Usha Devi teaches strict Iyengar yoga at the Omkarananda Ashram in Rishikesh. “Do less, but do it with understanding”, “See how the mind has to be connected with the body”, “Listen, you are not in holidays”, “Come on! Quickly!” – these are some of the words you could hear during her morning class which we attended. There…
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Omkarananda Ashram, Rishikesh
We met Usha Devi at 10am, just after her morning class in the Omkarananda Ashram in Rishikesh. Her guruji is none other than world famous B.K.S. Iyengar, the founder of Iyengar yoga. Each year Usha spends a couple of months in Pune where she’s in direct contact with Guruji, while the rest of the year she stays…
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Heading to Rishikesh, the capital of Yoga
We caught the early morning Shatabdi Express from Delhi to Haridwar, and from there we continued our journey by rickshaw to Rishikesh. Rishikesh, known as the capital of yoga, is the place where the Ganges, the mother of all rivers, enters the plains. On the afternoon, we met up with Graeme, a friend of Uschi, for a coffee…
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Getting ready for North India
AND A NEW MEMBER IN OUR TRAVEL TEAM It’s Sunday 7am, we’ve just bought our train tickets to Delhi. We’ll leave next Tuesday evening aboard the Rajdhani Express for a ride of nearly 33 hours, and a long journey to North India. The great news is we have a new travelmate: Mar Juncas from Spain. Mar is a…
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2nd day at the Ashtanga Yoga Institute, Mysore
The first students gather around the steps of the Shri K Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute from 5am, just to get a good spot for the 6am class. This Friday morning class is led by Sharath Jois, for whom it is already the second class of the day. It is dark and cold outside, but soon…
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Ashtanga Yoga Institute, Mysore
Today we’ve visited the birthplace of ashtanga yoga: the Ashtanga Yoga Institute. We’ve met Sharath Jois, the director of the yoga institute. He follows the yoga tradition of his grandfather, the world famous Pattabhi Jois. Just two significant details about Sharath’s life: He gets up every day at 1 am to start his practice. He is the…
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Mystic School, Mysore
Mystic School in Mysore was today on our list. At 7am Shashi, the founder, welcomed us with a nice coffee – not the typical drink of the yoga world, but very appreciated by all of us. Shashi is a spiritual seeker with lots of influences such as Osho, internal martial arts, Qi gong, Tai Chi, Thai yoga massage…
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Mysore Mandala Yogashala in Karnataka
We left Bangalore early in the morning to be on time at our next destination – the Mysore Mandala Yogashala, in Mysore, Karnataka. We were welcomed by Harish, the founder of this small institute. It was a great experience to spend the day there, joining the Asthanga class, watching the Bharatanatyam lesson (an old traditional…
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Still in Bangalore
Uschi is writing down the experiences with the first 5 top yoga centers, Otto is catching up with emails and organizing practical things (fixing problems with our 3G mobile Internet connection), and Coni is preparing for an upcoming exhibition in Delhi – we all are quite busy. Tomorrow we will discuss where we go next!…
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Back to Bangalore for a break
We started our journey at 3pm and reached Bangalore the next morning at 6am, just on time for sunrise. It was an incredible drive through India with just a few stops – thank you India for making the national highway 7. The first 12 days in South India felt much much longer, how intensive this time was. In a…
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Last day in Trivandrum, Kerala
Our day consisted of pranayama, meditation, chanting, tea, asana classes, and a nice interview with Nataraj, the director of the Sivananda Yoga Ashram. Our job here is done and we are on the road again. A whopping 700 km separate us from Bangalore, our next destination for a short break. Goodbye from the south tip of India!
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