eat something at this point I just wanted to find this school.
I started to surrender and let the panic and anger invaded me…
I am not sure how and what happened but my little voice reassured me, everything will be fine don’t you worry, be positive and things will happen the right way!!!
I chased all the negative way and stayed positive after turning around a few time….
And then, I asked one more time to someone who shows me the way…..
I walked through the door of Yogpeeth in Rishikesh.
My eyes were filled with stars, it looked amazing, the garden, the trees, the little things around that made this place special.
I was finally there.
I drank 4 glasses of cold water, I sat took a big breath in, I closed my eyes I was trying to feel the moment.
I heard someone shout “ok gather your bags guys!! Taxis are waiting for us”.
Euh what?? Hold done! my mind could not process the information!! wait wait no!!! has someone just said that we have to take our bag and make our way to the taxi??
I could not finish thinking that my body was up and sitting in the taxi…. 20 mins later we were at the bottom of a fabulous mountain leading to a waterfall and to my home for the next six weeks.
Do you want to carry your bag or would you prefer to put your bag on the donkey? someone asked.
How far is the ashram? Euh, wait ok my bag pack is only 10kg and my little bag 7 kg. That should be fine, I will keep them I replied.
After a good 15 mins walk into the forest, I started to regret not giving my bags to the donkey!
Exhausted, I felt I could not carry my bag anymore I had to stop every 5 mins and sit; I had never met such nice people… He took my bigger bag on his shoulder with 2 other bags! I felt bad.
Slowly, but surely I made my way up, when I finally reached the front door I saw around 20 steps…. I could not believe 20 more steps…. With no power left in my tights, I carried on.
Then, I stepped into the garden … just heaven!!!!
This was the beginning of my new adventure in Rishikesh yogpeeth. Me in Rishikesh the yoga capital of the world.
On Sunday night we participated in a ceremony, they sang mantras, then they passed around the students and gave us a beautiful necklace made of flowers.
After, Nitesh our yoga mentor went toward each students and put a thread of red and yellow colors while reciting a mantra. This thread is called different names Kalava or mauli it might used for different purpose according to the ceremony (ie: an unmarried woman or single man, protection, respect…).
The string is a protection, a blessing from the goddess, that stays with me during my new journey and it will fall off when necessary. (It is still on my wrist while I am writing the post).
Sunday was my first night at the ashram; I am not going to lie I did not sleep at all, the mattress was too hard and it was too hot in the room. (ok do not judge I know what you are thinking what about the fan!?? I should have kept the fan on) .
I also knew that I had to get used to this new environment. So, I doubled the duvet and put it on top of the mattress to have extra padding and I kept the fan on.
It takes always a while to the mind and the body before settling in a new environment and to get into a new routine so patience and no judgment might help to settle.
By week two I was sleeping with the windows opened, listening to the crickets songs, feeling the breeze and the heat, I also started to realize that I could fall asleep and waking up seeing the beautiful sky.
Up to today, I can still remember the emotion when every morning I woke up with this fantastic view. Up to today, I felt lucky to have lived in this environment and being taught my 300 hours by fanatics human being.
Every yoga training is different, this is only my personal view that I share here.
I learned far more than I expected, the philosophy course gave me the opportunity to reflect on my journey and in my place within the community.
How to grow and settle the mind to avoid any waste of energy or how to redirect energy to use it in a more effective way.
The opposite complete each other, there is the bad and the good, the white and the black; the happiness and the sadness, the smile and the tears …..
How to reach the consciousness to contain our emotion and are not causing physical and psychological disequilibrium.
These are only my personal point of view and a reflection from what I have learned during my 300 hours: partial observation and sitting straight to allow the flux of energy to travel in a perfect manner.
Until today I still cannot realize that I had the chance to be there. There is something very special about Rishikesh that cannot be explained. It has to be experienced. You have to live it.
Yoga Me Balance ---> 