Blindsighted

So much has happened in the past few days!  Whenever I have a break, I end up sleeping, eating, or taking a walk by the river, so this will be short, but I'll upload photos later!

Friday was our first quiz & teaching practicum.  I was irrationally nervous, but spoiler alert - I "passed". 😆

Saturday was our first day off.  And yes, I paid to do this training but it's work child!  So Saturday was amazing - I "slept in" until 7:30, ate a leisurely breakfast of scrambled tofu & oatmeal crepe with jam at the Hungry Yogi cafe with a bunch of the girls (a feast from our usual fruit salad or porridge), and spent the day exploring Rishikesh and souvenir shopping.  My favorite purchase was turquoise mala beads.  Mala beads are used for mantras and Japa meditations.  It's a beautiful strand of 108 beads with a small tassel on the 109th bead to keep count.

In town there's a street peddler that sells a do-it-yourself Bindi kit.  The first time I saw him, a couple days before, I was with one friend and he gave us both a bindi, and she proceeded to buy a kit.  I didn't really want to spend the money I had (since I'd planned to buy some henna later), so out of politeness, I declined saying that I didn't have enough money on me.  To my surprise he told me to take it and pay him later.  Huh?!  I declined again because the concept in the US is so foreign...how would I know if I'd see him again?  How could he know I'd pay him back?  Well, I saw him again on Saturday with a new group of friends, and he remembered me and gave me another bindi.  This time I bought a kit, lol.  He asked me how long I'd be in Rishikesh and then he told me that every day he sees me, he's going to give me a new bindi.  I've seen him twice since then and he's stayed true to his word.

Dinner Saturday night was at a famous, cheeky Indian restaurant where two men dressed as Buddha sit outside with painted faces, and the best part - I had cheese!  Paneer Tikka Masala - soooo good😋

Sunday came, back in the habit, we had our regular 3 hour asana practice - but blindfolded!  We were told to bring blindfolds to class and went through a series of postures relying on the verbal teaching instructions and spatial awareness.  It was sometimes disorienting, but the coolest thing was being able to really internalize the practice.  I was not aware of what anyone else was doing on their mat.  All that existed was my mat and those four corners were just a little piece of the universe carved out for me.

After final resting pose, we were guided to a seated position, and asked to slowly remove our blindfolds.  When we opened our eyes, we were seated in two concentric circles, face-to-face with another student.  At this point, we were led in an eye-to-eye meditation, looking at the other person in the eyes for a minute or two without blinking.  Not judging, just looking, beyond the colors of their irises into the flicker of light in their souls.  Looking and perhaps recognizing a piece of ourselves.