7.4.11. 9:16 A.M. Day 3. 8AM Yoga.

So I ended up waking up around 6am. I saw light coming from the bathroom so i got up and opened the door. The light was the rising sun shining through the open window. I looked out and the misty foothills were bathed in a hue of pink. There was a large building on the base of the hill that was surrounded by trees, contrasting the vivid green. I think today's morning topped yesterday's morning. Mary and I were up and ready for our first yoga experience at 8am. I don't know if there were class levels but it seemed like it was for beginners which was completely fine by me. The instructor said that we would start by warming up out joints, so for the whole hour we warmed up our joints - starting with our wrists, then our shoulders, leg,s back, and neck, and then we layed down and were instructed to relax, releasing any tension we had in our bodies. "Relaaaaaaaaaaaaax your boday, freeeeeeeeeeeeee your mind...." I almost fell asleep. This yoga felt like it was more about the experience versus the more commercialized version we are used to with specific styles of clothing, padded mats, etc. This was just a concrete room with a rug and a white sheet on the floor. Going back to the roots, keeping it simple. The instructor said we would be building up each day - but I was honestly fine with the amount of effort my pathetically out of shape body had to give.

2:10 PM. Ganges.

After yoga we went to breakfast...or rather the cooking ladies brought it upstairs to our room. After which I bathed and got ready for our first lecture on Naturopathic Medicine. It was very interesting. It consists of a balance between the five elements: earth, air, water, fire, and space. All of which are present and vital to the proper functioning of the body. I have notes on this, but I won't copy them here. I found that on the most fundamental level i agree with the philosophy of this type of medicine. For much of what our bodies go through, they can heal themselves, sometimes it just takes time but if we go for a quick fix it compromises our immune systems and our bodies' abilities to heal itself in the future. The body knows how to take care of itself.

We had lecture for about an hour and then we had some free time before lunch so we walked back through this beautiful place, which we still can't figure our if it's a hotel or a temple because there are so many gorgeously sculpted depictions of significant moments in the history of some of the gods, in the center of what appears to be apartment units or hotel rooms. We walked through, and right in front are beautiful marble steps that lead down to the Ganges river. We sat on these steps close to the water for almost an hour, just being in awe, and people watched to see what we could and could not do in such a sacred setting.

We went back for lunch and decided that this would be a great moment for a nap. So here we are.

PS - happy 4th of July!
PPS - I got lucky, I had absolutely no problems pertaining to jetlag.
PPPS - My initial preconceptions and curiousities about my fellow participants were answered soon after arrival. It was made clear by a few that they were globe treckers and took it upon themselves to unwarrentedly correct other people's "greenness." Most, on the other hand have done some international travelling, and a few were newbies like me. All in all, nobody had ever been to India, so were were all in the same boat. One of the globe treckers had already been here for 10 days and acted like she knew more because of it. But she didn't faze me because she, I later found out, had eaten the street food and had gotten "the sickness." I'm not going to lie, I smiled when I heard this.

4:53PM

We went our for a walk again, and the amount of beggars and deformities is starting to affect me. It's, so far, the one thing that is making me feel uncomfortable.