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 [View Full Entry]

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Om Namah Sivaya Blessed Friends and Family: I am off to the ashram and yoga teacher training course for a month. I will have no internet or contact with outside world. Blessings to everyone... Om Shanti, Pamela Leila general Information: http://www.dlshq.org/ http://www.sivananda.org/ this is where I will be and what I will be doing: http://www.sivananda.org/uttarkashi/ VIDEO http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsilUNlM1YM [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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For you Sweetheart....I so wish you were here in body..I feel your spirit with me always. Will write blog later....a little busy at the Sivananda Kutir...so much to do...so little time. Hatha Yoga, Kirtan and Puja at the temple are all at the same time...how does one choose? [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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Happy 54th Birthday Baba! In the morning today, I went to Ram Rai Darbar …a temple and mausoleum. Ram Rai was the son of the 7th Sikh guru Har Rai but was excommunicated from him. Ram formed his own order and there are still schools and hospitals run by this organization. His four, yes four! wives tombs are here. It is a set of beautiful buildings and gardens, and of course the Rai part was of great significance for me. Later, I went back to Baba’s ashram and the birthday celebrations had begun. The day before everyone was getting ready decorating [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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The Village of the Peacock…Moranwali, Today Saroop and Maina took me to the village I have heard the most of since I was little. Sychronistically, today is Sept 14, my dad’s and his twin sister’s birthday. On the way to Moranwali, we picked up a few boxes of sweets for the occasion and as an offering to our hosts in the village. It was again a very emotional day…more so than yesterday. We started out quite early and headed towards Horshiarpur, then Garshankar. Of course when I ride in a vehicle here in India, my eyes are peeled and my focus [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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Amritsar Days, The last week or so, I have been going out shopping and looking around town. I have become used to the city somewhat; however, I need to psyche myself up a lot to go out…one to battle the heat and two, to battle the language barrier and staring.-I even bought a pair of sunglasses just so eye contact was reduced. I have gone to a few shops here…one very expensive one where I cannot bring my self to buy anything because the prices are higher than at home, one cheaper place called Vishal, which would be akin to like [View Full Entry]

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