This past weekend, I went with aprox 30 girls to Rishikesh, somewhere 6 hours north of Delhi, famous for being a religious place, hippie hangout, and yoga capital of the world.
We actually stayed about 15km outside of Rishikesh, at a little retreat much more rural and peaceful than the city itself. For me, this was heaven. I feel most at home when I'm in nature, be that backpacking in the White Mountains or in my own backyard. I'm never worried about bears, or in this case, panthers, or anything else. I just feel welcomed home.
The trip included a few decent hike/walks, visiting the banks of the Ganges, a short high ropes course (the systems were not redundant for you climbers out there, there were thirty seconds or so that I was in a tree not clipped in to anything as they changed the line I was attached to) and an evening in the city of Rishikesh itself.
So I was absolutely in heaven, morning to evening. Well, not on the bus, which was air conditioned if you could stand a funny smell, and bumpy like nothing I've ever experienced, which basically meant I went those nights without sleeping (thank you to the wonders of smart phone technology and friends who were awake on the other side of the world to help me sort out my life).
That was the other wonderful thing about Rishikesh, experimenting in being who I always wanted to be. I have expectations for myself, which under basically every circumstance I can fulfill. I can get strait As in honors college classes, running a marathon, waking up at 6 to meditate; I can juggle work, clubs, physical health, relaxation. Here, reality has been harsh as I attempt to maintain these expectations in an environment where I don't need to, in fact maybe I can't. This results in beating myself up over expectations that were unrealistic to begin with, which is harsh, as when you're in a new place its not just one or two things that you can't do as well, your whole performance in everything is thrown off.
So I decided I don't need that, and in forming this, have taking from several peoples wisdom who I'm not citing here but who know who they are. I'm just going to start at the end, to start now being who I've always wanted to become. All my duties are in a sense on hold, all my ways of defining myself are left back in the US, therefore here I have the opportunity. Sometimes balance is counterintuitive, for me at least; I am learning balance doesn't mean being perfect at everything, but putting effort where it is important, and letting go of that which is left. It is a learning process, but one that started beautifully in Rishikesh.
And alas, here are some of the 300 pictures I took...there is no way I'm putting all those up so here are a few.
We actually stayed about 15km outside of Rishikesh, at a little retreat much more rural and peaceful than the city itself. For me, this was heaven. I feel most at home when I'm in nature, be that backpacking in the White Mountains or in my own backyard. I'm never worried about bears, or in this case, panthers, or anything else. I just feel welcomed home.
The trip included a few decent hike/walks, visiting the banks of the Ganges, a short high ropes course (the systems were not redundant for you climbers out there, there were thirty seconds or so that I was in a tree not clipped in to anything as they changed the line I was attached to) and an evening in the city of Rishikesh itself.
So I was absolutely in heaven, morning to evening. Well, not on the bus, which was air conditioned if you could stand a funny smell, and bumpy like nothing I've ever experienced, which basically meant I went those nights without sleeping (thank you to the wonders of smart phone technology and friends who were awake on the other side of the world to help me sort out my life).
That was the other wonderful thing about Rishikesh, experimenting in being who I always wanted to be. I have expectations for myself, which under basically every circumstance I can fulfill. I can get strait As in honors college classes, running a marathon, waking up at 6 to meditate; I can juggle work, clubs, physical health, relaxation. Here, reality has been harsh as I attempt to maintain these expectations in an environment where I don't need to, in fact maybe I can't. This results in beating myself up over expectations that were unrealistic to begin with, which is harsh, as when you're in a new place its not just one or two things that you can't do as well, your whole performance in everything is thrown off.
So I decided I don't need that, and in forming this, have taking from several peoples wisdom who I'm not citing here but who know who they are. I'm just going to start at the end, to start now being who I've always wanted to become. All my duties are in a sense on hold, all my ways of defining myself are left back in the US, therefore here I have the opportunity. Sometimes balance is counterintuitive, for me at least; I am learning balance doesn't mean being perfect at everything, but putting effort where it is important, and letting go of that which is left. It is a learning process, but one that started beautifully in Rishikesh.
And alas, here are some of the 300 pictures I took...there is no way I'm putting all those up so here are a few.
Clouds in the mountains at 5 in the morning
Our retreat in the morning
One of the rivers flowing into the Ganges
"Trekking"
I know its hard to be a rural farmer and all...but I'm up for it.
Only slightly posed...
The Ganges! Its still clean up here in Rishikesh, though muddy from the rains
This is me walking on water....with the help of a few cleverly placed rocks...
In Rishikesh
These bowls filled with flowers we lit and put into the Ganges in Rishikesh
Beautiful!!!
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