99to1

Shots are done...to the tune of 225$cdn.
Might have to leave on Aug 2nd...then again might be able to leave a few days later...they are not sure yet.

They are work, the company which employs me. It's an engineering firm, and I work as a Trainer. The trip looks like it might be 4 weeks in Bangalore, not 6. Will find out soon...

So now I just have to figure out how to arrange everything so I can go to Mysore after the "work". Will be little or no notice to ayri given how late this plan has come together...has anyone ever found themselves in a situation where they had to plan to practice in Mysore so quickly?

I imagine it usually takes people the better part of a year (life??) before they work out their plans...I've got less than 3 weeks. My friends and co-workers say that I have no choice...that I must go and practice...

In a way as soon as I've accepted the fact that I am for sure going to India, I also have become confident that I will practice in Mysore. I think its going to prove a bit more involved than imagining it into existance.

Time to get down to a very serous To Do list.

Perhaps right after Doreen leaves tonight??
Loren's (my wife) birthday was yesterday and D is coming over for a little visit/dinner/snacks...ok and some wine too

Would like to find a way to post a pic of Loren's birthday flowers...we'll see

Have just spent some time looking at the admin options for the blog...might take me a while to bang it into shape.

wish me luck

To Bangalore for 6 weeks.
I am in shock, my shots are scheduled for this afternoon, I am trying to figure out how to stay a month longer to...you guessed it...
Wow.
I would say that I'm speechless...though I am never speechless.
Proper fomatting and blog features will be looked into *much* later.
Off to the races...

Btw...test entry as well

Time to do a To Do list or a 1 month in Mysore budget, to see if it's reasonable to plan to go.

It will be quite odd if I don't get there...being so close.

I missed the phone call with the Dr. from the travel clinic. He's calling to do a phone interview so he can call in a prescription to my pharmacy for anti-malaria and other travelers meds...have to call to reschedule.

Very nice visit with Doreen last night. It's been a while since we've seen her, it was good to be in her company. I enjoyed listening to her talk about working as an assistant to a physiotherapist, she really lit-up. Interesting conversation about working for free if people actually appreciated the input.

So, late to bed...11ish and skipped seated meditation. Usually I'll sit even just for three minutes if too tired to do full time, which is 10-20 minutes these days...even missed that...thought that I risked interrupting being almost asleep (I was crashing) and catching a second wind. That would keep me from sleep that I really need. Wondered if I would be able to get up at usual time 04:15...
(I did)

Abbreviated practice this morning...10 minutes moving between pos 2-3 of surya namaskar...utanasana and urdvha utanasana (??)
My primary connection to ashtanga practice is via Tristhana; posture/movenmet linked with brerath linked with gaze. I'm not really an asana junkie, for me it would be enough to spend the rest of my life doing daily surya namaskars.

When I cut short morning asana practice it's usually so I can get another 30-45 minutes sleep. When will I learn that that little extra sleep does not do much for me. Seem to be coming close to overcoming a lifetime of not being a morning person (understatement).

Work....eeesh.
Actually, that's not fair, I really like my job, though things always have a strange way of coming together. Will probably find out today if the duration of the Bangalore trip is 4 or 6 weeks, and which date it will actually start, Aug 9, or 16. Boss is having meetings with secondary people, as the key contacts are on vacation for 2 weeks.

Department lunch today...sort of a group birthday gathering...Nadia, Mike D (no longer works here) Bruce and myself are the b-day people. My b-day was in April, plans to lunch then were quashed by a real dept meeting.

Coffee calls...

Up promptly at 04:15, on the mat by 04:30. I say/sing the ashtanga mantra out loud before practice...it's odd hearing your own voice when the body isn't anywhere close to awake. By the time the mantra is over I can usually keep my eyes open. Have considered trying surya namaskar with shut eyes, but decided against it. I know it's just that part of me which wants to go back to sleep.

I've put this quote on the white board in my cubicle:
"I will trun miracle into routine. The amazing will be seen everyday." Yan Martel from his books Life Of Pi. I like to associate that exerpt with firmly establishing my daily asana practice.

Full practice today, which for me is until uttha parsvakonasana, no back bends or finishing postures.

Sometimes I do back bends and finishing postures at night before seated meditation, last night no postures, just sitting (10 minute). The idea for me in planning my routine like this, is that I try to envisage my entire day as yoga practice, bookended with ashtanga structure.

Last month Darby left AYS in Montreal and started on a years international travel/teaching trek. Things won't be the same here without him. I've only practiced Mysore style with him for 1 month, and usually did a lead class once a week, in addition to my daily practice...okay...simetimes on the day I would do the lead class I would also skip my morning postures...though usually it was the following day which I skipped as the lead class was in the PM.

