Rishikesh
Arriving the following evening in Haridwar, I grabbed a motorized pedicab to Rishikesh, the self-proclaimed "unofficial yoga capital of the world." My dad had sent me a link in the summer about Rishikesh and its relationship to yoga (I'm not sure he actually intended for me to read it and, you know, go there) and I thought it looked like a place I ought to visit--as a Beatles fan (thank you Maharishi) and as a yoga practitioner (if I may be so crass as to label myself that). Already I could tell that Haridwar was slightly less confounding then Varanasi (though I couldn't tell you how, exactly), and that Rishikesh--and in particular the High Bank side of this small(ish) city--had a different kind of energy, though also on the Ganges (but a part that ran quickly and, in some places, dangerously). The pilgrims here are comprised of a wide range of tourists, many of whom have come to seek peace, love, and yoga (much like the Beatles in the late '60s did from the Maharishi). So many yoga ashrams, so little time! I visited a few, had a fascinating Ayurvedic experience or two, and participated in just enough yoga classes during my week there to get just a little bit of the feel for yoga in Rishikesh at least.
I came to Rishikesh, I think, to experience (perhaps naively?) yoga in a more "true" form--closer to the source. I mean, Rishikesh is the "yoga capital of the world" and (though I've been teaching yoga for only a short time) it seemed like the thing to do. Again, my experience was complicated. I loved roaming around Rishikesh, taking "Laughter Yoga" (seriously, it was the best time ever), riding a bicycle in the hills, meeting folks on the side roads and pedestrian suspension bridge. But I can also say that, in my limited experience, I found at least some of the practices steeped in what felt like a patriarchal system (not surprising based on my experience of how men treat the women). I also winced (literally) at some of the mechanics and insistence on postures being just so (heels must reach the floor in Downward Facing Dog), regardless of body type or limitations. Was I coming with my Western Orientalist limited mindset to appropriate a tradition not my own, and for my own colonizing purposes (a conversation for another day)? Or was I reacting to the ways in which this patriarchal culture seeks to keep women and others (Muslims, for example) in their place? How can I be judgmental about that which I know not? And about a place which I have over the years come to idealize, but have so little experience or knowledge? All of my reactions, responses, experiences reveal my limitations. India helped me see and work with those limitations.
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