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…
Read More2nd 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…
Read MoreAshtanga 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…
Read MoreMystic 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…
Read MoreMysore 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…
Read MoreStill 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!…
Read MoreBack 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…
Read MoreLast 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!
Read MoreKarma Yoga at the Sivananda Ashram
Coni got his photo shooting permission today afternoon. So he started catching the colourful life in the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Dhanwantari Ashram on film, set in a tropical landscape on a nice lakeside. Uschi and Otto joined the strict ashram life for the full day. Uschi joined Karma Yoga, a volunteer service for the ashram, which can consist in…
Read MoreSivananda Yoga Vedanta Dhanwantari Ashram in Kerala
A smooth ride took us to the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Dhanwantari Ashram at the Neyyar Dam, located in the foothills of Kerala’s Western Ghats. We were overwhelmed when seeing hundreds of people performing asanas everywhere – in halls, buildings, gardens, on the lakeside. We will examine this vibrant yoga place in the next two days…
Read MoreBathing in the Theerthakund
From Tamil Nadu to Kerala. The Isha Yoga Center students woke up at 4:30am to do their asanas and pranayama. We started our day at 6:30am wandering around the large ashram. The highlight of our day was the Theerthakund, a pool of (quite cool) water. The pool is done in an ancient way, with large steps down to the…
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