Occupation: Pilgrim (Mani Mahesh, Upper Bhagsu Nah/Dharamsala)

I have just returned the other night from a 3-day pilgrimage with my new friends and instructors from the yoga teacher’s training program I am doing. What a test of my stamina it was.

We—Indian, American, German, Hungarian, and Spanish—took a 6-7 hour drive on the first day to a city northwest of where I am located in Himachal Pradesh. When people comment on the “colors of India,” this is the place they must mean. I have literally never before witnessed mountains so tall, greens so green, land so spacious. The drive was magical; jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring magical.

The only camera I had were my eyes and my memory; my eyes like a shutter speed to control exposure and motion; my memory the aperture to account for exposure and depth-of-field; a mental image I will not forget.

The first night we slept outside at a location that had 84 temples. I kept joking with Yogi Shivam (my instructor) that I only counted 83 temples. He laughed but in sincerity said, “No, there are 84.” We all slept at one of the temples just to catch 2-3 hours rest, and in the morning we were awoken by bells ringing, people praying, and fires burning in dedication to Shiva. After breakfast was when we were to finally begin our trek up the mountains; a destination 4500 meters tall; the tallest altitude I would have ever been at.

We began the trek, and very early on I felt the consequences of little to no sleep. My mind and body were out of sync, and the ascend up the mountain was very steep and painful. At one point, I became confused by which way the path was headed. I made a wrong step onto a rock which was incredibly slippery, and it took my feet from underneath me. I fell backwards beside the ledge; half of my body on the rocks, the other half amongst the shrubbery off the edge of the cliff. It was one of those movie moments where your hiking stick falls below you into the rapid waters, and you know that if you also fall, then you die. My friends Fran and Bima rushed over to come pick me up. I am pretty sure they saved my life.

It was so early to make a mistake like that; I knew I had many hours left to go in our journey. Truth is, we wound up hiking that day for nearly 12 hours. I went through so many emotional states of frustration, anger, bliss, absolutely wanting to give up, etc. We traveled through all different types of weather as well. When we began the journey, it was quite hot; the sun was shining, and we cooled our heads in the cold river. By the end of our journey, it was pitch black, the moon was shining, and we had reached a freezing cold height with snow beside us. I picked up snow to form a snowball with my bare hands; an experience of nearly having arrived; body so sore I could have collapsed there for the night.

When you have hiked a steep mountain for an entire day and all you can feel is the freezing cold air and the pain of your body, you just want to proclaim, “I am tired!” But at that point, there is no “I” in the equation anymore; in fact, WE are all tired; we are all in pain; we are all cold and hungry. There is no distinction between the suffering of one man and that of another. Everyone is going through the same motions, and it is a force which certainly keeps you going.

Perhaps if we can drop the “I” in our personal endeavors we can see we are all going through similar motions; we all experience pain, sadness, suffering; we all just want to be happy. We are not victims to our suffering. Our suffering is actually a blessing in disguise; it is the teacher of our own experience. As Rumi says, “Welcome and entertain it. It is a guide from beyond…it may be clearing you out for some new delight.”

We spent the next two nights sleeping outside in the mountains; drinking chai to keep warm, and covering ourselves with dozens of blankets. They say Mani Mahesh is one of the five holiest places in all of India. After having climbed approximately 25 km, spending two nights outdoors, making music and witnessing the magic with strangers, I can honestly say I understand why this place is considered holy. The trek was exhausting, but there is a savior in every stranger’s smile.

I am grateful that my fried Niai sent me these pictures from our trek. They are magical. I wanted to share them. Enjoy!

 Bima and Ravi at the place of 84 temples

 Jordy and I at the temple

 Before we began our trek, we walked up this mountain to take a holy bath

 Only the men were allowed to bathe, though; the women had to go in the dirty, closed, dark showers

 Enjoying the view before our long trek

 Niai, me, Ravi, Jordy, Fran, and our driver who's name I forget

 Freezing cold river. Felt so refreshing in the hot sun

 Ravi and I

 Ravi, me, Jordy. Don't know why Jordy's celebrating; we had a lot longer to go in our trek

 me, Niai, Jordy

 Jordy and I

 We finally reached the snow many hours later; it was freezing! I was wearing a skirt

 The holy lake at Mani Mahesh; again, only men can bathe, but it's okay because it was absolutely freezing outside

 Making music and singing Shiva songs in the tent where we slept. Bima on drums (trashcan)

 The moon greeted us on arrival

 So cold, but they provided us with many blankets

 When we returned, we gave ourselves a day break before yoga. We were exhausted!

 There are only 4 of us in the teacher's training program