Take me with you, Tara: India

This past Sunday was a "moonday" (in the Ashtanga tradition, we do not practice on either the full or new moon), so everyone who was practicing with Sharath had 2 days off in a row. So, I decided to venture out for another trip with the folks over at GoMowgli, this time for a 2-day trip to the neighboring district of Coorg. The main focus of this trip was a trek through the hills to climb up the tallest peak in the district, Tadiandamol, at an elevation of 1,748 meters (about 5,700 feet). As I've mentioned in previous posts, having access to nature is really important to me and I have been known to spend 5, 6 or 7 hours at a time wandering around in the woods (or desert when I am back in Arizona). After the last trip when I got my first view of the beautiful Coorg countryside, I was eager to go back and see it some more. So, when GoMowgli posted that they would be leading a 6 hour trek in Coorg, I was totally game. Ironically, despite a beautiful start to the trip, this trek actually turned out to not being my favorite trip with the GoMowgli people.

What I loved: winding through the Coorg hills on the bus, still enchanted by the site of the lush forests and fields of coffee plants; sitting in the back of a "no frills" Jeep and getting jostled around as we climbed over narrow, rough and rocky roads, watching the landscape pass by from the open back; walking the couple of kilometers up to the lodge where we were staying the night, all of us completely mesmerized by the wonder and beauty of the rising full moon (we all kept stopping to just stare at the moon, it was so beautiful) and enchanted by the sights and sounds of the forest--have you ever stood in the middle of a circuit of bats jetting back and forth between their nest and a food source? I have. And let me tell you, if you are quiet enough, you can hear the subtle flap of their wings, and between that sound and their quick, almost invisible, movement, it was like standing in the middle of swarm of ghosts. The place we stayed at (Honey Valley Homestay) was far into the hills of Coorg, away from all the sounds and busy-ness of the city,

view from the porch of our rooms

with several friendly dogs that live there but have the freedom to come and go as they please and often accompany people on the hikes into the hills.

This sweet girl ended up being our companion during our hike. We decided to give her the name of "Short Round," as she is tiny but clever, tough and full of spunk and energy, just like her namesake from "Indian Jones"

The homestay also had minimal outside lights, a small library, good food and a fantastic view of the moon rising over the hills. We, again, had a nice small group on this trip and, again, we all ended up feeling like close friends by the time the trip was finished. So, with all these wonderful things, what happened that made this trip less favorable for me than the others. Well, honestly, mostly poor planning on my part, as well as me neglecting the reason hiking is so important to me. The other thing? It is the beginning of summer over here, and a vast majority of the hike was out in the sun, through what is now, a lot of dry grass and brush. Also, this hike was very long, it felt like it was probably close to 13 kilometers, though the distance is an approximation because I did not know the trail that we were on.

All of which leads me to my poor preparation. Normally when I go out hiking in Boston, I bring one, maybe two bottles of water and rarely drink both of them, sometimes not even one, even during the summer time and even during the times that I am out for 5-7 hours at a time. I also don't usually eat much when I am out hiking, because my body is on the move and eating actually feels more tiring. I also never wear a hat and often put on very little sunscreen. Yes, I know--bad lady. So, I did the same thing here: I only brought along one 8 ounce water bottle for the hike and some dried fruits. No hat, minimal water and I forgot to even bring my sunscreen--and yes, GoMowgli did tell us to bring a hat, sunscreen and plenty of water and food. Well, what do you think happened with this recipe? If you guessed sunburn, you would be correct. Albeit a very amusing one, as I was wearing capri yoga pants and a short-sleeved shirt--which actually spared the rest of my body from getting fried, that and being able to use someone else's sunscreen. I was also thoroughly exhausted by the end of the hike. I drank very little water, even though it was very hot, but thankfully, the guides from GoMowgli brought some oranges, so that gave me both some liquid and energy. I think it's actually quite amazing that I did not get heat stroke or something, given how little I took care of myself during this hike. Perhaps my body remembers what it was like to live and run in the desert of Arizona? (side note: yay Merrel for making awesome barefoot trail shoes. I did not feel a single sharp edge of a rock and the light-weight shoes are a blessing on hikes, as is being able to be "barefoot" during hot temperatures, not mention being able to be "barefoot" makes balance so much easier).

