I decided that a combination of lots of old and often semi-ruined temples combined with boulders that looked like they had been sent down from some outer galaxy would be good start for my last month in India. I wanted to do some rangoli. These are temporary pavement decorations often in white but in colour for festivals usually found outside peoples houses. They use ground up rock and my guide Regu gave me some of his stash and I bought some purple powder paint to alter the colour for two rupees. More of that in a later blog.
Being in India with my time now coming to the end, I have decided put in a small entry about chakras. Today I have decided to blitz out on the seven short meditations I have downloaded from my Yoga Studio App. It also ties in with some of what I learnt at Kitty Masala Yoga in Mandrem, Goa early January 2020. This will be the penultimate entry before my general blurby sign off.
This blog will be a totally photographic one. Of course all the images in this blog are photographs (occasional videos) but this particular initial February one will be only of photographs where I have been either inspired by nature or have photographed things in my theme or items I have arranged. I hope you enjoy the pictures!
Early mornings in Goa
For those who know me I am up with the larks. This has continued throughout my time in India. And for some reason early mornings in Goa seem to have been especially lovely. I have also fiddled around with my camera making it deliberately out of focus to enjoy the special light at the that time. In Olaulim Backyards (www.olaulimgoa.com) I really loved seeing the mist on the water which continued on from blue hour, golden hour and through sunrise. It was frankly magical.
The other photos were taken at Dudhsagar Plantation which was very densely planted and one from the time I spent in Mandrem fiddling around outside the room so as not to wake up my teenage daughter! In fact, I still fitted in a 90-minute yoga session at 0800 at Kitty Masala and returned to find Betsy just about waking up!
Fabrics
I have always been passionate about fabrics. As a teenager I used to make most of my clothes and on my gap year I had (what I thought then!) was a fantastic idea. I would buy a roll of 20 meters of material and design a whole load of separates that could be worn individually or as layers. It was white fabric with a slight slub and each piece had an individual decorated small piece of embroidery or bead work. I still have a few pieces – two tops (one with smocking and the other with bead work). I never went commercial with my idea and I am not sure it would have come to much.
Anyway, my main reason for going to Gujarat was to chase textiles and I wasn’t disappointed. Best as an all-round introduction to the textiles of Kutch was the Living and Learning Design Centre (http://shrujanlldc.org/) outside Bhuj. This not only had loads of different sorts of textile and embroideries but personal stories of those who made them and a hands-on guide with textiles in various stages of embroidery so you could see how it was made.
All these textiles are from a vintage shop in Bhuj. They are all small samples which I went on to utilise in different ways. They are taken in the early morning light on the roof in Bhuj House.
Purple Goan Flowers
I went a bit mad photographing flowers in Goa. Clearly some of the purple ones I saw I had seen in Rajasthan and Gujarat but many were new. Also, I saw quite a few poking up through bits of sidewalks or roaming around the five different properties I stayed at whilst I was out walking or running. Being in each place for the minimum of four days meant I really had plenty of time to seek them out. Like last time I posted purple flowers, I have not tried to name them. I know there are apps but preparing this blog and watching Money Heist in Spanish on Netflix means I spend enough time on screens as it is. To be honest I have really whittled down my collection of purple flowers here! But I have done this in terms of novelty, if I like how the picture looks and if it is a novel flower for me. Enjoy!
Purple flowers with Laku the dog
Being so obsessed with purple I collected a number of fallen purple petals from some lovely flowers in the Olaulim garden. I had already bought five small vases from the market in Mapusa for 150 rupees. I had washed them with a very dilute paint so that the pruple in the spiral ridges would show more. I was going to use them for my felted flowers (see later blog) but thought they would be good for this short project. I also collected a few similar yellow flowers as a contrast (yellow is opposite on the colour wheel from purple so they enhance the colour of each other). Laku decided to sleep on my veranda that morning in Olaulim so he is in most of the photos. It was quite tricky to get him to lie down when I placed flowers on his back (so there aren’t any of them!) but he did tolerate the coconut pot near to him with flowers in it.
The Root Chakra
You have to imagine this as a meditation practice
This represents the divine within us and all around us. We are one. So you begin by breathing all the good and all the new and on your exhale release all that no longer serves you.
Breath in light, breath out tension, breath in love, breath out fear.
The root chakra is right at the base of your spine. The colour is red. You are safe, stable, grounded and secure. This earth element represents security and stability. This is your foundation and connection to the physical earth beneath you. To grow to your full potential you need a solid foundation. You can say the following to acknowledge this.
I am grounded and connected to the earth and all living things.
I am balanced, stable and secure.
I am rooted in my truth.
The chakras can be connected to periods of our lives. The root chakra represents the first seven years from our birth. This means that during that time we are provided with security that will last us a lifetime. As there are seven chakras once you get to 49 years old you start all over again. So I, at 54, am back in this root chakra for another 15 months.
Well done for wading through far too many photographs but really any flower that didn’t make an appearance would be so sad! I am now settling into life with the temples and boulders but haven’t made the crossing as yet to Hampi. There is always some excuse to do a ride in a coracle, cycle about the wet padi gleaming in the sun or walking round this village with lots of women weaving, knitting and crocheting with banana trunk fibre.
