🅗🅔🅨 🅢🅣🅔🅔🅜🅘🅐🅝🅢!
So, what is going on in my world? What part of the world am I currently traveling in? Well, let me give you a little update. I am currently in Pokhara, Nepal after spending 3 months traveling all over Northern India. It has been quite a journey and I am on the last month of this travel experience in Asia now. So, I am giving myself space to reflect and relax after, what was really, a very intense and transformative journey throughout India.
Ｉｎ ｊｕｓｔ ３ ｍｏｎｔｈｓ Ｉ ｗａｓ ａｂｌｅ ｔｏ：
𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐱 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐨𝐥 𝐆𝐨𝐚, 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚
In this time I was able to really rejuvenate and take the time to go within. It was my vacation time after 6 months of working REALLY hard to make this travel dream a reality. I worked 14 hour days 6 days a week to save up for this trip! So when I finally reached Goa it felt like heaven. I was able to ground into India without the intensity of the country hitting me all at once. Goa is really a safe haven for any free spirited traveler looking to meet other travelers with a similar vibe. You won't find a lot of Indian culture here but you will find amazing beaches, great food, and cheap living. I lived in a hut on the beach for around $6 a day and sometimes paid no more than $1 for my meal! I also experienced a Bufo frog medicine ceremony of 5MEO-DMT that really set the tone of the rest of my travels through India.
𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐆𝐚𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐅𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐧 𝐌𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐢, 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚
Wow! This experience was such a treat. Arriving in Mumbai was definitely the next step to grounding into the culture of India. Nothing beats the constant stares and curiosity of Indians. However, when I realized I had made it to Mumbai just in time for Gay Pride I was thrilled! Sexuality is very suppressed in India so being able to march with the gay culture of India and support them was a real the least I could do. Especially since it gave me the opportunity to also support my traveling partner who is also gay and experience life a bit from his point of view. We later made way to a gay after party in Mumbai and I got to experience more of the hidden gay culture in India.
𝐆𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐆𝐮𝐣𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢 𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
Well, if this wasn't a cultural experience... I don't know what was! The whole experience of going to this wedding was profound and eye opening. It was filled with colors, flowers, brides, grooms, food, music, ceremony, and so much more! It was a wedding in Gujarat, India and the wedding was HUGE. There were over 50 ceremonies going on at the same time of 50 different brides and grooms getting married away. The party consisted of over 4,000 people. It was intense! Especially since most of this village had never seen a white person with blonde hair and blue eyes before! Andrew and I were the only foreigners there! I was being pulled in every direction and I must have had over 100 photos taken of me that day. I can now say I know what it feels like to be a celebrity! Everyone wanted to know me and be my friend. It was quite the experience! My friend Andrew (on the right side of the photo) and I loved being apart of it all.
𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐲𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐑𝐚𝐣𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧, 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚
Traveling to Rajasthan, India in the small town called Pushkar I quickly found myself in love with the place and people. I connected very deeply to the Gypsy culture and spent most of my time playing music with them and experiencing life through their point of view in their villages. They made me authentic Rajasthanian food, dressed me up, taught me their dances and songs, and befriended me. I spent 3 weeks straight hanging with them every day from morning until night. Pushkar will forever be home after the month I spent there. I was able to really experience India from a raw and cultural experience. I was able to witness India in a very true way. It opened my mind to what poverty actually looks like but also made me realize what happiness looks like as well. My time spent in Pushkar was complete magic and will always have a place in my heart. This place changed me forever.
𝐒𝐞𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐓𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐦𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐚𝐫 𝐏𝐮𝐧𝐣𝐚𝐛, 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚
Going to the Golden Temple was a bit of a cultural shock experience after being in Pushkar, Rajasthan for a month. Each state in India is very different: different language, clothing, people, etc. Here the culture is made up of many Sikhs and the space is very clean and much more organized. In order to enter the space of the temple we had to cover our heads and wear modest clothing. So, I wore my Kundalini Yoga clothes and made my way into the experience. I did seva hours cooking in the kitchen and making chapati with my two friends Andrew and Matt who I was traveling with at the time. We were able to live for free in the foreigners guesthouse space they have readily available for foreigners who want to see The Golden Temple and serve in the kitchen. The Golden Temple provides food for 1,000s of people for free every day as well as provides sleeping space for the homeless. The energy at the Golden Temple was cleansing and purifying and exactly what I needed before making my way to Rishikesh, India for my 200 hour Kundalini Yoga teacher training.
𝐃𝐨 𝐚 𝟐𝟎𝟎 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐊𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐘𝐨𝐠𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠
Hello transformation! This 200 hours of Kundalini yoga pushed me on every level and in every way but it was one of the most profound experiences I have ever had. It was 10 hours of yoga, meditation, and study every day. In Kundalini yoga we wore all white because it increases the vibration of the aura. We cover the top of the head to hold in the Kundalini energy from escaping out the top of the head through the crown chakra. In the experience I was able to live in an ashram like setting and really get the full experience of what living a Kundalini yogi lifestyle looked like. We woke up at 4am every day, took cold showers, did 2 1/2 hours of morning sadhana in yoga and mantra chanting, connected to our hearts and truth, and let go of a whole lot of subconscious baggage. In this training we all cried together, laughed together, grew together, and connected together. I met some life time friends and was reintroduced to a deeper part of my true self. This training opened me and changed my life on many levels by awakening me to a new and more empowered potential within me.
𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐄 𝐢𝐧 𝐕𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐬𝐢, 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚
After so much transformation and growth experience of being 24 I felt it was only appropriate to turn 25 in the oldest continuously running city in the world: Varanasi, India. Here death is a normal part of life and people will travel from all over India as well as other parts of the world to die here. It is said that if you die in Varanasi you will not incarnate again. There are burning ceremonies open to be scene and witnessed by the public daily. It is an intense place to experience energies of death and rebirth. Which is exactly what I was intending to get by being in this cities energies during my 25th birthday. It definitely did the job and forced me into a space of letting go of a lot of what no longer served me. Here in this photo I am praying to Hanuman the monkey god to bring me strength and courage to step into the next phase of my life. After leaving this city I was ready to start on the next chapter and head to Nepal!
Ｗｏｗ！ Ｗｈａｔ ａ ｊｏｕｒｎｅｙ ｌｉｆｅ ｉｓ！
Overall, the experiences I had in India have really transformed me forever. The culture of India is so captivating and embracing. It built my confidence up, taught me how to communicate my boundaries, empowered me, helped me to step further into a space of compassion, and gave me life long experiences I will never forget. India is a country that I will continue to travel back too. It is forever a sacred place that I will always consider home.
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