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January 31, 2007
Maya Tulum Day 3
Today was a tough day. As Tim explained at the start of the day, Tuesdays are not good days for starting anything new, or using anything sharp especially near the face (apparently many Indian men do not shave on a Tuesday). Tim went on to explain that today's deity is Hanuman (we later did a chant to the monkey god in the evening session) but warned us to be careful in practice, go easy.
With that in mind he worked his hardest to help me get my arms through further in Garba Pindasana again, with the slap to the back of the elbow that's so effective in getting my second arm through. It was great to get up into Kukkutasana as I seem to be so high off the floor than I've ever been. Pain coming, definitely verging on the bad pain range but it's bearable if only just.
The session before lunch focussed on the paddotanasa A-D, parsvottanasana, and utthita hasta padangusthasana. Tim gets class students to come up and run through a posture twice. Once as if in led class so we can pick up the count, and then again as a Mysore style where he'd step in at each stage and suggest a couple of things, throw ideas out for the students to answer and welcome comments from the many people in the class who are teachers in their own right anyway. It can take a bit of courage to get up as a asana model but the benefits of Tim looking over your posture far outway this. He had a glance over my padottanasana sequence (as an example of a stiffer student) and gave me so much advice on where my arms, head, feet and more importantly, focus, should be. Big leaps coming!
We finallu concluded chapter 2 of the sutras then Tim was good enough to share some stories on his early pranayama experiences before leading us through some warm up kriyas (nauli etc), and eventually into some pranayama. 3x ujjayi, 3x retention on the exhale, 3x retention on the inhale, then 3x ujjayi. I've done a little of this before but with Tim's direction on where to focus (bandhas) it certainly felt more intense than before, especially on the inhale retention where I could feel nerve flickering near my inner thighs near the pelvis. Mighty strange.
Posted by graeme at 3:21 AM | Comments (2)
January 30, 2007
Maya Tulum Day 2
First Mysore practice today which is always nice to get back to familiarity. I was up front by the open window and as it's been unseasonally cold here it took until back bends for me to generate some heat. This meant for a hard practice as when I'm cold it doesn't lend to me being open.
Tim's been helping me out a fair bit, especially in standing and he watched my back bends before giving me the extra lift of his ankles before straightening my arms between his knees. His approach is quite simple. "Let's try that again" was pretty much all he said. He'd helped me in Uthitta Hasta by getting me to open up my toes on the outstretched foot. "Let your leg express its existence through the foot as it's mouth". Wow! that's some great thought in that.
Here's some photos. I'm trying to get them uploaded onto flickr but its playing hardball at the moment. Hopefully these will not be too big. I'm using a Mac and haven't found a good way to reduce the image sizes yet.
Tim adjusts some stiff bloke!!!
Classroom discussion
Tim gets stuck in
Hands up if you're having fun.
El Maestro!
You can't blame Tim and Carol coming back here 11 times, can you ?
This evening we continued with the second chapter of the Sutras then talked a little about the Koshas of the body before chanting to Shiva.
Posted by graeme at 4:10 AM | Comments (1)
January 29, 2007
Tim Miller - Maya Tullum Day 1
I arrived here in beautiful Maya Tulum late last night to find the room I was supposed to share occupied and with only 1 bed. Hmnnn, there was a certain sense of "here we go again" but I took a deep breath and y'know, it's all working out fine.
Day 1 with Tim started with a led primary class. I'm not use to responding to asana positions to his call .. Janu sirsasana .... "B" everyone says. It's interesting. He also had us do a backbend prep then 5 or 6 urdhva dhanurasanas before getting people to stand up in the room. He went round everyone who couldn't stand up on their own and helped them up. Carol helped too. I guess he's gauging how people fair when he's got so many new faces and new practices to deal with. Oh, and he's a fun guy to be around. Strong but gentle. I like it a lot.
One thing he did do was effectively thump my arms into the correct place for garbha pindasana. One of my elbows was stuck so the next thing I knew was he'd taken his fist, whack on the end of the elbow and hey, my arms all the way through. I was slipping and sliding all over the mat but I got round ok then he pulled me up into the tallest Kukkutasana (I know, crap spelling) I've ever been in. Should I have stopped at Mari D like I was doing with Sharath and David. Heck I feel as guilty as hell not stopping but I feel I'm only here for a week so I might as well press on as much as possible and see where it goes. You never know. I'm sure the bad karma will come back to hit me somewhere down the line....
