Road To Mysore

Today marks my first month here in Mysore. So much has happened this past month, it's hard to imagine what lies ahead the next three months. I've definitely have had my ups and downs but I think I've have more ups. As far as my practice is concerned, I've accomplished more than I've ever imagined and if I left here now, I would have no regrets. I don't know what the next 3 months have in store for me but whatever it is, is only going to be icing on the cake. Here's a quick rundown of some breakthroughs in my practice:

1. Never in my wildest dream did I think I could ever bind in Mari B in such a short time. I've done it in both sides too but lost the right side since my left knee shifted. It's still slightly sore but I know it's only a question of time before I get it back again. I've done it before so I know I can do it again.

2. I use to need help binding Mari A but now I can do it without help. I'm working on trying to bind much closer to the shin as oppose to below the knee.

3. I could never keep my right palm flat on Utthita Parshvakonasa so when I did it last week, I was ecstatic. Vincent said he thinks I've lost some weight and I'd like to think so too. That means my stomach is not blocking me from putting my palm on the floor. My hips are opening up too, so that helps.

4. I'm still not touching the floor on reverse Uttihita Parshvakonasa but I'm about an inch away from the floor. Before I arrived, my hands was nowhere close to floor. I know before I leave I'll have it on the floor. I just know it.

5. Before my left knee shifted, I had a close encounter with padmasana. I lost it for now but I know I'll get it before I leave or at least come closer.

I know I'll have more disappointments the coming months but it's all part of the experience. I'm not even worried about it because without it, I can't appreciate what I have now.

I haven't blogged the past few days so I just wanted to update what happened the past few days.

Last Thursday evening, I had my full Thai massage session with Enzo. It was everything I expected from a bodyworker. I love his passion for Thai massage. He has his heart behind his hands when he works and you can feel it. I decided that I wanted to learn some Thai massage from him since my experience in that modality is limited. He normally wants a minimum of 2 students per class and charges 4,000 ruppees each. When I was a dummy in the last class I noticed the class would have to stop because people were taking notes. I thought that if I were in a class like that I would go ballistic. I'm a visual learning and after a demonstration, I don't waste my time with notes I will never read. I rarely opened any of my massage manuals. I want to get my hands on and feel the technique. Like in ashtanga, my bodywork is 1% theory and 99% practice. I told Enzo that I would pay him 8,000 ruppees but it's going to be a one on one class with me bringing a different demo body everyday. The class would move much quicker and I will get more personally attention and practice time. Enzo agreed and is excited too because he can tell that I'm a very serious bodyworker and his never had a student like me. Yesterday, I paid him the full amount and we start our first class on Monday from 11AM to 4PM.

Last Friday was party night for us yoga students. The party was held at one of the yoga student's house close to Laksmipuram. Fridays are a big deal here because it's the only time we can sleep late. It was a beautiful house and it was well decorated. We had three DJ's, Nic(from Wales), Juan(from Texas) and my good friend Simon Automatic. They were all good DJ's but I think Simon was the best(I'm a little bias). The dance floor was rocking and it surprised me to see the most reserved people dance there hearts out. These yoga students can dance. We also had a chill room where we could just hang out and chat. They also placed big mats on the garden so that those who wanted to get some fresh air. It was a great party and some of the students mentioned that we should do it more often. I left at around 10:30PM but they said that it went on until past 2AM(way past my bedtime).

Saturday was the big day for the Dasara Festival. Dasara is a week long celebration which culminates with huge parade on Saturday. I initially wasn't planning to go but a big group from the shala decided to go so I joined them. I'm not one for big crowds so I should have followed my first instinct. We got there at around 12PM and had to wait until 2PM for the parade to start. Aside from the elephants, there really wasn't much which interested me. There was a lot of drum beating, dancing, customes, floats, animal parades and etc... By 3:30 I was just dying to get the hell out of there. I left the stand and tried to get out the back side but they wouldn't let me through. I saw a couple of westerners on the street so I followed them(even bigger mistake). We walked with the parade hoping to find a break in the crowd(there was none). I walked with the parade for 3 kilometers and there was just no way to get out. I eventually found a restaurant to hang-out and was trapped there until 6:30PM. I got back to Gokulam at around 7:30 because the traffic was just too bad. I should have just waited in the stands because the rest of the group got back sooner than me(dumb ass).

