Back to Chennai, July 2012

I just bought my flight to India for July of 2012.  The price of the ticket was $1000 more than last year.  Unbelievable….  But other than that, I am REALLY excited to go!  I already called my hostess to assure that my room with be ready.  She promised a car to pick me up at the airport.  I contacted the KYM/ KHYF and they will greet me at 10:00 a.m. on July 4th.  I am going to see if I can have Bhagavad Gita lessons again this year.  So things are flowing smoothly and I feel happy to be going for my final yoga therapy internship.

This has been a really long process.  It started 5 years ago when I decided to become a Yoga Therapist. The first several years were filled with 2-week modules all over the U.S. (San Francisco, Portland, Nashville area).  We also had to do a research study to complete our program requirements.  I did mine with Arlene and Danielle and we studied how Yoga Therapy impacts dysmennorhea.  We just handed in the 3-part study in January (it took us 4 years to complete).  I did my first internship in India last summer.  The summer of 2012 will be my final internship and then I will be certified.  Whew….it has been quite a journey.  

I am really glad I did it.  But honestly, I am glad that when I started I did not know how hard it would be to complete.  Many areas of my life have taken a backseat to this process.  Thankfully my husband was supportive and our jobs held up through this economy.  My doggies have been patient as I travel and they get neglected a bit.  Good things comes with sacrifice.   And now I am almost finished!  Time to bring the teachings of Yoga Therapy as told by T. Krishnamacharya and T.K.V. Desikachar to the U.S.  

The International Association of Yoga Therapists has just proposed the new guidelines for Yoga Therapists in the U.S.  The standards are really high.  They are pretty equivalent to becoming an TMC/ acupuncturist in the U.S.  The hours required are over 800 (after you have become a yoga teacher for 200).  The new standards require 150 of internship also.  It will be interesting to see how these standards play out in the next 10 years.  

I will keep you posted as I get closer to my trip to the KYM.  I am looking forward to sharing more about Yoga Therapy with you this year (as opposed to all the fun stuff I did outside of KYM last year!).

With love- Amy

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Staying Connected While in India

I just found this blog that someone else wrote about the best ways to stay connected via cell phone and internet when in India.  I found it very helpful.  Hope you do too!

I will just give you the link because I do not have permission to reprint the article.

http://path2yoga.blogspot.com/2011/05/how-to-stay-connected-with-mobile.html

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By this time in my blog you are probably wondering if I am doing any studies at all at the KYM.  I am!  My days are very full.  I get up at 5:00 a.m. to do my practice, I have breakfast by 7:30 and I am at the KYM by 8:00 a.m.  For the Yoga Therapy Internship you are supposed to be at the KYM from 8:00 a.m.- 6:00 p.m. each day.  But they do give a several hour lunch break in the middle of the day and it is plenty of time to eat and go home for a rest.

The reason I have gotten to do so many fun things is that during the Yoga Therapy Internship, the homework and test taking does not exists.  I watch my room-mates who are in the 500-hour Yoga Teacher Training study their brains out.  They study for hours each night and all weekend long.  So depending on which program you are in will determine if you can have fun or not!  I think the chanting programs are pretty intense too.  But my feeling is that if you come for a 3-week asana program, or international studies program there will be much less homework.  Anything that ends with a certification is going to be much more intense.

My internship has been a blessing in so many ways.  I think that personally I benefitted greatly by spending this time at KYM.  I realized through watching the Yoga Therapy sessions that 1) discipline with food is the key to many diseases, 2) disease cannot be healed without lifestyle modifications and then 3) the yoga practice can work.  This is not to say that the yoga practice will not help you get food and lifestyle in order.  But you must have all 3 happening to heal  This was a big wake-up call for my ice-cream eating, overstimulated, workaholic body and mind.  It has really caused me to think about how I am living my life and how it needs to change if my body and mind are going to last another 60 years!  I just turned 41 and I want to make it to 100:-)

Another way that my internship shifted my thinking is around prana flow in the body.  It became very clear that working, stretching, pumping the body into submission is not the way to get the prana to flow into an area for healing.  Relaxation, gentle breathing and movement with a one-pointed focus is the key to healing.  Simple practice that require focus and slow breathing heal people- period.  I had always felt like if a practice was not “working the area” that it would not get the prana to flow- a very aggressive approach.  The Yoga Sutra tell us these things- citta vrtti nirodaha and sthiram and sukham….but now I have seen it in practice.

