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January 28, 2009
Thoughts of home
Well, I hate to say it but it's coming to the end of my trip here in Mysore. I haven't blogged as much as what I wanted to this trip, but there again there's a whole bunch of things that I said I'd do this trip that I just haven't gotten round to doing. I did, however, manage to fall asleep on the living room floor yesterday for about 40 mins or so which was really nice. I should really try and do more of that before I head home as there's not going to be much chance of doing that when I'm there.
It's beginning to get a bit annoying all the people asking if I'm having a leaving lunch or a get together before I go. I can see now why my friend Joey just wanted a handful of friends over to do something quiet and go in peace. It can get a bit crazy. I said to the flatmate and her 2 friends to come over last night for a bite to eat (I cooked) as it would probably be the last time I'd have some peace and quiet before I leave. It makes it in to this big hoo-haa and that's something I can do without.
I had a really nice long chat with some close friends last night for a few hours. It's nice to spend the time to get to know them better and 'shoot the shit' as we said.
Anyways. I'm looking forward to being back with H at the shala. It will be nice to see if I can carry the improvements I've made here back to the big smoke. I'm also really keen to get back to back bending and some much needed assistance in supta-k. There's lots to be done before I get back here, maybe as soon as this Xmas!
Posted by graeme at 3:05 AM | Comments (0)
January 18, 2009
More...
Sometimes it's easy to forget that I'm actually on holiday and not to be too hard on myself when I spend the whole day doing nothing. Well, okay, it's not actually nothing, it just feels like nothing. Unless of course you consider watching Sex and the City movie 'nothing' (it's no where as good as the series and is way far too long).
Today I felt a bit better. I've felt a little disjointed lately, maybe because I marked my friend's arrival on tuesday as the beginning of the end of my stay here in Mysore or this trip and after she gets here it's the winding up time to going home. I guess all things come to an end but again I'm beginning to feel a bit envious of the people who are staying here for 2 or 3 months. There's a continual stream of new faces around the shala door in the morning, and I only know of about 2 or 3 other people other than myself that are leaving. Still, it's one day closer to the trip where I actually do get to stay longer than 5 weeks.
All being said. My mind always wants more....
Posted by graeme at 1:48 PM | Comments (0)
January 17, 2009
Change is coming
My friend gets in from the UK on tuesday morning. It'll bring some light relief from the Groundhog days here at the moment. I'm beginning to get into that same rut that I did the last time I was here when I found myself getting a bit bored of the same-o same-o ness of each day. That dreaded question - 'What are you doing today?'. Today I feel like doing nothing at all. Which, of course, is 180 degrees away from what my mind actually wants to be doing: going to the river, Chamundi hill, shop for avocados, coffee quest, scootering around down town, crashing in the sun by the pool, generally anything to keep myself occupied. I've got things I need to be doing, projects that I really should be moving forward, but that light at the end of the tunnel's beginning to show. The one that says 'exit here for going home' on it, and I've got to remind myself I've only 2 weeks left here before I leave and I really should be making more of my time here before I leave.
Still, with my friends arrival I'll have a different focus for my time for a couple of days whilst she gets settled in and I show her a few things around the neighbourhood, but even with that too, there comes a point where I'll have to let it go and get back to my own state of affairs. I can see why people take on a lot of things here, and why some, like me, end up doing very little.
Trying to unwind and relax, to let go, is proving harder than I thought.
Posted by graeme at 6:34 AM | Comments (0)
January 14, 2009
Jump, jump
Second day of Mysore classes, second day of being in a drafty part of the shala. Yesterday I was in front of the office door, which was kinda nice as there's a bit of a breeze of fresh air coming in from the windows. Today I was on the marble at the very back of the class. It's kinda hard there to keep drishti as you can literally see everyone in front of you doing all sorts of weird and wonderful shit, it's kinda easy to just plod along watching what people are doing. There's quite a bit of traffic passing that way on the way to the changing rooms too, and when you get to seated postures it can be kinda cold.
The girl practicing on my left started backbend prep when I could see Sharath looking straight at me and he's saying 'Bakasana B, you take. You take'. It's kinda obvious he's not talking to me I'm so far from getting to that posture I'd be lucky to get there at all this lifetime, so I looked down at the girl and said that I thought he was talking to her. When she sat up Sharath repeated "Bakasana B', and she said to me in a really low voice, 'What's Bakasana B?'. I was kinda surprised she didn't know what it was so I told her what I knew, jump from down dog so her knees are on to the back of her elbows. She went, 'like this?' as she place one knee on her elbow, using the other as a stabalizer. Yeah, but both knees at the same time. 'Jump, jump!' Sharath again.
