Hi Everyone, I graduated from my Yoga Teacher's training course and ashram life after a month! What a transforming experience. Integrating back into "real" life will be rather interesting. I feel I should continue longer at the ashram, but mom is arriving so must move on to the chaos of Delhi and the next leg of my journey here. Mom arrived safe and sound after a mishap with her flight and a delay. I found her at the airport still in once piece. We stayed in the chaotic and rather questionable part of town in Delhi, but I wanted mom to experience the life of high energy India. We took a train to Jaipur which was nice. The journey on train is smooth after I insisted mom reduce her baggage to one suitcase...she brought two! SO ... read more

Rishikesh…the Mother Ganges and Sivananda Kutir, Om Namah Sivaya, Hari Om, Ram, Ram Jai Ram, Namaste, Where do I begin…this eclectic, high, yet calm energy paradise is a must see and experience pilgrimage. To the ignorant and uninformed this place is a “freak” show of wanderers and aimlessly lost souls, to those who have an interest in Hinduism or Eastern philosophy and know the sacredness of this place, it is holy. Everything that happens along the banks of the great Ganga has a purposeful intention behind it. The intention of a worshipper might vary, but in the end seekers and pilgrims congregate here to heal any separation from the divine. There is a seriousness about devotion here I have not ever seen. I have found myself in a very devotional state here. I bow my head ... read more

Mussoorie…Queen of the Hills Mussoorie is a nice hill station located above the Doon Valley. The air is cooler here and of course damper. Everything is damp…a situation I most dislike about India…the humidity and the musty, mold and black filth it creates. It cannot be healthy…I know for a fact, I have been battling dark circles under my eyes and this is most likely due to the mold spores in the air. Again there is no use of bleach nor heaters to dry places out so mold grows and grows…it seeps into everything. Mussoorie offers incredible vistas of the valley. It was a British get away during the British occupation here so there are still remnants of this in terms of International Schools, Language Schools, Christian Churches and British “palaces.” There is even a bust ... read more

Well, I made it to Dehradun after a 10 hour bus ride from Amritsar on a government bus…always an experience. Again, I had to endure immense amounts of staring and curiosty which is unnerving. I just ignored it as best I could instead of doing what my alterego wants to do sometimes and that is scream, “What are you looking at? Do you want to know something? Do you know it’s rude to stare? Do I have snot hanging from my nose? If you have a question, then ask it, don’t just stare!! Goddamn it!” I have once or twice stared a few people down just so they “got a piece of their own medicine,” but this is not the most harmonious approach, nor the type of person I want to be. Plus, I think this ... read more

Home Sweet Ancestral Home, This past few days has been an emotional journey. Truthfully speaking, I wanted to put the visit to my father’s villages off until I had overcome the culture shock here in India…and so this is what I have done. The last thing I wanted was to be shocked at the conditions of the poor in India and transfer this to the plight of my dad in the village. I was extremely fearful of this and reluctant to visit the villages too early in my journey before I had desensitized myself to India in general. I have been coaching myself for this part of the trip for many, many months. I have been reminding myself that my emotions are true and I can express them, yet I need not have an attachment ... read more