First mysore class with Sharath

The cows who greet you as you go to practice.

This cow and I almost had a head on collision.

Today was my first mysore class in the shala. I left the house in a panic at 7:43 because I thought that I was going to be late, but I arrived at the shala at 7:55 with plenty of time to spare. The 8:30 group was still seated on the outside steps; we had not been called into the foyer yet. When we were all called into the foyer, we huddled around the shala door waiting for Sharath to call "One more!" Often he would call for "one more tall" or "one more short" but all of us were mostly average. He turned away a person who self-identified as tall and then chose someone who was even shorter. I think that most of us in the 8:30 time slot were first-timers, and we were all somewhat nervous about what we to do when called. The important thing that I guess everyone was not clued into was to roll out your mat, and then go into the changing room to store your belongings and to remove your street clothes. If someone went directly to the changing room, Sharath would very likely give away the spot to someone else who was waiting. When the initial student would return from the changing room, Sharath would reprimand them by sending them back to the foyer: "Go back to hall! Punishment!" Sharath seemed to be semi-joking when he said this, but one student was truly upset and I think she was crying a little bit. When I was finally called, after about 20 minutes of waiting, I was directed to a spot fairly close to the door.  I rolled out my mat and then went to the changing room to store my stuff. The room was very hot and steamy, and it was pretty stinky too. Someone or someones had consumed a lot of methi (fenugreek), because the whole shala reeked of it. It is definitely a much more pleasant odor than garlic or onions emanating from 60 sweaty bodies.

After navigating through all the contorted bodies back to my yoga mat, I silently said my opening chant. I did my practice as usual. All of the students' mats are lined up really close to one another, but there are marks on the floor to indicate where you should position your mat. I believe that the shala floor is relatively new. It is wood or laminate--not the marble floor that I had always seen in pictures and videos. There was no doubt that I was really nervous, but I was trying to focus on the breath and not to rush. There were several assistants (authorized and certified teachers) throughout the room. I did not recognize any of them. I did not receive any adjustments, and it did not seem like many other students were receiving adjustments of any kind either. Mostly, it seemed that they were there to help students with drop backs.  I could be wrong about this, because my drishti was surprisingly good today.  Sharath, however, has an eagle eye, and he was stopping people or telling them that they were doing postures incorrectly. Sharath may have looked at me a couple of times, but I did not receive any adjustments or corrections from him. He did walk on my mat a few times to and from the door. Because of my nervous energy, I inverted the order of Utthita hasta pandangustasana and ardha baddha padmottanasana, but no one seemed to notice.  I just did ardha baddha again after utthita. The shala was really hot, but not Atlanta summer hot. Mysore is much less humid than Atlanta in the summer. I was sweaty during my practice, but not more so than a regular practice in July or August. I did feel really bendy and light. I had a pleasant practice. I did my back drops as usual, and then a teacher, whom I do not know, possibly a Russian, helped me with the half backs and the final drop back. We were having some communication difficulties--but finally I realized that he wanted me to bend my elbows. I was probably loose enough an open enough to catch, but maybe I should work up to that. It has been many months since I did chakra bandhasana, and I have nothing to prove to myself or anyone else. Nobody cares anyway. They do not give out medals for accomplishing poses. After back bending, I went to the changing room for closing sequence. I was annoyed by having to do this--because there were no more students waiting to come in to practice. Fortunately, the changing rooms seem relatively clean. There was not any room in the changing room for me to lay out my may, so I rolled it out perpendicular to the others. I did not realize until I was about half-way through closing, that there was an upstairs with more space.

Date palm outside my bedroom window

After practice, I had my coconut, and it was delicious. It is so amusing to watch the coconut man hack away at the coconuts with his machete. He does not spill a drop.  I wandered around Gokulam, which is serene and quite pretty.  It reminds me of a tropical island somewhere, although we are very far from the ocean. Later, I walked through V.V. Mohalla looking for lobia (black-eyed peas) and kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves).  The lady in one store laughed at me for asking for north Indian products, but she was nice. I have been in that store twice now, and both times they did not have what I was looking for. I finally found some approximation of lobia in the big grocery store (I asked for lobia and they gave me cow peas) as well as kasoori methi. I stopped for a dosa at some place on the way back to the apartment. I think that they must have just be opening the restaurant--it was very clean and everything looked brand new. There were about 20 people working there and essentially no customers. Everyone was staring at me while I ate (with my hands again--very clumsily); it was awkward. Lunch only cost about $1.25.  I hope that my stomach does not react unfavorably. This was not a place that I have seen in any of the yoga guides.

I have thought a little bit more about Mysore and all the people who come here. Of course, almost everyone is coming for yoga. But the place has a vibe that reminds me of places like Provincetown, Key West or maybe Santa Fe. It is not as if people come here to drop out or anything like that (or possibly some do), but it is certainly a place where one's "regular" life seems far, far away.