Chapter 3: Rishikesh, aka Yoga Heaven

I dedicated this 12 day section of the trip to furthering my studies of the science of yoga. This was my alone time with no work distractions, no friends or family, no drugs, alcohol or meat of any type including eggs! I immersed myself into the yoga lifestyle and tried new things, ate new food, met knew people and let life take me where it would….

Rishikesh is located about 5 hours north of Delhi in the foothills of the Himalayas. It is one of the holiest places in India (I know, I know there are so dang many holy places!). But it is considered the capital of the world for yoga and some of the greatest swamis and yogis have come out of this special town. There are two parts, Swarg Ashram, where all the major ashrams are and Lakshman Jula, where most of the Israeli and European tourists hang out. I stayed in Swarg Ashram at Parmarth Niketan, home of Swamiji and the same ashram I stayed with the group. It is the largest ashram in Rishikesh and also host to the nightly Aarti Ceremony on the banks of the Mother Ganga.

After leaving the group and arriving the Rishikesh, I completely crashed and burned for 2 solid days. It was as though someone possessed my body and I wasn’t sure which way was up or down. I almost felt like I was on the verge of getting really sick but I told myself I wasn’t going to be sick on this trip and all be damned if a bunch of teenagers would make me! So I took care of myself and slept and ate plain rice and banana lassis (curd/yogurt shakes that settle your stomach) until it passed. I also got an ayurvedic massage where they use all these crazy oils. This helped immensely and after 2 days, I was ready to rock come Monday morning. Phew! Apparently taking care of 20 people 24/7 for 18 days takes up a lot of energy…who knew?

Monday morning I started my new daily yoga program. One of the reasons I came to India was to study the essence of yoga. I wasn’t really interested in learning more “poses” or the physical aspect that our western culture has so graciously butchered or improved (depending on what you think yoga is). I get plenty of that at home. I really wanted to study the spiritual aspect that is so paramount to Indian culture but that is so lacking in Western society. Someone upstairs must have known this because I hit the jackpot at the ashram and the week I came was the week they bumped up the daily program to include all sorts of classes each day. Yes! I was officially in yogi heaven.

My day went something like this:
6-8:30am: Kriya Yoga with Mataji
silent breakfast
9:30am: Vedic Chanting w/ Mataji
10:30 – 12:30: Kundalini Yoga w/ Parmatma
silent lunch at the ashram
5pm: Meditation w/ Parmatma or else the best massage on the face of the planet
dinner
6:30pm: Aarti Ceremony
9pm: Bed

The Kriya yoga class was a completely new experience. People talk about finding their “gurus” which I have yet to do but I think I came darn close with this woman Mataji. As the “mother” of the ashram she had this incredible energy that I found mesmerizing. In her early 50s, she had the most beautiful voice and incredible aura about her that I couldn’t help but feel the love…and I hardly even knew her! The early morning class consisted of prayanama (breathing exercises) to clean out the body and nasal passages, sun salutations with singing in between each short set, sivasana followed by over an hour of these meditation exercises where we focused on our chakras. One meditation we did 59 times over. The first day I thought I was going to die but by the 6th day, I felt this incredible energy from it and I actually got a buzz off myself. No wonder those yogis can sit for so long meditating...they’re high! I also noticed on day 4 that I unblocked my throat chakra which in turn opened up the whole passage of energy. I know, this sounds crazy, but let’s just say it was such a deep awareness and I felt such elation when I felt it happen.

Another thingI tried was a Vedic (ie traditional) Chanting class where Mataji led us in singing mantras from a prayer book she passed out. She would sing a line and the class would repeat. We learned various mantras and it was so fun to be able to sing and not care about what anyone thought. It was a total free for all! Her voice was a true joy just to listen to and in between each mantra, she would explain its meaning…that was the coolest part (besides me thinking I could sing)…hearing her interpretation about life and how we find our inner light.

After chanting, we went straight down to a Kundalini Yoga class taught by the most amazing Brazilian girl, Parmatma. I have known about Kundalini for years but had never really done it. In this flavor you do a lot of vigorous repetitive movements, chants and meditations to awaken the energy at the base of your spine. It is an incredibly powerful feeling and I found myself hooked. Basically, by doing movements quickly enough and for a long enough time, your ego emerges and feelings such as “oh my god, I want to quit” or “holy crap my arms are killing” come up. It is only when you keep going that eventually your ego takes a hike and all of a sudden, you get these bursts of energy and can continue for another few minutes! It was incredible. Those arms that were so heavy a minute ago felt like air the next. So the “sats” (sequences) actually became meditative and some of the exercises we did were for 11 minutes which felt like eternity. The most amazing part of this class was the group dynamic. Surrounded by total strangers, these people became my support group and I was their support in return. We held each other up by the sound of our voices and the energy permeating from our core. On top of everyone being a stranger, the class consisted of so many different types of people including Japanese, Chinese, Swiss, Austrian, English, American, Brazilian and Indian. Actually, there was only 1 Indian guy who tried his hardest to keep up with the foreigners. I thought he might kill himself a few times but at least he was representing! (Most Indians only care about the spiritual aspect of yoga and are too lazy for the physical part.)
No matter where we all were from, we all spoke the same language of yoga. We all wanted to learn more and take our newly found knowledge back home with us to share with our friends and students. The union of mind, body and spirit cut through culture, geography and language to find a home in each of our hearts.