I saw some pretty amazing healing taking place at the KYM.  It has given me faith in this work and faith in my self as a healer.  It is not about me coming up with cool yoga tricks.  It is about me sharing my faith that T. Krishnamacharya Yoga really can heal things like asthma and diabetes.  Now that I have seen so many people who have benefitted from these practices, I believe in the healing to the depth of my heart.  Without this, I am not sure a yoga teacher has any help of healing the student.  So a daily yoga practice, staying in sattva, visiting the KYM to see the work they do are all the keys to helping others heal.

The last thing that has really struck me is how when there is a one-pointed focus, prana flows into the body.  I saw one man with dementia, unable to speak with clarity, eyes hollow, looking like he no longer wanted to be on the planet.  One week later, after having done his practice 3 times a day for a week, he looked like a completely different person.  He had taken his mind from total agitation and distraction to a one-pointed focus through mantra and nyasam one-pointed focus.  The prana flowed in to his body and changed him at every level.  His eyes were bright, his speech clear, his confidence high.  I could not believe my eyes.  I thought to myself that maybe Jesus himself has touched this man and healed him  But no, it was his yoga practice.  Imagine how different he will be in 6 months if he continues.

 

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Dakshmina Citra- Indian Architecture

Dakshmina Citra Blog This is about 45 minutes out of the city (also on the way to Ideal Beach).  I had never been here before, but it is a must see!  I was shocked at how big and amazing it … Continue reading

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Ideal Beach for the Weekend

Ideal Beach Blog So you have been in Chennai for a while.  You feel hot, sweaty, miserable.  You are shopped out.  The traffic is killing you (especially the horns that they honk incessantly for no apparent reason).  The pollution has … Continue reading

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Artisian Village 30-minutes from Chennai

Cholamandal Artists’ Village Cholamandal Artists’ Village Blog Pics This is about 30 minutes outside of Chennai (on the way to Ideal Beach if you want to combine the two trips).  Cholomandal is a co-operative enterprise undertaken by about 30 artists … Continue reading

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Lunch at the Raintree when you need some pampering

Breakfast. Lunch or Dinner at RainTree Hotel on Saint Mary’s Road (near KYM) I just love this place!  It is a newer 5-star hotel that I had not visited on previous trips.  It has the most amazing buffet if you … Continue reading

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Henna Tattoo

Henna Tattoo BLog pictures Henna Tattoo Henna Tattoos are called Mendhi in South India.  I went to get my first one done today.  It cost 100 rupees to do most of my lower arm.  It took about 30 minutes. The … Continue reading

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Shopping in Mylapore

Shopping Pictures and The Park Hotel

A Day of Shopping and The Park Hotel

Piluca, my friend from Mexico, and I went out for a shopping date.  We went to the most beautiful silk shop called Nalli in Mylapore (very near to the KYM).  I had never seen so many floors of fabric and so many people choosing fabric in all my life!  It was incredible.  Piluca chooses the material and then has a tailor make clothes for her and her family.  It was an amazing experience!  I will definitely go back.  It is obviously where all the locals go to buy fabric.

Nalli Fashions- 9, Nageswaran Road,  Opposite Panagal Park- T. Nagar, Chennai  600 017- Telephone- 044 2434 4115

 

Shopping made us really hungry.  So we went to the Park Hotel.  They have a lovely space to sit and socialize.  The pool area is really upscale.  They have several great restaurants in the hotel.  Although there is an amazing Indian Buffet daily, we chose to go to Lotus.  Lotus is a Thai Restaurant to die for!  On this holiday they had a table for soup.  You could choose the base of your soup (I chose coconut) and then say what you wanted in the soup.  I think it may have been the best Thai soup I ever had.  It was light and very tasty.  Then we had a Thai buffet of many different dishes.  Finishing with the dessert table.  Yes, it was more expensive than your usual Indian meal, but worth every bite!  Sometimes you just need to sit in a quiet place, with good food and good company and rest.  We stayed long after the meal talking and enjoying the atmosphere.  It was a lovely afternoon!

 

The Park Hotel- 601, Anna Salai, Chennai 600006, India
- Telephone- 044 4267 6000

 

Yesterday Piluca took me to her favorite Jeweller in Mylopore to find toe rings.  Women in India wear toe rings (usually silver) to show they are married instead of finger rings.  I chose the traditional kind, instead of the modern ones.  There are 2 thick silver rings on the second or third toe of each foot.  I like having pretty feet, as I am a Yoga Teacher!  Here is the name of the Jeweller in Mylapore if you want to go get toe rings.

NAC Jewellers- 58, North Mada Street- Mylapore, Chennai-  600 004- Telephone- 044 4399 6666

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Eating in India

EatinIndiaPictures

What to Eat in India for BreakfastThe first question I get asked when someone hears that I am going to India is, “What do you eat over there?” I think eating is such a fundamental need for us.  We know that if we have food, we can probably survive.  And in each person’s mind they are asking themselves, “Could I too do something like run off to India?  Would I be able to survive if I chose to take on this adventure?” The answer is yes, and not only would you survive, but you would flourish.  My guess is that you would be eating much more healthfully than you do at home.

