Life in Bhagsu

NOTE:  The internet in Bhagsu has become very undependable and slow.   I am now sitting in Mcleod at a place I was promised has great consistent wifi – judging by the signal and the crowd in here, I think it does.  I have edited and combined several full posts to catch you up.  Now that I know of this place I will be once again be more consistent…..

My husband has returned to Abu Dhabi and I have settled into a routine here in the mountains of India.  My sleep pattern is not much different from the standard early to bed/early to rise that has been my inclination since childhood.  However the days are much different.  I am trying to work an Ayurvedic day a close to precisely as I can, and it is turning out to be simultaneously energizing and calming.

I wake up early, drink some water, do breathing exercises, ablutions, read/write a bit over a cup of warm beverage of the day and a piece of fruit.  Then I head to yoga class for 90 minutes.  I come back, shower and change and go for a leisurely breakfast.  Over breakfast I review my notes from the previous day, and skim through the entirety of them, stopping at highlighted areas in an effort to force my brain into total comprehension and recall.  It seems to be working.

I head for class and for the next several hours immerse myself in the latest information, taking notes, asking questions and participating in discussions.  Our instructor is both an MD and an Ayurvedic Doctor.  Many of our classroom conversations include comparisons of Western Medicine to Ayurveda, and also the places where they work together.  There are things Western Medicine is very good at – Emergency Medicine being the one most commonly cited.  Ayurveda is a long term approach to overall health, and frankly, 5000 years ago they didn’t have car accidents and bullet wounds to contend with, so that makes sense.  The biggest concern was why people were suddenly getting sick when they moved away from more solitary and familial/tribal living in the jungle to the larger communal and multi-cultural living of villages, towns and cities.

After class I usually take a walk around the area, through the woods, to the next town, wherever.  After a small evening meal I return the room and pull out my  notes and transcribe them into my computer.  When I finish that I sit on the deck with my book.  Tough life, huh?

This week we have been doing practicals, meaning we are learning some of the most basic Ayurvedic treatments, including massage, (oil, dry, and with freshly made bolus).  We have learned the indications and contraindications for each, and which bolus to use for what complaint.  We take turns being the practitioner and the patient – which makes it really fun.

I have today off… The rainy monsoon season is supposed to be over.  It isn’t.  I am not saying this by way of complaint, only stating a fact.  This morning I awoke to thunder echoing off the mountains and a light Seattle-esque drizzle.  In point of fact, most of the rain has been like that, more mist than rain, but ever present.

It had paused this morning when I left my room for breakfast at my favorite local place at the top of the hill.  I placed my order, pulled out my Kindle, and began to read.  The breeze became stronger and I was momentarily chilled.  The owner of the restaurant came around and closed some of the windows to temper the air flow, and the rain started to become steady and stronger.  I lost focus on the story as a memory came to me of rain on a tin roof and I look up.  The entire roof here is metal, and the sound of the beating rain is deafening… and absolutely wonderful.  I look out the window to my left, straight into a tangle of trees, ferns and Oh. My. Gosh… Mountain laurel blossoms.  I am not in India.  I am a child in the North Georgia mountains, laying on the screened porch of my grandparents cabin on Lake Burton.  The rain on the tin roof, the woods, the mountain laurel, they are all there as well.  It was the best place in the entire world when I was a child (and to be honest, it’s still in the running in my adult mind.)  The memories hit me hard as the sounds and smells of the rain, and the surprising appearance of previously unnoticed mountain laurels take control.  For some reason I start crying and laughing simultaneously.  I really like it here.

Today is going to be a very good day.