ESCAPE
live well
Taking my breath
BY SANDIP GUPTA
First Glance of the majestic Mt. Kilimanjaro. ART DIRECTION : ANUJA BAGADE, PHOTO CREDIT : SANDIP GUPTAThis travel piece captures the excitement, zeal and
fear surrounding every climber’s ambition, and
highlights why more than 30,000people go to
Tanzania every year to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, the
world’s tallest free-standing mountain and Africa’s
highest peak. It also reflects on the importance of
bringing your body, breath and mind together to
enjoy every moment.from equator to north pole
Ever since I turned 50 not too long
ago, I have nurtured a desire to hike
to the Everest Base Camp (EBC).
So, when two of my friends floated
the idea of climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro
a few months ago, I took it as a
precursor to my EBC dream and
quickly agreed. Before we knew,
we had gathered nine enthusiastic
people–from the ages 16 to 61–with
a passion to climb the highest peak
in Africa. The youngest trekker, my
daughter Saanya, dedicated her
adventure to help raise funds for
an education cause calledRoom
To R e a dthat provides books and
libraries to children in remote areas
of developing nations. Meanwhile,
the rest of us got busy buying all
the necessary gear (around 50
items!) for the trip, and preparing
our body to climb the highest free
standing mountain in the world
by doing regular exercises, hiking,stair climbing, and some breathing
exercises.
I knew what to expect – cold, high
altitude, low oxygen, night hike, long
walks, rocky trek, etc. Singapore
has limited places to train for these
conditions, but I continued climbing
75 flights of stairs often, went to
the gym every day and used a
conditioning mask to get a feel for
high altitude. I took yellow fever
shots, malaria tablet and bought
dosages of Imodium and Diamox
for altitude sickness. It was also
important to get to a breathing
rhythm and increase lung capacity
while achieving mind concentration,
so in the last two months I practiced
various breathing techniques,
including pranayama that would
help me with altitude sickness—
Kapalbhati,Anulomb Vilomb and
longUjjayibreaths.10
december 2018 / january 2019yogajournal.com.sg