A list of things I love about living in India...4 ~ Yoga

Next in my series on what I love about India is

Yoga

I was called to yoga long before it was mainstream but fell away from it not being able to find a teacher I connected with. Decades later I met this friend who was a yoga teacher. Her energy was contagious and I adored spending time with her, one day when we were discussing me taking up a practice again she told me "you are yoga." I had no idea what she meant but I knew it was something I was eager to discover.

My first trip to India was for three months, the first month was to be spent at an ashram for a yoga retreat. I bragged to all my friends at home about the kind of shape I was going to be in when I returned. I day dreamed about cool postures I had seen in pictures and wondered how long it would take before I would be able to touch my toes, nose to knees. We got on our mats one day. Yup you read that right, we did Asana which is the physical postures one time. Turned out yoga was a lot more then what I was a aware of.



I spent far more time quieting the voices in my head through meditation which I also learnt was not about not thinking, it was more about becoming aware of the thoughts, and choosing the thoughts consciously you want to spend time with.


It was not easy! My mind whirled and I realized how much I obsessed and over thought almost everything;  I thought about the past and the future, I thought up great status updates for social media or had songs on repeat in my head. When I gained a bit of control over that I had work to do around fear. Fear of never really being able to live before life is over and when I came to terms with this I discovered some shocking truths about the life I was living and changes that needed to occur if I wanted to truly be happy. It felt like someone shut the AC off one day when my head went quiet. Often in our lives their is background noise or chatter that we are not even aware of until it goes silent. I remember it rained that day and I felt an overwhelming urge that I acted on and danced in the courtyard of the ashram, I felt cleansed inside and out.

Aside from the physical asana or Hatha practice and the mental aspect we know as meditation or in yoga it is referred to as Raja yoga, true yogis observe diet restrictions which I to began observing. No caffeine, no alcohol or any mind altering substance, no garlic, onions or red chillies as these increase fire in the body which can lead to anger and jealousy.

That's the thing to, here in India very few people would ever call themselves a Yogi or Yoginni those titles are revered and used only in the utmost respect of true masters. I have met incredible yoga teachers here who only refer to themselves as a friend not a teacher for feeling unqualified despite surpassing any conditions we apply in the west for a 'qualified' yoga teacher.

And while Hatha and Raja are pretty well understood in the west little is discussed about the other relams: Kriya Yoga has everything to do with our breath, different breathing techniques and learning about our prana (life force) and where it is flowing. Gyan or (Jnana) is about knowledge, it is learning the ancient texts and utilizing them in daily life. According to the Bhagavad Gita Karma yoga is the most effective way to achieve spiritual oneness, understanding our karmic bonds and working through them. Doing our part to serve our neighbors and the earth without needing anything in return is the truest form of selfless love. And then their is Bhakti yoga which my little holy town is famous for, this is the yoga of devotion, of divine love. It is the recognition that there is only love, and everything around us and within us is of divine nature.

In India it is understood that all forms of yoga need to addressed and assimilated into daily life to truly achieve that which we are searching for...the point of yoga is to connect us back to us. To that divine part of ourselves we have forgotten, to the authentic part of ourselves we have muted. And although I often miss my yoga classes back in the west I am grateful to be among people who understand the depth and enjoyment of this path.

Here is a funny video a girlfriend sent me I want to share with you, fortunately the beautiful classes I have attended in the west do not reflect this teacher but there is some truth here, Enjoy and stay tuned for number five in What I love about India

Follow @1balancedsoul

A list of things I love about living in India...3 ~ Animals

Next on the list is Animals!

I wrote about the animal world here in my small town years ago you can find the post by clicking here.

Things haven't changed much since that post, I still love to watch the animals in my neighborhood and today I'll share some photos of my favorite critters;

The image of a cow is synonymous with India largely impart because it is one of the only places in the world cows roam the streets. This white one here on the left comes to our spiritual guesthouse daily for food.

The cow is considered Holy in India because we go from our Mothers milk to the cows milk, Hindus therefore accept that she is a version of Goddess (male cows work the fields traditionally like a father so he too is to be treated with the utmost respect).





This brown one here pictured on the right comes to our joint family home each day waiting for scraps. I asked once about the 'turbans' some cows adorn and was informed one type of cloth is put on in the winter to help keep them warm and a lighter cloth is tied on in the summer to keep them cool.

