How Sunrise Sessions Changed My Practice

I've been practicing yoga for twenty years. I've studied with famous teachers in London, attended workshops across Europe, done silent retreats in Scotland. I thought I'd experienced everything yoga had to offer.

Then I tried a 6 AM sunrise class in Ghachowk.

I was in Pokhara for a trekking holiday and heard about this yoga center in the hills. "Great mountain views," someone at my guesthouse said. I figured I'd do a few classes to stay limber for the trek.

That first morning, arriving in darkness, waiting for the light - something was different. As we began pranayama, the sky turned pink. As we moved into sun salutations, the actual sun rose over the actual Himalayas. Surya Namaskar facing Surya, with Annapurna glowing gold in the background.

Watching the sun hit those peaks while moving through sun salutations - it's not just beautiful, it's sacred. You feel it in your body. Twenty years of practice, and I finally understood why the ancients practiced facing east, why they timed practice to sunrise. It's not symbolic - it's energetic. It's real.

I ended up canceling part of my trek and doing sunrise classes every morning for a week. The trekking could wait; this couldn't.

I'm home now, and my practice has changed. I wake early. I face east. I don't have Himalayan peaks to watch, but I have the memory of them, the knowledge of what practice can be when the environment supports it. Every sun salutation carries the echo of those Pokhara mornings.

If you think you know yoga, come to Ghachowk at 6 AM. You might discover you've only known part of it.