Touch Around The Earth

The adventures of a massage therapist as she explores touch around the earth. From Chicago to Thailand, Nepal, India and Japan, she will be receiving massage, studying massage, studying and practicing yoga and meditation, and learning about how people around the earth stay healthy and happy.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Ganga









What an incredible two weeks it has been on the holy Ganges river in India, otherwise known as Mother Ganga...

The International Yoga Festival was an incredible week filled with amazing workshops on yoga asana, meditation, yoga philosophy, chanting, and more! Many of the people who were speaking to us were saints, and swamis, and there was always a warm welcome for them at the ashram, including people lining up, blowing a special horn, and standing up when they came onto the stage. They spoke to us about the importance of understanding yoga as being so much more than the poses that are done in a typical yoga class. There was much talk about the importance of evolving so that your spiritual practice flows into every part of your life. Concentrate on the inner world, on consciousness, which is beyond death, which is God/Spirit.

"the ocean needs the drop just as much as the drop needs the ocean... and every drop is potential divine." - Swami Divyanand Teerthji

So we are to try to evolve beyond our fear of death, which is present from birth. I got to experience a bit of this fear when I survived my first close encounter with some kind of parasite. I believe it was from drinking the filtered water at the ashram... which is not quite filtered enough for my western belly! Though I didn't feel like I was dying, two days of the runs and a high fever and body aches, and not enough energy to attend even the lectures forced me to ask my lovely Indian roommates to go pick up some medicine for me. This was the first pharmaceutical I have taken in over 11 years! But I am grateful that is seemed to have taken care of it. The doctor who I saw has a charitable hospital that runs completely on donations! I was so amazed to find the billing department which consisted of a statue of Ganesh (the elephant god), and a donation box! The doctor refered me to an ayurvedic clinic where I received massage for three days. My therapists were lovely, though one of them had rough hands, probably because her life has not always been so easy, and she has had to do farming or maybe even construction to make a living before this. One day, I had both therapists massage me in unison - an Ayurvedic massage technique called abhyanga. This vigourous, oily massage left me feeling relaxed and invigorated. There were a few differences I noticed between this massage and Swedish massage:

1 - Lots of oil - even on the scalp and hair.
2 - Little to no draping, and massage covered even my chest area.
3 - The oil had special herbs in it.
4 - The doctor came in to supervise and make sure they were doing a good job.


Today is one of the holiest days of the festival of the Kumbha Mela, the largest religious gathering in the world. It happens only once every twelve years, when Sun is in the zodiac sign of Aries, and Jupiter enters Aquarius. During this time, it is believed that the holy river attains properties of nectar from the gods during these times. Millions of people come to bathe in the river during this time, with the hopes that a dip in the frigid waters during this time will spare the bather from the cycle of life and death. Though most of the action is happening in Haridwar, the holy city 20 km south of where I am staying, there are still thousands of colorful pilgrims walking through the streets, bathing in the river, and visiting temples along the way.

Haridwar is so full of people now, that there are rows and rows of tents everywhere you look! The camps are centered around various famous spiritual teachers from all over India, and many of them have huge banners advertising them. I visited one teacher named "Pilot Baba" and he had quite the settlement, including fountains and statues and tents for eating, for pujas, and meditation. I think this is India's equivilant of the burning man festival, only it has more of a spiritual focus. My favorite part about being in Haridwar was seeing the rows and rows of holy men )(sadhus) dressed in orange, or simply wearing a loin cloth. Upon my arrival to Haridwar, my friend Elaine and I were greeted a dancing, chanting saddhu who had greens and flowers balanced on his head, and a collection of flower garlands around his neck. He promptly danced up to us and blessed us with a small ceramic statue, and then placed a garland over both of our heads. He brought me the gift of laughter, and I felt joyful and clear!

