These past few weeks have been a perfect mix of learning, studying, self-practicing, eating good food, making new friends, and DANCING. I have been doing lots of meditating (at least ½ hour a day), lots of asana practices – either 1 or 2 a day from really good, well established teachers here at the Institute, and attending different classes and courses. After my 5 day Swadhaya training, I started the 21 Day Better Living Course. It is 1 ½ hours every morning from 7:30am – 9am for 21 days – each day a little bit of asana, pranayama, meditation, and yoga philosophy talk / personal yoga exercises to incorporate into daily routine (for example, Jalaneti: nasal cleaning with salt water, candle-gazing: a meditation technique, “reflection”: a memory and concentration technique, gratitude journal: 10+ things your grateful for every night, Bhavas: “attitudes”). Every day I get up before the class, between 6am and 6:30am and either do a walking meditation (in circles around the campus of the yoga institute, HAHA, and its like 15 times = 1 mile), or work out for 20 minutes and do a seated meditation. For my seated meditations, I have been practicing for 30 minutes and working on not moving AT ALL (even to a more comfortable seat, even if my legs fall asleep)! Some days are so hard, other days, especially if I meditate after an asana practice, it is blissful. Besides all of the yoga stuff, Indian culture just keeps getting better and better. We are right in the middle of the NAVRATRI Festival – it’s a 9 day festival celebrating different women goddesses. During this festival, offerings are often made to the goddesses and their various aspects, and rituals are performed in their honor. Women traditionally wear a different color each day (for example, first day is yellow, second day is green, third day gray etc.) and many of them fast for 9 days – either an all fruit diet, juice cleanse, or intermittent fasting. Every night there is dancing in the streets, so much music, instruments, bells, whistles, tambourines, drums, and chanting, fireworks going off all the time. There are hanging lights everywhere. The streets are just lined with them, and everyone is in the best spirits and the city is so alive. My Indian girl friends here from the Institute LOVE to dance, so we have been going right across the street from the Institute most nights for a dancing contest that takes place every night of the 9 day festival. Women (and some men) from all over the town and their kids just gather and dance to loud music. People here in India dance with reckless abandon too  – they could care less what they are doing, what they look like, who is watching – they just move their body – and the whole time are smiling from ear to ear. I am so lucky to be here during festival season. The place is just so vibrant and lively with a pulsating energy throughout the city – everything you would expect it to be – like straight out of a movie. Here in India, people truly find a reason to celebrate life as often as possible. Every day is a celebration. Every day there is a reason to dance, sing and enjoy living.