Home away from home

I have to say, I’m not really having major culture shock issues here. There are a lot of things about the little world I’ve found myself in that actually feel more comfortable than the world I came from.

You get to be barefoot a lot of the time

I’m still trying to figure out the exact etiquette on footwear. Shoes absolutely come off when you enter anyone’s house. Same goes for the shala and businesses that have a homey feel, like a lot of the cafes we go to. The other day we went for lunch at a fancy hotel and some of the waiters were wearing shoes, others weren’t. Like it’s a personal thing, no big deal. I think shoes are way overrated, and we would all be better off if we spent more time barefoot, so I’m obviously liking this bit.

You’re kind of a weirdo if you eat animals

There are more vegetarians in India than there are people in the US. Especially here in the South, vegetarianism is the norm. Restaurants that serve meat will specify on their signs that they have “non-veg options”. People who are non-veg find themselves apologetically overexplaining why they eat such weird things. It is a fun little through the looking glass world for us herbivores.

I’m surrounded by people who are really into things I’m really into

This is more of a function of being in yoga city rather than India itself. It’s not every day that you’re surrounded by hundreds of people whose idea of a good time is a day that starts with an intense 90-minute yoga practice, continues with some meditation, sitting around chanting in Sanskrit for a while, maybe studying the Gita, going to a pooja, etc. As Pete put it, “It’s like you get 82 days of GenCon, only much, much healthier”.

The practice

I am really loving practicing here. It is hot and crowded but the energy is incredible. I went to my first led class on Friday – I had been prepared to have to hold navasana, shirshasana, and uth pluthih for longer than I usually demand of myself, and that was certainly humbling. I am learning so much just from watching the way other people move – I almost want to show up an hour early every day just to be a spectator.

The path

"A human being is a part of the whole, called by us, "Universe," a part
limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and
feelings as something separated from the rest -- a kind of optical delusion
of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting
us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to
us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our
circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of
nature in its beauty." -Albert Einstein