Broken Ribs...

Really bad luck and bad timing. But, accidents happen, and the best thing is to try to accept it and do the best of it. I´ll be going on a yoga holiday soon, and I guess I won´t be able to do much yoga for the next 4 weeks or something. And in the begining of August, Dena Kingsberg is coming to Stockholm, but hopefully I will have healed sufficiently by then to be able to do atleast a modified practice.

So, what has happened? I was invited yesterday by my brother in law to go "Segwaying". It´s a kind of vehicle that goes forward when you lean forward, and stops when you lean back. It looks very peaceful and easy. All was going well until we were supposed do go downhill a quite steep gravel slope. Somehow my segway got a backspinn or something, and the next thing I knew I was falling over it in full speed. I landed right on the wheel with my rib cage. I´m glad I had a helmet, or I would have had a cuncussion as well! My first thought was that I had broken my ribs. Then everyone was saying (denial I guess), that I was probably just bruised. So, we went back , and then we went for dinner. All the time the pain was getting worse and worse. On my way back home, I decided to go to the hospital to check it out.

Well, after four looooong hours at the emergency, I finaly got to see a doctor who said that I most probably have fractured ribs. Healing time 4-8 weeks. Nothing to do but take pain killers. Lots of them! I am taking three kinds, three times a day (poor liver)! He said that it was important to manage the pain. I looked it up on the net, and it says that it´s important to be able to breath in deeply so that the lungs can heal probably. Otherwise there is a greater risk for lung infection. Good thing I know how to do pranayama! The pain is really bad when I inhale deeply, and whenever I move! I also have pain in my neck. Hopefully that will go away soon. Hope it´s not whiplash or anything, but that it´s just pain from the muslces straining in the fall. The pain is said to get worse the coming days, and then it will subside slowly.

I won´t be doing any yoga for the next weeks. Too painful to just move! I don´t know how soon I can start doing asanas again. I do beleive it´s good to not be completly still when injured, but still take it easy. Anyone have any experience of this? I´d be glad for some advice.

Raw Experience

About two weeks ago I was searching the internet for articles on food and yoga. What would be the best food to eat for a yogi? I know what guruji recommends: sattvic foods (see article for more info: http://www.yogachicago.com/jan05/diet.shtml). Food that is light, easy to digest and full of prana. Sugar, wheat and dairy are recommended, and I don´t agree with thoose foods. In Mysore, people weren´t eating dinner, and Sharath recommended to have a glass of warm milk with ghee in the evening.

Anyways, when searching the net I came across raw food, or living food as it is also called. Since I have a Vata/ Kapha constitution, I thought it might be good for my kapha. I´ve been listening to the raw food "guru" David Wolfe. He has a degree in nutrition, so he really seems to know what he is talking about. I have to say that I am very fascinated with what raw food seems to be able to do for you. It it said to purify the body, give more nutrition and prana, it is enzyme rich so the body doesn´t have to waste it´s own enzymes, it gives strength, vitality, glowing skin and sparkling eyes, cures diseases, stabalizes the weight and so on....

So, ofcourse I have to give it a shot! I´m not going 100% raw, but I´m going to try to incorporate a lot more raw food and superfoods than I usually eat. The last two weeks I´ve been doing just that, I´ve also been drinking 2 litres of water a day. I have to say, my skin has improved tremendously, and my practice feels easier. I don´t feel as stiff as I´ve been feeling lately! I have more energy and I feel quite happy and light!

I will continue with this and write to tell you how it goes. I´m also planning to do a detoxification. I´m quite exited to see the results. I will keep you posted!

Yoga and Skincare

As many of my friends know, I make many of my own skincare products. It is an interest that has developed over the years, coming from an endless search on how to get rid of my skin problems. I have tried the "common" way, ie using harsh chemical products, which have side effects, but I have come to realise that the only good and enduring way is to use natural products, reduce stress and have a healthy diet. The reason I am absolutely convinced that diet is a key factor is that when I have fasted, my skin became clear just in a few days (however when I ate again the problems returned). I was also a gluten free vegan for a while, and that was also a miracle for my skin and health! Unfortunately, it was death to my social life...I think maybe diet will be another post, there is so much to say there!

So what does yoga say about skincare? Well, for one thing, ashtanga yoga is detoxing. You clean your organs through breathing and twisting and sweating. Since the skin is the body´s biggest organ of elimination, it´s helpful if your other elimination organs are working as they should.

Also, you should wash before practicing. After practice you don´t shower, but let the sweat be reabsorbed back into the skin. The skin then doesn´t loose the minerals it then would have lost in the sweat. When the skin is clean, the sweat doesn´t smell. However, I always wash my face after practice, to avoid the pores from clogging.

An ayurvedic practice I have adopted is to brusch my skin before showering with silk gloves (garshan massage), and then massaging my skin with oil after the shower, when the skin is still a bit wet (abyanga). The best thing is to massage the oil before the shower. This protects the skin from drying out, and the warm water makes the oil penetrate deeper into the skin. However, the pipes get clogged, so I do it after the shower.

Traditionally, warm, "prepared" sesame oil is used. I prefer to make my own, fantastic, wonderfully smelling oil. Here is the recipe:

Coconut/ Cocoa Oil

On very low heat, melt one tablespoon coconut oil (virgin, cold pressed) and one tablespoon cocoa butter. Poor into a small bottle. Add a tablespoon of jojoba oil. It already smells wonderful, but you can add your favorite essential oil to make it smell ever nicer! I use vanilla oil and Krishna Musk. Before massaging the oil into your skin, put the bottle under running, warm water a few minutes to make i warm. Since both coconut oil and cocoa butter are firm in room temperature, it will in a week or so return to that state, just warm the bottle and it will become liquid again.

On my face, I use Raw Gaias products. It´s the best. They also have skin care info on their page. Check it out: http://www.rawgaia.com/

To make a lighter facial cream, I mix jojoba oil with aloe vera gel.

The best website I have found on natural skincare: http://www.acne-advice.com/

More to come on this subject, I´m sure. If you have any tip, please comment!

Setting up the blog

Actually, I had not thought about having a travel blog, but a friend of mine asked me if I was going to have one, and it seemed like a nice idea. So, here it is. I hope that I will be diligent enough to write frequently, and perhaps also show some pictures. I´m writing in English, partly because there will be no å, ä, ö in India, partly because I wish this blog to be accessible to other yogis thinking about going to Mysore and for my friends who don´t speak Swedish.

I`ve been reading some blogs from Mysore, and it has helped me get a picture of what to expect. Well, I´m trying to have very few expectations (they usually make you disppointed, but are very difficult to avoid! (aparigraha-non attachment), but at the same time i think getting a picture of what it might be like can take away some of the fears you have about traveling to an exotic country far away.....