We also have a this little dog who was born last year, is the cutest little street dog, beyond smart and filled with so much love. We named him Precious because of his incredible nature and make a point to keep his favorite biscuits in stock at all times.













I love when friends come to visit and comment on how healthy the animals look here verses other parts of India. I don't know if its because we still have that small town vibe or if its the fact that we are a Holy town and within that comes the acknowledgement that God is always present and can show up in any form. Either way it always warms my heart when I look up my street and see people feeding and sometimes even clothing the animals.

Goats seem particularly susceptible to the colder days we are experiencing in this season and almost all have shirts on, I can't help but smile every time I see one, the one here in the pink on the left looks like he showing off his new duds!

Camels walking up the street still excite my kids and me too to be honest, they just have such a swagger about them. Many of streets are so small cars and trucks can't drive on them so a lot of work is done still using Camels, Bulls and even Water Buffalo.

Then of course there are the pigs which I personally find adorable although many Indians just find them dirty. There are occasional snakes, rabbits and cats. Plus the squirrels which remind me of something from the movie "Ice Age" are everywhere in our courtyard.

The birds may be my absolute favorite from the majestic beauty of the peacocks to the songs of the parrots I could literally spend hours in memorized by their beauty.














Now one can't talk about animals in our town without mentioning the monkey mafia!

The rhesus monkeys are notorious in our corner of the world, sunglasses, bags, nothing is off limits for these thieves, and while I've had my share of fights with them something changed for me this year. I began to understand their desperation, their habitat is being destroyed rapidly and the only reason they are pesky is in their 'hunt' for food,

They are hungry and I'm sure would much rather be picking the lush trees that not to long ago made up this part of India. Now they are living in a concrete jungle competing with the growing population for survival,

I don't intend on adopting one any time soon and will support projects that are helping to control their population in a humane way, but I have to admit, they are growing on me, and sometimes can be pretty darn cute, but don't ever tell them I said so!
















Still lots more to come in my "What I love about India" series, don't forget to subscribe so you never miss a post!

Follow @1balancedsoul

A list of things I love about living India...2 ~ Spontaneity

Next on my list of Things I love about Living in India is

Spontaneity

The Spontaneous way we live our life here takes some getting used to as westerner. You may be saying (like I did) "I love being spontaneous!"in fact I've always considered myself spontaneous but Indians take it a different realm.

Everything about life here is spontaneous, no one plans anything. I mean lots of things are mentioned, for instance Hubby is talking about our daughters upcoming birthday, days after she will undergo Mundan which is an Indian ritual for the first hair cut, it involves having her entire head shaved. My son had his done before he turned one. *you can read more about my experience in this older post  but the point is hubby is discussing us travelling to Haridwar to make this happen.

Now I have learned and am able to accept that this may or may not happen, there are no plans set and I shouldn't start packing. I won't be able to get him to confirm a date or even what will or will not happen, and if and when it does it will be a fast and furious decision that occurs, you guessed it by now...in the moment. 


When our daughter was two months old my visa was about to expire, my mother was here visiting from Canada and suggested we look into flights to travel back with her the following week. We began checking fares to get on her flight when hubby came home out of the blue and suggested we all head to Nepal instead to obtain new visa's. We left the following morning on a whirlwind two week adventure, my mother even changed her ticket to come along with us on this spur of the moment adventure.

I love that life is lived in the moment and not just for big events or adventures but for daily life, it helps to cultivate presence. For instance nobody calls before showing up for a visit. I've been just putting the kids down for an afternoon nap when someone knocks on my door, As a good Indian housewife it is my duty to invite them in and make chai, even when they say no which they will because it is customary to reject the first offer of chai (or anything) but it is also customary to insist and provide something to drink and or eat depending on the time of day and the person who is visiting. Mind you although I love spontaneity and living in the now I also like to have a bit of control over my world and I have answered the door blocking the guest informing them the kids are sleeping. That being said very few people are showing up to just visit me, because we live in a joint family they are really just saying hi and have others they can sit with but still it's not very Indian housewifey of me but I can only conform to a certain point and everyone has come to accept this about me, they figure it's because I'm a foreigner and love me anyway. For me it's a balance of accepting what is but also maintaining a bit of a routine for my sanity and the kids kids, plus let's be honest their afternoon naps are my only "alone time"!

Food is rarely planned. I have Mommy friends back in Canada who not only plan their weeks menu but often get most of the cooking done in one day! Here there is no eating leftovers, it has to do with the energy of the food itself, plus personally I never know what I'm going to have a hankering for and it is super exciting, because of our lack of imported food, if a new veggie shows up in market! One must keep their options open.