The first day I saw a girl who looked so familiar. After class we figured out that we had stayed at the same hotel in Varanasi, almost a month prior. Talk about a small India! We quickly became friends. She gave me tons of great info about south India and it was nice to have a fellow American to hang with. The most interesting thing we did was visit the Ashram where the Beatles wrote the White Album in 1968. Oddly enough, there was no sign or any indication of where the ashram was only a bunch of creepy fake sadhus (holy men) hanging out smoking hash. Luckily, they knew the word “Beatles” when asked if we were in the right area. For the past 20 years the ashram had been abandoned. I have no idea why or what happened except that the Maharishi got weird with the ladies and something about stealing money. I’d like to know who owns it and why it is abandoned because it was one of the most unusual/amazing places I’ve ever seen. Set amongst the hillside on a huge piece of property overlooking the Ganges, there were multiple buildings onsite. To get inside, we paid some guy 25 rupees. Who was that guy and why was he there? Once inside, there were all these stone “pods” squished next to one another. There must have been 100 of these small, dome-shaped buildings. Each one consisted of a tiny downstairs and an even smaller upstairs apparently used for meditation. There was another building resembling a hotel or apartment complex only it was totally trippy with an Arabic twist. We walked inside stepping over broken windows, doors and monkey poop. There must have been 300 rooms in this building. On the rooftop sat more dome like pods only these were made of tile and were larger than the other ones. You could walk through them but they also had a metal ladder going to the top. I couldn’t resist and climbed up one of the ladders. At the top you could look inside into a small room? Apparently, people in intense sadhana (meditation) must have used these small, virtually dark rooms to isolate themselves. If anyone wanted do something really cool, restoring this amazing piece of property and making it into a working ashram or hotel would be incredible. So sad that such a beautiful site was left to rot.

Holbrook kept getting these massages that she claimed were the “best she’d ever had.” I was skeptical since my experience with Indian massages was that they slathered oil all over you but didn’t really go deep. Either way, we all know I’m a sucker for bodywork so I decided to give it a shot. After the first 1.5 hour session, I felt as though all the massages I’ve ever had in my life combined didn’t compare to what this woman did. Probably in her 50s, she wasn’t tall but was definitely the strongest Indian woman I’d ever seen. Her toothless smile was all warmth. Upon entering her somewhat sketchy and somewhat dirty house, I laid my naked body down on a mattress on the floor atop blankets that I’m sure were used many times before me. Not exactly hygenice but hey, what is in India anyway? I always know within 2 minutes if I’m getting a good massage. I knew within 5 seconds that this woman was something else. She treated me like a pretzel grabbing my arms, legs and whatever else she could and then in a seated position, used her feet as her weapons. Yes, she used her hands AND her feet. Think of how much more powerful your legs are than your arms. Enough said. She not only had a gift as well as strength, she also used her own technique. I was tossed and turned in every which way and couldn’t even ask her one single question my breath was so taken away. She didn’t leave one nook or cranny unmassaged. The kicker was the end when she poured this special oil onto my head and gave this incredible head/face massage with this oil that tingled for a solid 3 hours. After I professed my love to her, I begged her to see me in 2 days…and 2 days after that….and 2 days after that….I went 4 times in 8 days! How could I not take advantage of a 1.5 hour massage for $12? Not only that but I bought a liter of the “special” head/body oil as well as a huge tub of “medicine” that she said if I rubbed on my muscles, the pain would disappear. Hook a sister up! She made all her own oils so I have no clue what’s in them, all I know is that they feel darn good. I was actually hoping to put her in my suitcase but she wasn’t too fond of the idea. Oh well, I guess reason #167 to come back to India ☺