Either way, this hike also did something else, other than just leaving me feeling quite exhausted and weary of the sun--it revealed exactly how much the Ashtanga practice is doing for my body. Any time I start lamenting about how much I miss really using my legs, and worry about them losing strength, remind me of this time, when, after a month and a half of only doing the Ashtanga practice (and not even my full Intermediate practice, which has a lot of leg-strengthening postures), and much less walking around and climbing up and down all the stairs that I used to encounter every day just from living in Boston, my legs carried me over around 13 kilometers of hilly and rocky terrain in what was probably around 90 degree heat--with the crux of the hike (the tallest peak) being at the very end of the hike. Remind me also of how my feet carried me over these hills, after the practice helped to heal and strengthen them after years of stress from running. My breathing was also strong and steady and my body automatically kept an even and steady pace--there really was not much thinking on my part, my brain was too tired from the heat for that, lol (although, to be fair, some of that also comes from my background in distance running). My Sanskrit language teacher, Laksmish, likes to tell us about an analogy regarding the keys on a harmonium. He refers to the black keys as being the unpleasant, painful or "bad" times and the white keys as being the pleasant, joyful or "good" times, and he notes that, while playing the harmonium, you cannot have a melody, or song, using only the black keys or only the white keys, you have to use both. The analogy, thus, being that in life you cannot have only pleasant times, as we all say that we wish we could, because it would not be a complete experience, or song, you have to have unpleasant experiences as well.

So, even though this was not my favorite trip with GoMowgli and I finished that day feeling weary and hot and mildly annoyed with the experience, the days since have given me more time to see how the seemingly "unpleasant" experiences in this trip really only added knowledge to the experience from a different angle, highlighting all of the things that serve me so well in my life right and has given me a more clear of exactly how they support me. The Ashtanga practice is my base, giving my body and mind so much strength, focus and balance. It also shed some clarity on exactly what it is about India that draws me to this country. Yes, of course, the landscape here is beautiful and unique, but, for me, it is nature within the context of this culture that really distinguishes it from other natural places. Usually, after my last two trips with GoMowgli, I return to the Gokulam neighborhood (where I am staying) feeling even more connected to this country and its people. This time, I did not. And that has nothing to do with how this trip was run, it simply has to do with what connects me to this place, as I think all of us that travel here have our own things that draw us to this country. For me, it is the culture, the people, the history and religion and spirituality, and those things in combination with the natural surroundings that pull me here. This trip has shown me that, because there was much less interaction with the people and exploration of culture, simply because that was not the focus of this trip, the hike itself was the primary focus.

As for how hiking fits into my life--the hiking is best as a solo experience for me. Yes, I know--everyone says, "don't go hiking by yourself." But the hiking is like my "outdoor yoga"--it is not just a physical exercise, it is something that I do to disconnect from the outside, social world for a while and reconnect with the peace, beauty and simplicity that is so easily accessible out in nature. As Sharath noted during one of the conferences here, there is a reason that all of the ancient yogis went to the Himalayas and the forests--going deep into nature and away from humans, meditation comes naturally, so half of the work of their meditation was already done for them ;-) And for me, it is very hard for me to find that when I am hiking with people. I usually walk much slower during my solo hikes, just naturally moving much slower and taking time to stop and soak in the experience. But during this last hike, I found myself moving faster than I would on my own just to try and get further away from the group, away from people. It had nothing to do with the specific people that I was with, they were all kind and friendly people, but what I was really craving was to be out in nature by myself. After I have been able to spend several hours out in nature, by myself, I find it easier and less draining to be around people. Ironically, hiking does not usually make my Ashtanga practice feel worse by giving me tight muscles, if anything it actually makes it feel stronger and more stable, especially with regards to my back bending practice. I know I said that the Ashtanga practice does keep my legs strong, even though it is sometimes hard to tell, but there is something about hiking out in nature and getting to scramble and climb over the rocks of a terrain that connects me to my legs in a way that just going for long walks in the city or walking up and down stairs cannot even come close to achieving. Every time I come back to my practice the day after a hike, my legs feel more awake and it feels like I can really feel and access them when I am standing up from and dropping down into my back bends. And, because I can really feel the strength and stability coming from my legs, the back bending is easier because it feels like I can more easily relax the upper body because it feels like I have more support coming from my legs. So in the days following a hike, my back bends feel easier and deeper than they do when I have gone for a long time without going out for a hike.

