I have a confession to make.
Dawn and I are not the best of friends,
In fact we rarely see eye to eye
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I love to sleep, you see
And this clashes with the sunrise, a time of day I often miss
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However today was different.
I woke up before her,
She was still asleep, and the night sky still clung to the horizon, wrapped around the moon and stars.
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What I am trying to portray is that it was early
Very early.
For me at least
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And so with all my strength I left the warmth of my bed and wrapped on as many layers I could.
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We are in Rishikesh
One of the most beautiful places,
Ever
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The mother Ganga
That is what they call the Ganges river here
Her spirit runs the river
Creating a beautiful goddess in the form of a beautiful blue awa
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People come from all over India
To collect her water for their villages
She is respected and revered
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Rishikesh is built on her banks
Woven under and up the hills
The maunga wrapping her in a tight embrace
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And so with that context in mind, let me tell you all the things I did today
Before the sunrise
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Bundled up in all our layers, we walked 5 minutes down the hill to the river side
Once there we found a spot and rolled out our yoga mats, pinks green and blues
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Susie was there (our yoga teacher) dressed in beautiful whites and creams.
And together for about an hour, we did a beautiful yoga session
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I did a yoga session,
Led by Susie, a renowned and incredible yoga teacher,
On the side of the powerful Ganga River.
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How utterly incredible
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However our Sun salutations did not provoke the sun to rise early
She stayed tucked behind the maunga
The faint blue hue of dawn led us through our motions
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And once yoga was finished,
And before the sun had poked her head over the mountains,
Susie, Claire, Cornelia and I walked through the streets to an Ashram
It was called the Sivananda Ashram and it felt like a very special space
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Rishikesh can be quite loud.
There are many big speakers on cars, packed with young men making the trip here for their villages.
They often blast music that echos, vibrating off the surrounding mountains
This is joined by the echoed sounds of people starting their day
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However this ashram was a quiet space
With private steps leading down into the river
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It was there we saw the first peak of the sun over the mountains
But only a peak
She had not fully risen yet
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After a few moments spent there, we walked to a store for Chai
Waiting for our Chai to be made and poured into clay pots, we stood and watched the day start over the Mother Ganga
With Chai in hand and content smiles on our faces
We finally watched the sun beams rise and settle over the banks of the Ganga
The sun had finally risen
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And I looked to her
Feeling filled to the brim with gratitude
For this space I was in
For the places I had been
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And I wondered if I could do it,
If I could be a morning person?
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Maybe in India I could
Maybe not so much in New Zealand
But it was definitely nice this once
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This blog post is dedicated to my family and friends who know just how much of a morning person I am not
