You don’t choose to go to India, India chooses you!
I had saved money to go away again for a month over winter and hadn’t decided where to go, I toyed with the idea of Thailand, Spain etc, but somehow I found myself booking a flight to Mumbai. I have been to India before and explored its beautiful mountain ranges in Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. On this occasion India called me to go to its beautiful beaches and so I arrived in Mumbai on the 22nd November 2008, it was 30 degrees centigrade and 3am in the morning! Despite loosing my bag at Mumbai airport, missing my connecting flight and having a fifteen-hour wait for another flight I was filled with joy and excitement. My first glimpse of Mumbai came with memories of the wonderful heart that Indian people encase within them. During the situation of ‘the lost bag and missed flight’ I experienced the true nature of Indian people I had gotten to know the last time I was here. They literally fought to help me in my situation, gave up seats for me and bought me chai. Indian Chai is the best tasting beverage I have ever had the pleasure to consume, it is not like English tea, it is piping hot, sweet, spicy and milky. My panic over the lost bag was soon forgotten in a mist of warm smiles and generous hearts.
Having eventually got a connecting flight I arrived in Goa, I took a taxi to the small town of Junas Vadd, Mandrem where I was staying; it was a breath-taking two-hour journey. Goa is about 400km South of Mumbai, the sun shines everyday, the beaches are lined with coconut groves making them picture perfect and the colours of the landscape look like a painting. You know when you have arrived in India when your senses are woken up by overwhelming smells, sights and tastes. Smells change from pace to pace and are so strong they either lure you in or make you walk much faster! There is the delicate smell of spices, the wonderful aromas of food cooking, the strong smells of dyes used on fabric, the thick smell of cow dung and the choking of rubbish being burnt. The second sense burst is ‘colourful India’ the eyes don’t know where to look, everything is so brightly coloured – saris, turbans, silk hangings in door ways, fabrics draped everywhere, buses, cars and rickshaws painted with bright colours and symbols, a total explosion to the vision. And finally the tantalising taste bud experience, Indians are blessed with culinary expertise, the food is full flavoured, full coloured and full of natural ingredients.
After spending a few days in a family run guesthouse I learnt that the pace of life is slow, calm and relaxed. The local village people displayed great love for one another as they compassionately worked together to support each other. There is no rush in Mandrem, not like in the cities; here there is patience and quiet.
The greeting of one person to another used all over India says it all “Namaste” literally meaning: I bow with respect to the divine within you, to whom my life is dedicated. It puts “Hello” to shame! My favourite of all Indian personality attributes however is the amazing ‘Indian head wiggle’ this quite frankly can mean just about anything! It is a kind of a nodding, shaking and wiggling that neither looks like a yes or no. When asking for anything “Is the beach that way?” you get the ‘head wiggle’, it does not really clarify anything, you are still left thinking, “was that a yes or a no?!!” This wonderful art of body language is used to say hello, show respect, say goodbye, say yes, no, maybe, possibly, no way, absolutely, not in million years, definitely………..etc you get the message!
My reason for going to Goa on this occasion was to do a Meditation, Yoga, Pilates and Reiki retreat with ‘Himalayan Yoga Institute’. I spent four hours in physical practice (Yoga, Pilates, Mandala dancing), two hours in meditation and two hours practicing Reiki each day for a month. There are retreat centres all over India; I chose this one because I had practiced yoga with them in McLeod Ganj some years earlier. I wanted to do an extended retreat because as a Pilates instructor it is important for me to keep up with my own practice. I am passionate about bodywork and the mind to body connection, I am also a strong believer that we learn by doing and as Pattabhi Jois (founder of the Ashtanga Yoga Institute) says “99% practice – 1% theory”. I put myself through intense practices involving ‘body work’ (Yoga, Pilates, Breathing exercises and Meditation) so I could experience first hand the transformations and benefits. Using what I learn within my self I can teach my own students from the heart and not from the manual. I also enjoy being the student in someone else’s class; being able to learn new techniques and styles, full absorption in participation allows me to heighten my senses and develop my practice. I love my role as a Pilates instructor here in England because it gives me an opportunity to share my passion and experiences with other who are willing to learn and develop like myself.
India for me is always an experience of the heart; a testing of the mind and an excitement to the senses, on this visit it was also an awakening. During my month on retreat I had an overwhelming healing experience through using body movement. I am now back in England and sharing what I have learnt with my students, spreading the big hearted, warm smile of India into our English wintertime.
You are welcome to come and share the sunshine with me my students!