Then the penny dropped and she did a wee hop and landed it first time, knees on the back of her triceps, took a good couple of deep breaths, just like she'd been doing it forever.
I got kinda mashed by the girl on the other side when she was doing her 9 rolls around her mat. Totally wasn't her fault as there's not much room back there, but I was kinda worried she'd knocked her head a bit when she clunked me. Thankfully when I asked her outside she said she was ok, happens all the time.
I've just returned from my first deep tissue massage here. Wow, it was so super good. I kinda feel my back is sore and getting a bit stiff, so I'm sure practice is going to be a bit fun tomorrow. I haven't had a massage in like 3-4 years and I so desperately needed it. Thankfully I could afford a series of 5 so with any luck it might help me open out a little bit more while I'm here.
Posted by graeme at 7:20 AM | Comments (0)
January 11, 2009
Weekend in Mysore
Here's a couple of snaps of my weekend around Mysore (and some others for good measure)
Some advanced practitioners can snooze anywhere!
Lalitamahal restaurant ...
... and just around the corner
And whenever there's one of these ...
... someone's having a rooftop party!
Blogfest 2009
Doing what we do best...
Posted by graeme at 1:10 PM | Comments (0)
January 9, 2009
Feet
I practiced at the very front of the shala this morning, right under Guruji's chair and Sharath's feet. It's an interesting experience being so close to him, especially during opening and closing mantras and it's nice to be able to hear the stuff he says during the oms of opening. It is, however, a bit intense when he's standing there during utpluthi but I guess that's the case no matter where you are in the shala.
The other thing I noticed was the feet on Gurugi's chair. Under each leg there's like a plastic stopper that I guess is there to stop the seat moving around too much, or perhaps to prevent the wood rubbing off on the marble. What it does do, however, is give the chair a sense of floating on a cushion of air as the stoppers are a pretty close colour match for the marble. Guruji's shakti's all over it.
Today was also the last led class of the week, and though I had a little bit more oomph in my practice I still struggled to hold up in backbends and utpluthi at the end. I'm kinda glad there's rest days for the next couple of days, I'm a bit done in for. Lots of students are going out of town with the moon day being on sunday, some to Ooty, others to Coorg. I think I'll be staying in town again and just hanging out.
Posted by graeme at 3:16 AM | Comments (0)
January 8, 2009
Family Yoga
It was nice in the shala over the last 2 practices as Sharath's kids have paid the class a visit (ok, primarily to see there dad) and for me both left a nice wee shift in energy to the place. The day before Sharath's son (Samba I think he's called, but I've probably spelt that wrong) came waddling across though you could hear him from upside down in head stand shouting for his papa across the room. When he left a very, very cute 'bye, bye' came from him.
Today, Shrada (I've spelt that wrong too), came in and help with the counting. I think we were half way through shoulder stand sequence at the time when she swept across the main shala to sit snuggled up beside her dad on the ledge at the shala edge. Sharath kept an even count, 3, 4, then she burst in with '5!', then moments later followed up with a '5,6,7,8' in quick succession. If only Sharath could count quick like that!
It was nice to be reminded that this is a living, working, family, and that the kids are very much a part of that. I've been missing Guruji this trip a bit, though the latest rumour I've heard has him leaving the hospital tomorrow, though the energy in the shala's different somehow to me, it's by no means any less without him being here.
Posted by graeme at 2:40 PM | Comments (0)
January 6, 2009
Yes, yes I have. And you should come too.
My Mysore friend Joey left this afternoon for his onward travels beyond Mysore. He's got a hectic schedule ahead of him traveling all over the planet before he ends up back home, and his last few hours here were spent in packing, repacking, saying goodbyes, more good byes, all wrapped up around practice, breakfast and late lunch. It's the first time I've had to say goodbye to a good friend in Mysore, normally it's me who's the first to leave around about this time of year, and it's been an interesting experience for me to be the one who's left behind.
