I did Yoga in India!!!!!

June 15th: So finally today my clinical group got to find out what this Naturopathy business is all about. We arrived at the hospital this morning and 6 of us went to our rotation at the naturopathy unit. After waiting for the doctor (and forgetting AGAIN to stand up when someone important walks by) we walked up to a yoga room. Then we were told the doctor was actually going to teach a session for us! I was so excited! He explained that naturopathy is a medical practice of healing through alternative therapies without the use of any medication. Alternative therapies including yoga, steam and sauna, massage, reflexology, spa/hot baths, spine spray etc. So we began yoga with a three "Ommmmm" chant and then a 12 step sun salutation followed by a series of laying, sitting, and standing poses. Then we practiced a breathing technique where you don't move at all, but you burn more calories in 3 minutes than walking for 20 minutes. All you do is breathe out entirely and try to touch your bellybutton to the back of your spine, then take three very shallow breaths while keeping your stomach tight, then tighten it more and repeat for 3 minutes. It kind of makes your lower back ache a bit but hey, you can do it anywhere anytime. I think my favorite part of yoga was at the very end. We did three more "ommmmm" chants and then he sang a short song that is the same song that my vinyasa yoga teacher in san diego plays at the beginning of each class! I can't wait to tell her, "oh yeah, I heard this song live in India" haha.

After yoga we got to actually experience each of the alternative therapies that Naturopathy offers. My favorite was the reflexology foot massage. It didn't even tickle! The rest was kind of awkward because we had to get completely undressed, wear these tiny disposable underwear and wrap ourselves in a see through tissue paper like what you get at the gynecologist. But the spinal spray was also really nice. It was a strange contraption that you laid on top of and it sprayed a firm stream of water all along your spine. Verrrry relaxing :)

The rest of the day was spent shopping with 2 of the instructors. We spent most of the evening practicing dances, skits, and cheers for our "cultural exchange" performance with the Indian nursing students tomorrow...we're line dancing (aka the electric slide), doing a cheer routine (we have 2 sdsu cheerleaders with us-brittney and allie), and some skits on american pick up lines and being a nursing student at sdsu. A few pics from shopping today posted below. Wish us luck tomorrow in our performance!