In the session over lunch we went over surya A and B. I've never seen any teacher take so much time over the basics. It was inspirational. Tim let the students add a lot to the class. I guess he likes input and wasn't as dogmatic about things as I thought he'd be. It was interesting to find I wrote so much down, got some pics I'll post up when I can work out this new laptop, and how much I learned. I had a gut feeling 2 years ago that this would be a worthy trip to go on. I haven't been disappointed!
This evening Tim went over the first book of the Yoga sutras, skiming over some of them and talking at length about others. He mentioned Shrek in comparison to one of them which was unexpected but interesting. I'm learning loads and the people here are dead nice. If only the mossies would leave me alone!
Posted by graeme at 3:59 AM | Comments (3)
January 27, 2007
Torment continues
ARRRRrrrrrrrrrgghhhh ! This place gets worse by the minute. The 2 guys who came in to the dorm last night both snore like wild buffalo. I was like awake at 3am and even with my IPOD blasting out music I could still here the snores over the top. I know I'm supposed to practice non-attachment, but does that include to sleep as well?
So what d'ya do at 4.30am when your batteries run out? Go to the studio. Yup. Right. It's the first time (and hopefully last) that I've turned up 3 hours early for a 9am led class. Atleast the guys at the center were nice enough to let me in and to do some light restorative stuff, for like 2 freekin hours, before the led class. I was so zonked I couldn't think straight.
I've just been back in to the dorm and their at it already, Snuff, snuff, snortle, snortle. Gads. It's like 11.30pm, 2.5 hours after I normally go to sleep and if I'm up any longer I might start hallucinating. Well, what do I expect for 20 bucks a night?
David's class effectively ended today. We all talked him through primary to purvottanasana, one counting while a second person adjusted. I didn't think my adjustment was so hot but David was surprisingly complementary. I guess I got lucky. I do need to hold in more with my legs though for sure.
Sanskrit class is very interesting. The guy giving the course has a very interesting way of teaching andso far in 3 hours we've only covered 3 letters from the alphabet of 50 letters. I actually think this is good progress as the leader, Chris, has invested a lot of time early on to get us to unwind some of our conditioning about learning in a goal orientated environment. As hard as it is in the beginning, so the easier it will be at the end. I hope this holds true here though I'm missing a bit of the class to fly to Cancun tomorrow. Yippeee!!!
Posted by graeme at 4:31 AM | Comments (1)
January 25, 2007
Well, it's miami after all....
After the escapades with the rampant gay african american you'd think things would've settled down a bit? Wrong!
Last night was almost as bad. After the rowdy lot asked their new found girlfriends back to the dorm I guess Daryl's advice worked after all, everything seemed to quiet down until I was woken by the unmistakeable rocking of the bunk bed that I was sharing with the guy (and his girlfriend he'd sneaked in to the dorm) underneath me. Yup, you got it in one ! Thankfully for me he didn't have much in the way of stamina, well it was 4.30am I suppose, poor girl !!!
Today in class David had us working through more of the 6 fundimental asana's - standing postures. His breakdown is very to the point, not flash or overbearing, gives you just enough information to comprehend and take on board and more importantly be able to readily use. My hamstrings are totally killing me and I swear I could feel the ligaments moving behind my right knee when I straighten it fully. What with all the extra folds in the second part of the day it makes for some painfull adjustments but well that's pushing me up against my edge which is ok to do now and again.
Only 3 days and I'll be off to Tim Miller in Maya Tulum!!! Plans for the opening of the new Shala in Florida are coming together too which is nice.
Posted by graeme at 1:56 AM | Comments (0)
January 23, 2007
Progress coming...
Today I learnt to fly. David had us doing handstand preps with a partner for support where we put all our weight into our hands and boom, wouldn't you know it our partner could lift us up into handstands without so much as a flick of their fingers. Nice one!
Following this with a handstand prep against the wall that I could really feel my bandhas in and viola nice floaty jump backs/jump throughs. Ok, by no means perfect but they're getting there slow but sure. Yippee. One of those days as well where practice sucked big time, my hamstrings are killing me and the forward folds are stretching into my achilles on my right foot making down dogs somewhat sore. Never mind, though, I can fly :>
Posted by graeme at 11:02 PM | Comments (1)
Beware yeah of things that go bump in the night....
especially if they happen to be 6' 4", bald, african american drama queen called Daryl (least that's what I'm calling him as it seems to fit pretty well). We first met when I was pulling my trousers up after changing in to them. My damn foot was caught in a hole in the bottom of the seem and I was jumping up and down on one foot as he stepped out of the shower room. He was dressed in a luminous pink skin tight top, denim hot pants so far up his back side I thought "there's a good example for the word - yank", and what looked like a rather effeminate pair of women open toe-d sandals. Oh yeah, I was butt naked as well (other than the trouble-some trousers). Needless to say he was very friendly after that.
