The Days Begin to Blur

Yesterday was the full moon and today is Friday the 13th! Since it was the full moon yesterday, there was no practice. A group of us went to a nearby town called Bylakuppe. This town has been home to Tibetans since the early 1960s. It is the largest settlement of Tibetans in India outside Dharamshala where His Holiness the Dalai Lama resides and where the Tibetan government in exile maintains its headquarters.  It is like a little Tibet in the middle of Karnataka.  Bylakuppe is home to numerous Buddhist monasteries and nunneries, as well as temples and institution of higher learning. During our visit, unfortunately, Bylakuppe was prettu much a ghost town. The Dalai Lama is currently in Bodhgaya India for the 2017 Kalachakra convetion, and many of the inhabitants of Bylakuppe had traveled to Bodhgaya for the event. Everything was pristine and extremely colorful. Every surface of every building seemed to be painted with images of lamas, Buddha, dragons, dogs and other mythical beasts. Everywhere you look, your eye is washed with bright reds, greens, yellows, and golds. There is a special monastery/temple called the Namdroling Monastery or the Golden Temple. Inside the temple sit three golden Buddhas that are over 60 feet tall each one. The sight was extremely majestic. There was a smaller Tara temple nearby that was beautiful and serene. We also visited a nunnery with its own temple or worship hall. It was probably my favorite part of the visit. It was small and simple, but it was nonetheless beautiful and peaceful  There were lots of friendly dogs at all of our stops. The Tibetans take very good care of these animals. There are lots of street dogs in Mysore as well, but even though they are not as well taken care of as those I saw at Bylakuppe, they all are in much better shape than I had imagined. People feed them and they treat them well. I am sure that there are other parts of Mysore where the street dogs lead much more difficult lives (I am in a fairly affluent part of the town and even the street dogs have it better here), but overall, they seem to be in okay shape. Indian governmental agencies have been proactive about implementing sterilization campaigns and there seem to be a decent number of animal rescues.

We stopped at some dive restaurant on the way to and from Bylakuppe. I was sure that if I were to eat there, I would be afflicted with some kind of horrible stomach bug. It looked like the kind of place that would make a truck stop diner in the middle of Wyoming look like a high-end restaurant. Nevertheless, the idlis and sambhar we ate in the morning were delectable, and we all agreed that the dosas we ate in the afternoon were the best we had eaten since arriving in Mysore.

This morning's yoga practice was fairly uneventful. When Sharath called "one more" and it was my turn to go in, I stood in the doorway looking for the empty spot. Sharath saw that I was somewhat bewildered by not being able to find the spot, and he said "right there."  Indeed, the spot was right in front of me, second in from the doorway. He asked, "No coffee this morning?" and chuckled. The spot by the door to the entry hall almost felt like it was air-conditioned. I still was soaking wet by the end of practice, but it was definitely one of the coolest practice spots in the shala. People seem to love or to hate this cool spots. Ashtangis love to be warm and we hate air conditioning! God forbid we have air blowing on us during our practice. It is so funny to see all of us wrapped up in sweaters and scarves and hats even though it is 90 degrees outside. My practice was good this morning; I am trying to take my time and enjoy it. Sharath did my backbending. I was nervous! There was another teacher nearby, but Sharath indicated that he would take care of me. He took me very deep--at least up to my mid-calves. It was effortless with his assistance: he definitely knows what he is doing. Unfortunately, I could not get a good grip and my hands kept slipping down my legs. While helping me, Sharath kept telling me to relax my hands and my shoulders, and to bend my elbows. He said that if I were to bend my elbows, I would not slip.  I am having a difficult time understanding how I could grab my ankles/calves without having my elbows bent. I need to pay more attention the next time.

There are quite a few people during my time doing second series. I was shocked to discover that Sharath moves people on from pasasana even if they cannot get their heels down. Those of you who know me well, understand that I would rather walk on my lips than say something critical or mean-spirited about someone. Maybe this is just ego and envy fueling my words, but I have observed some ugly second series practices in the shala these past few days. I have seen lots of struggle on the mats around me. I think that I have just been spoiled by the grace and elegance of our Atlanta ashtangazelles who are practicing second series with elegance and poise.  At the same time, however, there are some people with devastatingly beautiful practices here--people for whom gravity seems to be just a mere afterthought. Aesthetics aside, I have fully come to believe in the inherent beauty and intelligence in the ashtanga practice. It just has such a poetic flow; it makes sense on some deeper level.  I know that we are doing more on our mats than just contorting our bodies and sweating.

