Pune, at last! It's a long trip but it went with relative ease. Thanks to my dear husband for upgrading me to Business Class with his frequent flyer miles on the 15 hour leg from Newark to Mumbai. To be able to lie relatively flat and sleep a bit made all the difference. Plus there was room enough to do a bit of yoga. I rested, sort of sleeping, overnight in Mumbai before getting up at 4:00 a.m. local time and did both pranayama and asana. That helped immensely to relieve the disorienting effects of travel. Yesterday I made the short trip to Pune manging to stay awake until 7:00 p.m. and sleeping through until 5:00 this morning. So I am getting on track with the local time zone. Today I meet my friend, Lisa, at the Chetak Hotel where we will stay until we can move into our apartment on Tuesday.
Conversations have been delightful! It's interesting how readily people begin to speak of the spiritual when I say I am here to study yoga. At the Mumbai airport, a woman with deep, soulful eyes said to me that to keep the body healthy is a prerequisite to nourish the soul. But not to become attached to it otherwise suffering ensues. After asking me what time I wake in the morning, she encouraged me to try 4:00 a.m. as the best time for meditation. A gentleman on the shuttle bus spoke to me about his pranayama practice and why this was so important for the life force within us. Another proudly showed me his ring with a Christian cross on it. Others have politely tried to figure out where West Virginia is and the mostly young men working for foreign companies have shared with me their visits to the U.S.: Jacksonville, Florida, the Grand Canyon (evoking a WOW!), New York City, and incredibly Brainerd Minnosota where it snowed during his May visit. At breakfast today the restaurant manager said he lives near the Iyengar Institute next to the mall. I told him there was no mall at my last visit ten years ago. He said there are lots of changes which I am about to go investigate.
Conversations have been delightful! It's interesting how readily people begin to speak of the spiritual when I say I am here to study yoga. At the Mumbai airport, a woman with deep, soulful eyes said to me that to keep the body healthy is a prerequisite to nourish the soul. But not to become attached to it otherwise suffering ensues. After asking me what time I wake in the morning, she encouraged me to try 4:00 a.m. as the best time for meditation. A gentleman on the shuttle bus spoke to me about his pranayama practice and why this was so important for the life force within us. Another proudly showed me his ring with a Christian cross on it. Others have politely tried to figure out where West Virginia is and the mostly young men working for foreign companies have shared with me their visits to the U.S.: Jacksonville, Florida, the Grand Canyon (evoking a WOW!), New York City, and incredibly Brainerd Minnosota where it snowed during his May visit. At breakfast today the restaurant manager said he lives near the Iyengar Institute next to the mall. I told him there was no mall at my last visit ten years ago. He said there are lots of changes which I am about to go investigate.
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