Thing is, apparently he decided he liked more than just me in the 10 man dorm. I missed most of the action but I heard this evening he'd been prancing around in a thong giving some of the guys clothing advice for their dates they were going on, hair advice and sticking his bum towards anyone who showed the least bit of interest in him. Apparently 5 of the guys complained at reception so when I woke up to all of this at 3.30am I heard the following snippet of conversation between him and the male receptionist sent to ask him to leave
Receptionist: "You're being rude man. I'm going to ask you to leave"
Daryl: "Sugar, I'm not being rude, I'm being fabulous! More fabulous than even your mother would be envious of"
Later I heard one of the guys had woken up with Daryl sitting on his suitcase in his thong looking at him, big smile on his face. Well, this is certainly more entertaining than Mysore !!!
Today in class we were split into 2 groups with one group observing the other practice, then we swapped. The small room at the Miami Life Center got so hot my mat was soon soaking wet. Practice, however was great, as I love it when it gets like that.
As a wee treat, David had agreed to take us all down to the "Body Show", one of these cadavar exhibits where they've treated dead bodies then cut them up in such a way so you can see all the bones and muscles. It's a bit gruesome to start with but once I got over the fact that it reminded me so much of a cooked Chicken carcase, I managed ok. In fact, it was so fascinating that it wasn't that squeemish at all.
In the afternoon we settled back to sanskrit counting after disecting the postures within Sun Salute A and B. "Ekam, one, inhale", and the like. There's lots of interesting comments coming in from the student's taking part, we're a wide varying bunch, and class is going well. I'm looking forward to the second week now that takes place in march.
Posted by graeme at 1:54 AM | Comments (0)
January 22, 2007
Lunch with the Hulk
Today marked the start of David Keil's training intensive in Miami. We started very quickly into a self practice once we'd managed to kinda screw up the opening chant. David had indicated that we'd do it together (by which he meant call and response) but we all managed somehow to end up doing it all, at once, together. It sounded a little awkward to start with, but as David said later himself, it was an ideal example of what he'd pointed out as one of things to notice this week, that we move away from our present conditioning in the practice, and I guess in this case that includes how we all do the opening chant.
I should point out here that if you're ever in Miami then the Miami Life Center where this week's intensive is taking place is truly a lovely place to come to practice. Greg, the guy who was manning the door this morning has been very welcoming, even telling one of the girls she looked fantastic in a pair of yoga pants she was trying on, and giving a quick low down on the whys and why-fors around their studio. The studio's got 2 sets of showers (male/female) and 2 separate rooms in which to practice. Today I could hear Greg (as it turned out) chanting in the smaller room as we practiced in the room next door. For the life of me it sounded exactly like the tape that had been playing in the shala on led practice days in Mysore. It certainly sounded very pleasant on the ears.
Today at lunch we went to the mexican restaurant "Lime" which sits on Alton. David was standing there when I approached. "Do you follow professional wrestling? Do you know Hulk Hogan?". Err, yes and yes. Strange way to open a conversation. "Well he's sitting over there on the second table. OMG, it was him. Heck, that would make 2 celebrities (and I use the term loosely) this week, as I'd managed to catch Sly Stallone outside the Vue Cinema in Leicester Square in London for the opening of his latest film only a couple of days before. Jeez, Mr Hogan sure is some size. I certainly didn't want to mess with him!
As for the class today... well, we practiced, took a note of certain things around the area, covered a somewhat detailed (ie excellent) history of ashtanga and Guruji's own path, the basics for vinyasa flow - tristana (breath/movement, bandha and driste), and took a stab at beginning counting in sanskrit. Tomorrow we're splitting out into 2 groups, one practicing, one observing, before we're taking a field trip to the "body show". One of these touring cadavar exhibitions where they've cut opened and preserved bodies in various cross-sections. I'm really looking forward to this.
Posted by graeme at 1:05 AM | Comments (0)
January 19, 2007
Miami, bits and bobs
Here's some shots from Miami
View outside the hotel. Espangola Way.
Palm trees everywhere. Lovely..
Even the birds queue up to get on the beach here... ;>
Washington early morning.
So I'm off now to pick up the scooter, then back to 'rest' on the beach I think and finish off the homework before the start of the course. The first 2 practices here Miami have brought out all the crap from my nose and throat that had been lodged from the pollution in Mysore. Yeuch, but I'm glad it's on its way. For the first time in about 3 weeks I'm beginning to feel normal again. Just in time for the start of David's class.
