Chennai Week

Just some random shots from throughout the week!

Family of FIVE on a motorbike! Christians here wear white to church,

hence the matching outfits.

The Theosophical Society in Chennai boasts the largest Banyan tree in the world. If you are unfamiliar, the branches of the tree grow out, then little shoots drop down from the branches. Those shoots attach to the ground and form another trunk. The tree just keeps spreading and spreading. It's a beautiful site to see!

I just thought this description of the Vegetable Jal Fraize was adorable.

Very typical of the English colloquialisms used here.

Lunch! Gobi Masala (Cauliflower in Indian tomato sauce) over rice with Garlic Naan bread.

Delicious but really heavy--yoga was tough after this lunch, even with a 3 hour lunch break!

There is a nice private school across the street from the KYM. The other day, I watched some boys playing. They were using a rock as the ball and a textbook as the bat! Kids always find a way to play no matter what. A nice reminder to create our own fun!

See that brown spot? That's just a huge cow resting on some garbage on the side of the road.

No big deal.

Tonight, some classmates and I are going to see some contemporary dance at the Government Museum's Theatre. I will try to sneak a few pics if I can!

xo, Suz

Nandri

Nandri means 'Thank You' in Tamil, the language spoken in this area of India. I have a lot for which to say Nandri...

Like fresh coconuts on a hot day:

Tiny bookshops with great books on Ayurveda, Yoga Philosophy, and Sanskrit

And Indian sweets!

Something I really appreciate and respect is how deeply ingrained spirituality is in daily life here. Everywhere you look, it seems, is a little shrine, a temple/church/mosque, a bumper sticker, or some other reminder of the Divine. For instance, in my friend's apartment, these are on the fridge. You find this kind of thing everywhere:

After a great but tiring week of class, three classmates and I were ready for a little respite from the chaos of Chennai. So, we headed to Mahalabipuram, a town on the coast, for an overnight stay. On the way, we stopped at Dakshina Chitra, a little village they describe as "a non-profit community service project of the Madras Craft Foundation for the promotion and preservation of the cultures of the diverse people of India with emphasis on Tamil Nadu, Keala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka." Artists from different villages in the surrounding counties have stands where they showcase their artwork and crafts. It was a really special place.

Afterwards, we checked in at the Chariot Hotel, which looked promising. We had a nice lunch and a swim in this massive pool.

When we went up to our room, though, they called us back down to the front desk, telling us that we are not allowed to stay four people in a room and that we must buy another room. Long story, blah blah blah, we left this place for another beautiful hotel that had been recommended to us called Ideal Beach Resort. We had already told Deva, our driver, that we wouldn't need to be picked up until the next day, so he went with a friend to a movie. So, we started walking to Ideal Beach. At one point, two cows were headed towards us and a motorcycle was headed towards us in another direction. Intending to go between the cows, I waited for the motorbike to pass. When I turned around to start walking between the cows, he was much closer than I anticipated. We were both a little startled but he brushed it off with a flick of his tail and I with a deep hearty laugh! We eventually found a rickshaw to take us the rest of the way to Ideal Beach, where the service was much better. We had a great evening getting to know each other over dinner and drinks. The next day, we explored the resort a little further. Ideal Beach is located on the Indian Ocean, which is beautiful. The waves and currents are rough, so we just stuck our feet in the cool water but even that was nice and refreshing in the sweltering heat!

Next, we did a little shopping. This is a picture of us at a stone carving shop where I found a great Patanjali statue!

Next, we hit up some temples.

On our way to the next temple, we saw this beautiful carving stone on the side of the road. Notice the Patanjali! (He's on a snake with a snake hood in front of the elephant).

Lastly, we hit up the Shore Temple, called so for obvious reasons.

Thanks again to our wonderful driver, Deva, who takes good care of us!

India, Land of 1000 Smells

This is the description my dear friend Noelle gave me of India and she was right on! Even in the hotel, going from room to room is a different olfactory experience! It's like a mixture of spices, body, bitter melon, and incense! Not altogether unpleasant--just different!

Day 2 was fantastic. This is a picture of my driver, Deva, who has been such a gift here in Chennai.

He picks me up every day and takes me wherever I need to go. A couple years ago, my yoga teacher and some other people from the KYM paid for a car for Deva so that he no longer had to drive a rickshaw. So now he's got a nice air-conditioned ride which is infinitely better because of street conditions like this:

and this!!!