Here are some pictures from breakfast with my good friend Chase yesterday.  He is affectionately called “Eater-man” by a friend of mine.  This is a high compliment because it means that he has strong internal fire (read metabolism) and can eat a lot but still stay lean and clean.  Chase delivered when he sat down and ordered 3 separate dishes for breakfast!  First there was the idly and sambar.  This is a small rice cake with 3 chutneys that are very spicy.  It also comes with sambar, which is a not so spicy mixture that you pour on top of the idly.   Many Indians eat this for breakfast each day.

 

Another South Indian dish that is common to breakfast (and any other time of the day) is called dosa.  This is like a huge thin pancake with filling in the middle.  It is not spicy at all and tastes very good.  You could eat it plain with no filling, or choose from a variety of different potato fillings inside.  Then you tear off the dosa with your hand, making sure that you get a little filling in each bite, dipping it in a yummy sauce and throwing it in your mouth without getting any on your shirt.  Good luck with that one!

 

The third dish that Chase ordered is called pongal.  It is so delicious and not very spicy.  Have you noticed I am giving you hints about things that are not very spicy?  After a while, you just can’t take any more spice.  The Indians are use to it, but the delicate digestive track of an American cannot handle so much spice meal after meal.  Here is a recipe for pongal if you would like to make it at home.

 

Sweet rice known as ‘Pongal’ is cooked in a new earthenware pot which is placed where the puja is to be performed. Fresh turmeric and ginger are tied around this pot. Then a delicious concoction of rice, moong dal, jaggery and milk is boiled in the pot on an open fire. According to the ritual, this Pongal rice is allowed to boil and spill over. Once the rice is cooked, it is tempered with cashew nuts and raisins fried in ghee.

 

Ingredients

» 1 cup Rice

 

» 1/4 cup Moong dal

 

» /2- 1 tsp jeera

 

» 1/2-1 tsp peppercorns

 

» 1/2 tsp pepper powdered fresh

 

» A few Cashew nuts broken

 

» 1/2 cup dessicated (shredded flakes) Coconut

 

» A pinch of Turmeric powder

 

» Ghee

 

Method

 

1. Fry the Moongdal a little till you get a light flavor.

 

2. Mix the dal with the rice, add 2 -3 cups of water (the rice should cook very very soft)

 

3. Add turmeric powder, coconut, a few peppercorns and a 1-2 tsp of ghee to the rice and pressure cook till done.

 

4. When done, take a kadai add sufficient of Ghee to it-the more ghee, the better it tastes, add jeera, pepper corns and cashew nuts.

 

5. Add the cooked rice mixture, add pepper powder, salt and mix well with the ghee and jeera/cashew nuts.

 

The pongal is ready!!!  You can add some more ghee at the end if you need. It is best eaten fresh and hot.  You can serve it with Coconut Chutney, or Onion/Tomato Raita.

 

You might notice that all of the dishes in the pictures come served on a beautiful banana leaf.  Something about eating off of a banana leaf makes you feel closer to nature.  I just love it.

 

Oh, how could I forget South Indian coffee and tea?  There is only one word for it, AMAZING!!!!!!  You see, I have been trying not to drink coffee and tea for some time because it disturbs the prana in my body.  I have a lot of internal heat and coffee and tea just makes me even hotter.  So each day I try to “walk on by” the delicious tea.  It is Chai flavored with creamy milk and sugar.  You can guess how many days I am actually making it past the tea (not very many).  South Indians drink it all day long, even when it is 100 degrees outside.  So my advice to you is to just allow yourself this guilty little pleasure while you are here.  You can quit caffeine when you get home again!

 

When you finish a meal they always bring an after meal mouth cleanser and digestive aid.  Basically it is cumin seeds with sugar melted all over them.  The too are delicious.  And, like most spices in India, are given for a reason.  To help the digestive process begin after the meal has ended.  There is much emphasis on this in India.  The spices in the food are all for a purpose, like nature’s medicine.

 

I will write another blog on lunches and dinners so that you have some ideas about what you might eat during those meals.  But don’t worry you will have plenty of nourishment for your adventure in India.  The only thing I would recommend is that you do not eat from the street vendors.  You never know what type of hygiene standards the vendors use.  I choose just a few restaurants that I know are safe and stay eating in these few places.  I also drink bottled water all the time, never the water that is put on the table from the tap.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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