Holy Holy!

Wow, what an incredible 10 days since we arrived.

I arrived healthy as a horse & slowly began practice. On the 2nd day, I started to feel a tickle- I had gotten Natalie's virus that she imported here from the U.S.. By day 4, I was D-O-W-N, day 6 I couldn't breathe fully & my fever was raging. Hallucinations, memory loss, fits of coughing that lasted 2 minutes or more continuously, sinuses on fire, and  to top it all off, a 1 ton weight on my chest making it impossible to breathe. I was SCARED. Being sick in India not like being sick in the U.S.. I could feel a sense that if things went any further wrong, this might really be the end for me. I know it sounds dramatic, but trust me, it was dramatic.  9 Ayurvedic medicines, 6 Western medicines, 3 doctors & 2 hospitals later, I finally turned the corner. Three days of rest, and now I am back to life.

Gerhard, Sherifka, Patrick, Nicole, Ryan and Natalie were all really great, checking in on me and making sure  that I had what I needed, letting me sleep 12 hours a day & 10 hours at night. I am grateful to them for keeping me positive even when they were nervous about my declining condition. Often, steadiness is just the right tonic to give strength, and they were all so steady.

I am especially grateful to Patrick, who has kept up the communication in the blog and through facebook. He has such a great attitude & enthusiasm to spare for the experiences here. We've nicknamed him Curious George, as he has a tendencey to wander into places he shouldn't and with his huge smile and bigger heart, the people here just welcome him in with open arms (and they often feed him, too). He'll continue to post from time to time.

In Ayurveda and Yoga, it is believed that illness, especially intense illness is a purging of not only physical toxins, but of karmas, or of things in your life that simply need to go. I have felt this deeply, and each day I have been meditating on letting go of everything in my life. Total surrender. Let everything fall away, and let the potential for re-creation begin to flow through me again. These are the big lessons that India has to teach, and I am so glad to be laying in her lap once again.
ॐ नमः शिवाय, ॐ क्रीम कलिकिय्ह नमः