Posted by graeme at 4:44 PM | Comments (2)
If I walk any further....
i'm seriously going to die.
I've walked about 15 miles today along South Beach and back Ocean Drive, across and down Alton, back up to Lennox then back down Washington. Gads, mt calfs ache.
I practiced with the lovely Gretchen this morning at Coconut Grove. I was actually more nervous going in there than I was arriving at the shala, new place, new teacher and all. It's weird when a teacher has to leave for a private whilst people are still finishing. I know we're all grown ups here but it just feels a bit strange to come out of the 'bubble' that practice is to find the teacher essentially missing. I guess I wanted to say thanks for the help I received, and the no fuss, just get down to it approach.
Tomorrow I pick up a set of wheels - a scooter. I'm actually thinking of buying the thing out right and then selling it back to the shop in a couple of months when I leave, will save me a packet.
I found out today that I leave Miami the day before the Super Bowl takes place. I can't believe it. Just being in the city when it's on would've been fantastic. I'm gutted.
Posted by graeme at 1:59 AM | Comments (1)
January 18, 2007
One other thing
Oh crap! I've just joined match.com here in Miami. This might prove interesting.....
Posted by graeme at 12:56 AM | Comments (3)
Miami - touchdown
Another first day, another new country, another new City. So after a bit of a rush I've finally touched down in Miami, South Beach and I have to say that on first impression this place gets a thumbs up from me, albeit that it's only got a rain soaked London and a fumugated Mysore to compete against in my recent history.
David met me at the airport, where I managed to clear customs in little under 30 minutes, a record for me on this trip. I've hooked up to go across town to catch class tomorrow at 7am and got my money out to pay for shala fees. Heck I even found a scooter place so maybe this place isn't so different from Mysore after all. There's an awful lot more flesh on show and after the cover up show that is India, the presentation across here kinda slaps you in the face here, everyone's so much more glamourous. I guess I'll probably get immune to it after a fashion but being only 2 blocks from the beach I hope it doesn't wear off too soon.
Jeez I'm beginning to sound a bit desparate.
Hopefully I'll be here for some time and it looks like the shared accomodation gig's going to come off super cheeply after all.
Oh on a funny note I got me some 'revenge' in London airport... An Indian family sat down beside me at the breakfast bar, all 7 of them, and I couldn't resist asking them
"Where coming from?"
Posted by graeme at 12:01 AM | Comments (0)
January 15, 2007
Thoughts on Mysore 2 years on
My trip here's coming to an end and it's only natural I suppose that I find myself comparing this trip to the last one. In many ways it's been a richer experience for me, partly because I knew what to expect and had an idea of where to find things and what to find when I got there, but also because I'm a different person to the naive yogi that was here some 728 odd days ago.
Mysore's progressing as a place. The people are as warm and smiley as before, the kids still wave from the backs of scooters, rickshaw's and buses and the adults still stare as hard as ever. The city's cleaner than I remember and the shock of seeing men with a lorry picking up refuse from the road side was as big as that of the polution during the first trip. There's way more yoga students here now than I experienced last time around but I've found that sits ok for me. For sure there's queues at Anu's for the internet, and there's more people connecting remotely upstairs, Shakti house can be testing on patience when you're starving and they're taking longer than you'd like with your food, and the conference's are soooo full that there's no chance of lining up to pay your respects to Guruji as he'd be there too long (what is it with all the dressing-up that the women do for that - I saw more lipstick and make up in one 2 hour slot than in the whole of the 5 weeks I've been here !!!).
The people are still the same. Some as mad as ever, clearly up there own asses and in such dire need of a good kick in their sensibilities that I fear for their state of mind. Some are so nice that I wish I could be considered a friend before leaving and that the rings of "we'll keep in touch" are as true as I hope they will be. And others are so utterty un yogic in there ways and deeds that I sometimes wonder which version of the yoga sutras these people are feeding their huge egos, cos clearly they're not practicing what they're reading.
And the locals themselves? I wonder what Gokulam life would be like here for the student population here without the likes of Tina, Ganesh and Anu, Shiva, the guys at the coconut stands, the girls at Shakti house (oh and Jamie too), the students who offer massages to others to help pay their way, and the countless other 'celebrities' (I might want to call them) who you run into from day to day. I dare say life here would go on as inevitably it will.