Today's practice wasn't that great. I felt tired and I just wanted to get over it. I expect days like this so I didn't make a big deal of it. I'm not a big fan of led classes and on Sundays the primary led class is at 5AM. I did stay to watch the led intermediate class though. I wanted to take pictures and I did get a few good ones. This is the only led intermediate class every week so a lot of people watch this class to see the more advance students practice. There are about 20 students in this class including Annie, Olaf, Rolf, Kristin, David and Mitchell(they all have amazing practices).

During the class, Sharath came to the lobby area to see who was watching. He noticed a student who was practicing last month and asked, "Where have you been?" She said, "I'm practicing now with so and so(I forgot who she said). Sharath said, "You no take pictures" so she sat down. Sharath continued, "You no stay" so she left. It's pretty clear when we first register that they request that we do not practice with other teachers while we're practicing with Guruji. I can't seem to understand why anyone would go to Mysore and practice with anyone else. I thought it was a little ballsy(I'm not sure if that's a word) for somebody to come to the shala who is studying with another teacher.

Guruji really has a sense of humor. In the intermediate led class today he calls out Sarvangasana(shoulderstand) and counts...One. Then walks into the men's toilet. Two minutes later he comes out of the toilet...Seven. Everybody in the lobby area starts laughing. Twenty seconds later...Eight...Halasana...

After the intermediate class, I hung-out outside the shala. I was talking to Autumn(from Santa Barbara, I'm not sure if I spelled her name right...oh well), she was part of the intermediate class and has a beautiful practice. She told me that her mom, Ann has been following my blog because she hasn't been emailing her mom enough. I told her she should start her own blog since she's been here since June and won't be leaving till early December. I think I can convince her and maybe this time Julie will give me my commission(ha ha ha, hari hari, boom boom). Before I forget, "Hi Ann, thanks for following my blog:)" (Autumn thought it would be hysterical)

Today was supposed to be conference day. There was no annoucement but it was assumed that there would be. I think some people knew for sure that there was none but some of us where told that there was so we went to the shala. When we got there, we found out there was no conference so about 10 of us just hung-out around the shala. As I was about to leave, Saraswati came out of the house and started talking to us. She doesn't speak English very well but I always enjoy talking to her. She told me that her other house close to Tina's will be finished in March and that she would be renting it out for 10,000 ruppees/month. I told her I maybe interested in renting it for one year before I leave. Shiva hasn't showed me anything resently so I've been actively looking myself. The only property Shiva showed me was a big three bedroom house for 7,000 ruppees/month plus he wanted a 50,000 ruppee deposit and 30,000 ruppees to furnish it(too much for my blood). She told me to look at it in January before I leave and by then it would almost be finished.

We chatted for a while until Sharath came out and joined the conversation. The next thing we knew we had a mini-conference outside the shala. Sharath is very friendly and it's not hard to talk to him but it's hard to get him for a long period of time because his always rushing to his next class or doing something. We found out that he wakes up at 2:30AM every morning and practices for two hours and then prepares for the 5AM class. Guruji no longer wakes up to assist him because he hasn't been sleeping well lately. That explains why he sometimes sleeps in class. Give the man a break, his 89 year old. Sharath sleeps at 8:30 every night and takes a two hour nap in the afternoon.

Saraswati told us a story about Sharath when he was 11 years old. Sharath was in Los Angeles with Guruji and he cried because he didn't want to practice. When he got back to Mysore, Saraswati scolded him and after that he practiced everyday.

Sharath told us that in the older days, Guruji would be carrying a stick during class. He would just whack you if you were doing something wrong. It really makes us realize how spoiled we are now.

Another story which I thought was interesting was one day Sharath was practicing his backbends. He thought he could go deeper and so he tried. Then he heard a crack in his back(just like I heard a crack on my knee). Guruji had already scheduled a demo for Sharath the following day. Sharath did the demo and after that couldn't get out of bed for 15 days. It's nice to know that even Sharath has to go through some pain in his practice. It's like what they say...the pain never goes away. I think I'm getting use to that thought.

We all hung-out with them for about an hour and talked about all kind of things. It was very informal and we were able to ask all kind of things. Sharath like his grandfather has a sense of humor. He told me this morning, "Next week you do intermediate class" I think Saraswati is the mother of all the yoga students. She is very nurturing when she talks to you. This was by far my favorite conference because it wasn't about students asking questions to a teacher. It was about people just talking. We were lucky today.