Thursday morning in the Nilgiris

25 September
At 6 am I awoke to the sounds of little feet shuffling up and down the walkway in front of our rooms. It was the sound of the therapists handing out good mornings in the form of medicine for the patients here. I slowly turned to lynn and reveled in the fact that I could snuggle my body next to his warmth for a few minutes. I pulled my stiff sore body out of our rock hard bed- literally I think the mattress is a sheet of rock wrapped in a cotton bed covering. I quickly pull my white yoga pants over my legs, toss on a white shrit and brush my teeth. Then it is out the door for us and up the glorious walk to the yoga hall perched on the top of the mountain. As I look over my left shoulder I am still amazed at what lies below. We are standing on the top of a beautiful mountain blanketed by rows of tea leaves. There are miles and miles of green leaves waiting for the patient women to bring their stachesl around and pick them. We softly enter the sanctuary that is the yoga hall and pull out our mats. The sound of bodies stretching and soft breathing fills the room, as well as the energy of morning. The transition from night to morning is full of energy here in India, you can feel the morning shake off those last few shades of night and give a great big yawn. When the teacher walks in people shift to kneeling and gently breathe inhale and exhales. Then we sing the opening prayer..
• Gurur Brahma Gurur Vishnu Gurur Devo Maheshwara
• Gurur Sakshat Param Brahma TEjasvi guruve namaha
• Om Sahana vavatu, shahnau bhunaktu saha viryam karavavahai navadhitam astu ma vidvishavahai
• Om Shanti Shanti Shanti
After we are all centered inward and ready for the yoga we stand and begin the day. We do sun salutations and a series of asanas meant to cultivate energy. After the session we have another class of just the teacher students. The smells of breakfast are floating into the room by now singing our names, and after all the work we retreat into the sunny garden out side our student rooms and sit down for another beautiful Indian meal prepared for us by Mohan the chef. I close my eyes and try to remember what it feels like to be basking in the sun here, so close to the clouds enjoying a tiny cup of chai masala.