“Surprisingly, I find an unfamiliar relief in feeling safe to share and allow someone else to hear my heart—the dialogues in my head that otherwise fell quietly in line among the rest, kept locked up in that unchecked trunk of diaries.
And with this new practice of writing for an audience, I am beginning to recognize the inherent need in all of us to be truly heard. I witness the opening of my heart, directly related to the crumbling of my protective walls—so carefully constructed over decades of collecting and holding on to little grains of hurt, which were never swept away. And I realize this vulnerability, however initially scary, is an even more crucial ingredient to my spiritual growth and progress on this path of sadhana.
Sharing this piece of writing with you all now is the first swing of the sledgehammer, initiating a long overdue crumble.” ~ excerpt from Lessons in Vulnerability from a 13 Year Old Housemate in a Small Himalayan Village, Published on elephantJournal
Escaping the Spiritual Industrial Complex: Decolonizing Yoga, and Detaching from Capitalism
Despite completing over 1000 hours of certificate trainings, I have many issues with the spiritual industrial complex, Yoga Alliance, and how capitalism’s infiltration in an ancient tradition has completely ruined it in the West / Global North. I take decolonizing yoga (re-indeginizing yoga) very seriously and am trying not to be a snob about it.Continue reading→
The Triple Redundancy of Ordering a “chai tea latte”
Every time I hear it in line at any local barista I silently cringe inside. It’s the same reaction I get in regards to so many other misappropriations of yoga, Ayurveda or general Indian culture in the West.Continue reading→
Wanderer was I… before one is ready to be a yoga student
As a wanderer… Our names have been changed so many times we begin to cling to our original crumbling identity even more, our ears now buzzing with mantras lost in translation. Back in Summer 2013, I was visiting a good friend of mine in Chandigarh, who I know from the Kumbh Melas. He’s a generation...Continue reading→
Five Years ago Today…
Five years ago today, January 24th, having cleared my debts (student loans & credit cards), quit my job (running a community multimedia center), and packed up my material belongings (to fit into a small room full of boxes), I arrived in India (for the fifth time), this time without a return ticket. I happily traded...Continue reading→
why do we multitask?
I sit in my crowded room, mostly taken up by the double bed, which actually doubles, shall I say triples as a sleep-sadhana-work/study space. And as I watch myself… jump from… watching snippets of the latest 007 film (someone downloaded and gave to me the .avi file via their pen drive); attempting to understand this...Continue reading→
Who checks your diary?
“Who checks your diary?” Shradha asked me once as I tried to hide what it was I was writing, out of habit, as if she could actually read and understand my quickly scribbled English handwriting. Among the many amazing things I’ve learned from 13 year old Shradha’s perspective on life, this has had the most...Continue reading→
For Now India is My Mirror [poem]
For now India is my mirror, reflecting upon me the western culture, I left behind which shaped all the ways of being, I feel myself shedding each and every moment reflecting upon the extremes between individual and collective letting go of “yours & mine” embracing “ours” reflecting upon who I was, letting go of that...Continue reading→
Four Keys to a Simple Life
My cousin was writing a book. Now is the time to make peace with your past, so you don’t mess up the present! “Aging Is A Full Time Job” by Marcia Casar Friedman She sends me snippets of her writing once in a while, through which I get to learn more about my mother’s father’s...Continue reading→
ideal education 1.2
[first written as part of my application to volunteer at Ashram Paryavaran Vidyalaya] What is your conception of a quality school and educational program? The model you have set forth for your school is very much inline with what I would design if I could build my own school. I would also stress the...Continue reading→
Metropolitan Diary 10.16.01 {poem}
Once shadowed by skyscrapers, my sun now filtered with smog. The roar of the ocean makes it difficult to recall feelings I‘ve had negotiating Times Square traffic on a bike. The man in the elevator said I looked like I belonged in an office. Lifting up the visor from my helmet, to get a better...Continue reading→