Goats, Ghats and the Swami

This morning I got up early to practice. It was such a nice treat to do yoga again. While my meditation practice has been strong, my asana practice has been lagging for the past few days. Between our train travel and settling into a new city, it has been hard to make time and space for asana work.
I got up early and went down to the Assi Ghat near our hotel. Because it was so early, I expected to be alone down there. There were, however, hundreds of people moving in and out of the river. Colorful saris, flower and the orange robes of the swamis moved around the ghat like a kaleidoscope of color and chants and prayers filled the air. I did my best to find a secluded corner to practice.
It was a challenge to my ego at first. I am in India after all. To practice yoga here, with so many eyes trained on the white boy was a trick. Given that I teach yoga, I am no stranger to doing the poses with folks watching, but these were Indians. Of course this is all ego and not based on anything real.
Christopher and I have remarked a number of times that hatha Yoga is noticeably absent here. You might see a sadu do something that loosely looks like a sun salutation (Surya Namaskar) to greet the day, but hatha yoga, as we know it in the west is quite rare. Aside from the few big Yoga centers in Southern India, There are very few places to really practice, and for all the yoga “stuff” for sale, we have yet to see one yoga block, strap or mat for sale.
I was feeling strong this morning, so I did a more vigorous flowing practice. Even at six in the morning it is hot here, so there was a lot of sweat and fire in my practice. Once I got into my practice, I nearly forgot that there were tons of people around. The animals, however, were true to Indian form. They love to meditate with people and I acquired a goat friend who, in spite of his master’s best efforts, insisted on coming up and standing in front of my mat to watch me practice. Sure he was distracting, but so cute I could not help but smile.
After practice, I purchased a flower boat and candle for 5 rupees (less than ten cents) and offered a prayer to the river. As I emerged from my prayer, a beautiful old swami and his two grandsons approached me. He was so feeble that he could barely walk, but he wanted to take the time to thank me for bringing my yoga to the river. What an honor. I know I say this in every bog about my morning practice, but this was one of the deepest Sadhanas (spiritual practices) I have had in quite a while.