Tara Temple 

Outside the Golden Temple

Walking to the Golden Temple

Candles, They almost look Bavarian to me.

Tibetan nunnery

Drum inside the nunnery's temple

Buddhas inside the nunnery's temple

Inside the Golden Temple

Sera Jay Monastery

This creepy little guy will haunt me in my dreams. 

Masala dosa and lime soda. I eat one of these every day. 

A Visit to Sandhya's Kitchen

The good times continue, although, I think that I might be loosing my mind. India has made me horribly absent-minded and clumsy. All that I do is bump into things, trip, lose my keys, lose my wallet, lose my hat, lose my shala card....lose my mind. I think that I have spent at least an hour everyday looking for things that I have misplaced. I need to be more aware and mindful. My clumsiness came to a climax in the shala this morning.  I was in the back left corner of the shala right by the door to Usha's office. It is a nice space to practice because there is lots of extra room. Nevertheless, during garba pindasana, I was trying to avoid rolling into the giant man next to me (who was very conscientious about his practice and staying on his mat), I slammed my head back into the door frame of Usha's office. It made a horrible noise and everyone turned to look at me. I felt like a class A moron. Sharath was very concerned and he came over to check on me. My head made a horrible thump against the door frame and it rattled the whole door. I am really lucky that I hit the door frame instead of the door itself because the door is glass. I would have been horribly injured. My head hurts a little bit, but I do not think that I have a concussion. Perhaps it knocked some sense into me, but probably not because I was frantically looking for my misplaced wallet after I got home and was ready to head out again.

There have been no big revelations in the shala regarding asana. I have a habit of raising my head on the inhale in prasarita b and c (when you put your hands on your hips in b or after your clasp your hands in c--between dwe and trini). Sharath called several of us out on that unnecessary move. There is no need to raise the head--just inhaling and looking forward is enough. Since we are in the second week of the month, people do second series (if Sharath has given them second series postures during past visits) and it seems that everyone does drop backs, whether they want to or not. Sharath seems to be very interested in who is catching or not catching.  Since this is my first month and my first visit to Mysore, I will only be doing first series. 

On Sunday afternoon, we went to a fun restaurant in the city center called RRR Hotel. It specializes in the cuisine of Andra Pradesh which is another region in southern India that borders Karnataka. The food was served on banana leaves again. The restaurant was mobbed, and we had to fight for a table. We were the only westerners in the place. I am not sure what the food was, other than super spicy, but there was some kind of chick pea and beet vegetable dish that I am still salivating over. After lunch, we wandered around the city center a little bit, and explored the Deveraja Market. The Deveraja Market is the central, semi-open air, market in Mysore. You can buy spices, fruits, vegetables, incense, cookware, flowers, essential oils, ingredients of all kinds, and probably most everything that you could imagine. The produce was beautiful--but I am not sure how you pick the best vendor.There are stalls after stalls of produce, and they all seem to sell the same things.  The city center in Mysore is somewhat more chaotic and noisy than the part of town where I am staying.  To be honest, I welcomed the noise and the chaos. I am used to constant noise and stimulus, and Gokulam is very peaceful. Furthermore, I am not watching tv here or listening to my music. The pandemonium of the market was an nice escape from all this yogic peace and serenity.  The market was a lot of fun, but there are many annoying vendors who target the tourists with their crap wares--cheap bracelets and flutes. They are relentless and won't allow you to look around in "peace." 

Saba, Julie and Franco at the RRR Hotel

Khan, the essential oil and incense man at Devaraja Market

Everyone takes this picture at Deveraja Market. 

Stall after stall of flower vendors. 

The famous Sandhya, my culinary heroine.