I started my day by putting on one of my new outfits from Fab India, a great clothing store chain. I have several variations of this outfit:

It is not considered proper to show your legs or shoulders here. (You can't tell very well but I have long leggings on). Actually, you don't even see a lot of women in short sleeves! In fact, I was reading the newspapers (which are very well-written, honestly better than in the US) and read an article talking about the much-anticipated, scandalous and controversial movie scene that shows a man and a woman kissing! I read another article talking about whether a famous Bollywood actress, whose name escapes me, who is marrying a famous Bollywood film director, will or will not be acting until she gets married. Evidently her acting career is over after she gets married. So many things here make me realize how much we take for granted in the US.

Sunday morning, had a great breakfast starting with a nice Masala Chai Tea (nothing like the chain coffee shop's sugary Chai--this is thin, complex, and just a tad sweet).

Also, this was fun-- this horoscope was in the paper which I thought was spookily on the mark:

(No, JK Rowling hasn't taken on Indian newspaper astrology writing....I guess she's a Leo like me!!!).

After breakfast, we went to a gift shop where they sell beautiful figures (Gods, etc), jewelry, scarves/pashminas, fabrics, and rugs. Then we went to see a few temples.

A Ganesh temple (remover of obstacles)

A Krishna temple (Krishna's story in the Bhagavad Gita, the central text of Hinduism)

This last temple was really spectacular. This is a Shiva temple. (Shiva is the God of destruction and resurrection). I got out and walked into the temple. You leave your shoes at a little shack, then you walk through the door you see above. I immediately was struck by the similarities in many of their rituals to Catholicism. As they enter, they touch a sort of bump on the floor and touch their foreheads much like crossing oneself with Holy water....then there were many little enclaves or prayer rooms where people gathered to have a priest bless them with ashes on their foreheads:

As I walked around the temple, I got to get a better view of the intricately carved and painted roof:

Also these strange little chicken-like birds were walking around the temple:

Unfortunately, I could not go inside the temple as there were several sides that said "No Non-Hindus Allowed Inside." Oh well! I stood by the prayer candles (another similarity to Catholic churches) and gazed inside where it looked like they were chanting and dressing a god statue in flowers.

After that full day and still recovering from some jet lag, I was beat so I hit the hay early because I had the first day of class Monday morning!

School is at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram.

Every morning at 7:30, we do our asana practice in this room:

It has been interesting to see how they teach group classes here and how they sequence to build to peak poses.

After asana, we have a nice breakfast on the rooftop.

Today was a dosa, which is like a big thin potato pancake served with sambal, a chili-based condiment, and a coconut chutney--totally delicious but a little heavy for breakfast! Tomorrow, I think fruit.

After breakfast, we have Theory of Asana class, followed by Yoga Sutras and Chanting. Then we break for lunch for three hours!!! Obviously, this gives us time to nap/shop/digest before we get back into the yoga. Yesterday, I took my lunch at a restaurant at the New Woodlands Hotel. I had a 'leaf service' lunch. Basically, there is a banana leaf folded up at your seat. You open it up, pour some water on it, put your hands in the water, and rub the water around. I seriously don't know what a germaphobe would do here--talk about immersion therapy! Anyway, then they come and put globs of different foods on your leaf. The diner is meant to combine the foods and eat with their right hand (eating with the left hand is considered improper/rude/gross because most of the toilets don't have toilet paper provided--people wipe with their left hands then wash them down. I, for one, always have Kleenex with me and would sooner die. But hence the only eating with the right hand thing.) They gave me a spoon, which was nice. This was a $2 lunch and it was one of the most delicious things I've had here yet.

When we do get back to the school at 3:00, we do a pranayama (breathing) practice followed by Application of Yoga class (my favorite) and finally, meditation which actually involves lots of movements and chanting.

It is such a gift to be here in this place where the lineage I study began. The teachers are fabulous, my classmates have been wonderful--very welcoming and kind to me, and the chance to do so much yoga in a day is a special opportunity. I'm so glad that I came here to experience this place, culture, and the people.

I'm in Chennai, Trick!

Well, I'm here! It was a loooooong couple of flights but really easy, actually. I boarded the plane to Singapore Thursday night, watched a couple of movies, knocked myself out at 2 AM, woke up 8 hours later feeling fantastic, watched 3 episodes of Game of Thrones (newest obsession now!), and was there (Saturday morning!) Then I moved quickly through the Singapore airport which was pretty interesting. Huge candy stores (I suppose everyone is addicted to sugar), and odd stands like this one that was selling stuff that looked like candied beef jerky? If anyone knows what that was, please comment!