Living in the moment requires a zest for spontaneity which comes with an element of trust. We must understand that if what has been offered in front of us feels right, it is, and if it doesn't feel right, no problem choose to do something else. When we live in a spontaneous way we allow ourselves to be free because we are not constantly trying to control what is going on around us or what our days look like.

It's nice to wake up and set intentions and plan my day as best I can but then let go and see what transpires, which for me is still the hardest task. Surrendering expectation takes practice and I've learned expectations can lead to disappointment. While I'm not diminishing emotion, it is okay to feel disappointed when something doesn't pan out and I honor it for a moment but then I let it go, I don't let it rob me of the the present moment. India has taught me when we are not living in the present moment we miss out on the magic of life that is unfolding before us...


Still more to come in this "What I love about Living in India" series, stay tuned...

Follow @1balancedsoul

A list of things I love about living in India...1 ~ door to door salesmen

A dear friend of mine and fellow blogger English Wife, Indian Life recently posted fifty things she loves about India. She is still in the honeymoon stage having only lived here for one year but her enthusiasm inspired me to think about what I love about my simple little Indian Holy Town and my life here half a decade in.

As you know by now I am rekindling my love affair with life and one of the best pieces of advice I received was; whenever someone is frustrating you the best thing you can do is to write down all the things you love about the person, this has worked wonders for me and the relationships I have with everyone around me. I was easily frustrated by everyone and everything last year as I worked through some of my own *hit, this nugget helped me keep it in perspective.

While my love affair with India is complex and like any true relationship it has its highs and lows I figured now was as good a time as any to reflect on what makes my heart smile in my India.

In no particular order the things I love about life in India:

1. Door to door salesmen. You never know who is going to show up!  There are men selling blankets and others selling bed sheets. There's fresh fruit or vegetables, warm roasted peanuts and freshly popped pop corn. cotton candy or balloons. Sometimes it's sari's or shoes, men's shirts, you name it and chances are they can be found walking through the streets selling it. My personal favorite, and the one I always make time for, the suit guy!




I can't tell you how many times I have thought to myself , as an example, "I'd love to make french fries if only I had some more potatoes" and I hear "SUBZI" being yelled outside of our gate (subzi is Hindi for vegetables)

Coincidence?


Coincidences as defined by a dictionary: "a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent causal connection" 

I don't believe in coincidence as defined by mainstream. I don't think you are reading this blog randomly, I believe everything happens for a reason, exactly as it should. "Whether you call it synchronicity or coincidence these random events are signposts that can help you successfully navigate life" according to the book, and my experience,
"When God Winks"















While I have been aware of coincidence as a gateway since reading James Redfield's "The Celestine Prophecy" back in the early nineties and have implemented trust in these 'coincidences' ever since, which ultimately led me here to India in the first place!  The synchronicity of events here in India somehow seems amplified and has reconfirmed all that I believed to be true. It's as if synchronicity and the power of manifestation are at the forefront of life.

Messages or "prompts" as I call them get delivered at accelerated rates, if I follow the prompt things flow quite easily if I don't the prompts get louder. My own power of manifesting something as simple as "the kids are acting out a bit it would be great if an opportunity arrived to distract them" and a balloon wallah shows up are developing at a record pace.

Well my dear friends I've taken something simple like a list of what I love about life in India and twisted it into a tale of spiritual adventure. Not at all was this the intention when I sat down to make this list which has much more on it than door to door salemen. But once again this story of mine and the way my mind works is always revolving around the spiritual side of existence so I'm surrendering and trusting the process, even when it comes to this blog. I will continue with the list allowing each thing that makes my heart smile to become its own post, stay tuned for number two in what I love about life in India...

Follow @1balancedsoul

Endings and Beginnings

I've been quiet for a couple of weeks and I apologize for that. I appreciate the outpouring of messages and I assure you all is fine I have just needed some space to allow the dust to settle from 2014. For me last year was intense, it was as if almost every life lesson I have claimed to understand was put to the test. I was forced to walk the walk not just talk the talk. Each time I waved the white flag surrendering, begging the universe to stop, insisting that I got it, another situation occurred showing me how much work I still needed to do. I was given brief moments of serenity to catch my breath but I was forced to put into practice all I claimed spiritually to have achieved. It was a practice what you preach kind of year.