And the wonder of this place if you get to come here is you find out more about yourself than mostly anything else. Even yesterday I discovered stuff about myself that really made my head turn to think, "jeez man, will you ever learn?". But the journey still goes on, here or otherwise and I'm glad that part of it has been through here again. So I'm leaving Mysore with a suitcase full of happy memories, the names of some good friends from all parts of the globe, and the thought that for sure I'll be coming back here, in either this life or the next.
Miami here I come !
Posted by graeme at 10:44 AM | Comments (0)
January 13, 2007
Ah well. Time's coming to move on
So I'm coming to the end of my stay for this trip in Mysore. Last night a group of my friends got together for the usual fairwell meal. I've ate a couple of times at the Sri Guru Residency and the food here's just fantastic so it was a real no brainer to decide where to go. It always gets me how cheap things are here when 7 or 8 of you go out to eat and the meal still comes to only 500 rupees or less (about 7 pounds UK money) for EVERYTHING. The manager even got us to write a wee note in his guest book. Food here this time around has been quite fantastic, other than the sickness episode, but I guess even that's all part of the Mysore experience. I'm looking forward all the same to getting back to a bit more of a normal western diet when I arrive in Miami in a couple of days. If you ever get out to Mysore then you're sure to go home with one of these pictures in your camera. It's one of the main things about coming here. The friends you make.
I've just heard one of my friends from the teacher training course I did in Scotland won;t be coming out now because she managed to secure herself a place on Klaustaub Desikachar's 4 year Yoga Therapy course. I'm really pleased for her as I know it was a pretty difficult thing for her to get on the course. You go girl!
Oh, on a more serious note I also heard that the company I work for is closing the main branch of its offices in Scotland. That'll mean that the building I work in will now be the only remaining branch in Scotland. 650 - 1000 people woke up this morning to find out that their jobs no longer exist. Eaak! Now thats frightening.
Posted by graeme at 11:03 AM | Comments (0)
Melacote
Here's some snaps from the recent trip to the temple at Melacote. It's about an hour's drive north of Mysore and the roads are some of the best I've been on around here apart from the last mile or so where you climb up to the temple.
I particularly liked sitting round by the big tank. It seemed a perfect spot to sit back and contemplate the trip to Mysore this time around and all that had gone on in the proceeding weeks. I'd planned to go onto Brindavan Gardens in the evening but the rid back to Mysore was a bit hot and sticky and following on from a 4am start it was too much.
Posted by graeme at 11:03 AM | Comments (2)
January 12, 2007
Guruji can be so funny sometimes...
I made the 5am led primary this morning. As I've been starting at 5.45am this batch had been told to come early for the first of 3 led classes. Being the person I am, and not wanting to end up in the back row of the shala on the marble, or under the awnings that prevent you from doing a full sun salute, or even worse out in the hall (cold marble), I always get up that little bit earlier so I can get nearer the front of the queue to get in. When I arrived this morning for the wait there must've been another dozen or so students with the same mind-set. Still it makes for some interesting conversation at that time in the morning, and for me it's part of the Mysore experience where you're all in the same boat together.
My friend managed to get herself to class about 2 minutes before the class was to start but Sharath motioned for her and another girl to come in from the hall and up on to the stage right beside Guruji's chair (another reason to get in early!). This isn't so bad although you can feel as if a thousand eyes are watching you're practice, but Guruji will often look over at you if hes seated as you're the closest student he can get to for adjusting. I'd imagine it does wonders for your concentration of your practice and the effort you put in too.
Anyways, the class gets to purvottanasana and Guruji notices that my friends hands are beside her hips, not the foot or so back behind her. "Take back your hands, a foot a FOOT!" he shouts. You can see her looking around wondering what he means by "foot". Which foot and where should it be. Eventually she cottons on but by this time Guruji's let out the loudest groan I've ever heard him give in the shala. Almost like he'd given up trying to get this student to do his bidding. He had a huge grin on his face and that great wee laugh come chuckle of his wasn't far behind. We all had a good laugh about it over breakfast this morning too.
Posted by graeme at 9:42 AM | Comments (0)
January 11, 2007
Wasnt expecting that
Something quite wild happened in class for me this morning. I got to Prasarita Padottanasana B and low and behold I actually touched my head down to the floor for the first time! I was a bit shocked as my hamstrings have been feeling extremely tight recently and I've had to stretch them before making the walk to class each morning. Funnier still.... I didn't stretch them at all today !!
So that was a bit of a first. I can get my head to the floor on 3 of the 4 positions in this set so I'm quite happy about that. Now to work on trying to free up my shoulders for C. Och, that's going to take like forever!
