Patnem * 04.02 - 05.03.19

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Back on the travel track! This time it's Asia's turn.

First country: India

Some time ago I decided to do a Yoga Teaching Trainer Course. I've thought of many different places to take the course, but eventually I choose India because it's the place of origin. Then I needed to decide where in India I would go. First I thought of Rishikesh, but I was so done with the cold weather that I decided to go to Goa. I'm really glad with my decision. It's nice and warm, the people are so nice and I'm staying at a place right in front of the ocean. I can hear the beach from my cabin and the shala where we have our classes has a fantastic seaview. The sunsets are amazing here as well. The sun gets orange and then red before it immerses into the sea.



First week of YTTC:

We are a group of 18 students and the first day we had our welcome ceremony. After that we all had to introduce ourselves. I'm not a hero in front of people, so I was pretty nervous to talk in front of 17 people that were still strangers to me. The group is really nice though, but I always keep a bit of distance when meeting new people. Luckily I got a really nice roommate (Neha). She's from the north of India and since the first day we got along very well.

The schedule for the training is a full on one:
7:00-7:30 Thea & Juices
7:30-8:00 Meditation/Pranayama
8:00-10:00 Morning Asanas (Yoga)
10:00-11:00 Breakfast
11:00-13:00 Philosophy & Anatomy
13:00-14:00 Self Study
14:00-15:00 Lunch
15:00-17:00 Art of Teaching
17:00-17:15 Thea & Juices
17:15-19:15 Evening Asanas
19:15-21:00 Dinner

and believe me, after dinner you just want to go to bed and sleep!

On saturday we went to a spice farm in the jungle. There we went with a guide through the jungle. He showed us lots of spices. Many of them I didn't even know they grew the way they do. For example cinnamon: It's bark from a tree and during the drying process they curl up. Or vanilla: It's the second most expensive spice (after saffron) because it takes really long to harvest them. There were cloves and pepper and cacao beans and many more. It was really interesting. After the jungle trip the guide took us to an old house made of mud. Because of the exact thickness of the wall the house was warm at night and cool during the day. They also told us that every month they would "clean" the floor with cow dung. Because of that, insects stay away and it's better to walk on for your joints. To demonstrate this theory he showed us how a glass bottle just bounced back from the floor without breaking. I also really enjoyed the drive to and from the farm. We passed many small villages, saw monkeys and of course lots of cows.

We're off on sundays and our first day off we went with a few people to Palolem. It's a more crowded beach nearby. We walked along the coast to get there. I think it would take about half an hour, but we took about two hours for it. We stopped to see some shops and to make some pictures. When we finally arrived we kind of split up in smaller groups, because some wanted to shop, others wanted to eat and others wanted to stay at the beach. I ended up walking around with Yulia. We went back with the tuc tuc and we had some lunch when we got back in Patnem.
When some of the others came back they told us about a nice place for food, so we (Neha, Yulia and I) decided to go there in the evening for dinner. The place is called Zest and it has really nice food. The best thing was the dessert: carrot cake! It was really yummy!



Second week of YTTC:

We learn so much and everybody gets stronger day by day. I was really proud when I was able to do the Crow-to-Tripod transition! The group starts getting closer and we all feel more comfortable with each other.
This week we started with our evaluations. We have it instead of Self Study hour, so from 13:00-14:00. In groups of two we had to prepare an hour's class. Me and Alexa had to do a Vinyasa class. I was very happy with it because that's the yoga I practice at home too. The other two types of classes we get trained for are Hatha and Ashtanga. For the exam in the last week we will have to make a 2 hour class with 4 people and for that I'll have to prepare a Hatha class with 3 others. Preparing for the evaluation went very well, but I was afraid that I would be super nervous when we had to actually present it in front of everyone. Eventually we had our evaluation on saturday and it went surprisingly well, I wasn't even so nervous! They didn't have much critic either, just that I had to speak a little louder.

This week we also had a cleansing day with our Philosophy & Anatomy teacher Shambu. This meant cleaning our nose- and forehead cavities and our stomach. For the first two, we all got something that looked like a mixture of a theepot and an Aladdin lamp. We put in lukewarm water with a little bit of salt. Then we had to put the spout on our right nostril, bend forwards in a 45 degrees and then look on the right side towards the sky. Like this the water ran through our nose and came out the other nostril. Then the same on our left side. The third cleansing technique was meant for our stomach. Not everyone wanted to do it and I was a bit sceptic about it too, but I still wanted to experience it. For this we we had to drink 5 cups of lukewarm water with salt after each other. Then we had to find a spot for ourselves and bend forwards all the way to be able to throw up. This was the part I was a bit scared of, but Shambu explained that when you normally throw up you're ill, you have acid and you use all your energy so that's why you feel bad. This time we had an empty stomach and it was just water with salt, so it didn't hurt or taste bad at all. Still it isn't something I would do again, but the experience wasn't as bad as expected. The first technique I would use again. Especially when having a cold it is really good to open up the cavities.

