Road To Mysore

Last Friday, there was 2 led primary classes. The first class started at 5AM and the second one started a 6:30. I overheard that about 20 new students enrolled last week and only a handfull of students have left. The past few weeks I've seen a steady flow of new faces. I would estimate the head count to be about 100 students and it seems much harder to get rooms, apartments and houses now. The ones that are available are a little farther from the shala. I'm lucky I'm only 2 blocks from the shala.

Friday's practice was good until we got to Mari B. I had easily binded the right side of Mari B, last Tuesday so I expected to do the same that day. Since it was a guided class, I had to rush into the posture. I got into the position and waited for Sharath to come over. I relaxed, took a deep breath and slowly folded forward as Sharath was helping me bind. All of a sudden as my hands were ready to bind, I heard a "crack". It was pretty loud because I looked at Sharath and asked him, "Did you hear that". He said, "Yes". It was my left knee. The strange thing is that it didn't even hurt. We continued to do Mari B with my foot on the floor instead. I continued with Mari C and then he told me to just sit and wait for the closing sequence. I haven't done backbends here since I arrived so I was excited to do them. I also did some headstands which was weird because my bald head on the floor felt strange. I normally can come up on headstand on my own but that day I just couldn't. I think it was a combination of having a bald head, not doing it for a while and rushing to get up. I'm lucky that Saraswati always looks after me so she helped me get up. It was nice to do the whole closing sequence for the first time since getting here. After class, I tested my left knee and it felt slightly sore like the first time but I had no problem walking so I just went on and about my day.

I went home, took a quick shower, had breakfast and prepared to go to the 3 Sisters to get the famous and acrobatic ayurvedic massage from Harini. My appointment was at 1:30 so I wanted to be there by 1PM. I like to have 30 minutes to ground myself before I get a massage. The 3 Sisters are in Laxmipuram which is closer to the city and the old shala. It's also not a very good part of town. The place is pretty much a dump but I think that's part of the ambience. Vivian and her daughter came wiht me because they wanted to have lunch there. The food is great at the 3 Sisters and they literally serve the best lassis in town. I was looking forward to this massage because everybody I've talked to said they loved it. Harini was running late so I just hung out in the small waiting room/dinning room. I could feel my knee starting to stiffen from practice this morning and sitting on the floor was getting uncomfortable.

Harini eventually was done with her client by 2PM and she led me to the "surgery room" as they say she often calls it. I told her to be careful with my left knee because it was now feeling really sore. She asked me what happenned and I told her Mari B did it. She then gave me instruction on how to put on my g-string and told me to start by lying face down. I did my thing and laid down on this thinnly cushioned oily floor(not the most comfortable place to be...it was actually disgusting but I wanted to keep an open mind). She oiled my body and started running her feet through the length of my body while holding on a rope close to the ceiling. Her feet worked like her hands and she did a lot of acrobatics with it. She even did some detailed work with it. She is a very instinctive bodyworker and could easily find your knots or coconuts(that's what she called it). Half of me enjoyed the massage and was impressed with her level of skill and acrobatic moves but the other half does not enjoy all the oil and the amount of pressure she used. I've always believed that there is a thin line between therapuetic pain and just painful. A good therapist works on that edge and resist on crossing that line. She actually enjoyed crossing that line and it became really unpleasant because the body automatically cringes and defends itself. I think halfway through I just wanted it to end but did not say anything because I wanted the whole experience. Maybe if my knee weren't so sore, I would enjoy it a little more but for now I won't be getting another one anytime soon.

Vincent and Simon met me at the 3 Sisters for lunch. We had lunch at around 4PM so we were all starving by then(I'm always starving so that doesn't really mean anything). The food was great but the lassis were even better. Simon and I had the banana lassi and Vincent had the saffron lassi which was just as good. After lunch we went straight to Simon's house to meet Kenny and Anthea(both from Scotland). They went to see Simon's place because he has a 3 bedroom apartment and they've been looking for a place to stay. Vincent and I tried to broker the deal but they just ignored us(nobody takes us seriously). They decided to take the two rooms. We just hung out at there when Shannon, Rhonda and George arrived(part of the LA crew). Simon's place is centrally located so it's become hang-out central. We decided to call it a night at around 7PM and we all went our way. When you wake up at 5AM in the morning, 7PM is considered late. I was asleep by 9PM.

I slept quite soundly until 1AM and then I had to go to the bathroom. I slowly started getting out of bed when I felt my left knee had painfully stiffin. Walking on my left leg was flat out painful. After that whole production, I went back to bed to try to get more sleep. I could no longer bend my knee and when I would move my leg in certain ways, I was in absolute pain. I stared at the ceiling all night thinking of the worst case scenario. The thought of having to leaving Mysore early would be devastating. It was one long night trying to sleep with the pain, going to the bathroom again, reading to past the time and praying for the sun to rise. I just wanted to cry.

Later that morning, I limped through the house and did my daily routine. I tried to call Rema(she's a homeopathic doctor) all morning and asked her if she had anything to reduce the pain but I later found out that she was in Bangalore and she turned off her phone. I hung out with Shannon, that morning and she gave me some Aleve. I think the Aleve help because after I woke up from my nap that afternoon the pain had significally subsided. I knew that by Sunday my knee would be much better but I decided to give it another day's rest. Sunday is another led class and we tend to move quickly through the posture but I knew it would not be good for my knee. I was tempted to practice but I think detachment is part of the practice so I just slept through.

By Sunday morning my knee was much better. I over-reacted. I spoke to a few advance students and they told me to get use to the pain, it happens to all of us. I now remember someone telling me a story about a conference in the shala a few months ago and one of the older students asked Guruji,"When will the pain go away". The whole room laughed because I think the answer was the pain never goes away. I spoke to Sharath before the conference on Sunday and told him I just wanted to rest my knee. He was so cool about it and he even gave me some Chinese gel he got from the US to apply on my knee 3X a day for a week. He said my knee is just opening and I should be alright in a few days. I know I will. The conference was great that afternoon and we covered a lot of topics which I'll talk about in my next blog(I getting too tired). I took some great pictures of Guruji, Sharath, the yoga students and the shala.

Later that night I dropped off some pictures I took of the kirtan in Annie Pace's house. I spoke to Annie briefly about my knee. She's been coming to Mysore every year for the past 15 years and she's been through it all. She told me that my body is just opening and realligning itself. She also told me that a few days ago her shoulder shifted and she couldn't even lift her arm to brush her teeth. It makes me feel better that I'm not in this alone. I'm glad I talked to her that night.

This morning's practice was great. It was nice to just get back on track. I moved slowly and carefully. Sharath and Saraswati were really cool and understanding. Sharath helped me out a lot today and assured me...all is coming. I know that but I still like hearing it. I look forward to practice everyday...I just can't wait for the sun to rise.