Mr. Shaker and I on the roof after yoga

 

Every morning at 6am, Mr Shakar would arrive at our hotel to lead us in our morning yoga instruction. Due to the early time, it was a peaceful and fitting way to begin our day. Yoga is a practice that makes you focus on yourself. It takes a long time and a lot of practice to be able to drown out the world and its issues and focus only on your breathing. When you focus on your breathing, the core of your physical existence, you actually cannot think about anything else; – therefore perfecting your breathing techniques is paramount to a successful practice.

We started out on a field owned by the hotel. When I tell you that the flies in Khamgaon think that human beings are cows also, I am not lying.  I am glad to say that I have reached a point where I can focus on my breathing and block out thoughts, however the flies made that impossible! I am not talking about occasionally buzzing in your ear, but covering your daggone body and buzzing in your ear.  Amazingly, the local people are used to this and it does not seem to bother anyone.  It bothered me.

At some point, I was able to maneuver us off of the grass and onto the roof for our morning practice.  Though there were a few pools of water, there were no flies!!! Yes!!!! For the first ten – fifteen minutes, I was elated. Lo and behold, even though we were on the second floor – they eventually found us! Oh noooooo! I began calling them my friends because they wouldn’t leave me alone no matter how much I tried. Acceptance is a key quality that I had to pay attention to in India. It helps one to stay sane. I tried accepting the flies, but I wasn’t too successful.  Anyway, yoga also lets you know which part of your body needs some work. Yoga positions are called “asanas,” each has a specific physical and mental benefit.  I found out that some sitting asanas hurt me, and that tells me that I need to work on that area so it is not an issue as I age (gracefully of course).

 

Mr. Shakar was a very calm influence for me. He was very introspective, respectful, thoughtful, and peaceful. I am so glad that he was a part of our daily adventures, without him, things at times may have been a little more difficult. My only hope is that I will remember and maintain the yoga routine that he taught us, so far since I have been home, I am giving myself a great big “D” which should probably be an “F”.  I remember, but I am not maintaining! I suppose that this is the reason people will pay money for classes and personal trainers – that forces you to do things you wouldn’t really do on your own.