In conversation with Darby and another Canadian teacher that does workshops at AYS, Hart Lazer, I have develloped my own self practice, and am for the most part my own teacher. I've given my self up to U Parsvakonasana until I can do that much every day without cutting short (like yesterday), and until my upperbody takes to rotating upwards in U Parsvo (chest to sky...ceiling) sort of thing.

Back to the impending trip...
Am thinking that an extra month stay in Mysore is not really the right thing to do at this point in my life. Home routine in montreal, wife job etc... will be hit kinda hard, not to mention financially. I might use the business trip as fact finding a preparation for when I can actually afford the time and money.

If I decide not to practice with Guruji, I will probaly still visit Mysore and absorb as much as I can. I'm sure that'll feel really strange, being there and not practicing at ayri.

Am in contact with key person in Bangalore now, hopefully he and I can make some necessary plans decisions about the training program while we wait for the administrators to do their thing.

Work now...

Is unusual for me, I typically do Monday through to Friday morning practice at waking. When I can will try to get one in on Saturdays...to keep with the effort in changing from not being a morning person. It'll help me to have more time to get more of the house work done.

Livingroom was bathed in golden sunlight during practice. A very pleasant chage in routine; usually at 04:40-05:00 there's no sun yet. This am practiced from 08:00-08:30...I could say brilliant practice for sure! Loren's b-day flowers were on the coffee table and it was as if I was prostrating to them during sun sals.

The more I look at my budget, and the ongoing schedule at work, the more I see that it is probably be a very selfish thing to try and stay that extra month in Mysore to practice. For one; I would be borrowing all my vacation from next year. This means the company would have to find a way to bend the rules, and then there'd be no vacation time left (and money) to do anything with my Loren next summer.

Might just have to turn this into a fact finding fieldtrip for when I can go....I'll tell you this though...I'll be paying special attention to any valid opportunity demonsrtating the need to do followup training back in Bangalore.

Off to haircut...moe lawn...trim hedges...water tomato plants...clean bicycles from ride two weeks ago...and maybe even walk on Rougemont with Loren towards days end.

"The suns coming up...like a big bald head..."
Is it from Mr. Sharky, by Laurie Anderson?
Beautiful orange globe, I got a nice view of it rising behind the Victoria bridge as I dove along Bonnaventure autoroute this morning.

Might be hot today...we'll see.

Typical morning practice up to uttiha parsvakonsana, still gently urging feet and pelvis downwards and chest upward towards sky (ok...ceiling). Slowly slowly...

Good breathing this am.

Last night 10-minute sit, and then some Hart Lazer inspired block and belt stuff.

Have been in touch with my Bangalore contact, we're working the detils out for this training program, I've got to find some people here in Montreal to provide some other details...actually and answers to some very important questions. Another fact finding day, also hope to ba able to ake advantage of Gilles offer to help with review from his recent Asia training session.

"Human beings were not well served by permanence or stasis. Obviously, if individuals were progressing, they were undergoing a series of presumably desirable alterations, but in a universe where flux is fundamental, it can be argued that even change for the worse is preferable to no change at all."
From, Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates.

From this mornings practice.
Using the Yahoo! digital camera...takes tiny shots. These ones with the infrared mode...eery lighting.

Over an hour yesterday I was in the fine care of Karen O'Reilly.
She is certified...in a number of disciplines...Chiro, Ostio, Homeo, Naturalpathy and more...

Very good visit, I thought it would be good to see her before I went to India, and was right. Two cervical adjustments, and one thoracic, along with a left hip decompression. That's just the mechanical stuff. :-)

Thank you Karen

Over on ezboard there's an on going discussion about what people wear to a yoga class. I can't recommend the following:

You know some mornings, the body is just heavy. That was this morning. Surprised I didn't break toes on landing jumbacks....Kept it to Sun sals.

I've noticed that my left sinus is pretty regularly clogged upon waking, and that it typically clears righ up sometime during my 2nd sun sal B. Let's see how long I can make it into this allergy season without having to resort to pharmacology. Am currently taking Kali Bich 200 ch once a week.

I have been playing this scenario over in my head:

It's probably my second weekend in Bangalore for this upcoming training program, and I decide to hang out in Mysore for the weekend. I visit some of the places I've read about, the old shala, Chumundi Hill (SP??), the Palace etc... and then wind up in the market where I bump into Darby. He is delighted to see me and expresses that he is pleasantly surprised that I got things together to get myself over to ayri to practice.
And I say, Oh I'm not going to practice, I'm just visiting for the weekend.

