Food is too good, I am gaining weight!

I have never eaten food that I didn't like here. Everywhere, at the place I am staying, at my friends' house and even at the hospital I always get to eat awesome food. I am definitely not complaining because I think it is worth gaining a little bit of weight when I can experience amazing food. In India, I have also never met a person who doesn't consider good food as very important. Everybody is a "Foodie." I am not used to it because my mom and my sister for example do not really care about food that much. They say, it only has to fill their stomach, everything else is not important. This is why they don't put as much thought and effort into cooking. It has to be healthy and eatable but it does not have to be amazing, here it HAS to be amazing. The time that is put into cooking is also much longer than what I have seen at home. All the dishes cooked here take much longer and require much more effort. My favorite thus far is Paneer Curry but I also love Paan, Momos and Dhokla!

Homa Therapy

"You heal the atmosphere and the healed atmosphere heals you." In Homa Therapy the environment plays a pretty big role in healing a person. The basic principle is that fire is used to purify the atmosphere and the purified atmosphere will in return heal the person. There was this article the other day in the newspaper about Homa Therapy and I thought to myself that this is exactly what I am trying to find; a therapeutic way to heal a person by connecting that person to the environment.

Homa is a Sanskrit word for the Vedic science of bioenergy. It removes toxic conditions from the atmosphere with the help of fire. It replenishes the nutrients  that pollution robs from our environment. People practicing it claim that they have seen people with AIDS, heart diseases, cancer and diabetes getting cured by Homa Therapy. 

I don't know much about this form of therapy but I think it's worth exploring.

Nizzamudin Dargah

I live so close to this beautiful mosque but I have never been here before. About time

Couples Therapy Workshop

Attending the first day of the Couple's Therapy Workshop, I have realized how important it is to have a decent understanding of Indian culture in order to council couples in India. For example, knowing that Indian families often stay in extended families is crucial. After marriage, the woman is expected to move  in with the husband and his family, which in itself can create problems. The woman has to totally adjust to a new husband she has never met before and to a new family as a whole. Knowledge of those factors definitely plays a big role in order to provide good counseling. Another attribute that is important to consider is the fact that arranged marriage is still very prevalent in India. Couples coming for therapy often feel like they simply don't match; they are too different to make their marriage work. They also have to learn how to be intimate with each other. And sometimes they simply can't because they have been chosen for each other without taken their wants and needs into consideration.

At the very beginning of this internship, my lack of knowledge of Indian culture was troubling me a lot until one of the doctors explained to me that these cultural aspects can be learned. Patients can teach me if they chose to be patient. I think he is right but how much do I have to know in order not to overwhelm the patient with my lack of knowledge.

I have never experienced so much Superstition

My first birthday in India and the first one that I seriously feel old. I think I have reached a point where I would prefer not to get older; I just want to stay 24.

Did you know that feeding you your birthday cake brings you good luck. Or did you know that putting your birthday cake all over your face will bring you luck as well? I didn't... every day I learn something new.

Hypnotherapy

As I loved the Art Therapy Workshop, I also loved the Hypnotherapy Workshop. Even though both were very much focused on the more practical part, I still have the impression I have learned a lot.

It's really hard for me to believe in hypnosis when I have never undergone hypnosis. The most part of the workshop was based on putting all of the attendees in a state of hypnosis. As probably everybody can imagine it is really hard to put a whole room under hypnosis because the approach used is not very individualized but rather a one-size- fits-all schema. Obviously, having a one on one session might have been a little more helpful but I have tried my beset to follow the therapist's instructions. I think I even tried a little too much. I felt as if my body was getting more tense than relaxed but I kept trying anyway. After the session, however, I simply believe that I had fallen asleep. I thought I was able to relax to an extent that I slept. So when we started talking about our experiences and how we felt under hypnoses, I kept quiet because I thought that it did not work on me. But when the therapist said that when we think we have fallen asleep but have woken up on her counts then we have in fact not slept. Instead, we have probably been under hypnosis but don't remember it. This is exactly what happened to me, I thought I had fallen asleep but surprisingly I woke up exactly one the counting of the therapist. 

MoHo

Today I enjoyed Hauz Kaas village again. First, I met three wonderful alumnae for some delicious lunch. The restaurant we met at was very good but pretty expensive for my taste. We talked about MoHo, our experiences, how much they miss it and how jealous they are that I will still be going back there. They were alumnae from 2006-2008-2010 and I am 2013. It was so interesting to share experiences and to listen to people from different class years. After lunch, we promised each other to stay in touch and they offered help to me whenever I would need it. We also said we would meet up one more time before I leave. It was amazing to see the different routes that the alumnae decided to take. Their stories made me wonder where life will take me... What will I do? Where will I end up?

When they had to rush back to their lives after lunch, I was left behind by myself at Hauz Kaas. I will be staying at a friend's house tonight but I am not supposed to get there until around six or so. So what will I do by myself at Hauz Kaas? Most of the galleries and shops are closed and it's ridiculously hot outside, nowhere to go, nothing to do... But then I found this amazing cafe---the Traveler's Cafe. It's for people to hang out, sit and share stories. Sounds exactly like something that I would like. Therefore I went in and spend my entire day there. What else do I want; I have time, coffee, a fan and some nice company of people. That has been the best discovery thus far.