Of course, I don't know the terrain here, so the only way I can really go out hiking here is to go with a group. All of that being said, the terrain in the hills of Coorg is breath-taking, even in the dry summertime (I can only imagine how beautiful it must look at the end of the rainy season, with the hills much more green and all of the streams and waterfalls flowing with water). And, as always, the GoMowgli guides not only knew the area, but they also truly cared for it, picking up trash along the way and eventually carrying out 3 full bags of other people's trash

one of our guides (a native of the Coorg area) picking up trash at one of the streams that we stopped at

So, many thanks, again, to the people at GoMowgli for organizing trips like this for us and for sharing your country and culture with us :-)

And, without further ado, pictures :-)

some of the landscape at the beginning of the hike

one of our guides leading the way and searching out his landmarks

You see that dark grey and white patch in the middle of the picture, just above the trees? During the rainy season, I am told that it is actually a beautiful waterfall

That peak is Tadiandamol--still a long ways off at this point, I'd say that we were maybe about halfway

"Kaa" (his GoMowgli nickname) perfectly at home in his home region

finally starting on the path to ascend the peak

view of the hills that we trekked over to get to the peak

going through a little walk in the jungle--with "natural stair cases"

Finally, at the top of Tadiandamol

I have no idea what was so funny--possibly thinking about how crazy my hair must look at this point ;-)

Short Round (aka "Shortie") joining me for a photo op

Heading back down the mountain--where I finally got some alone exploring time, since I knew the path this time

And, one last shot of our faithful doggy side-kick, because she really made this hike special--waiting for the people in the back of our group to catch up, sometimes scouting ahead, being adorable with her need to be up on the highest surface whenever we stopped and for just being a great companion during a long and strenuous hike--did I mention that she also ran after the Jeep when we got to the end? We tried to get her to go in the Jeep, but she would not, so she followed after us all the way to the point where the road split back to the lodge. Thank you for coming and staying with us Shortie ;-)

Last week, I finally got to spend some time exploring outside what one of my roommates and I like to call the “Gokulam bubble” (Gokulam is the neighborhood of Mysore that I live in and where the shala is located). Gokulam is a great little neighborhood with many stores, vendors and restaurants familiar with Western students coming to the area to study yoga, so many things that people need are not more than a 15 minute walk away. But, that can all start to feel claustrophobic after a while and I had been feeling eager to get outside of the city and away from all of the Western influences.

My first opportunity came when my roommate took me to a lake more towards the center of the city. Not too far from Gokulam by scooter (about a 10-15 minute ride, depending on traffic), but far enough away to feel like I was actually getting to see another part of the city. By the way, I have now gotten to ride on a scooter three times and I am starting to believe that India is best seen on the back of a scooter (or at least the streets, lol). It reminded me of the first time that I went kayaking, you are just so much closer to everything—other cars, scooters, rickshaws and the elements (wind, sun, etc…well, no, actually just wind and sun right now, lol). I thought it would be scary because Indian driving is insane, but it was exhilarating and so much fun! And my roommate is a very good driver, having 3 months of experience here before he took me over to the lake. I was also concerned about being closer to the exhaust from the cars, but it was not as bad as it is in a rickshaw, I think because you are partially enclosed in a rickshaw, so the exhaust gets trapped a little bit back there with you. On the back of a scooter, you might get a little blast of exhaust as you scoot by someone, but then it dissipates easy, no problem.

Anyways, back to the lake. The name of the lake is Kukkarahalli Lake. It’s your typical city lake with a 4 kilometer path around it (about 2.5 miles), where you are able to experience some more nature but can still hear all the sounds of the city around you. You have your people out for their daily exercise walk—housewives, students, businessmen still in their work shirts, pants and dress shoes (lol)—a handful of couples out for an evening stroll, there were even have some joggers out there attempting to run in the heat and humidity, many even had their headphones on! But, of course, there are some differences: many of the women walking around either wore kurtas (long tunic-style tops) and some were even doing the walk around the path in their saris and dress sandals! Most of the people I saw jogging did not wear fancy athletic shoes, just your “run of the mill” sneakers. And, of course, the plants and wildlife were different, with the ubiquitous cow never far from view :-)