The yoga in Rishikesh

A month in Rishikesh - it was way too short. I wish I could have stayed another five, or ten, or more. Was there for the yoga and boy was it worth it. Usha Devi, who runs and teaches at Omkarananda Ganga Sadan, is the best yoga teacher I've ever come across, not that I've been to anything more than the casual studio in every town I've ever been in. In between taunts and smacks on peoples' behinds, softened by her smiles, she gave really great instruction. Half the class or more was made up of students who had been there in most cases many times before. The rest was made up of students who planned to come back many times in the future. I only met one person who seemed dissatisfied and discontinued the class. He was a young Israeli man who'd hurt himself with a lifetime of surfing and was hoping that she'd be able to help him, but felt that she was really doing nothing for him. Everyone else with injuries seemed to benefit greatly from the class and the modifications in various poses she introduced them to. There were people from everywhere - Australia, New Zealand, England, the U.S., Canada, Israel, Ethiopia, Spain, Italy, Belgium,Germany, France, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Brazil, El Salvador, China etc. etc. etc. And surprise!, there was even an Indian kid who hailed from Gangotri (in the same state as Rishikesh) and who had lived in China for a few years and had just moved back to Rishikesh (he said it was different than what he thought it would be) and actually wanted to head back to China but was having trouble with job and visa, who lasted two or three days - after which I was the only person of Indian origin in the class for the remainder of the month - weird. When I bumped into him a few days later, he told me that the pace was too slow for him and he was already adept at yoga, though not this Iyengar style, and he needed a more fast-paced class. What he didn't realize was that it was a very advanced class, with her paying attention to the various little nuances that no one really did in regular classes and that made what one was practicing beneficial, or not. And since new students tended to usually show up on Mondays, the beginning of the week, she also was in the habit of starting off a little slowly and repeating the basics at the beginning of the week - but by Thursday and Friday things were in full swing and by Saturday people were ready for the Sunday break. The greatest thing about the class is that because new students keep coming in, the basics are gone over again and again. People doing things grossly incorrectly (or even slightly incorrectly sometimes) were picked on and made to demonstrate their lack of understanding, knowledge, coordination - basically everything, so that the others would understand what not to do. This is really great for everyone - even teachers and people who've been practicing for decades appreciate the 'back to basics' lessons. And the class being open to everyone - adepts as well as the most basic beginners, allows for everyone to learn - how to and how not to, and how to correct someone who is going wrong. This is unusual since in most of the serious centers in India you get grouped based on the number of years you've been practicing, who recommends you, etc. etc. etc. - So it's nice to be in a crowd where there are people of all levels. On my first day, I was thrilled when I was one of the people who got touched in the middle of some pose and then all the people who got touched were asked to come up and repeat what they had been doing. I thought, wow, I thought I was really lousy with my yoga - never giving it the seriousness it needed, practicing in fits and starts, sometimes regularly (like once a month), but infrequently, sometimes frequently, but irregularly and so on - but I must have done something right, if she was picking on me to demonstrate to the others! That's when I found out that you usually get picked on when you're going wrong everywhere! A lesson in humility!

Don't complain too much in class - unless you have injuries or something - if you complain of pain - then you'll get told that only dead bodies don't feel pain. You'll sweat a lot - because the electricity likes to go out specifically during yoga class for some reason - but Usha's response to that is that in Bikram yoga they charge you to sweat - and here it's free! Also, if you're a woman, you'll get asked if you have 'period' - everyone who has 'period' gets to go to one end so they do something different than the asanas that are not good when one is in 'period'. Sometimes you get asked that (and you're not a woman)! And sometimes you should get asked that (and you're not)! - Just jokes - hopefully!

So, in short, the yoga was great. The studio was just wonderful, with the view of the Ganga, the props and the atmosphere and the open hours of 7:30-11:30 for self-practice. Usha, as I said, is someone I will definitely go study with again - and again - I really wish that I had found her long before March when I did and had gone to Rishikesh soon after I came to India, rather than just the month before she's due to go to BKS Iyengar's shala in Pune for her annual yoga studies. I was told that this was pretty serious yoga, as far as the postures go, and that no other class in Rishikesh came close. An Austrian lady I met and became friends with, who had studied with Gita Iyengar and worked with BKS Iyengar himself, who was a yoga teacher herself, but who unfortunately has been suffering from emphysema for the last couple of years also recommended Trika yoga, which she said was much more gentle and do-able for her in her current condition. She also recommended Yoga Niketan, which is an ashram with a two-week minimum stay that has yoga classes twice a day, apart from meditation and other aspects of ashram life, where per her, the yoga is taught quite well. I met several people who went to the Sivananda yoga classes as well, though what they offer is a little different and more sedate. One girl I met from Canada who was a teacher certified by the Sivananda ashrams (or institutes?) in Canada, said that after studying with teachers like Usha she would not recommend the Sivananda course to anyone. But each person and what they're looking for is different and I'm sure that what they teach also has merit, even if it doesn't pay rigorous attention to form in the asanas and so on.