On a funnier note my friend who's getting know as the Prince of Hamstead, mistook what I was saying yesterday so rather than understanding that I'd been asked if I fancied going to Nepal he actually thought I'd been asked if I fancied going to the pool. My accent's kinda thick around there parts though thankfully people are beginning to understand me more, and those who don't I kinda avoid now anyways.
So tomorrow I'm taking Hamish up on a suggestion to go visit Mella Cote which is a small temple that sits on the top of a wee hill surrounded by a Tank (lake). Apparently it's real pretty and a great place to get away from all the hub-ub of the city. In the evening I've also arranged for a car to go to Brindivan Gardens where they light up the fountains at night. Well, it's my last chance to do anything touristy around these parts for a while.
Posted by graeme at 11:32 AM | Comments (1)
January 10, 2007
Out of my depth
The morning in the shala Sharath told the students that the proposed thursday led primary had been moved now to the Friday where there'd now be 3 led classes instead of the 2. Thursday would stay as a Mysore practice. 5.45am students are to come to the 5am led on Friday / Sunday mornings.
Sharath hovered around where I was practicing this morning and helped me with my bind in Marichyasana D all the time whispering "it's coming, you can do it". He pointed out that I should try and rotate my shoulder in so my arm can bend and rotate back from the elbow behind my knee. "It's getting there", I said. "Ah, next week".
Afterwards I went to Shakti house where I duly delivered a hug that Vanessa asked me to pass on to her friend there. In fact there was a lot of it going around, people getting back rubs and all. At one point I asked if it was actually on the menu now...
3 bits of French Toast and a Shoulder Massage
Now that's my kind of breakfast :>
Conversation turned quickly to sanskrit and the sutras. It's one of these conversations which starts out innocently enough but before you know it becomes relatively clear that the people that are talking are doing so at a level far beyond my understanding. I felt a bit out of my depth by it all. I have all these wonderful plans to do things and then you realise that you're sitting beside people who did these sorts of things 10, maybe 15 years ago. Jeez. Had this immense feeling of being submersed underwater and looking up to see the light shining all above me.... Oh well. It's not so much as back to the drawing board but more a case of being aware of my own limitations. Expectation again, rearing it's ugly head.
Today I also received the preliminary homework assignment for the class I'm taking in Miami with David Keil. I need to know all the postures in the primary series, read stuff from Yoga Mala and John Scott's book on the breathing and bandhas. The one thing I can definitely say I'm doing that David's looking for is having a daily practice. Yup. Big tick in that box.
Ok. Must go off and do some of this reading....
Posted by graeme at 4:57 AM | Comments (0)
January 9, 2007
AYRI - new led class on Thursdays
Sharath announced this morning that as the shala is so busy that there's now going to be led classes on a Thursday. He stated that there'd be 2 led on thursday and friday, then 2 led on Sunday with the additional led second series following. The people who are coming to Mysore with a start before 6.30am start or earlier are to come to the 5am Led classes.
Eeak!! Another early night... I can understand why they're trying this out as there's been a couple of people mention that they'd heard that people were getting turned away from registration being told that the shala was closed it was "full"! Having said that when I turned up at 5.40am for a 5.45 start I was called straight in by Sharath without having to wait.
Last night in Anu's there was a photography team taking candid snaps. Ganesh told me later that they were there from Business Week in New York who are doing a piece on Mysore. This morning as I turned up to start practice there was a car with the same guys coming out with boxes of kit. Turns out they set up inside the shala and started to shoot just as I raised up my hands for the first Sun salute A. I was directly in front of Guruji's chair, 1 row back from where Fabio was finishing (3rd/4th series???). The girls in the front row were getting special attention from the camera guys whenever Sharath or Guruji were adjusting, I felt quite sorry for them.
When I got outside I recognised the camerman from Anu's. I asked if he was going inside now to take a class. "Not flexible enough" he said. "Well, If I can do yoga, anyone can" I said. He asked if I came everyday for my 30 minutes in the shala. It had been more like 90 by the time Ieft this morning. I explained how you'd work each day up to the point where Sharath or Guruji had told you to stop and then progressed from there each day as they guided. Some people I added were practicing further as they were more open and flexible so could be practicing for anything beyond 2, 2 1/2 hours each day. "Must be hard when you are back home". Well, you just adjust your life accordingly. Then he snapped off a couple of shots of me sitting taking my coconut. It was a but surreal to say the least.
Posted by graeme at 4:43 AM | Comments (0)
January 7, 2007
AYRI - New card system
Today at the start of the led class Sharath announced that everyone was to come to the Shala at 5pm to re-register for classes. Everyone looked a bit bemused but settled down quickly to practice.
