Top 5 Things I Loved about India

 

 Did someone say India….heck yes that’s like my favourite place.  I would easily call it a happy word for me, along with yoga, meditation, Ayurveda, and travel.I ask Mandy Trapp, my meditation teacher and owner of @lifestylemeditation when we’re going back on a regular basis! It’s hard to hide my desire to return to such a resonant and indescribable place.Many people have asked what I LOVED about India and for a while I couldn’t really express it as I was still processing the 14 days of such unexpected happiness.  I didn’t really know what to expect when we left for India. I think it is something you have to experience for yourself to really appreciate others opinions because it’s so different for everyone.  It’s such personal feeling and for me sits deep in my heart. India has some of the most beautiful sites, with amazing architecture and sunsets, but like almost anywhere it also has the flip side. You can literally turn around from the Taj Mahal and see the poverty of India.  If you are feeling the call to go, be prepared for both ends of the spectrum and its does swing hard and fast.So on to why I love India.  After our trip I was fortunate enough to join Mandy for her 200hr Love to Teach Meditation training (blogpost to come;) in Edmonton and it was during that week that I gained some clarity around India.I was introduced to the 5 basic requirements we all have for survival

1.       To feel safe
2.       To feel loved
3.       To feel a sense of belonging
4.       To be seen
5.       To be heard

During many of Mandy’s meditations that week these 5 surfaced and relate perfectly to my time in India.To feel safe, this was a concern I had going to India and being so far from home and family. After all my other day job is an Aviation Safety Officer (and yes my husband the pilot made sure we flew on the safe airlines). So when we arrived in Delhi around midnight in the largest airport I think I have ever been in I was a little out of my comfort zone. Now what? It was just myself and Jillian Schecher (our groups photographer) for the first couple of evenings. As two blonde’s with light eyes, we stood out like sore thumbs. But, I can honestly say from the Delhi Airport to all the sites, hikes, shopping, train stations, airports, hotels and other places we visited I never once felt unsafe.In India I immediately felt seen.  I'm not the norm there. That was a different experience.  It was a very profound to really pause, see, and be seen by others.  That may not sound like a big thing but I feel that in the west our days are so rushed. We rush our kids, rush to work, rush our conversations, and rush through the little things that really form connections with others.  We very rarely sit back and sit in the moment. We spend so much time worrying and looking at what's going to come tomorrow, what we didn't get done yesterday that we don't ever take the time to really see the people around us.  In India I felt very seen, and it was in a way that I hadn’t felt in a long time.I also felt heard because I only knew a couple people in the group of 16 so we quickly went from strangers to friends to family.  India can be an emotional experience and it was so great to be part of a group while experiencing it. Travelling with a group of like-minded people made me feel like I instantly belonged.There was so much love in India!  It was a pilgrimage of the heart after all, and Mandy planned the trip perfectly.  She took us through our own transformations of the heart at each spot we visited and each site opened a different spot in my heart. Leaving me with an overwhelming feeling of love and happiness and joy. My biggest takeaway from India was the people and how beautiful and kind they are. They seem to have so much figured out that we seem to be unaware of.  Even though many parts of India are chaotic, the people seem to have a gentle inner calm about them. It is truly an interesting energy to sit in. Just because I know you’re probably wondering I also really LOVED the food ;)In conclusion, India was so pivotal for me.  Lessons I needed to learn happened when I least expected it and through ways I hadn’t seen coming or weren’t very comfortable.  I had breakdowns followed by breakthroughs and many moments of AH-HA! I returned feeling jet lagged, but also so much more centered with my real self and being truly okay with who that is.It was a trip I think of every day and I can’t wait to return (wink wink Mandy;)I am forever grateful to all those that shared this experience with me!NamasteJenny