 Yesterday, I was able to fulfill a dream that I have had for many years. There is a wonderful woman named Sandhya who operates a small restaurant for yoga students in another neighborhood of Mysore.  This is where Pattabhi Jois used to have his yoga studio many years ago before moving to Gokulam. In any case, Sandhya makes delicious, clean (sattvic) food in the South Indian Brahmin style. She uses little oil and no onions or garlic. I have studied Sandhya's cookbook and her recipes for many years and I could not wait to eat her food. I was not disappointed. It exceeded all my expectations. I made almost all the dishes that Sandhya served us yesterday, but they have never turned out as good as what I ate yesterday. It was like eating at your Indian grandmother's house. There was a carrot salad, a cucumber salad, a ridge gourd dish, tomato gojju, a jicama(?) and mung bean dish, sambhar, rice tempered with peanuts, and of course, lots of chappatis. All that I can say is that I hope to go back again before I leave Mysore. Sandhya is no spring chicken and who knows when I might make it back here again.

With Jaya, one of Sandhya's cooks.
There are photos of her in the cookbook.
It felt like I was meeting a celebrity!

Brian and Julie at Sandhya's

Julie and Saba at Sandhya's

What to eat next?

Life as a yoga student in Mysore seems to be all about practice, talking about practice, eating, talking about where to eat and what to eat, and, of course, sleeping. Yesterday was Saturday and that means led primary for all students as well as Sharath's conference. Led class was mostly consistent with what I have already experienced. We were packed fairly tightly in the shala, and a few people were in the changing rooms. Before class, we waited in front of the shala in no kind of recognizable order.
A few students who had been to Mysore before tried to get students to form a line, but that did not happen. There was actually some active resistance on the part of a group of students. They were obnoxious and rude. They acted the same way after the class--loud, drawing attention to themselves, pushing through lines or groups of people. The led class was fairly slow--much slower than Sharath's cd count. Reprimands abounded for hurrying (Why you hurry? You hungry?") He told me that I should not roll my yoga rug at the end of my mat (I do not roll it out until the seated postures), that I needed to fold it. It is hard to get a good sense of what is going on in the shala and what types of corrections he is giving to people. It seems that he told another student not to grab her thigh in marichasana c and d. The wrist clasp (with closed, but loose fist) was enough. It also appeared that he wanted us to keep a closed fist in the maricasana postures, rather than the open palm that I thought he encouraged earlier in the week. If I ever give any kind of posture suggestions based on what I think Sharath is telling students to do, please take them with a grain of salt. Unless he gives me a direct correction or adjustment, I simply cannot know what he might be requesting a student to do.

Nandi, Shiva's Bull

I did not have time to go home or to eat after class, so I just had a coconut and then got in the line to go back into the shala for Sharath's conference. Sharath has asked us not to record or even to take notes during conference.  I will refrain from sharing the content of his talk. I will report that there was nothing in his comments that would surprise anyone. I will share one quote (paraphrased): "There is no need to chase yoga; yoga is inside you." I know that I have a tendency to make everything so damn complicated and to over-analyze the minutiae of my life and my practices. The shala was completely full during the conference. For both chanting and for the conference, I choose a spot against the back wall.  Even though he uses a microphone, it was hard to hear everything that he said. He was surprisingly relaxed and he demonstrated a charming sense of humor. I would not say that I was blown away by any deep yogic insights (but that might just be my need to complicate things and to over-analyze), but he conveyed an air of intelligence, warmth, kindness, and common sense.

After conference, I went to lunch with a group of people to a restaurant in another part of town called the Old House. I was not excited about the restaurant choice (Italian food in India?!?!?), but I ordered a vegan pizza, and it was delicious. The pizza had more vegetables than any pizza I have ever had in the States. The restaurant was rather pricey, and there was a mixture of yoga students and (rich) locals. There were some yogalebrities eating there as well.  After lunch, we went to FabIndia and then to a store called Big Bazaar (like a Target).  FabIndia has wonderful, well-designed clothing and products that are all made in India. The company treats its workers well and sources its products from vendors that do the same.  I will be going back there during this trip.

Chamundeshwari Temple (not my photo)

Today is rest day, but I woke up early to go to Chamundi Hill on the outskirts of the city.  Kumar the rickshaw driver drove us out to Chamundi. At the top of the hill stands the Chamundeshwari Temple (for the goddess Chamunda, or Durga, the fierce form of Shakti. In order to get to the temple, you walk up 1008 steps. It takes about 30 minutes. About halfway up the hill, there is a statue of Nandi, Shiva's bull. Once you reach the top of the hill, there are lots of people (we were there by 7:30 am) who want to visit the temple. You check your shoes and then you can buy flowers or coconuts to offer to the deity. We waited in a long line in corrals (like at an amusement park) to get into the temple. Once in the temple, you can pay a few rupees to get blessed. You can wave some fire over your forehead and then you are offered some kind of scented water that you can either drink or pour back over your head.  (I chose not to drink). Once you get near the deity--she is really closed off and you cannot get too close unless you pay extra--you can offer your coconuts and flower (they will be returned to you), pay your respects, and then move out of the temple. There were lots of people waiting in line, so you cannot spend a lot of time dillydallying around. There is not much space inside the temple.