It turns out that AYRI are now issuing 'start time' cards to all students registered and registering at the shala. Effectively Sharath pulled out students that had registered before the Xmas closure that had been practising at 5am and gave them each a card that told them to turn up at 5am. You gave your registration date or last renewal and they worked out an expiry date therafter. Following that, anyone who was practicing at a different time (but registered before the Xmas closure got the next slot. I got card 61 and was first on the list for a 5.45am start. 14 other names would be starting at that time.
From there on in it looked like Sharath was taking people by the date they registered on, so the earlier you arrived at Mysore, the earlier you would start. Not sure what this means for led classes on Fridays and Sundays but we'll soon find out I guess. My friend's last day is tomorrow so I'm not sure what's going to happen with her "slot" in the 5am class when she leaves... Will someone get her slot? Will someone take her number? I'm sure it will all come out in the wash. Most people seem pretty pleased with it all, there'd been tales of people arriving 1st/2nd January and coming to practice right at 5am. I guess this counters all of that!
Nice one Sharath.
Posted by graeme at 12:51 PM | Comments (0)
January 6, 2007
Small world
I was talking at the coconut stand with a friend from Spain today. One of those conversations that starts off inocently enough and before you know it you've covered a whole stramash of topics (ok mostly yoga related) and the people who left for Green Leaf for lunch are suddenly back at your sides and you haven't moved and inch.
Days like these in Mysore are worth all the constipation, all the hassles of getting here, all the worries if you're doing the right thing, all the joys of being in the shala and the lacj of space, all the pollution, the kids grabbing at your sleeves every 2 minutes, and the flower seller who just doesn't understand what the sentence "No I don't want to buy any flowers today, or tomorrow or the day after that".
Meeting with like minded people, and spending a solid hour just exchanging ideas, stories, analogies, encounters, dreams, emotions and laughs really makes me see what I'm missing when I'm stuck behind a desk 8-4 5 days of the week. Stuff like this just doesn't happen.
And get this. At the crutch of one of the tales I was telling I said... "Oh you'll never heard of this guy, he's like a Professor at M.I.T." to which the reply will tickle me for a long time.
"Oh, I've had lunch with him".
Full shala for tomorrow's AM classes. Apparently Sharath's brought 50 odd people with him back from Goa. I leave the interpretation of "odd' up to you. ;>
Posted by graeme at 1:41 PM | Comments (1)
January 5, 2007
Still a techie...
I guess it's only fair to say that I've been a bit bored this trip. I got into the breakfast/coffee/early evening meal routine a lot quicker this year, visited the places I wanted to see early on, and now I'm like, "What do I do now?". I've read through 3 books so far, though some might argue that Richard Branson's "Losing my Virginity" doesn't really count as a book, though I kinda like it myself.
Anyways I was browsing through the internet here at Anu's and came across 2 articles I thought would be interesting. Both are language related, one as a description of the particular dialect of this language, and the other as a brief account of it's early history. I've found them both very fascinating and have been racing through them both during the day and late at night.
Yesterday I spent lounging around the pool with my new finds. I'm so glad that there is somewhere to go other than the food related places and the flat. And there's the bonus of not knowing who's there or who's going to turn up. I had toyed with the idea of doing some yoga in the morning but when I got up I just couldn't be bothered. The flatmate's off doing a Thai Massage course so the place's been pretty quiet almost all of the time.
This morning there were 2 led classes. I'd woken up early enough that when I got down to the shala I was 2nd there, though the first class was already underway. It was nice to sit there with the girl from Calgary watching all the students arrive in one's and two's, meet up with friends, say their "Good mornings" and settle in for the wait. There was 1 solitary figure practicing in the lobby, though by accounts the changing rooms and platform were both full, so with the door being closed we all waited outside which was kinda nice. It made getting into the shala once the first class had ended kinda easy, though I would say that as I was first through the door. It helps to know which way the door opens!
Guruji was in fine form this morning. The girl beside me, bless her, found his counting somewhat funny and laughed everytime he went back from 4 to 3 then up to 4 again. At one stage he went back to 8 from 2! I actually fell out of headstand when you have the legs bent at 90 degrees because the count was soooo short. Guruji gave a huge smile at the end of class too.
Tonight there's 2 kirtan's on and I'll probably end up going along to both the chum my friend. The german guy who left last week, I think we're both missing though when I leave she'll still have plenty of company when her son turns up.
Oh... the names of the articles"?
