Yesterday, I moved from the guesthouse into my permanent accommodations for the month. I am staying a super nice apartment in the neighborhood just next to Gokulam called V V Mohalla. It takes about 10 minutes or less to walk to the main shala. The apartment is in a really nice building on a quiet street. The accommodations are truly posh: air conditiong, bright and spacious rooms, washing machine, fully-equipped kitchen, cable tv, private bathroom and bedroom, nice furniture. There are two other ashtanga students staying here with me: Franco from Basel in Switzerland and Brian from Salt Lake City. They have both been to Mysore before and have been very patient answering all my questions about how to practice in the shala. They have also been showed me all the idiosyncrasies of the apartment and the interesting places in the neighborhood. Very shortly after I moved in, we went to lunch at south Indian restaurant called, Amina Madhva Bhavan. You go into the restaurant and take a seat on the floor--there are low wooden tables. After you sit down (everyone sits next to each other in a row--one only sits on one side of the table--the servers use the aisle on the other side to walk through with the food), a server brings a banana leaf that serves as a plate for the meal. Before eating, you sprinkle water on the leaf and spread it all over. Next, the servers start coming round with food. I will need to pay better attention the next time, but I remember rice pilaf, dal, cabbage salad, beet salad, squash of some kind, sambar, a spicy-sweet fruit salad and a chapati. There was also a sweet dish, cracked wheat cooked in butter in sugar and spiced with cardamom, that I could not eat because I am vegan. After you eat your first serving, the servers come round with white rice and rasam. Finally, you get a sweet chapati that was prepared with sugar and cinnamon. Throughout the meal, the food is served out of steel buckets,and there are no utensils, so you eat with your hand (right hand!). I managed fairly well never having eaten wet, sloppy foods with my hands previously. Everything was delicious and I cannot wait to go back. Unfortunately, yesterday was their last day for about two weeks as they are moving to a new location up the street. I will be there on the day that they re-open! Here is a video (not mine) of the place: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daWBTb_mxAs After lunch, I went to the grocery store (I have grand ideas about trying to cook while I am here, but so far, the food in the restaurants is so delicious, so clean, and so cheap that may be a mistake to cook at home) and stocked up on some provisions. Everything is insanely inexpensive here, except for the oatmeal flakes that I bought that we over $10! I spent the rest of the day organizing my room and preparing for practice the following day. Later in the evening, we went out to a place nearby called Green Leaf where I ordered a set dosa with korma and coconut chutney and a Thums Up! (Indian coke). Finally, we returned home and started to wind down for the evening. Brian has already been in Mysore for two months and he is returning home next week. Franco just arrived and started at the shala today, although he has a different start time than I have.
I was somewhat nervous about making sure everything went smoothly for practice this morning. My start time for today was 7:30. I left the apartment at about 6:05 and arrived at the shala around 6:15. I have heard all the stories about crowded led classes and the necessity to arrive early, however, I was somewhat surprised that there were only about 8 people at the shala ahead of me. They were all waiting on the steps and we were listening to Sharath count out the practice for the 6:00 group. It was reassuring to hear the regular count and to prepare for what was coming. The wait was uneventful; little by little more people showed up and we ultimately decided to form a line. The previous class ended and all the students filed out rather quickly and we were allowed to enter the shala. It was warm, but not stifling, and a little bit stinky. I took a spot in the second row right, smack dab in front of Sharath (not intentional, but by the time I realized where I had placed my mat, I thought it would be awkward to move it so that I could try to hide on the sides of the room. I am not sure when practice actually started--but it was definitely before 7:30 shala time. Maybe around 7:15? There were a few students who came in late and Sharath reprimanded them. All in all, it was a typical led class, and I felt pretty good. There was a lot of place in the shala; no one was practicing in the changing rooms, and there was an empty space next to me. If you have heard Sharath's cd or attended one of his classes while he has been on tour, then you know exactly what to expect. The practice is the practice, and there is little or no variation. He reminded students repeatedly not to hurry the count or to move onto the next part of a posture too quickly Sharath stopped a few students--at marichysana d and bhujapidasana in particular. I am fairly certain that he told a few students to open their palms (not make a fist in marichyasana a and c. I have received conflicting messages about that--but I am going to keep an open palm. He also reprimanded a student for not having her towel and made her get up to retrieve it from the changing room. During the closing sequence, Sharath's son yelled through the window and Sharath went out to wish him well for the day at school all the while leaving us in baddha padmasana. It was adorable. Overall, Sharath seemed to be in good humor. I was surprised that we did not end with the closing chant; we just went ended practice and went into resting posture. Before letting us rest, Sharath made a few announcements: for regular classes, don't show up more than 30 minutes early, and do not come to practice with a yoga mat that has the Om symbol, any sanskrit writing on it, or the three lines (representation of the 3 aspects of Shiva). We went into resting pose and came out of it when we are ready. Sharath was hanging out in the foyer of the shala as we all left, and then he walked back to his house.
I won't go into a blow by blow of my practice, but it felt really good. I probably should not have done so many jump backs because of my shoulder, but I could not stop myself with the shala energy and all the adrenaline. Some poses that are usually really easy for me were somehow much more difficult (utthiita trikonasana?!?!) and some were more effortless than usual. For example, during my "up" in utkatasana, I felt as light as a feather. I have never done one with such ease before., and I was a little bit scared that I was going to flip over or something. Unfortunately, the magic was gone for the "up" virabhadrasana; I felt like I had a ton of bricks on my back and I could not get any air. My chakrasanas were somehow better than they have ever been before; there was no hesitation or preparation, I just flipped back and into chaturanga. My backbends felt good too. Sharath was definitely telling other students to walk in their hands more after pushing up fully into urdhva dhanurasana, whereas, I always crawl in more when I am lowered down. I did not wear my nasal strip today and it was a mistake. I was afraid that I would be reprimanded, but I am going to wear it tomorrow. There were some times during the practice when I felt like I was suffocating. I just cannot get any air to flow in through my left nostril because of my deviated septum. During mysore practice, I can probably cheat the breath more, but during led class, when there is less wiggle room, getting as much air in as possible with each breath is essential.
After class, I got a coconut and went home. The coconut guy did not have change so he said that he would give me my coconut for 20 rupees tomorrow instead of 25. I had to return to the shala by 12:00 for mandatory chanting (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays). The room was packed! Not a square inch remained on the floor. We spent 30 minutes doing various chants--some short and some long. The longest one was Mantrapushpam We also chanted the numbers 1 to 30 in sanskrit as well as all the names of the asanas in primary series. It was great fun. Now I know my abcs....
Having finished chanting class, my flatmates and I went to a fantastic place for lunch called Anu's Café (the apostrophe is important!). It was all home cooked, healthy, vegan south Indian food. One of my goals during this month was to try to shed a few pounds, but with the amazing food options that seem to be all over town, I may end up ballooning.
It seems fairly rare among the students here to come for only one month. I do not know what kind of life these people have at home that allow them to take 2 or 3 months every year and spend them in Mysore, but I am finding myself becoming somewhat resentful or envious (resentfully envious?). From my initial encounters, people are friendly and welcoming. I am sure that my perceptions will change as the month progresses, but my initial reaction is that this place feels like a summer camp of sorts. Of course, everyone is working really hard on asana practice, but the rest of the day is really relaxed and focused on food and recovering from or preparing for practice. I need to think about it more--but at home, my life is so structured and there is not much room for downtime. Yoga practice-Dog-Work-Cooking-Cleaning-Errands--and repeat, ad infinitum....It is not easy for me to be still or to relax--I always need to be on a mission of some kind.
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