I managed to squeeze past the hot and sticky bodies crammed into the passenger train and on to the platform. The heat was inexorable. I longed to remove my long skirt and long sleeve t-shirt, which clung to my body in an irritating way. But I was in the most conservative town of Karnataka and I had to abide to the rules of demureness. After haggling with the tuk-tuk driver, I climbed on board and made my way to Kudle Beach, one of the closest beaches to Gokarna.
The world was created out of the ear of a cow. Shiva stirred his magic in the cow’s ear and out sprang earth. Hence the name of this town, Gokarna (cow in Sanskrit), which is said to be the location of where this cow's ear was located, which then calcified into a cave.
Gokarna is one of the 4 most important Hindu Pilgrimage sites and it’s also one of 12 real Shiva sites in all of India. No surprise then that this town’s existence is centred around religion, though foreigners come for many other reasons, nature probably is top of the list.
Photo: View of Gokarna Beach
Hindu lore believes that if you do all 4 pilgrimages your karma is reduced by half. I had such a wonderful experience doing the pilgrimage site in Madurai that one of the things I wanted to do was to visit all four pilgrimage sites within my lifetime. I was excited by the prospect of experiencing a serious blast of shakti. But a handful of foreigners have ruined it for the rest of us, since now we’re not allowed into the heart of the sanctuary.
I probably could’ve pulled off visiting the holy shrine, but on that particular day I was hanging out with Rani an Israeli, who lives 6 months out of the year in Gokarna for the last 7 years. I didn’t want to keep him waiting, but I still ambuled slowly on the outer part of the shrine, feeling the vibes and thanking my good fortune. Rani was showing me the ropes and taking me around the town, which has lots of charm. It was thanks to Rani that I discovered a spring, close to the Rama temple. It was the second time in India I managed to drink water that was alive. Other wise the water I’m drinking is terrible. It’s bottled filtered water. I try to drink at least one fresh coconut water a day to compensate and of course I drink lots of fruit juices.
Rani is a Shivananda teacher and he’s in the midst of building a yoga centre in Gokarna. He’ll be one of the pioneers, since there’s only one other place offering yoga. But I think this place will change dramatically in five years. Change is inevitable. Rani showed me where he was building his place; it’s overlooking the sea. Doing a sunsalutation while staring at the sky and the ocean, mmmm.
Rani is versed in all aspects of yoga and it was good to have a discussion with someone about yogic philosophy. He doesn’t think much of Ashtanga though, and I understand his perceptions, since there are Ashtangis who only know asana and don’t bother with the rest.
Unlike the Shivananda practise, which gives a general overview of philosophy, pranayama and asana, the Ashtanga practise often centres solely around asana and it’s up to each practitioner to find their way to the other aspects of a yogic practice. (Krishnamucharya and Guruji left us some serious clues as to where to turn to for answers to a dharmic yogi life, but you still need someone to point it out). But I think that’s what I like about Ashtanga, the freedom to choose with whom I study my texts and philosophy. When I spent time at the Siddha Yoga Ashram, I had some good teachers, but now it's really lacking. I end up studying texts on my own and frankly it's not the same.
Photo: Rama Springs
I did Shivananda for a while, back in the days when I couldn’t find an Ashtanga teacher. I enjoyed it, but for my temperament I found it stifling.(I took the best Shivananda offered and I’m grateful for the experience). I think if there was still a living guru I might be doing the Shivananda practice. Now it feels like an organisation full of hierarchy; a bit of a turn off. A great living teacher always knows how to deflate preople’s egos.
At the end of the day we all have our paths and whatever works for you in terms of getting connected to yourself, the world and others is what's important. There is no asana practice that's better than another.
For the next four days I lived in a palm hut. For 200 rupees a day I had the most extraordinary view. I was 8 feet away from the sea and the drop to the water was only 4 feet below. Bright coloured hamocks lined the edge, and I spent a number of days lying on the hamock, listening to the ocean and feeling how the breeze carressed my body without giving me goosebumps. Sunsets were magnificent, glorious, memorable. After sunsets I met around the table with the few stragglers, who were undetterred by the heat, and were equally as mesmerised by our setting. I met some unique individuals in Gokarna: A french anarchist (who was living in India for the last 15 years), an internet entrepreneur from England, a Swiss philosophy student, a German woman living most of the year near the Aruna mountain, a Flamenco guitare master, a serious Rock guitarist from England, were some of the few people I spent my evenings with discussing politics, India and a plethora of other topics of conversation, which titillated my being. There was such splendid diversity in our backgrounds that it reminded me that this was one of the many reasons I love to travel.
