Day 4. April 6th
After some days of not feeling great, today I finally feel better and I figured out what I was eating here in India that was creating my headaches, and of course, I removed it completely from my meals.
I probably slept something like 11 hours. I went to the morning practice with lots of energy so I focused on studying the learnings from the evening class from yesterday. It’s amazing how many details can be applied to a posture that looks so simple as Gomukhasana. I am amazed for how many different ways there are to move the body. Many of you know that I have not “married” with a specific style of Asana. My practice, all year long, when I’m not studying with my teacher Ushaji, is Ashtanga, which I have explored with different teachers. But when I’m studying with her I mainly focus in understanding the body from Iyengar perspective, which compliments beautifully the practice of Ashtanga. So, my morning practice was very insightful and uplifting.
After practice I went to have my morning coffee, as usual, and worked a little bit in some projects. It was already clear for me that the lenses of my glasses were different. I could perceive thins differently.
Following this rebirthing of positivity I decided to walk to my favorite restaurant in Rishikesh: Ramana’s Garden! Of course, the monkeys joined me most of the way, the good ones, not the aggressive ones.
Ramana’s is a restaurant owned by an American woman named Prabhavati Dwabha. She founded an organization to provide quality education, health care and nutrition to children here in Rishikesh. If you have been here before and you have paid attention to the communities that live nearby the river on the way to the market, in how deplorable conditions they live, you will understand the importance of organization like this one to exist.
Besides this beautiful initiative, they also have a garden where they grow all the vegetables they use for cooking at the restaurant that is also on the same property. And of course, they have the healthiest, delicious and cleaner cooking in town. This time I ate a delicious salad from the garden, a pumpkin soup and brown rice. They have a delightful menu that goes from gnocchi to lasagna, and even traditional Indian Tali.
The view of the Ganges from the rooftop is mesmerizing, the silence of the mountains, and every detail makes of this place a perfect mini retreat from the chaos and movement of the busy Lakshman Jhula and Ram Jhula.
Walking by the little streets to arrive there feels like it’s a town frozen in time. Once you get further away from Ramana’s you start hearing the monkeys, the people, the horns of the bikes, the orchestra of Rishikesh.
There are two bridges in town, one in Ram Jhula and another one in Lakshman Jhula. Both are crazy. But the one in Lakshman Jhula is the more crowded. Once you pass it, everything becomes easier. Even the monkeys become more peaceful. The red monkeys, that usually are on the bridges ready to steal food from people, are aggressive and willing to even bite you if you react. The other monkeys are black and white and bigger, and they are more friendly. I like to sit and observe how they interact and be amazed with how similar to them we are.
Evening class with Usha was tough but great. I realized how much I have learned to enjoy backbends, specifically Urdhva Dhanurasana thanks to her.
One more day in this city, practicing observation and silence, but overall, patience. What I have re-learned from this day is that health is what comes first. Without health no positive energy is accesible, if your body is not working properly, your mind will not work good neither, a heavy energy in the body creates a heavy energy in the mind. In other words, it became clear for me how easy it is to see beauty, to be patient, to breath with peace, when my head doesn't feel like a ball of iron drowning in dense waters, and instead it feels like a flower blooming by the kiss of the light.