Two other people that I became friends with were a couple going to school at UVA and volunteering at the ashram. One afternoon, we hiked 6 miles upriver to a secluded beach on the Ganges. It was a hot day and the cold river sure felt good. It was our first experience of not fully going in. We were all quite happy to be bathing in the holy water and it was nice to relax in the sun. I also spent one Sunday hiking with Suzanne and Jake up a large mountain to Neelkanth Temple. All the people I asked said it wasn’t possible to hike without a guide or that it was too far. It was sort of annoying since Indian people don’t hike or exercise and I knew we could do it without a guide. Sure enough, it was really straightforward and a great hike…2 hours straight up but all on a concrete path. We made friends with tons of langur monkeys (large, black faced monkeys who are about as chill as they come and you can walk right next to them and they won’t attack, unlike the yucky old reces monkeys that are super sketchy). It was nice to hike and be in nature. We did come across the Indian mountain biking team practicing with a coach. Did I ever feel bad for these poor Indian guys barreling down the hillside on crappy bikes with no toe clips or clipless pedals. They wore knee and elbow pads. I would too if I didn’t have any straps on my pedals! We kept thinking how it would change their life to see a real mountain bike. We’ll just keep that one a secret…The temple was interesting and we decided we like our knees and so we took a jeep back to town. That afternoon we treated ourselves to one of the best meals I’d had at Ramana’s, an orphanage where the kids grew their own vegetables and there were a handful of volunteers who cooked and helped take care of the kids. Not in the guidebooks, Suzanne and Jake took me to this secret oasis. Our meals consisted of an organic salad with live sprouts, tomatoes, carrots and cucumbers. Yes, salad!!! My first one in over a month! Anything that can’t be peeled, can’t be eaten. Unfortunately, this means salads so unless you know that they wash with filtered water, they’re out. We also had butternut squash soup, veggie lasagna and a waffle w/ maple syrup. Sort of strange for lunch but since it was the only other thing on the menu, we were in! We drank the most delicious rhodedendron juice. Yes, as in the flower. Made with lemon and sugar, it was similar to hibiscus…super refreshing on such a hot day. Note to self: make this at home with all the rhodies in the backyard! For dessert, we topped it off with a coconut bon bon that was a slice of heaven. Note to self #2: Grated coconut and a little sugar, cook in the oven until toasted. SO good!

One thing that stands out is this Krishna festival that took place on a random Wednesday evening. I was in this music shop raping and pillaging my yoga instructor’s music collection (All the music shops in town would download entire cd’s straight onto your ipod or burn a disk of mp3’s for super cheap). The shopowner told me to look outside. There was a long saree (Indian dress) that kept passing by. There were many women outside passing this saree through their hands to the next woman. I must have been in the shop for a solid 20 minutes and the saree kept going and going. When I was finished, I walked outside only to find the colorful material had gone over the bridge and was making its way to the other side of the river. All these women were dressed in orange and red, the colors of Lord Krishna, God of Love. It just kept going and going and going and going….I walked all the way to my ashram and sure enough…that’s where the material was also going. The permanent statue of Lord Shiva on the banks of the Ganges was all dressed up with a shawl and this green background with a waterfall of water streamed alongside him. There were colorful drapes of material streaming down around him. What the heck was going on? The saree kept coming and women kept coming. I found out later there were 500 women participating in this ceremony with one long saree that consisted of 500 pieces sown together. Slowly, they all gathered themselves and the material at the feet of Lord Shiva. Normally, Aarti Ceremony started at 6:30. Swamiji came out around 6 to help gather the saree alongside the women. They were all singing and dancing around. It was so beautiful. Needless to say, the Aarti that night was a little more special than normal. The crowd was filled to the brim with women clad in orange and red. Go ladies!

The next morning, I was on the rooftop doing my morning yoga and I found myself singing along to this chanting in the distance…”Hare, Hare, Krishna, Krishna, Hare Krishna, Rama Rama…” Over and over. Finally, I peeked out over the roof only to find all the women dressed in the saree from the night before singing and dancing. Wow! It wasn’t even 7am and all the women had already cut the giant piece of cloth and made individual outfits. What a great way to end my stay in Rishikesh. All these women bonding, sharing their spirit, their clothing, their friendship and their love of God with this beautiful display of color.

My favorite thing about Rishikesh was its pulsing energy. By pulsing, I’m not talking about neon lights and dance beats. I mean the basic energy that permeates from within….the holiness of the Ganges river, the sadhus, Swamiji, Mataji, the singing, the dancing, the bookshops filled with books on spirituality and yoga, the ayurvedic restaurants, the massages, the yoga and meditation classes, the incredible people, the color and vibrancy of it all….Rishikesh had been calling my name for many years. It wasn’t until now that I was truly able to embrace. I would never have tried kriya or kundalini yoga or chanting a few years back. I found myself at a crossroads wanting to learn more about the spirituality of this ancient science and as usual, my path led me right to the heart of where I needed to be. I am grateful to all the strangers who didn’t care about my background, my nationality, my singing voice, how much money I made, what I looked like, etc. Half the time my hair was a total grease pit with all the oil in it! I experienced things with those people that I will cherish forever. The spiritual path never ceases to amaze me and just when I thought I knew something about yoga, I realize that I know very little. It is humbling to be in the space of a truly liberated soul. The more I read and the more I put myself at the feet of these people, the more I realize that it’s not about material wealth and impressing those around you. It’s about the selfless acts of helping those in need, of not becoming attached to anything, of eliminating the ego that loves to raise its ugly head. I am guilty of so many of these traps but traveling here is such a reminder that having fancy cars and nice houses is so not the point. Indian people have nothing and yet, for the most part, they are happy! The problems come when they try to imitate our society. TV has tainted their culture to want more and forget about their spiritual essence that makes India special. I don’t even know how to not fall into the vicious cycle but I can say that cultivating friendships and putting family first is paramount to having a successful life. The energy you put out is the energy you receive. So let your inner light shine and good things will follow!