The Intention

I was planning to start this blog while I was traveling in India to write about my experiences.  I leave in about 3 weeks (yeah!) and feel I'm in the final stage of preparation for a long journey that I've been planning for quit a while. I've got the major logistics taken care of (passport, visa, plane ticket) and now I'm focused on the details like what to pack.  It feels like planning for a trip like this is a journey in and of itself.  My life is feels like its in fast forward until the time I leave so I've decided to get the blog rolling by writing about what its like preparing for a trip to India for the first time for 3 1/2 months... by myself.  It's very exciting, and a little scary, to be a blond western woman traveling alone in a huge country like India where the culture is so different, and there's a good chance I'll get really sick.

   

I wasn't sure that I'd ever go to India because I didn't think the risk of getting sick was worth the experience.  Now I just think I need to be really careful. I've been practicing yoga for about 14 years but haven't felt the pull to go to India to study yoga until about a year ago. Once I began to feel the pull, it felt like everything else in my life began shifting to accommodate and prepare me for this journey I'm about to embark on.  It feels like the mother-ship is calling me and it's the time in my life when I need to make the pilgrimage to the motherland to connect with yoga at it's source. 

I've got a basic itinerary lined up; 6 weeks in Mysore, 2-3 weeks in Goa, then 5 weeks of travel to some of the northern cities and a trek in the Himalayas.  In Mysore I'll have morning practice at the Yoga shala and plan to take some other classes like Sanskrit and chanting during the day.  It's not an ashram- I'll need to find an apartment upon arrival.  In Goa I'll be staying at a retreat center taking a 2 week ashtanga yoga workshop.  I've been doing lots of research and have many ideas about what to see and where to go for the rest of the trip.  I will feel it out then and see what makes the most sense after I've been in the country for a while.  Mostly I want to trek to the Gangotri Glacier in the Himalayas, which is the source of the Ganges River, and stay in monasteries along the way which takes about 5 days.  

It feels like I'm about to embark on a huge adventure.  I don't know exactly what will happen as much of the trip is left open to decide as I go.  Whatever happens it feels like its going to be big and have a profound impact on my personal growth and development, how I view life and the reality of this world we live in.  I hope to use this blog to express and communicate some of the experiences I have along the way.  Namaste.