A few words about the small town of Varkala

I am about to leave the province of Kerala with its countless coconut trees where I was teaching meditation classes for the first time. Two months have passed since I have arrived in Varkala, a stopover frequented as much by North Indians and Westerners who come to escape from the cold and to find some calm.

The small town of Varkala reminded me a lot of Sri Lanka. It is probably due to the similar landscape filled with endless coconut trees, the abundance of bananas of all kinds and the same rickshaws, but with friendlier drivers.

Speaking of rickshaw drivers, it seems that I often get along with them. Every day I was using a bicycle to get around to avoid walking in the heat and to save some time between my many backs and forth from the house where I was renting a room, to the guesthouse where I offered meditation sessions twice a day, and to the beach. One morning, I was arriving on the cliff to park my bicycle in the area where rickshaw drivers are, to realize that the chain of my bicycle had fallen off. A rickshaw driver came to help me then, in less than five seconds, they were 5 getting their hands dirty trying to fix the chain which in the end had broken! Since then, every following day when I was arriving at the parking lot, they were greeting me with a smile and a “Hello Bicycle Lady!”

The similarity with Sri Lanka also applies to the physical traits of the inhabitants. They have a relatively darker skin compared to the people of Northern India. The local population is made up of 70% of Malayali (Hindu ethnic group of Kerala province) and 30% of Muslims including several traders from Kashmir who own beautiful shops during the tourist season. The Malayali men wear, like their Sri Lankan neighbors, the dhoti, this long piece of fabric knotted at the waist that they constantly replace or fold to mid-knees when it gets very hot. At this time of the year, the temperature becomes very hot and humid in the early afternoon, but very good in the mornings and evenings.

Spirituality at the back-front

The place contains a very different vibration from Rishikesh. While in Rishikesh there is a palpable energy of pilgrimage and of deep spirituality, here in Varkala, the first and most palpable energy is a mercantile one. The hub concentrated on the cliff, the touristy area, is packed with shops, cafes, and restaurants offering basically all the same things. The sellers can be quite aggressive asking you all the time if you want to do some shopping or to come to their shop. Everything seems to be limited to this surface: money without any other depth in exchange. That being said, it is still enjoyable to walk on that little main street on the cliff and to enjoy a meal facing the ocean. You have to get out of the cliff to go to the city or the back streets to enjoy a quieter and local experience.

Depending on the time of day, it is either the time for the Islamic call to prayer that is heard five times a day or recorded mantras that are playing very loudly at a small Hindu temple in the neighborhood.

Early in the morning, there are also Hindu priests who settle on a specific section of the beach to perform puja (rituals) for those who have just lost a member of their family, or for a simple worship as well. The first time that I saw this ritual at the beach it took me back to Bali.

To look at the priests in their white attire using a banana leaf to put the offerings of rice and flowers and to see people carrying the offerings on their heads until they reach the sea.

I invited a woman that came to one of my classes one morning to come to see the puja on the beach. Without foreseeing it, a priest beckoned us to go see him to receive his blessings. A moment we both needed!

In Varkala, there are no free-running cows in the streets, no monkeys waiting to steal your banana, no baba (spiritual man) greeting you with a deep “Hari Om, Namaste”, or any Shiva mantras playing in loops in the streets. People greet you with a “Good Morning” and not with a “Namaste” and they don’t use Hindi, but their local language (Malayalam). The energy of the Ganges does not compare to the beauty of the sea. Despite my pleasure and my gratitude to see the sea every day, I felt a great emptiness. Something was missing.

Teaching Meditation

It’s an opportunity to teach meditation in a guesthouse that brought me here. For the first time in over two years, I worked with people instead of working in front of my computer! And ohhh it felt so good!

When I saw that there were no cushions yet in the yoga shala, one morning I asked a friend, a rickshaw driver, to take me to a place where I could have cushions made. Once there, I sat on the floor, legs crossed in meditation pose, and I asked the tailor to draw a circle around me and to make 6 cushions of this size!

Osho Meditation and Moon Rituals

I taught about twenty classes and around fifty participants (including returning students) came to one or more of my classes. Sometimes I welcomed a person, other times 5-6 curious people came and at other times, the cushions were unoccupied. My most popular classes were the new moon and full moon rituals that I organized and delivered with so much love and devotion! Those special evenings were filled with music, chanting, flowers, candles and not to forget rose tea and dark chocolate to end the ceremony.

On a daily basis, I instructed mainly Osho active meditations. I like to offer these meditations that I consider very accessible for beginners and especially because they are very far from the cliché of sitting crossed-leg motionless in silence, to observe the breathing for an hour. Osho’s meditations all contain movements and are accompanied by a specific music. This is a very different and profound meditation experience from what most people may have tried in the past.

At times, to face another empty class disappointed me I must confess.

In the evening, I was taking so much time to prepare the session by picking up some flowers and arrange them in the yoga shala, to install the blankets, cushions, and candles … to create a beautiful atmosphere conducive for meditation.

Either people were not interested in meditation, or they did not know about the sessions. I understand that many come on vacation here to simply relax without engaging in any class or others prefer to do their own practice of asanas and meditation at the beach.

And then, there were those days when I was pleasantly surprised to see new faces walking in with their open heart and curiosity or others that I had met on the cliff with whom I had spoken about my meditation sessions. Every single thank you after our exchange at the end of the practice confirmed me that I was at the good place on this path.

I see myself on this path as a light conductor, a transmitter of gentleness and calm through techniques I’ve experienced and believe in. To use my intuition and my learnings through this journey and from different classes for the benefit of others.

The last person who came to my classes was an American in his forties. He ended my chapter of teaching in Kerala on such an encouraging note. He told me:
“Nathalie, you radiate love”. You are gifted. My two meditation classes with you are definitely a highlight of my stay in India! “

We often hear that it’s not the quantity, but the quality that matters. It only took a few sporadic people over the weeks, who by their presence, their receptivity, their smile, their positive comments that I receive a gentle tap on the shoulder telling me to continue toward my goal to create meditation (and cultural) retreats in different places in the world that I like to call home.

“Just as I finish writing this article, I am telling myself: As if the vibrations of this desire to live abroad begins to gently form a melody that I hear more clearly.”

Survey – Ray of Nath Meditation Retreats

* Would you be interested to retreat yourself this summer to learn different meditation techniques, to stretch your body and declutter your mind, to dance, chant and mostly to experience a moment with a small group of people (around 10) including me?! Where and when you’re asking? Nepal in July or August. Details to come. In the meantime, because I would really like to personalize the retreat according to the people that would come, let me know if you would be interested (or not), so I can send you more information and keep you on my list. Thank you!

Happiness and serenity,
Nathalie