I totally get now how hard it would be to try and start again from 'scratch' and try and find and build another friendship like this one. Some friends leave a large hole to fill and I can see why some people just don't bother after a while and just stick to small group of really good friends then stick to their own private lives when they leave or are left behind.
Not that his passing is filled with any sadness as I know for sure that our paths will cross again, either physically here in Mysore, America or the UK (or perhaps even in his home country!), but it's more likely that friends of friends of friends will cross paths first. Someone might say, 'Oh yeah I met this guy in Mysore...'. to someone who then links me together with Joey or the other way around and another connection is made in the network of people that this practice also bestows on us.
Sean Corne said in a class I took with her in Glasgow, that we were the bearers of the light of yoga for this generation, the carriers of the traditions and the ways, the truths and the spirit of our yoga practice, but it is never really ours as we are only the guardians until we too pass it on to the generation the will follow us in this path in the years to come. I'm very grateful for what this yoga has brought me, not only in a physical sense, but moreover that I've now a greater sense of my place in the world and my relationship to the people who live in countries so many, many miles away from me. And to know that wherever they may be that there's a likelihood that someone, somewhere has just rolled up their yoga mat and asked that innocently leading question...
'Have you ever been to Mysore?'
Posted by graeme at 3:04 PM | Comments (0)
January 4, 2009
You stop... You do
First led practice this morning was super fun. I hadn't had much sleep as my throat's been bothering me for the past couple of days with the pollution and all, yet I was really looking forward to getting started, being in the shala again and its energy, and finally getting down to the business end of this trip.
I arrived at the shala a little before 6am and found there was some 30+ people waiting. After a little bit of jostling for position, and a not to long wait, the first led came out and we were let in. I ended up placing my mat in the front row then found a space right beside my friend E that I met in Byron Bay a couple of years back. It was so nice to have a familiar face to practice beside as I found that helps me settle quicker into a 'new' environment. The shala was pretty full, 3 on the stage, but no-one outside in the entrance hall and no-one in the changing areas practicing.
As the first led class had warmed the place up I found it nice and warm and had a super practice. The one day fast had moved a little bit of weight and with the warmth of the place I found an extra bit of room and some extra length in my hamstrings for forward folds, something I've been having trouble with for a wee while now.
When we got further into the practice I found that the heat was making me struggle a bit, and my breathing got a bit erratic but it calmed down a little just as the Marichyasanas came around. I'd had thoughts that I might get stopped at Mari-D so when I couldn't bind on the first side I wasn't surprised when Sharath said 'You stop'. Atleast I thought it was aimed at me. Then, just as I got my arm over my knee on the second side I found him standing over me and with a quick hold on my knee I found I was nicely bound in. He'd hardly touched me but it was enough to do the trick, so much so he even left me alone to help someone else!
As the class continued into Navasana I began to sit at the end of my mat to wait until backbends came around though I chanced a look across in Sharath's direction and found him gesturing for me to continue - "You do!" Great! I didn't get much further on when he stopped me for good this time in Supta Kurmasana but I was actually kinda surprised how far I had my shoulders under the back of my legs.
I found the pace of the class pretty much ok to handle, though I struggled a bit with the heat as I've not been used to that having been up in Scotland for the last couple of months. My lower back did ache a little in the morning afterwards but walking round the lake seems to have loosened it off and I'm really glad that my hamstrings aren't complaining in the slightest. Yippeee. Mind you, having said that I know it's usually the third day I start to tighten up.
I met more friends from London this morning, some of whom had arrived just the day before. They all looked really shattered and I felt for them having to go through that this morning. I'm glad I'd came out early now to get settled and into a bit of a practice routine again before getting into the shala.
Posted by graeme at 3:12 PM | Comments (0)
January 3, 2009
Nothing left to do but wait
Class starts tomorrow and to be honest I'm itching to get started. It's been a good week to get settled in and I'm grateful for the time I've had to get to know a few faces around Mysore. I met I guy just there at the Coconut stand who'd arrived that morning and he'd registered this afternoon. He looked exhausted. I'm feeling in a good place, happy to be ready to go and moreover injury free. The 24 hour fast helped clear out a little bit of room and playing Chess at the Southern Star this afternoon helped keep my mind busy and free from worries about tomorrow morning and all that entails.