"The Objective-C Programming Language" and
"The Early History of Smalltalk" by Alan Kay
both from Apple Computer Inc.
Posted by graeme at 9:59 AM | Comments (0)
January 3, 2007
Fast Break
You'll maybe think this was a kinda stupid idea but it's coming to an end as soon as I've typed this blog entry. Seeing as how I got sick and my friend in Mysore and me were planning to start a 3 day master cleanse, I decided that instead of waiting the extra day to start I'd piggy-back the instant flush from the 31st and start the cleanse immediately. So, lemme see, it's 3.16pm here, 3rd January and the only thing I've had to eat since 8pm on the 31t is a mouthfull of the tiny finger bananas they have here. Oh, and buckets of water. I guess it's turned into more of a fast than a cleanse.
I couldn't even get to a sitting position during the first day I was so whacked from the illness, and everytime I sat up I felt queezy. Water helped alot, as did lying back down. I've done a 1 day fast before so this was the next stage for me I guess. Staying away from food has strangely enough been real easy to achieve. The thought of eating more rice was empathically repulsive to me. Taking in the water wasn't going to be difficult either. I guess I was a bit light headed all the same, the usual dull headache was there, though I'd skipped the salt-water flush as the last time I was in Mysore I'd tried the induced vomiting by chugging 2 litres of the stuff before class. It just wasn't my thing to go back down this road.
Still I wasn't quite prepared for what happened last night. I was like super alert all night long, no inkling of ever going to sleep so in the end I just turned the light back on and continued to read. I did spend a fair amount of time thinking about my options for when I get back home in April, the most likely of which is for me to spend some time visiting home and my friends and then heading back out to America to see my best friend for a while (if he'll have me!). After that there's a few good strong lines of options available to me, none of which are any less appealing to the others. My mind shifted back and forwards to food as well and funnily enough to my own cooking. Soup, bruschetta, mushroom risotto, mince and tatties, stovies, haggis, gawd I'm making myself hungry just typing the words.
Then the strangest thing happened.
My friend phoned to say she was going to start the cleanse a day later as her body was craving food too and she'd meet me for breakfast at Tina's. Well she never turned up, so I've been spending the day wondering if I actually had this conversation or I'd conjured it up out of my imagination. It's funny how the mind can work at the best of times, let alone when you do this sort of thing to it. Oh, mum. Just in case you're worried I spoke to a guy a couple of days ago who did this sort of thing for around 16 days and he was fine, so no need to worry. In any case, the food in Miami will sort my weight back to normal before long :>
Well. I'm off to break this fast with a little bit of mushed fruit. Atleast I'm heading back to the shala tomorrow am to practice. Yippeee !
Posted by graeme at 9:43 AM | Comments (1)
January 2, 2007
Oh no, not again
Yup the curse that is Mysore for me hit again this year too, two years to the date. I got sick as the proverbial dog. Working back from when I first went landed me right in the time I was eating fried veggies with rice at the Mandala. The food tasted ok though I admit now wasn't particularly warm. Friends have said that it could''ve been anything I picked up from my hands at anypoint through the day. Jeez, will I ever learn. So yesterday was spent lying on my back, even getting up vertical was a real effort and I only managed it a couple of times. What with the fire works from the celebrations and the vomiting I managed maybe 2 hours sleep the whole night. Not good. Still, I've taken yesterday off and this morning too which I think is the wise thing to do what with the shala being closed for the moon day.
I guess if anything yoga has given me a better approach to being sick. Take it for what it is and nothing more. My body rejected something I'd put into it and this was the best way to get it out, and the act of being sick in itself is so bad that ít's a good reminder to be more careful in the future, though the lure of a nice clean tasty salad in Miami is helping me to stay a float. I kinda wished I wasn't putting Mula Bhanda to this use all the same.
Shala news.. some 103 poeple crammed into the place on the 31st, then another 19 or so for the second led primary. As the shala had been shut for a break apparently they always re-open with 2 led primaries, even on a sunday. It was so crammed that my mat was actually touching the mats beside me. Jose, the guy to my left, got the worst of it as I nudged him a couple of times in back bends with my sticky out elbows. Even in padmasana during shoulder stand sequences my knees were touching both the people beside me it was such a squeeze. Still the energy is great. I've missed the last 2 days but by accounts that shala hasn't been too busy, lots of people turning up after 6.30am (Sharath's away after all) and only a 5 minute wait if you're there at around 6am. Accomodation's getting hard to find. Just there people are turning up at Anu's looking for help to find somewhere. Jeez, that's gotta be tough.
Posted by graeme at 5:43 AM | Comments (1)