It’s been 3 weeks since we’ve returned from India and I just wanted to share with you what happened when I embraced every experience during my time there, when I told my ego to go take a ride and I went deep into the world of yoga.
When I visited India for the 1st time 12 years ago I couldn’t wait to leave. I was poorly and weak physically and mentally and I just felt overwhelmed. Of course, I believed that it was all India’s fault and had nothing to do with my attitude, which quite frankly used to stink at times!
Over time, I slowly started to discover yoga and last year attended a yoga retreat in Ibiza with Swami Shiva Shankar. I instantly fell under the spell of his teachings and practice. They just resonated with me.
When he told us that he was organizing a one month trip of yoga and travel round India, I really wanted to follow him but was apprehensive about returning to India.
However, my dear friend Elena, a veteran of study and travel around India, persuaded me that we should embark on the trip.
This time though I went without the expectations I had the first time; I wanted to be there to experience it, to take it in and not to judge or be angry that things didn’t work the way I thought they should.
And the trip just blew me away.
From the unbelievable crowds, colours and energy of the Kumbh Mela to coming face to face with life and death in Varanasi, from adjusting to predawn wake up calls to following in the footsteps of the great sages in the Himalayas, the trip was a wakeup call for all my senses.
Through Shiva’s guidance and yoga practice I found myself relaxing, letting go, surrendering – and the response from mother India was incredible.
As we learned about the customs, traditions and everyday life in India, the country that I had once told myself I would never return to started to open up to me in ways I could never have imagined; and I started to see the magic everywhere.
The transformation was happening on a physical level too as I felt myself becoming stronger, more flexible, more in tune with myself.
I became deeply immersed in the world of yoga and I was hooked.
But I was also concerned about whether or not I would realistically be able to maintain my practice once I returned to the reality of life in Ibiza- and I am so happy to say that I have. When something makes you feel good and positive it isn’t a chore, it’s a pleasure. So I will continue to give this time to myself each morning so that I can take my awareness and positive intentions with me when I step off the mat.
Thank you to Shiva, Elena and all my travel companions on this transformational trip of self-discovery; it was a hell of a ride!
And thank you India for your wisdom and beauty, I cannot wait to return!
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