It is 2:00 am on Sunday, March 13 and I cannot sleep maybe because my body still thinks it is at home where it is 1:00 pm Saturday, March 12. Although we have only been in India for just over 24 hours, I expected I would adjust to the time change faster.
We arrived in Dubai late Tuesday, March 8. Although it is exhilarating to travel to the other side of the
People were friendly in Dubai and we LOVED the markets.
world, it is also just a little disorienting. We left Toronto on our 13-hour voyage to Dubai at 10 pm on Monday night and arrived in Dubai at 8 pm Tuesday night – the next day. Essentially we lost an entire day. Tuesday March 8 basically did not exist for me.
Maybe I can’t sleep because I am waiting for 6 more of our students who arriving from Toronto and the U.S at this time. Ian has gone to the airport to get them and once I know there are all here I can relax more. So far we have 3 students who arrived late last night and the final 5 are arriving tomorrow around noon – there are 14 students and 16 people in total. Classes at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram begin bright and early Monday morning at 7:30 am. I hope I am sleeping so I can make that time. Don’t want to miss a thing.
Or maybe I can’t sleep because I am a little emotional. Last night during my 4:00 am bout of insomnia, I was also hit with a tidal wave of awe – yes awe and wonder. You just never know what will happen in life. Here I am in the birthplace of Yoga. Yoga – the only thing that made me feel whole and happy during my darkest hours. I truly believed it saved my life in the late 90s and I feel indebted to it and its many teachers. Here I am in the birthplace of Yoga with 15 other people who love it as much as I do and believe in its healing powers AND who have trusted me enough to travel around the globe to learn more from one of the true founts of Yoga wisdom the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram. Here I am in the birthplace of Yoga 8 years after my first trip to India and oh my how things have changed for me.
All smiles from Sacha and I since we survived our rickshaw ride!
In 2003 I came to India as thousands before me – seeking answers. I had just left a financially successful but spiritually depleting corporate career. I still remember the look on my VPs face when I said I was resigning to go to India and the many phone calls from friends who thought I had lost it finally. And then there was the one phone call from an Aunt who thought I needed an intervention since I must have joined a cult.
I had also just walked away from a relationship and into the arms of the love of my life and then got on a plane two months later. Ian was so supportive and sweet as he sewed Canada flags on my backpack and told me he would be here when I got back. You know you have to marry a man like that.
I left it all and got on a plane. After 24 hours in the air, I remember that first night in Chennai lying in my single no a/c room asking myself, “Was I crazy?”. Here I was on my own in India. It turned out to be one of the best crazy decisions I ever made.
I did have many questions answered though not in the way I expected. Many of the answers did not come from my teachers directly but from their guidance to trust my self and my inner knowing. I cemented my deep love for Yoga here and realized this truly was my dharma. Maybe I could have done all this at home but there is something truly magical about India for me.
Four months later I was back in Canada and decided to follow my inner voice and open Balanced Life Yoga.
Buying flowers from our new friend. We gathered a crowd of about 20 people who were laughing at us crazy Canadians taking pictures of a flower seller. Love it!
Now eight years later here I am with amazing friends and students both here with me and at home. I am in awe and wonder at the magic of life. I send love to all the teachers, students and friends who have supported myself and these offerings. And now I say good-night to all of you. I think I can rest easy, knowing that for now I am right where I need to be.
Namaste
Shasta
Join me for an experience of pure bliss at the Prana-liscious Yoga and Nature Retreat this December in beautiful Costa Rica. Details coming soon!
_______________________________________________
Shasta Townsend: E-RYT 500, Reiki Master, Cultivator, Creator Balanced Life Yoga
A celebrated transformational leader and a leading pioneer in embodied spirituality and Yoga, Shasta has inspired hundreds of people through her breakthrough methods for awakening and empowering your inner voice and divine power. Director, founder and senior teacher with Balanced Life Yoga, she delivers public talks, seminars and trainings on evolution and empowerment. She draws on a wide variety of techniques including Yoga, Shamanism, meditation, energy healing, coaching and the Law of Attraction. She is especially appreciated for her passionate way of allowing individuals to make sense of their world and embodied, holistic means to become the change they wish to see.
As early as in her teenage years, Shasta embarked on her journey as a spiritual explorer which led her to India, where she studied yoga, meditation and energy healing. She has studied with many remarkable mentors and she has undergone thousands of hour’s intense practice of meditation and spiritual studies. Shasta has taken every opportunity to become adept in her field through her own practice as well as through extensive training in Yoga, group dynamics, meditation and spiritual counseling.
Written by Shasta
Shasta loves to see women of all ages recognize, access, and utilize the greatness within them, and to be a small part of it. She is skilled at cracking the lockbox of limitation and revealing one’s inner gifts. She is a feisty champion of creating an unlimited life where ease, joy, and freedom reign, regardless of the circumstances. Shasta’s expertise in these matters does not come from a few letters behind her name, but from her own investigation, learning, and journey. Thanks to this, her offerings are not regurgitated from another’s textbook, but from her own personal evolution and inner guidance. Shasta shares her passion for living well as a Featured Columnist at Elephant Journal, The Good Men Project, Rebelle Society and Vivid Life. Shasta leads retreats, workshops and talks around the world. She lives in Canada with her husband, cat and creative impulse. Her debut book, Happy, Sexy, Shameless – What Our Mother’s Didn’t Know About the Birds and the Bees is available through amazon.com