I was researching festivals in Bangalore and came across urday.com
via searching for Aarti. Here's what I read about Patanjali's yoga:

"Three kinds of peoples have right to perform yoga. These are inferior, superior and supreme. Different types of means have been described for these three kinds of practitioner..."

Exactly what I needed to see before a trip to India...
Was channel surfing last night while I did some pc maintenance, and the Discorvery channel had this detialed (read:slightly sensational) show on parasites. With lots of mini camera stuff inside the body and loads of other grotesque scenes. Including some guy passing a tape worm after having taken some treatment to expell it. They even had a camera in the toilet bowl. EEESSSSH!

Read Chapter 12 of the Ghita last night. It's the part where Arjuna askes Krishna to revert to his mortal form again, to turn off the universal/love/light/understand all things now/see me in my true nature/God-show. Kinda like Dorthy in the Wizard of OZ wanting badly to get back to Kansas.

Practice today will end up being in the afternoon. I caught myself internally barganing to use a day from my banked time off ...just to get some sleep! Bad idea...Bad Man!

I don't think I'm that tired...just have real trouble waking up. So no am practice today, 04:15 cam around way too fast. Despite being quite behind schedule I still set up the coffee maker for Loren.

Last night before meditation I continued with practice of headstand. Foundation is getting solid, and lifting is coming under better control...read: I'm reducing the risk of tumbling forward upon lifting. And then held dog pose for 3 minutes. Am currently working the thoracic area in this pose. Presently feels like biceps are moving towards each other, along with shoulderblades, and resulting in cervical spine extension and head moving away from shoulders.

Cancel the bike ride with Gio? Or plan practice for after the ride? Today, weather permitting we plan to ride some laps on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve...gotta check the weather.

Our 80 year old neighbour Fern brought us a toy for Luna, our dog.
Iit's a funny football squeeze toy with hard nibs all over it so Luna can bite/grab it. Luna loves it and trys to keep it right in her ususal spot near the sofa. Apparently kids threw it out of the window of a car as they drove by her house. These shots are again done with the Yahoo! low-res digital camera set to infrared mode.

And she's got it wedged between her and the sofa...

Once she gets going with it I'm sure she can break stuff in the house. Probably more of an outside toy...we'll see if we can persuade her to find a new home for it (outside??).

Well the birthday flowers are on the way out. Loren has a wonderful and quirky way of keeping old rotten things and presenting them in a beautiful way. You can't really tell in this shot that they are still beautiful, but surprisingly they are.

Here's my current horizontal filing system. I have several locations just like it around the house.

And here is one of my new file folders...I have placed them very close to the horizontal file piles just to intimidate them.

Would like to get the new folders filled before I leave for India...another thing on the to do....

After skipping morning practice yesterday, I did manage to get daily practice done last night. It was typical sun sals (6) and then finishing. Then stayed up late reading the Ghita...not enough sleep. So this am did 10 minutesd of my bellows breathing in uttanasana, positions 3-4 of suya namaskar. Then 10 minute seated meditation.

Am wondering if I will try to do one weekly session of all primary postures. For the rythm and fitness of the practice. We'll see...

The more I learn about how little has been planned for the Bangalore project, the more I think I woun't be there for Aug 16th. Hanging in between worlds again. Good chance I'll be going despite the lack of preparation of the production environment. Will be an interesting trip for sure.

The bright spot above the light standard is the (almost) full moon.
My adgenda officially lists it as tomorrow, the 31st.

This is my last day to spend time with Gilles (my co-worker) before his vacation. We're debriefing his findings on his recent field trip to Asia. Going over the newest findings with the software suite we deliver training on. Next week I get to install the latest release of our proprietary software and start all over again.

Some overtime yesterday sets me up to leave at 13:30 today...though I think I'll end up doing more OT.

10 minutes on the mat this morning at 04:30, doing my forward bending (pos 2&3 of surya namaskar). Feels like starting to loosen very tight lower back, and thoracic spine. Before dinner I will lead myself through a lead class for one. Going to work up a sweat and remember what the rythm of primary series feels like...I miss it. Must take time to tape up...don't want to end up with split/bleeding big toes again.

Might try to plan the Rougemont walk with Loren this weekend. Don't have a lot of time to do this before leaving for India...if indeed the company will need me to leave Aug 10...we'll see.

Am finishing off my Indian Visa application today...heres the photo I'm submitting with it...Human Resources counciled me to not smile for this picture.