YOGA + ELEPHANTS
On our last full day in Jaipur, we did yoga in the morning and visited an elephant sanctuary in the afternoon. This was the day we were all looking forward to most!
YOGA
Our yoga instructor's name was Mita and she was welcoming, kind, and funny.
She first taught us the five elements of your body and how to remember it; if you hold your hand up in front of you, with your palm towards you, each finger represents an element. Pinkie is water because it is under the ground. The ring finger represents earth, right above the water. Your middle finger represents the sky, because it is the longest. The index finger means air, and finally, the thumb represents fire because it looks like a flame (in the “thumbs up” position).
She also taught us about mudras, which are represented by the position of the hand. There are many different mudras that mean different things. Some mean you want to gain knowledge, others help you fight illnesses.
We practiced many breathing exercises. Some were easier than others! One of the exercises involved breathing in and out of one nostril at a time. This exercise helped you develop more concentration and patience. Another exercise involved breathing normally through the nose, but every time we inhaled, we had to suck our stomach in. This sorta hurt our stomachs, and it all sounded like we were super stuffed up!
Towards the end of our class, we did very basic sun salutations which were fast paced but still relaxing. And the grand finale was “laughing yoga.” It’s basically forcing laughter. You just sit there and then you start to fake laugh, which turns into real laughter. We think Dad won at that one…
ELEPHANTS
We went to an elephant sanctuary called Dera Amer, a place where they adopt mistreated and hurt elephants. Right now, they only have two elephants on the property, Laxmi and Rangmala, plus a rescued camel named Lucky, but they can house up to seven elephants. In Jaipur, unfortunately, there are 124 elephants used in the city and at tourist attractions to give people rides, for many hours during very hot days. This is so wrong and the elephants are treated terribly. The owners make a lot of money from those rides, so they don’t want to give the elephants up to Dera Amer, even though Dera Amer regularly makes generous offers to adopt them.
When we arrived, we immediately fed the elephants cucumbers by hand which helped the elephants get used to us. We spent time getting acquainted by petting their trunks. At first, their size was intimidating because they’re more than 2 times as tall as us and weigh 2 tons. But we soon discovered they really are gentle giants.
The elephants are taken care of my mahouts, one person who rarely leaves the elephant’s side. They trust the mahout, and have quite a friendship. Laxmi’s mahout has been with her for the past 20 years!
With the mahout and our guide, we took Laxmi out for a 20-minute walk on a dirt path through their property. She would occasionally stop to eat a branch or two. We talked with our guide and learned a lot of fascinating facts about elephants:
They are insanely similar to humans; they have feelings, emotions, and create friendships. The only exception is that they cannot talk. Humans can talk because our tongues roll upwards, while elephants' tongues roll downwards. So, in like five hundred years, elephants might be able to talk.
Did you know that an elephant trunk is the strongest part of the body, with more than 40,000 muscles?
There are big differences between Indian and African elephants. Firstly, Indian elephants are smaller than African elephants, but these girls are still HUGE! Secondly, Indian elephants have pink dots on their trunk – like freckles!
After our walk, we enjoyed an outdoor lunch. It reminded us of the Estancia in Argentina; the architecture was similar, there were green spaces all around us, and we could see the animals (in this case, elephants, peacocks, a camel and some dogs) while we ate.
This was truly a once in a lifetime experience, and a perfect way to end our time in India.
