Cultivating Maturity in your Yoga Practice with Senior Iyengar Yoga instructor Marlene Mawhinney

Weekend Iyengar Yoga workshop with senior Teacher Marlene Mawhinney in Chester, Nova Scotia. "There's a little bit of each of us in all of us". Hence the effective use of demonstrations to benefit the whole.

Agra and the Taj Mahal

Taj Mahal, beautiful on a misty morning

I imagined the iconic yoga pose with a bright blue sky and white marble
Taj Mahal back drop. Instead the temperatures were very cold and it
was ages before I could even see beyond the length of  my arm

This is all white marble

Taj detail

Details are inlaid gemstones or carved marble or gemstone

To the right and left of the Taj Mahal there are these matching
buildings. the one to the left is an active Mosque, the one on
the right side is meant for symmetry

Shiva Temple Varanasi

 This beautiful Shiva temple in Varanasi contained inlaid wall panels honouring Buddhism and the Bhagavad Gita.
Varanasi is a Shiva city meaning it's mascot deity is lord Shiva. There are many temples dedicated to lord Shiva; worshippers and holy men paint horizontal lines across their foreheads in his honour and as I sign of their devotion.
Inside this very large temple on the second level a tabla and sitar musician played peaceful gracious music. They sat on a blanket on the floor facing one of the main shrine.

This inlaid image is a quote and story from
the Bhagavad Gita

Varanasi, India on the Ganges

Typical traffic in the ancient narrow streets of Varanasi

Visiting Varanasi has been on my to-do list for many years. In northeastern India on the Ganges river in the state of UP, Varanasi is considered a holy city. Many Indians make a pilgrimage here or would wish to. Holy men can be found in Varanasi, some resident and many visiting as part of their own spiritual pilgrimage.
Varanasi has become increasing popular with tourists. We were fortunate to visit at a quiet time. Like everywhere, tourism is having its impact on this delicate cultural environment.
It was a powerful and at first almost scary experience to observe some of these holy practices.

Cars are few in the narrow streets of this city.
Mostly bicycle rickshaws, auto rickshaws,
motorbikes and cows

There are many steps to reach the ghats

Our Hotel on the Ganges, Varanasi

Our boatman on the Ganges at 6:30am

Amazing sunrise on the Ganges

Morning bathing at one of the Ghats on the Ganges

View from our hotel rooftop

An old Palace on the Ganges now serves as a hostel for holy men

Fishermen 

Many tourist boats at the main ghat

The burning ghat. Notice all the stacks of wood.

The burning ghat is one of the ghats where the
bodies of the dead are purified on pyres of fire.
These fires go almost 24 hours a day. There are
usually 4 or 5 bodies in individual pyres at anytime.
The ashes are then swept into the Ganges. Holy men
infants, pregnant women and lepers are not burned
as they are regarded as already pure. Instead their bodies are weighted with stone and they are dropped into the river from boats.

Everyday the cows climb down all these steps to reach the river.
At the end of the day they climb back up and  travel the narrow streets
of the city back to where they are fed, milked and cared for.