There is a Shiva temple behind the big temple. It is much older and (possibly) more interesting. You can offer a few rupees to a priest outside the temple and he will give you a bracelet that bestows blessing. Once inside the temple, you can pay your respects to Shiva and then take the scented-water (saffron or cardamom).

After the Shiva temple, we walked back down the hill, were our rickshaw driver was waiting for us to take us back to Gokulam. He was slightly disgruntled that we took so long on top of the hill, but then he cheerily drove  us to a breakfast place where we are idlis, vadas, and sambhar.

The start of the climb

1008 steps to the top

Now, it is time to head out to eat again. More to follow...

Today Catching

Life is splendid in Mysore. The weather is sublime, although there are no clouds in the sky. Just blue for as far as you can see. It gets rather hot during the day, but the nights are cool. I am watching the details of the pending snowpocalypse in Atlanta with close attention. Emory has already closed down on Friday. I have seen pictures on Facebook of all the groceries stores being cleaned out. I am not sorry to be missing the chaos. I will head out after eating some lunch and get myself a fresh, ripe papaya (they probably cost about twenty-five cents) and cry huge tears for all my shivering friends back home.

Shala squirrel. They are small, almost like
chipmunks and they chirp like birds.

No revolutionary insights from the shala today, or yesterday. Nonetheless, interacting with Sharath does have a certain Amanda Priestly from the Devil Wears Prada feeling. Overall, he is a pleasant and kind, but then you never know what you might that will result in being loudly berated in front of everyone. For example, it is impossible to show up for your class on time. I showed up this morning at 7:50 shala time (7:35 real time) for my 8:30 regular class time. I was afraid to show up too early because he told us never to show up more than 30 minutes before our class time earlier in the week. Today however, he told me that I was late and needed to be on time. Yesterday, he reprimanded for students who arrived at a similar time frame for being too early.

Today, my practice felt good. I have decided to forego jumpbacks until my shoulder gets a little bit stronger.  I was feeling some pain yesterday, but my ego kept pushing me to do just one more. Today, I did only one or two (by accident), and my shoulder feels so much better. Again, I need to remind myself that there is no prize or medal ceremony at the end of the month for the person who did the most jumpbacks! Despite what the assistant said earlier this week about not catching ankles in the final dropback), today was a catching day. Sharath seemed to be very interested in which students were catching and which were not. Today, for me, was a catching day. I felt open and loose and I was able to grab my ankles with minimal effort. I normally want to pop up right away, but somehow, I was able to relax and to breathe for five long breaths. There was lots of cracking and popping in my shoulder and back. It was exactly what I needed.  When I came back up, the assistant told me: "Beautiful!" She should know better than to feed my ego!

I have a goth sensibility even
in India.

My spider friend was there again. So far, he is one of my favorite aspects of the shala. I do not know what he eats, but I hope that it is not the souls of yoga students. I was afraid that he was dead because he does not move around, but I blew in his direction and he wiggled a little bit. Not too much. He does not have time for my nonsense. I wonder if Sharath would add the spider to the list of authorized teachers. He has already taught me a great deal about how to be chill and to stay in the moment.

When you leave class after closing in the changing rooms, all the students look for Sharath, wherever he might be in the room, and many wait for him to come out of his office, to bow and to give a gesture of respect and thanks. He always has a big, appreciative smile. It is quite sweet.

I have been reflecting more on my comments about the lack of aggression here on the streets in India. I am compelled to add some clarifications: being in the "honeymoon phase" of cultural adjustment, I think that my observations were a bit skewed. There exists a significant amount of aggression towards women here in India. In many circumstances, women are seen merely as property, servants or baby-machines. In many places, women are not able to walk freely in the streets at night, or even during the day, without fear of being harassed, molested, raped or even killed. There was an incident on New Year's Eve in nearby Bangalore. During the celebrations there was a group of men going around and groping women and doing other lewd and disgusting things. Some of the initial reactions among leaders and politicians were that the women deserved it because they were wearing western clothing!!! The situation is developing as I write this, but there has fortunately been an outcry over this situation and a demand for some kind of justice and societal change. Several of the assailants have been identified and arrested.  Progress is being made here--but there is still much work that needs to be done.