The flight to Chennai was fun. The flight attendant offered me watermelon juice, which I happily imbibed. Then, to get in the Indian mood, I ordered an authentic breakfast.

It was good! Just ate the rice and lentils...the rest was rather uninteresting.

Flying into Chennai, I was struck by what a huge city it is. Here was my view:

The airport is definitely different from any other airport I've visited. Unsurprisingly, very bare-bones. There was a huge group of dark-skinned men (nationalities unknown) who came to the city without visas trying to get tourist visas last-second. They were all pushing up against each other and waving their visa applications in the air--wild. The lines were long but I made friends with a nice Australian dude named Warren who gave me some good tips and walked with me after the immigration line out into the madness of hundreds of taxi drivers hoping to take a willing tourist for a rickshaw ride...but I quickly saw my driver, Deva, waiting for me with a smile and a sign with my name on it. What a relief! Driving through the city is complete mayhem. There is absolutely no order at all. Thankfully, they don't go that fast, so I was not scared--just fascinated. Here are a few pics:

The city's big mall, Express Avenue
One of many fruit stands

Lots of food shacks on the streets
Busy busy roads

I believe this is this woman's home. Striking poverty.

Stray dog that kept rubbing itself on whatever it could.

There are really funny street signs here! I passed them too quickly to take any photos, but they read things like, "Save Rain Water" and "Don't Spit Here."

After I checked into my hotel and showered up (Ahhhhhhh) withOUT singing in the shower, (!!!new for me!!!) Deva took me to Fab India where I bought 4 tops and 3 bottoms for $80! I will wear these when I'm here as typical American clothes aren't considered appropriate or respectful as they are mostly too tight and show a woman's form, a no-no here. I love them! They're colorful and comfortable. Then we stopped at the grocery store to guy water, Gatorade (it's really hot, so I've got to be careful), and Tide so I can handwash my clothes in the tub.

I went downstairs around 4:00 for dinner (clearly I'm not on schedule yet). I ordered carrot cinnamon soup with a little goat cheese toast and pesto fish with roasted vegetables and red pepper coulis. Not exactly authentic native cuising, but I figure I can ease into it a little....I wanted something comforting, familiar, and safe for my first dinner. And so now I am just biding time to ichat with my husband and go to bed! I'm going to try to make myself stay awake until at least 8:00 or so to try to get myself on Indian time.

Everyone so far has been very accomadating and kind. Deva is going to take me for a day of shopping tomorrow. I hope to pick up some fun jewelry, fabrics, and who-knows-what.

More to come! The adventure begins!

Suz

India, Here I Come!!!

Hello my Haute Health Hotties! I have lots of exciting news to share!

• I just completed the Yoga Therapy Rx Program at Loyola Marymount University, Levels 1 and 2. I am now a Certified Yoga Therapist. What is yoga therapy?? Yoga Therapy is a method of treatment that uses a Holistic (whole-person) Yoga model to heal injuries, diseases, and other problems physical, mental, and emotional. If you know anyone who needs yoga therapy in the LA area (and really, who doesn't!?!?), please send them to my website.
• I am about to go to the SYTAR Conference in Monterey, CA through the International Association of Yoga Therapists. Presenting are yoga therapists and medical professionals at the top of their fields doing cutting-edge, ground-breaking work with yoga in relation to health and healing.
• Right after that, I am headed off to Chennai, India (formerly known as Madras), to study at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram. This is where T Krishnamacharya himself (the Grandfather of Hatha Yoga) lived and taught. His son, TKV Desikachar and his Grandson, Dr. Kausthub Desikachar still live and teach. This is where yoga therapy really started as well. This place is the 'Mothership' studio of the yoga which I practice and teach these days. I will be studying Asana (poses), Pranayama (breath work), Meditation, Chanting, the Yoga Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita. I will be there for a little over three weeks and will be blogging about my experience while I am there. If you'd like to be notified when I post, please follow my blog (just add your email address on the home page), Like me on Facebook, and/or follow me on Twitter. It's going to be a life-changing trip for sure and I am delighted that I will be able to share all that I will be learning and experiencing with all of you!