On new years eve, staying true to my Yoga Challenge and the Bhakti portion I have embarked on I went to a Goddess Temple, It is a Kali Temple. I chose this temple because she is the Goddess of Endings and Beginnings; we must release the old to let the new in. I found it fitting for the last day of the year.

Kali Ma is known as The Dark Mother; she is a kick ass warrior who offers you empowerment. The particular deity of this temple similar to the one pictured has a story attached to it that Kali was in a fight with a demon overhead when the demon's sword cut her hair, the lock fell to earth on the land of this ancient temple and the deity was born of it. And although I have been to this particular temple in the past for some reason I never really saw the deity before, this time when her eyes met mine my whole body began to tremble, something was being awakened in me.



Right before bed I read this quote and it struck a chord as the clock struck midnight: "Tonight go to sleep as though your whole past has been dropped. Die to the past. And in the morning wake up as a new  man in a new morning. DOn't let the same one who went to bed get up. Let him go to sleep for good. Let the one who is ever-new and ever-fresh wake instead" ~ Osho

On new years day I woke with a sense of excitement, I had written my good bye letter to 2014 as per my normal ritual for saying goodbye to a year. I thanked the year for its practice makes perfect lessons, for helping me to break down my walls of resistance and for keeping the abundance of health, wealth and love flowing in my life and for those around me. Then I set my intentions for 2015 which include: 365 days of Gratitude, meditating daily, having a belly laugh each day, playing more with my children, not begrudging my husband (or anyone for that matter) of his cultural conditioning, getting our Spiritual Guesthouse finished so you can finally come visit and many more.

My husband, children and I ventured out to the most auspicious temple in our home town, along with almost every other person who lives here and was visiting from outside, It was chaos which was not unexpected, we maneuvered the crowd finding our way into the back of the temple with our children in arms, had a quick darshan (prayer) during which the deity gave us a perfect view of him, I solidified my intentions for the year and asked that my lessons be gentle but firm, that my higher self have a stronger voice and I only be led to those who will continue to help me grow in a positive manner. Now I always warn those who visit Sri Banke Bihari Ji to be careful what you pray for because in my experience it will manifest

We left the temple and the crowd seemed to grow. We were walking through a narrow ally way and everyone began pushing. I elbowed and hipped as best I could to keep my very tight space; enough room to breathe for me and baby girl who was in my arms. Suddenly what little space I had seemed to disappear, the guy behind me pushed relentlessly, I walked out of my shoe leaving it behind there was nowhere to stop or turn. We were surrounded from every side, my husband and son were one person ahead of us and the relentless pushing was not allowing for another step forward or in any direction for that matter. My daughter was pressed up against me her breathing was becoming labored. I yelled at the people around me to back off but the guy behind me pushed harder, he actually pushed me where my daughter was in my arms trying to squeeze past me pressing her so tightly against me and passerbys she actually began fighting to get out of my arms. I panicked slightly crying out my Hubby's name, he yelled at the guy to step back but the guy immediately started mouthing off and continued pushing. My son seeing the fear in my eyes and hearing the argument between his Papa and this idiot began to cry, my hubby managed to get between me and guy allowing for a bit of breathing room,

I kept talking to my son telling him it was all okay as Hubby and this guy exchanged fighting words. I know my husbands power and pretty much everyone knows him in our town I knew it could turn ugly but I also could tell by hubby's demeanor he was not going to allow someone to hurt his wife and child then talk so rudely but because he had us with him and my son in his arms I didn't think he was going to smack this guy, but the guy just wouldn't shut up, Part of me wanted to see him get hit for being an idiot, his mouth kept flapping despite hubby and others in the crowd telling him to give it up.

Finally I had enough, I turned and yelled in Hindi for him to shut up, enough was enough, 

Silence hushed over the entire crowd, see in India a women wouldn't usually raise her voice to man, especially in public but I had had enough, these were my beloveds he was upsetting, for no reason other than his own issues, whatever they may be. I stared into the guys eyes daring him to speak another word. After a moment he dropped his eyes, looked to my husband for a split second who simply gave him a look like "you've been told, final warning" He stayed quiet and we all continued walking. Everyone around us began greeting me on our traditional way and saying happy new year, helping to ease the tension, one police officer even offered me a small smile after the exchange.

Kali Ma I thought to myself as the crowd opened this is going to be an empowering year indeed...

Follow @1balancedsoul