Yup, that pretty much summarizes my last few days in Rishikesh. I always get a very sore throat when I get home from India, joking that the air at home is too clean compared to here, but this year the sickness came early. I'm on day 5 now, and Swati said "Erika, it's time." She always tells me I'm crazy for waiting so long to see a doctor (I tried ayurdvedic medicine, salt water gargling, 6 different kinds of teas, but nothing seems to work. So tomorrow, she will take me to a throat specialist near her mother's). It's the kind of cough where every breath is an unpleasant tickle to the throat, bringing about painful dry coughing fits. At night time, when it's at its worst, I'm practically in tears. And sleeping has been quite difficult. Haven't had a good sleep since the barking dogs night at Maa Yoga Ashram last Friday. Dr. Amrit's brother noticed. When he saw me today, he said: "You are lacking vitality. You look weak. Are you ok?" Either I look much worse than I thought, or as an ayurvedic doctor he's quite perceptive of these things.
Ok, so there's been a little more to the last three days than coughing...
Went to my last Trika class Monday morning then did some end of trip shopping, and in the pm went to Maa. There, I wrote another blog post for Amrit's site and he took my pulse (part of an ayurvedic examinatation). He told me my vata was pretty out of whack, which would explain my difficulty sleeping. Vata is related to air and movement and stress, which would make sense with the crazy days I've been planning for myself, and trying to fit in a million things before leaving. I think the Dr's orders would be, "Shanti, shanti, take it easy, slow down". I have. A little. Did the hour-long walk back to my room, rested a bit, then headed to Children of the Ganges with Swati. That night I had planned an art project with them. I had accumulated many plastic water bottles since arriving, and, not wanting to contribute to the already horrendous pollution here, I wanted to do something with them. So each student got a bottle to decorate or make something out of. Bird feeder, basket, animal, smiley face... I was happy to be making recycling fun :)
Tuesday morning I went to my last Iyengar yoga class with Ashish. I woke up with congestion and ear pain on top of my throat soreness and coughing, so I hesitated about yoga, but went. So much for taking it easy. I was exhausted during class and had to lie down a few times. That afternoon I walked to LaxmanJhula to do more shopping, and in the evening went to the Trika lecture on Polarity of Energy. Then met Swati for our dinner date. We went to a nice recently opened resto together. On our way back she said to me, "Usually it's Amit who gets home late after closing his shop and running errands at the market, but tonight, it's my turn!" I was happy to offer her a night out, away from her regular duties at home.
This morning was my last yoga class with Anup. Again, I should probably have slept in and rested, but I didn't want to miss my final class. Lots of pressure in my head and sinuses. Like in yesterday's class, I stopped a few times when I needed to, and even fell asleep during savasana, which never happens. This afternoon I went to Tapovan for my last visit with Amrit. I wrote a final post, had an organic ayurvedic lunch with those who were staying there, had several teas that were good for temporary throat soothing, and discussed my "project" action plan with Amrit. Very exciting collaboration possibilities in sight! Speed walked back to meet Swati in time for Children of the Ganges where I had organized games and videos for my last visit (for this year) with the kids. We had a super fun evening, and I was even offered a flower by one of the little boys :) I then invited Swati up to my room in the guesthouse (I had been to her place so many times, but she had yet to visit my "home"). We chatted, I made some tea, and showed her my recent purchases. And now I'm here, writing my second to last blog for India Part 3! Off to bed, hoping that tomorrow's consultation with the throat specialist will bring about a small miracle, and that I will be able to travel to back Delhi and to Montreal without coughing all over my train and plane neighbors...
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