Photo: Washing of clothes
But there were drawbacks to my side trip to Gokarna: communal "showers" and toilets and rats.
I came prepared food wise, but by the end of my first night I had to dump all of my provisions out, since the rats were going crazy. I could see them running all along the beams and I was freaked out of my mind. I stepped out, determined to sleep outside. After realising how uncomfortable it was on the ground, I decided to go back in search of my pillow. The moment I set foot in the hut the smell of putrid fruits and veggies wafted into my nostrils. I suddenly realised why the rats were on a rampage. In one quick scoop I picked up my provisions and threw them all out. An hour later the rats disappeared and I managed to get some sleep on the bed. I could picture the feeding frenzy they had with the food I threw on the other side of the gardens. The only thing I had with me was dehydrated seaweed and nuts, which I was certain they wouldn’t get to. But a day later I realised that the rats got into my seaweed and nut stash.
Food wise I had a serious dilemma. I could walk every day the 4km into Gokarna to buy provisions, which I would then have to eat before sundown. And then there was the cleaning situation, a serious challenge. I didn’t have access to a kitchen and the people who ran the huts had their own kitchen/cafe and they weren’t happy with the idea of me using their facilities. For the first two days I ate only fruits and nuts. But then I was so transfixed with the setting that I was glued most of the time to my hamock and unable to go into town. I continued to eat only fruit, but I noticed that I was loosing weight fast. Although I’ve done large periods of fruitarianism, it doesn't agree with me. For starters I always loose way too much weight quickly.
One of the things my teacher here wanted me to focus on was strength. When he pointed out how weak my bandhas were and how incorrectly I was working the upper body, I felt as if I was starting the practice from scratch. I realised that all of the years I did the practice led me to this moment of right core alignment. It felt as if I were about to embark on the real practice and the rest was just prercursory work. I mentioned this to Philip, before I left for Gokarna, and he agreed with me, saying that very soon the practice would unfold in a different way due to this new alignment. So strength was a key word for me at the shala.
It takes 6 weeks to build up muscle. Doing a fruitarian diet would undoubtedly interfere with my strenght and I just couldn’t face seeing my teacher’s face, when he saw me ten pounds lighter. What to do?
I eat raw, because it’s the healthiest and it’s what’s helped me heal the myriad of health problems I was plagued with for most of my life. As those of you, who are familiar with the blog know, there are a handful of times a year I’ll eat cooked food due to different reasons and it looked like my trip to Gokarna would be one of those cooked food experiences.
When eating cooked food, I’ll take the healthiest option available: Dahl or any other bean are one of the best options with a salad, cooked vegetables, grains (though wheat is at the bottom of the totenpole, after potatoes), sweet potatoes, pumpkin and then potatoes. Unless your beans are sprouted, you should eat them cooked, since they are indigestible raw. Potatoes should always be cooked, since they are toxic raw. But if you’re going to eat potatoes, sweet potatoes are the best. My view of sweet potatoes has changed dramatically over the last year. All of the literature deterred me from eating it due to its high estrogen levels. But turns out that sweet potatoe actually protect the body from all of the estrogen we get from plastic chemicals in our water, cosmetics, etc. You can eat sweet potatoe raw and it’s yummy in the dehydrator.
In Gokarna I had two hummus meals, which I ate with tomato and cucumber slices (I was glad the Israelis visited the site during the high season, hence, hummus on the menu). I also knew that the kitchen was set up by a Danish woman, and by sight it looked clean. Thanks to the hummus I managed to keep my weight level. One of the many things cooked food does is it adds more calories to the body, since fats and carbs expand with heat. Beans are also mucous forming (which in the long run makes you stiff), so you don‘t want to eat too much cooked (accelerating aging process in the body). Cooked food is also super addictive. Each time I eat cooked food I eat twice or three times as much as usual. It opens up the stomach and palate in a way raw food never does. With raw foods I always know, when I’ve had enough.
I returned to Goa grateful for the many conveniences I have food wise. I also realised that even though I’ve backpacked in India, it wasn't done on a raw diet. My experience in Gokarna was an eye-opener. How can I improve the situation? How can I be better prepared for the next time? Is it possible to backpack on a raw diet? Were some of the many questions the experience revealed to me.
Living the raw lifestyle is a privilege. Few countries in the world have the kind of abundance to fresh produce and hygiene that we have in France, where there are loads of raw restaurant options as well. Here in India it’s still a cooked paradigm in the same way that the women’s movement has light years to go. A step at a time...
Have a wonderful week, Live for Love, Arletty Abady
T
photos of potluck at Inspire Yoga
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