Giving Thanks in Rishikesh

November 24, 2011

We're all on a journey of our own, yet we are one of the same universe. We all want the same thing in life - happiness. Contentment. Some can only see as far as material wealth, others are seeking beyond and sometimes too far. Some don't seek. They just are. The biggest lesson I've learned and am desperately trying to adopt in the last couple years of intensive yoga courses is that of gratitude. Eckart Tolle says, "If the only prayer you said in your whole life was , "Thank you", that would suffice." I found that quote in The Times of India, a local newspaper I happened to pick up at Mukhti cafe around Omkarananda ashram after a rigorous yoga practice with Usha Devi that saw me sweating going through just 5 poses in two hours. Being a long time jogger, I always thought I had pretty strong legs. This morning's yoya practice proved me wrong as I got slapped several times on my thighs for not being able to straighten and tighten my quads into the bones enough. How do I find thanks in that moment when from already fighting to recall that prayer with repeated one leg lifts in uttanasan, Usha tells us to lift both hands into Virabhadrasana III and my legs already feel like marshmellows?

After class, while having my oatmeal with fruits breakfast at Mukhti, an Indian couple from Bombay sits down across me and I can't help myself from asking them their purpose for being in Rishikesh. They are actually staying at Omkarananda largely here as tourists. Neither do yoga, something they agreed Indians take for granted as it's quite profusely in your face, especially here in Rishikesh. I suppose it's like the Microsoft syndrome in Seattle, so I've heard, where most locals don't own PC's. Or like the fact that I've never bothered visiting Alcatraz after having lived in San Francisco for nearly 12 years! The young Indian lady, amazingly, had also just left her job from disillusionment in the corporate world and mass media manipulations. She was in the public relations and advertising field. Interestingly, she worked for an organization that combatted the likes of Navdanya, an India-based organic seed bank outfit I just learned about from another yoga student in Rajpur who is currently attending its conference. To find some respite, the Bombay lady just completed a 10 day Vippasana meditation introductory course, and is thinking of teaching ethics at college preparatory programs as her future work.

After breakfast, I sat in a 1-hour lecture on Bhagavad Gita back at Omkarananda where the gentleman spoke of the first chapter on the yoga of depression and anxiety and how we all go through them. It is through these times of pain that urges us to seek and hopefully find spirituality in our lives. In that plight, I return to the studio early this evening for my self-practice, all jello-like. I am deeply thankful for being able to be here, in India, on my yogic journey. And most grateful for all the people who've helped make this possible! Happy Thanksgiving, y'all! x, ~magi.