Happy Holi!

Happy Holi!

Lets make this as a time to color one another's lives (not only with powders and dyes) but with words of encouragement, expressions of love, and acts of kindness.  

The Holi festival commemorates the victory of good over evil, brought about by the burning and destruction of the demoness named Holika. This was enabled through unwavering devotion to the Hindu god of preservation, Lord Vishnu.

Holi got its name as the "Festival of Colors" from Lord Krishna, a reincarnation of Lord Vishnu, who liked to play pranks on the village girls by drenching them in water and colors.

The festival marks the end of winter and the abundance of the upcoming spring harvest season.

People spend the day smearing colored powder all over eachother's faces, throwing colored water at each other, having parties, and dancing under water sprinklers!!

Sacred Pilgrimage to India 2013

I've recently returned from another amazing trip to India.  

I experienced endless highlights, but below are just a few.  Click on pictures to enlarge and be sure to check out a few of the links to some sweet videos!

The poorest of children beam with nothing but pure happiness.  Look at those smiles!
Click here to see them in action.

Children at the Bhaktivendanta Mission School doing their
morning yoga routine.  Click here to see their preciousness!

ISKCON's Food for Life kitchen where they make thousands
of bowls of kitchari for children every day.  They're literally
shoveling rice here in the kitchen, that's how much food we're talking.

Their kitchari was so tasty but very spicy
...otherwise the kiddies won't eat it!  

The Bhaktivendanta Hospital is the ultimate
holistic hospital.  I felt like I was dreaming!

An authentic Indian cooking class on how to
make dosas!  So fun and of course yummy.

I was choking back tears watching such tiny beings
radaite with devotion for the Divine.

We visited a weaver's village in Mayapur.  See them here!

Connecting with Mahatma & Jahnava was such a special part of my trip.

Yoga asana is an essential part of healing at the
Bhaktivendanta Hospital...they know what's up!

Morning puja at the temple.  Flowers, incense, light & love are offered.

We had countless interactions with cows during our travels.  They're
such beautiful beings and create such a sense of calm within you when
you spend time with them.  

Jagannath Puri, an extremely sacred place.  Jagannath translates to master of the universe
so hundreds of Hindu's come to worship each day at the temple.
Below me in this pictures was a monkey doing something dirty, see here.  

An artist at work on the floor on an intricate Ganesha painting.
This will take him 6 months to complete.   !

Beautiful Krshna with a sweet little girl at his side.

Covering up from the holy-hot sun.

Way too cute!

A Wedding in Colorful Chennai, India

I have returned home, safely, from my second trip to India. This trip was to South India, Chennai, for my friend Bob & Deepthi's wedding. It was a truly incredible experience dazzled with color and beauty. My mendhi is almost completely faded from my hand and feet, I've got just a few more days of my malaria medication and I'm still scratching a few mosquito bites that haven't yet healed. My experience in colorful India is still fresh in my mind and luckily, I've got the pictures and a full journal of thoughts to forever remind me! 

Traveling is always enlightening. Exploring a place like India is all the more enlightening on a number of different levels. Being away from home allows me to appreciate all that I am blessed with (down to every little last thing: privacy, clean(er) air, having safe, warm water to bathe in, etc.) and reminds me of how precious each and every moment of my life is.

It is impossible to be unmoved by

India. Once you visit, you'll never be the same again. I learned this after my first trip back in Spring of 2009 to Mumbai, and have been reminded of it once again. India is a land of contrasts and diversity. It's a complete assault to all 5 of your senses each and every moment that you are there. It's intense, wonderful, depressing, frustrating, filthy and mind-blowing all

at once! The roads are overcrowded, chaotic and have no sanitation. People are buzzing everywhere amongst massive amounts of dust and blasting heat. Walking down the street is totally overstimulating to both your eyes and nose. You'll pass men in their crisp white button-down shirts wearing scuffed up sandals with dirty feet, women in their gorgeously intricate saris, and naked children playing in the dusty streets. You'll walk through smells of something sweet and musky immediately followed by thick, hot car exhaust, then get a whiff of something spicy cooking accompanied by th

e gagging smell of human and/or animal feces. And that may all happen within just a few seconds of each other! For me, this aspect of India brings so much awareness to the fact that I'm ALIVE. It's so easy to get enveloped in our daily/weekly routines that we glide through many of our days on autopilot. My consistent yoga practice has brought awareness to so much of my life, but it never hurts to keep on being reminded to BE HERE NOW.

My favorite shots from both of my trips are the portraits I was able to snap. Each person smiles so genuinely, radiating light. They truly smile directly from their heart! 

(Pictures from top to bottom = The beautiful mendhi painted on my hand, my twin cousins and I in our traditional Indian clothes on the day of the wedding ceremony, two ladies enjoying the ocean's loveliness as the sun was setting in Pondicherry.)