All day today I've been running in to people I've met before, either here in Mysore or on my 9 month sabatical. It was great to run into to Tiff this morning too though I nearly didn't recognise her behind her big sun glasses and I finally met up with the friend I spent most of my time with here 2 years ago. It's been hard to try and remember everyones names and I've felt at times there's people I should've made more effort to talk to here but there's sooo many of them here now it got kinda draining so I had to escape off to the pool to relax and chill out a bit. My friend had been talking earlier in the week about how hard it can get some time to keep a big group of friends here going and I'm beginning to understand now what he meant. He keeps himself and his friends pretty close to his chest here and it's been very helpful to have someone like him here for me to talk too. Still, at the end of the day, I'm not him, and my own ideas about things have to form out of my own experiences.
So, in a little under 12 hours time all the waiting will be over. Let's see what the morning brings.
Posted by graeme at 12:50 PM | Comments (1)
January 2, 2009
Registration
Today was the one day of the two days of this trip I was kinda dreading (along with my last day when I have to leave). Today was registration day and I would be finding out if I'd be allowed to practice in the main shala or if I'd be able to practice at all. I was due to be out here on the 5th of December and leave the 11th of January but had delayed my trip due to work commitments. On speaking to H his advice had been to phone Sharath to make sure he knew about my request to change my dates then to come anyway. So getting up this morning I knew there was a slim chance I'd be told either to practice with Saraswati (which I'd be perfectly happy to do) or that there was no space for me and I'd have to come back (effectively after I'd left) so wouldn't be able to practice at all other than in my flat.
I got up early this morning to practice. 4.45am, and was half way through primary before any of the practice buddies turned up. They'd already registered for January as they were all practicing before Xmas. I'd hear some stories about the queues last year so wanted to be there early enough that I could find out my fate, though I wasn't so keen to be first in line. When I finished practice, had a quick clean up, then wandered round to the Shala to see how big the queue was. Registration was due to open at 8.30am to so figured getting round there by 7am would probably be early enough. It was actually nearer 6.45am so it wasn't a surprise to find that there was no one there. I wasn't going to sit out there on my own so I went back to the coconut stand to wait and see if I could spot anyone else going to queue early.
I didn't have long to wait.
A small group appeared at the stand, drank their coconuts quick then headed towards the shala. When I followed them up and sat down to wait with them I found out they were mostly from Canada. One of them knew some of the people from Glasgow that were here for a couple of months last year so it was nice to find common ground with them.
Then the shala gates opened and we were let in an whole hour early. I was fifth in line and registered with Raoul from Canada who's here on his first trip. When Sharath asked my name my heart sank a bit when he said "Your name is not on list". I explained my situation and he said "I'll deal with this later". Raoul filled out his paperwork, handed over his money and then Sharath asked my name again. The list he had was kinda huge and seemed to be in 2 parts, probably for those students who registered before Xmas and those registering after the New Year. He couldn't find me on the date I was supposed to start, but Raoul said he noticed he'd found my name on a different page. It was a huge sigh of relief when he took my money and said I could start on Sunday.
I'm so very happy!
Posted by graeme at 4:35 PM | Comments (0)
Hogmanay with the butterflies
Hogmanay I went down to Keranji Tank. It's nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city for a wee while and to take a walk in the (relatively) clear air. I walked down towards the boating area where they'd built a nice picnic area since the last time I was here...
then from there I walked round as far as butterfly island. I was wondering where all the butterflies where when girls out on a day trip from a school in Bangalore walked past, resplendent in all their wonderful colours...
It was so nice to see them all there in contrast to the greenery of the island and the water. You get a really clear view over to Chamundi Hill from there too...
When I left the butterfly island the teacher 'Bake', who was with the school kids, came over to chat, and after the usual 'where coming from?' type questions we had a good old chat about the Indian school system and where he was taking his class later on in the day. It was really nice when he stopped me and asked if I wouldn't mind taking a few pictures of him with his class. I really like this picture as you can see all the colours...
In the evening a group of us went over to Mysore Mandala to the Kirtan with David G. I must've over did it slightly as my throat has been sore ever since but it was a nice group of people there, maybe about 20 or so, and David's so enthusiastic with his chanting and always pitch perfect. He stopped at one stage and said he'd never managed to get the next chant going correctly but wanted to give it another go and after a few false starts he got us all into it. Fantastic.
Hogmanay itself was a quiet affair with a couple of friends round at the flat to wait on the last hour or so to pass.
Posted by graeme at 4:34 AM | Comments (0)