Deep Thought Days....... (Dec 8-9)

We spent the next couple of days basically eating, doing yoga and hanging out. We've just realized we're almost at the end of our trip! END!?! What do you mean end!? Didn't we just get here??? In some ways it feels like we've been gone for months and months, in others it feels like we only left yesterday.

We went to some more yoga at the ashram and checked out the place a bit more thoroughly. The yoga classes are great! In one of the classes the teacher did an interesting twisting version of both parighasana and virabadrasana I where you were trying to get your head on the floor (hard to describe, even harder to do!) On the third night we had one of the younger teachers who asked the class what they were in the mood for. (I should have said savasana!) One woman called out power! And that's exactly what we got. We had to hold the poses for longer than usual which, for some of them, is really challenging. (The teacher joked we'd want an extra chipati after this class). chataranga dandasana and urdva mukha svanasana - I was shaking! in uttanasana he jokingly told us to "smile... enjoy your pain". Funny guy!

This ashram is offering a four week teacher training in February that we have been considering. The accommodations are described as "spartan". I'd say that's a bit of an understatement. The rooms have two beds and a cupboard, you share a bathroom (with a geyser shared between two bathrooms) and a kitchen (which is just a counter and sink). The mattress pads are definitely well worn. For India, the place is nice and clean and relatively comfortable. So it seems a bit unreasonable that they are charging North American prices. We may have to do some further investigation I guess.

With time marching forward, we spent a good deal of time talking, discussing, planning, brain storming (oops, I mean thought showering), and strategizing. What or where might be next on the agenda. We have no shortage of ideas and I guess at some point we'll have to pick a direction and strike out on our path. The great thing is, as we've already learned, there are branches along the way you can take or, you can just change direction and take an entirely new road altogether!

We discovered this amazing little cafe called Mukti's Health Food Oasis. It's run by a husband and wife with their two sons and is tucked away in a corner near the autorickshaw stand. It only has six tables but, if its full, you just squeeze in and make new friends with someone. All the food is made fresh as soon as you order (including the soup) and the pumpkin soup is to die for! I ate it every day!! They even have apple pie with a whole wheat crust. Outstanding! The place is so good that it should absolutely be in every guidebook. I even entertained the idea of writing and demanding it's inclusion in the next editions but I'm afraid of what might happen if they get any busier!

One evening we had just finished eating (yes, pumpkin soup) and we were just sitting and enjoying our tea. The cafe was full of chatter in the many different languages of the patrons, the air was filled with the smell of cooking and sweet incense, Brad was reading one of the books from the cafe's well stocked bookshelves, there were goldfish swimming around in a small fish bowl on our table and Mrs. Mukti had started to sing... everything was perfect and I was overcome with a moment of spontaneous joy. Complete and total bliss.