On saturday we went for meditation with Samita to Butterfly beach. We got there by boat and on our way there the sunset was amazing and we even saw some dolphins! At the beach we sat in a big circle and had a really nice meditation.

On sunday we had a relaxing day and later I went with Yulia and Neha to Palolem again. We had some food at Healthy Haven, but for desert we went to Zest again.



Third week of YTTC:

This week they changed the schedule a bit. We were all super tired from 5 hours of yoga everyday without a break. Now we have meditation/pranayama at 6:30-7:00 then morning asanas at 7:00-9:00 and then we have an extra hour before having class again at 11:00. It made a big difference! There's lots we have to study and now we have to start preparing for both written and practical exams.

I've hurt my shoulder a bit and now I can't do all the postures and it makes me a bit angry with myself. I guess I have to learn to listen better to my body because I normally just keep going with or without pain. Now this is the result.. I hope it gets better soon.

We had partner class one day and childrens' class another. It was really fun! With partner class we had to form groups of 2 and they showed us what poses you could do in pairs. With childrens' class they showed us how to make yoga interesting for kids by playing games or making up stories with the use of asanas. So we did that as well. We all felt like kids and it was super fun as well.

Another thing we did this week: Shambu gave us homework to make some kind of song or poem to remember the Yama's and Niyama's (some yoga theories we have to know). One of the girls ended up making a whole song with dance and everything. She then tought all of us and we performed it in front of Shambu during class. We formed a big circle around him. He got super happy! :D

On sunday I woke up really early. Breakfast would start at 9:00 and that was still almost 2 hours away! I saw Yulia was up as well, so we decided to go to the other beach. It was low tide, so we could reach it easily. Apart from the last rock, I thought the water was shallow since it was very close to the sand. I was wrong, when I jumped in, the water came until my waist and my clothes got all wet. No problem. We kept going after Yulia found another way to get there without making the same mistake haha. The beach was so amazing. There was almost nobody. There were no shops or accomodations either. We walked all the way to the end where a river came out into the sea. It was really beautiful!
During the day we just relaxed on the beach. In the evening we took Neha to the other beach. This time it was high tide, so we had to climb over the rocks. Again we walked all the way until the end. It's such an amazing walk, away from everything and it really is so close from where we stay.
When we came back we went for dinner at a place called "Cuba" The food was really good (Indian food though, not cuban) and they had bolsters to sit on. We almost fell asleep there after we finished our food.



Fourth week of YTTC:

Because yesterday we had rest, my shoulder is much better now. On monday was the last evaluation and also the last classes. After that we were "free", but really we needed this time to study and prepare for practical exams. They started on wednesday and ours was on thursday. Everyone was busy studying and practicing all day.

Neha and Yulia had their practicum together on thursday in the morning. We had it in the evening. Because we all passed, we decided to get ourselves a treat in Palolem. We went to Little world this time, because we heard the deserts there were good too. Samantha came with us as well (she was part of the Hatha group that I was in).

On friday, there was an aerial yoga class at La La Land (a resort at the other side of the beach). Neha, Yulia and I went there together. We knew it was gonna be tight for our schedule, but we really wanted to do it. It was really fun and I would definitely try this back at home too. When it finished, we had to run back to Lotus Oasis. We just got back in time for the practicum.

On saturday morning we had our written exams. It was actually very easy. Most questions were multiple choice and I think we studied enough these last few days. Everyone passed! To celebrate, we all went to a restaurant in Agonda called "Jojolapa". They had good food and it was nice to get together like this!
I did discover an even better ice cream here: Hello to the queen. It's the best dessert I ever had I think! Vanilla ice cream with nuts, cookies, chocolat and banana. SO YUMMY! I'm so sad I found out about this thing just now.. The next day I went for one last time to Palolem with the girls and we had one more though. I'm definitely gonna make this at home.

On sunday we had the fire ceremony and then they gave out the certificates. I think everyone had mixed feelings. It's so nice to finish and to get the trofee (certificate) for what we've worked so hard. We all learned, spoke, ate and breathed yoga together for an entire month, so we got really close with each other. And now it's time to separate and live our own lives again.
I do hope we all stay in touch. I already told Yulia I would visit her in Istanbul and I most definitely will!

It was an amazing experience and both the other students and the teachers made this a moment in my life that I'll always cherish.

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