Kochi - between relaxation and asfixiation

As my dear friends Marlene and Wolfgang were traveling through Kerala we decided to catch up at Fortkochi, the old and more relaxed part of Kerala´s biggest city. Happy to feel our connection grown over many years on the other side of the world made my sensations oscillate between happiness, sentimentality, lightness, thoughts of home (this includes Madrid, Vienna, Tirol and in more enlightened moments the whole planet ;) old memories and the nearer future…
Together with an Austrian friend of Marlene we explored the district, walked along the sea shore and did a small self organized sight seeing tour by auto rickshah.
For dinner we had excellent fish once at a rather authentic local restaurant and the next time at a beautiful but heavily overpriced garden of some British colonial villa. When we were nipping of our white wine we somehow had the feeling of not being in India any more…
Little by little I am getting used to the frenetic live on the streets again, trying to gain/maintain the necessary discipline to keep doing a bit of yoga every day, eating not too heavy food and working on some of my personal projects.
Tired from the rickshah city tour the day before and as Wolfgang got a bit sick we decided to stay a third day in Fortkochi and relax, have tea at the famous "T-pot" cafe, read, relax and talk. After all this day turned out to be more inspiring and beautiful than a day packed with sights and impressions. Little by little we started to build up a connection with this place and found out about the spots to have an authentic south Indian dinner, watch (end even help) the fishermen pulling out the old traditional fisher nets and walk around calm neighborhoods. Somehow a street dog chose me as his new friend and playing partner, he came to salute me like an old friend, so I had no choice than playing with him. The challenge consisted in catching up with my friends again, as the dog playfully bit me into my trousers to make me stop walking and continue playing with him...

On the back waters to Alleppey

After meeting my friend Peter from the Sivananda Ashram on the beach of Varkala we decided not to get too much involved in the lethargic atmosphere of this place -- eating, drinking, sun bathing, shopping -- but keep moving. We toke a boat heading north on the famous backwaters of Kerala. I had no idea, that traveling by boat on the still waters would be so relaxing and comfortable. After a 3 hours ride we reached "Amma´s" Ashram, a place which hosts so many people that it reminded me more of a city rather than en Ashram. Mata Amritanandamayi is famous for her commitment to humanitarian aid projects (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mata_Amritanandamayi) and spreading unconditional love by giving a hug to everyone who would come near her. We knew that we would miss her by one day, as she just had started a trip around India together with a big group of people following her, but we preferred to visit this place and get some idea of it while it was less crowded and agitated. It was very impressive to see how much of a difference one person can make among the community around her…
Please don´t start worrying about me, I have not become a devoted follower of what ever ideology, but I am quite interested in how organizations like this work and what draws people towards them.
The next day we moved on by boat to Alleppey, the main gate to the Kerala´s backwaters, happy that we already had experienced the great atmosphere of moving smoothly through a landscape of mangroves and small fisher villages.

Kanyakumari - leaving the safe harbour towards new adventures

Finally, after 5 weeks of Ashram live with it´s well structured program and rules I have decided to hit the road again. Despite the healthy environment I needed to get out and digest the impressions and received teachings and find my own rhythm again, trying to integrate Yoga and meditation in my daily routine.
Two days before I left I went on a trip to the south tip of India, where the 3 oceans meet (Arabic sea, Indian ocean and one more, …I will look it up). On the way we visited several temples and jumped into the sea at a little fisher village, while the local people were pulling out huge nets just by the force of there arms. As good Yogis we did some Yoga postures on the beach as well and had great fun, inventing new postures like the head-under-water-stand.
After visiting the "Vivekananda Rock", a small island with a temple and a memorial we went to see the sunset together with hundreds of Indian locals. It was the first time in my life I actually had to pay in order to see the sun, as the whole area was protected by high walls and dry thorn bushes guarded by some security guys blowing their whistles like fanatic fans at a football match. My rather limited tolerance towards imposed authority made me jump over a wall and cause some kind of small revolution, as many people followed my example and just ignored the artificial barriers in order to watch the sunset at the sea shore.
The day trip ended with a visit at an impressing Siva temple planed according to the shape of the human body. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take any pictures. The art works, columns and stone figures showed the very sophisticated and advanced know how of their creators many centuries ago. What was even more stunning was the atmosphere inside. Time seemed to have past in a much slower pace there, the devotees celebrated their Poojas (offerings) and rituals and played instruments which made my mind wander back in time…
The photos you can see were partially taken by a Nepali girl named Sasha, I was lucky enough to have the chance to copy her pictures, as they were taken with a far more professional camera and Sasha was far more motivated taking pictures ;) Big hug to all of you and thank you for your lovely comments. Like this I get an idea,´till which extent my attempts to share my impressions with you are successful…

TTC absolved!!!

Hi dear friends and family, I know it has been a bit silent here during the past month, while I was busy with the TTC. This education was very demanding and intense, so in the rather short periods of free time I tried to stay focused, relax and avoid the internet, as it tends to consume rather much time and energy. 2 days ago I absolved the final exam and can call myself a Sivananda Yoga teacher now ;) …which is not really what I was aiming for, I just wanted to gain a good foundation of Yoga for my every day life and maybe start teaching little by little one day next to graphic design- , web- and music-projects. I am happy I absolved this education and persisted during the not so easy periods. Many things started moving, old thoughts, emotions and feelings form rather profound layers started to come to the surface in order to be attended and dissolved. During this month I have become more sensitive towards my intuition and different kinds of influences and energies.
Imagine how many things change, when you do healthy physical exercise together with organic and vegetarian diet for your body, meditation and concentration training for your mind, and more subtle training on the soul-level. It was beautiful to observe how people around me transformed and started to shine during the past weeks.
Unfortunately my camera is dying (the zoom does not work any more and the flash screws up the pictures) and it would have been very difficult anyways to show the beauty of some magical moments… how ever, I uploaded some more pictures on the album of the past entry, I hope you like the pictures...