In terms of male-to-male aggression, I think that it is rampant here to, but it manifests itself in different ways. Patriarchy, hierarchy, religion, class, and caste all determine how people interact with each other, and frequently in very disturbing ways.  I am an outsider, so the way people here see me and treat me is automatically going to be different than they way that they might interact with other Indians.

Starting a Routine

Not the Arc-de-triomphe

My wake-up time every morning seems to coincide with the Muslim call to prayer. There must be a mosque around here somewhere, but I have not found it yet. The call to prayer is such a gentle sound and it lulls me gently out of my sleep.  On alternate days, I also hear harmonic chanting in Sanskrit coming from somewhere nearby.You would think that the call to prayer and the chanting might produce a cacophonous din, but the two sounds somehow blend together in a pleasant way. I find myself trying to pull out the sounds and identify which are coming from what source. To state the obvious, India has a complicated religious and political history: Hindus and Muslims have very frequently been at odds with each other throughout the centuries. It is reassuring that the devotional sounds from the two faiths can come together through the Mysore streets and into my bedroom window and to find harmony in this Hindutheran's ear.

Shala Spider

I am slowly finding a routine here in Mysore. Today was my second mysore class in the shala. When I arrived around 7:45, there were no students waiting in the entry hall. Sharath called "one more" just a few seconds after I arrived. The open spot was in the back left corner under the photograph of Krishnamacharya. It was tight spot. I spent a lot of mental energy trying to do make sure I did not bang into the wall. My practice was not as fluid, light or strong as yesterday. I received an assist in utthita hasta pandangustasana (both sides) from a very tall American teacher. Receiving an assist in this posture feels like cheating. There is no work when someone is holding up your leg. My back drop assist came from a Korean (I think) woman. She made me clasp my shoulders before doing halfbacks.  I have never really thought about that before. She was waiting for me after my first drop back. I usually do five dropbacks, but after my fourth today, she told me that three was enough, In my final assisted dropback, I crawled into my feet. It felt like the assisting teacher was holding me up really high but I was able to breathe fairly deeply. When I came up, she told me: "First week is easy; no catching!" By the time I went into the changing room to do my closing, the shala was clearing out. I think that Sharath changed a lot of students' start times. He changed a lot of 9:00 students to 8:30 today. I finished up in the changing room, which I find somewhat unpleasant. There is a spider living in one of the bathrooms. It has become fun to see her (him?) everyday. After practice, I had my usual coconut. Yet another pleasurable aspect of the being here in Mysore.

Clever cow

In the Study Abroad world, we talk a lot about culture shock and intercultural development. Culture shock is often described as a curved progression with ups and downs; the initial stage is often referred to as the honeymoon stage.  I am definitely in the honeymoon stage here in India. The climate right now is so pleasant, the colors, smells and sounds are all so vivid, and all the people are gorgeous. The women all wear brightly colored saris and take such care and pride in their appearance, no matter how rich or how poor. I am enjoying really looking at people and closely at their faces. Apparently staring at people is not considered rude here because I am being stared at all the time. I am noticing a surprising lack of aggression among people here--especially the men. I know that everything is new to me, and there is a great deal of social and cultural context that I am missing, but people simply do not seem as angry. I want to think about this and observe this more while I am here. Men in the States seem like they are constantly jockeying for power and trying to show others how strong and important they are. I have never been comfortable with all the machismo and constant expressions of dominance and power that males exhibit in the States. I have never understand the rules of the American Male Playbook, and I have preferred, often to my detriment, simply to avoid the game entirely. In any case, I am not seeing that attitude here in India among the males. Certainly, patriarchy and male power are alive and well in India, and I recognize that I what I am seeing here is filtered through white, male eyes, but it is refreshing to be outside of my own system for a few days. I have always enjoyed cultural disorientation--trying to figure out what is going on and why. (Granted, what I mean by cultural disorientation is being in a relatively safe place with money in my pocket and way out, if necessary, and not a prison in South America or something like that.)

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.

First Class with Sharath

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.