I ventured out of Haridwar with my new friend Elaine to go find the International Rainbow Gathering that was starting to gather near an ashram outside of Haridwar. The bus driver wasn't exactly sure where the ashram was, and was stopping to ask directions, and dropped us off a bit farther away than we would have hoped. But it ended up being a beautiful walk trough wheat fields and simple adobe - like homes. People came out of their homes to see the strange pale-faced women walking through their village with backpacks on their backs. They seemed like happy people, though they didn't smile for the camera when I pulled it out. I really got a feel for the simple life that they were living, and longed to be invited into their home for a cup of tea. But it was getting late and we wanted to set up camp before night, so we kept on hiking. The gathering was a small group of people from all over the world, and we were welcomed with a cup of hot chai that included fresh cows milk from the villagers. We set up camp and headed down to the main circle area which was right on the bank of the ganges, for a delicious vegetarian meal that included a prayer song, and passing around the magic hat for donations that go towards feeding everyone who comes to the gathering. It was good to be reminded of the miracle of Rainbow, that there is always enough food when everyone is sharing energy. I decided not to stay long at the gathering because I wanted to experience more of India... though it was wonderful to camp out under the stars and wake up to the beauty of the fog lifting off of the river Ganga.

My new friend Michael and I had a wonderful visit in Haridwar with my friend Marcie who I know from the Breema Center in California. She has made India her home now, and enjoys the freedom of being able to live a simple life, and have more time to do her spiritual practice, and not have to work as much as she did in the states. She showed us her favorite little streets, and some beautiful architectural sights, as well as some special temples where we were the only foreigners present. In the evening, we attended the arati, on the banks of the river, where I was grateful I had the experience of growing up in a big city because the crowds were huge! There were people bathing, sending flowers down the river, and praying and singing... and the police were there to keep the crowd moving, and it was amazing how it all flowed, in an organized, chaotic way! I was glad I had a friend's hand to hold as it would have been easy to get separated in that crowd. And on the walk back to the taxi, we had many people coming up to us, wishing to shake our hands and practice their English, asking us where we were from, and requesting that we stop for a cup of tea. We politely declined, and took a taxi back to the quieter town of Rishikesh.

Just as it is challenging for the Indian people not to stare at the blonde foreigners, my western eyes also are feasting on all of these spectacles that I would never see back home. Hinduism seems very exotic and strange to me, though I can definitely relate to their love of nature. I can't help but wonder what the earth would be like if people loved their rivers as much as the local people here do. They shower her with flowers and incense and send her love with the arati celebration every night, where they use fire to bless her, as well as all the people who are there. One temple I visted had a beautiful banyan tree whose roots were covered with red strings that people tied onto it with their prayers. There were so many strings tied onto it that it resembled dreadlocks! The locals would walk up to the root, and say a prayer and then push the root as you would a child in a swing, ever so gently. Of course I had to take a turn at this, and really enjoyed how it connected me to my virtual roots.

You would think that their worship of nature would make Indians very ecologlically minded, however there is so much litter everywhere, and I hear that they use tons of pesticides on their fruits and vegetables. But there is a strong movement in this state, to start using organic farming practices, and make the whole state organic! One thing this area has going for it is it is almost completely vegetarian! Non-vegetarian foods are banned in both Haridwar and Rishikesh, which is really great for the environment because it takes so much more energy to produce meat compared to vegetables. As I have been vegetarian since the age of fourteen, I feel right at home here! Another thing that is banned from these holy cities is alcohol, which I haven't missed much, as there are so many ways to get high naturally, from the yoga, meditation, and natural beauty that is everywhere!

4 comments:

  1. Oh Laura, what a wonderful time you are having. I can't wait to go to India. Bummer about the parasite, but everyone I know who travels there ends up with them it seems. Can't wait to see photos! Love, Nadine

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  2. wow. I'm so glad you got to see Marcie! what a trip! You are truly an inspriration Laura Rose. I love reading your updates...<3 Namaste, LOVE! Angela

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  3. Wow.
    Can't wait to see photos.

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  4. Thanks for taking the time to write about your travels. India sounds like another PLANET!

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