Uttar Khand: "Mooooooooove and Stretch Here"

Part 3: Uttar Khand: "Mooooooooove and Stretch Here" 

In this next chapter, we will be going through our travels in the Himilayan foot hill region of India known as Uttar Khand.  One of the challenges that we have had with our time in India has been that in each place we have gone we have ended up staying longer than we anticipated!  The flexibility has been great, and has resulted in us reformulating plans/ideas which has been an adventure in its own right.

From Varanasi we had to make it up to the Rishikesh area to spend a week at an ashram doing yoga.  This meant another train journey.  This journey was twenty hours long and the train was of a different standard than we expected.  There were significantly fewer chaiwallas (no chaiwallas), and no snacks to be had for the entirety of the journey.  We also got sick on the train… not with gastrointestinal issues however, rather we both managed to

catch colds and were racked with respiratory and sinus distress! 
The lack of chai and burgeoning illness ended with us arriving in another holy city; Haridwar.  We arrived at 3:30 in the morning, and then took a bus and a tuk-tuk to get within the vicinity of the ashram.  We crossed a suspension bridge on foot and then discovered it was approximately 2-15 kilometers to the ashram on a winding mountain road (the distance varied depending on who you asked).  The town was silent, only slowly waking and the air was still.  We decided to hike in, and had an absolutely beautiful and peaceful walk ending at the ashram Phool Chatti as the sun was rising that ended up being around 6km.  During our walk we were invited into a ladies home for chai, and for the first time our trip there seemed to be no hidden agenda and we just gave a small donation for the nourishing nectar.

Our time at Phool Chatti was phenomenal.  The ashram (another name for spiritual home) has been open to spiritual seekers and pilgrims for over 120 years.  The ashram itself is nestled on the banks of the Ganges river (The goddess Maa Ganga), and we had a room where you could hear the roar of the river at night and look up to see the stars flipped in the sky from what we see at home.  The ashram is a self-contained series of buildings and garden areas with a rooftop terrace to eat meals on.  The energy of the space was very peaceful and the group we were with during the course was small.  We were grateful to our teachers, Lalitaji and Prashanti, for sharing with us some of their wisdom.

While the disciplined routine of the ashram and the information of the eight limbs of classical ashtanga yoga was not new to Michelle, it was new to Thomas.  For those of you that know Thomas, he is an avid racquet sport enthusiast, farmer and beer connoisseur.  It is safe to say that yoga is still in its beginning phases of relationship with him.  The course provided a broad introductory experience in the eight limbs of yoga and ashram life.  It was a pleasure to be there together, sharing in silence and learning and refreshing on the philosophy and practice of yoga.  While challenging in some ways, it was a beneficial experience that we are likely to repeat in some form.  Besides the schedule, we’ll leave the summary at that. If you’d like to hear more about our individual experiences feel free to ask more the next time you see us.  There was of course no internet, phone (sorry in our disconnecting we took very few photos) or meat and we were happy for that.  In addition to the human ashram dwellers, there were langour monkeys, a pair of German Shepherds (vegetarian), a chubby pug (also vegetarian), chinchillas and carrier pigeons.  

The schedule of each day was approximately the same… Silence during all meals and from technically from 2100-1300, and outside of that mindful speech only.  The food was incredible.

Wake up bell at 0530 (sometimes getting up earlier for own time to sit, read, walk etc)

Morning meditation 0600-0630 

Chanting 0630-0645

Shatkarma (yogic cleansing, during this course only jal netti was taught) 0645-0700

Pranayama (breathing exercise) 0700-0715

Hatha Yoga (yoga asana, physical practice of yoga) 0715-0845

Breakfast (and chai!) on the rooftop 0900

Karma Yoga (selfless service, doing tasks for the betterment of others and the ashram) 1000-1030

Meditative Walk (sometimes to the Ganga for bathing, sometimes up hills to waterfalls etc) 1030-1230

Lunch (and chai!!) on the rooftop 1230

Then some free time.  One could walk, read, sleep etc.

Lecture and Discussion 1500-1600 (although it often went longer as the group was very engaged)

More yoga asana 1600-1730

Pranayama again 1730-1745

Temple Pooja at sunset

Chanting and Kirtan after Pooja

Dinner (and chai!!!) at 1930

Guided meditation from 2030- 2100 (which would continue for some until 2300)

On the last evening we had a special fire ceremony and then a campfire in the evening with everyone sharing a song from their country.  Michelle re-vamped the moose song from summer camp (...there was a great big moose who liked to drink a lot of juice.)

So overall a simple and beautiful time for self contemplation and a more disciplined schedule.  We left grateful and really not wanting to leave, and the food and chai was lovely.  We continue with some morning Sadhana practice learned there, which has really helped us remain grounded (until Jaipur, but we won’t spoil the surprise yet!).

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After the Ashram we were jonesing for some internet as we both had work related emails we felt we NEEDED to access and had no idea what had been happening in cyber world.  So after seven days we left the Ashram and planned to stay one night in Laxman Jhula area of Rishikesh.  We were happy for the lesson learned that there was nothing overly important or pressing waiting on our devices when we got back to them.  An important reminder that the world does not revolve around internet access and connectivity in that way.  In Rishikesh we stayed at an awesome little hotel owned by the sweetest and  most genuine family—we loved it so much we stayed two extra days (which changed our up coming plans slightly, but that was fine.  We’ll catch other things on our next trip).  We fell into an easy rhythm in the low key energy of Rishikesh, enjoying slow mornings and lovely walks throughout town during the day.  Oh, and the food was excellent.

We enjoyed our first non indian meal of the trip--yoga hippie salads and refreshing beverages in a spa like restaurant. Then back to the Indian food!

No meat or eggs in the whole town, which is pretty cool.  Also no beer or any other alcohol.



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Next join us for our tales of our time in Haridwar (brief) and Sri Ram Ashram....