a days' adventures

Goddess bless, technology is co-operating today. Fingers crossed for video downloads.
Well, today I woke up off my straw filled mattress (for real!), washed my face and tripped down to the yoga hall for morning meditation, light yoga and breathwork. Afterwards, I took 2 pairs of pants up to the tailors, whom I stumbled across yesterday, to get them hemmed. The cost: 30 rupees for both hemmings. In canadian funds that works out to about.... 75 cents!! it is amazing. some things are tremendously inexpensive, like this hemming the pants... and my consultation with the doctor in Madras. not everything is cheap, sometimes prices are very inflated for foreigners.
I stopped at the post office on my way down the hill to inquire about sending a box to canada. i was invited into right into the back office where they then told me that "parcel service is currently suspended (for whatever reason), check again much later". i still haven't figured out how long is "much later" in Indian time. I was still trying to understand how parcel service could be "suspended", as in...not available... as in...you cannot send a box. I just sent a letter and 3 postcards yesterday. But this is India, and i am learning to enjoy these little moments of puzzling communication.
I then met up with a friend i met up at the sivananda ashram and we walked up to the other part of town, about 2km, to visit a coffee shop there. A REAL coffee shop, with actual espresso. On the way, we stopped at a massage/yoga/ayurveda/therapy place and booked massages. (part of my research and personal healing quest). The coffee shop had actual pastries and cappucino on the menu. only cappucino, no lattes, no pure espressos or any other espresso drink, but i ordered a cappucino and it was good. The word "cappucino" felt funny to speak, it has been so long. I ordered a chocolate croissant also, which was fantastic. You have to appreciate.... after eating for a week, on the floor, with your hands, food that has no garlic, no onions, no spice, no salt, your taste buds get pretty darn sensative. Things like chocolate croissants and cappucinos become the stuff of daydreams.
After this delightful indulgence we strolled around a bit and talked to a couple places about massage and massage courses and were recommended a good reiki teacher who just happened to be up at the very same coffee shop we had just been to... So back up the hill we went to talk to Shanti, the German reiki master. We found her, a silver-haired wisened elder woman, sitting with an equally wise looking Indian man. They were very amicable and offered us some nice cold water to drink in the heat while we discussed business. She agreed to see me tomorrow at 3pm at her house and drew me a treasure map how to get there.
After thanking her for her graciousness (everyone tends to be so enshrouded in mysticism, grace and reverence here, it is the most intoxicating combination of qualities), we parted and walked on to meet with our massages.
My massage was one of the most disappointing. I was slathered in oil, tons of oil, and that is pretty much it. the cost was: $10cad, the going rate. I left before my friend so I didn't get a chance to ask how his was but...ya, very strange massage. It seems that she had no idea what she was doing and was very poorly trained and didn't really care anyways. so i won't be signing up for their training anytime soon.
I went straight home and showered and washed my clothes while i was at it. Ate some fruit and went for dinner.
Now i'm here.
I've been making lots of friends. People are nice here. It is easy to meet both travellers and Indians and everyone has time to chit chat or help you or exchange information. I am never alone, unless i want to be and people are so helpful.
i have had to make such an adjustment from my original plans. First because i couldn't handle the pollution and mosquitos and heat in chennai to take that course there. and now... my back has been flaring up again, so i am having to back off on the yoga for now... which is so ironic to me, because here i am in the yoga capital of the world, and i can't do yoga. i know instinctively that this is what my body needs to do to heal the fastest possible way, because i've been here before. And i am here to take my teacher training, so i need my body healthy and strong. so this is a minor setback i will be working around. all part of my education. funny too, that i want to focus on yoga "therapy" and here i am with my very own therapeutic scenario that i am being called upon to heal. hmm.
so, i am going to start with the massage courses, and i am very interested in reiki as well, a japanese healing modality. i can take certification in both of these here. And i seek out treatments or anything that can help my back heal as quickly as possible, and in this way i will embark on the same journey any person would who has a health issue and is looking for healing. so in this way i will be experiencing what my future students would be experiencing when they come to a yoga therapist for help with their health issue. verrrrry interesting.
to me, anyway,
maybe this is not so interesting to you, but i think because it is interesting to me... it is interesting to you,, in any case, you can skim over this if it is of no interest. haha.
so what i am going to do now is shop around town, talk to people, check out different courses and centres and get a couple sessions with different teachers to see how they are before i commit to their courses. in this way i should be able to choose wisely. and at the same time... give my back the time it needs.
i know what i did too... i mean... at sivananda ashram last week i pushed too hard doing sun salutations in class. i felt it coming on, and i didn't listen to my body. This is the danger of group classes, you get caught up in what everyone else is doing and you forget to listen to your own bodies' voice. very important. and a good learning for me.
and in october, a good teacher named osha is coming back into to town and she has alot of experience with therapeutic yoga, so i plan to visit her. and my yoga therapy certification starts november 11th just a short trip away from here.