Mysore to the Mountains
The Colour and the Chaos
Clare Nicholls
Paperback
A yoga practioner's journey from Mysore in south India to Ladakh in the Himalayas, seeking a spiritually authentic way of experiencing the country.
- ISBN 9781781327739
- Published Apr 2018
- Paperback
229 x 152mm (300 pages)
India: colourful, chaotic, historical and multi-layered. With an acute eye, affection, humility and curiosity, Clare’s journey around India from Mysore in the south to Ladakh in the Himalayas is described in a way that interweaves the myths, values, beliefs and landscape of this extraordinary country.
As a solo woman traveller, Clare’s adventures range from learning yoga in an organised shala to practising on her own in ancient temples; using local buses to negotiating with rickshaw drivers; exploring cities to the secret caves of Ellora and the temples of Hampi; and beach time in Goa to volunteering at the Students Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh. This engaging first book shows the reader many of the facets of India, and how a woman alone can experience the cultural, spiritual and everyday life of India today.
Clare’s love of Indian mythology and philosophy began at the age of six, when she watched the Peter Brook Company production of The Mahabarata. Since then Clare has known that the act of sharing experiences, musings and telling of tall tales is innately human. In her early twenties she discovered the physical practice of yoga and began her studies of Indian philosophical systems. Initially studying in Dorset with Wendy Haring, Clare completed her teacher training with the British Wheel of Yoga in 2007. After a move to London Clare discovered Jivamukti Yoga and following study with Sharon Gannon and David Life gained the Advanced Teacher Certification in 2017. She now teaches Jivamukti Yoga and the philosophy of yoga worldwide. Writing about her experiences has become Clare’s opportunity to reach a wider audience and encourage solo women travellers. When not writing, teaching or travelling she works as a midwife in London.
Learn more at thecolourandthechaos.com
Instagram is @thecolourandthechaos
'I requested this book because it is always fascinating to see my country through a relatively alien viewpoint. Bonus points if they turn out to be favourable ones (I am biased that way). The author, it turned out, was not as alien as I expected her to be. She has had a firm grounding in what to expect and the background information on Hinduism that most people born into that society have no inkling of. This is a very private journey. It is the tale of her four-month journey in India, with rigorous information provided which might have been gathered after the trip (for the most part, the author does go into the trip with meticulous planning). She undertook the journey seeking some sort of respite from the person she was back home. She laces her travels with the stories of the places she visits, her purpose being both general and spiritual curiosity. I recommend this book to anyone who wants a very enriching time watching another's explorations of life and its meaning. It leans heavily on the spiritual backbone of hinduism and its values and as a reader I have enough of an affinity with her thought process to enjoy the book in its entirety'
Anjana S, NetGalley Reviewer
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J A Higgins