Mysore, India – Week 2
So, we're on day 7 of the Gauri Ganesh festival, and while the locals may be enjoying the celebrations immensely, those of us waking at 3:30 in the morning are a little less impressed with the impromptu drum circles, music concerts, and pyrotechnic displays that are taking place each evening. Watching the clock tick past 9, 10 and 11 p.m. when you know you've got to get up for practice in the morning can be slightly frustrating. Although, I suppose that's why they invented earplugs.
Each morning, I'm now waking before my alarm, worried that I'll be late for practice, and not wanting to miss my 4:45 (shala time – which is 4:30 for the rest of Gokulam) start. I get up, throw on some clothes, brush my teeth, down a glass of water and what I've deemed my Bhujapidasana banana and head to class. While most of the students here refuse to eat before practicing, I find that my body doesn't tend to react well to the fiery Ashtanga practice without enough nutrients, and with a bedtime around 8 p.m. and regular lunchtimes around 1:30 or 2, my dinner is light and consists mainly of cucumber-tomato salad and a veg bread or samosa. The first week I attempted practice on an empty stomach and then made the decision that it isn't for me. I'm now receiving questions that accompany the “you're crazy” face about my daily baby banana which I eat about 30 minutes before practice begins. I call it the Bhujapidasana banana because I feel that though my body can make it to Bhujapidasana (a challenging arm balance just over halfway through the series) on it's own, I need the extra fuel to finish strongly. Those 4 or 5 bites of vitamin and potassium packed sweetness are enough to pull me through until I can walk out of the shala and thankfully accept my freshly decapitated coconut.
All of this thought and rambling about food probably seems crazy, but for me it's a huge factor in determining how my practice progresses and since I'm here for the yoga, I really want to do everything I can to make each morning count. And I think it's working! This week my practices were much better, stronger, more fluid (though still not as fluid as at home) and I feel like I'm making huge strides. With the pain that's been plaguing my right hip and glute for the past 8 months magically gone, I've been able work much more deeply into all my forward folds, binding my wrists in every pose, which is something I never even contemplated accomplishing. My backbends are also deepening, and I surprised myself this week to look up towards the front of my mat while being assisted in the backbend, and there in front of my face were Sharath's toes. This, my friends, is a good sign. And along with my increased flexibility and opening, my concentration has drastically improved. My scattered brain is focusing, narrowing my field of vision from those practicing around me to my own mat and precisely what is happening on it. It may have taken two weeks, but I feel like I'm hitting my stride here in Mysore, and I'm incredibly pleased.
So, we're on day 7 of the Gauri Ganesh festival, and while the locals may be enjoying the celebrations immensely, those of us waking at 3:30 in the morning are a little less impressed with the impromptu drum circles, music concerts, and pyrotechnic displays that are taking place each evening. Watching the clock tick past 9, 10 and 11 p.m. when you know you've got to get up for practice in the morning can be slightly frustrating. Although, I suppose that's why they invented earplugs.
Each morning, I'm now waking before my alarm, worried that I'll be late for practice, and not wanting to miss my 4:45 (shala time – which is 4:30 for the rest of Gokulam) start. I get up, throw on some clothes, brush my teeth, down a glass of water and what I've deemed my Bhujapidasana banana and head to class. While most of the students here refuse to eat before practicing, I find that my body doesn't tend to react well to the fiery Ashtanga practice without enough nutrients, and with a bedtime around 8 p.m. and regular lunchtimes around 1:30 or 2, my dinner is light and consists mainly of cucumber-tomato salad and a veg bread or samosa. The first week I attempted practice on an empty stomach and then made the decision that it isn't for me. I'm now receiving questions that accompany the “you're crazy” face about my daily baby banana which I eat about 30 minutes before practice begins. I call it the Bhujapidasana banana because I feel that though my body can make it to Bhujapidasana (a challenging arm balance just over halfway through the series) on it's own, I need the extra fuel to finish strongly. Those 4 or 5 bites of vitamin and potassium packed sweetness are enough to pull me through until I can walk out of the shala and thankfully accept my freshly decapitated coconut.
All of this thought and rambling about food probably seems crazy, but for me it's a huge factor in determining how my practice progresses and since I'm here for the yoga, I really want to do everything I can to make each morning count. And I think it's working! This week my practices were much better, stronger, more fluid (though still not as fluid as at home) and I feel like I'm making huge strides. With the pain that's been plaguing my right hip and glute for the past 8 months magically gone, I've been able work much more deeply into all my forward folds, binding my wrists in every pose, which is something I never even contemplated accomplishing. My backbends are also deepening, and I surprised myself this week to look up towards the front of my mat while being assisted in the backbend, and there in front of my face were Sharath's toes. This, my friends, is a good sign. And along with my increased flexibility and opening, my concentration has drastically improved. My scattered brain is focusing, narrowing my field of vision from those practicing around me to my own mat and precisely what is happening on it. It may have taken two weeks, but I feel like I'm hitting my stride here in Mysore, and I'm incredibly pleased.
The comfort, though, is not limited to the shala, as I'm also finding my way through the social and cultural maze that is Mysore. I've found a community of friends that I enjoy and I'm also grateful to have time to myself to read and relax and just be in India. Every morning and most afternoons I take a walk around Gokulam, exploring different streets and shops, stopping for supplies, or a chai. In the afternoons I also visit my fruit guy who provides me with the array of goodies that make up my morning meal – watermelon, pineapple, pomegranate, and the tasty tiny bananas – all of which can be purchased in one go for about 75 rupees, about the equivalent of $1.75 and will last me several days. After class we can also purchase homemade ragi (millet) bread, freshly ground natural peanut butter, honey, tahini, hummus, ghee, carrot-banana bread and a whole variety of other things from a man who comes to the shala to sell these natural foods to the hungry yogis. It makes eating at home each morning a treat for me, and I'm happy to hole up in my little apartment and feast after a shower and a call home.
But it wouldn't be any fun if all I did was sit at home and so I go out and play, too! I've made a few good friends and we see each other most days for lunch-eating or craft-making or city-tripping. Yesterday we took a cooking class with Anu, the lady across the street from me who runs a restaurant for the yogis and cooks a delicious, slightly westernized, and healthy version of many Indian dishes. She taught us about all the main spices used in Indian cooking, how to prepare and add them to a variety of dishes and then we watched her demonstrate how to make dal and palak (spinach) and sprouts while we nibbled on freshly made paneer (Indian cheese), grated coconut, sweet lime sodas and hot chappatis which we rolled and cooked ourselves. We then had a traditional Anu feast, complete with pumpkin, which is one of my favourite Mysore dishes, well spiced and absolutely AMAZING!
Tonight we're off to the city, hoping to have a lovely evening and enjoy the fact that tomorrow is Saturday, which means no practice and consequently, the option of sleeping-in! I'm considering staying in bed until 6 a.m., which at this point is pure luxury.
Well, my friends, this is currently my life. I practice and walk and eat and walk and spend time with friends and read and there's definitely more eating in there – and chai drinking – oh and I'm working to restart my meditation practice, which I consistently did for many months last year, but then allowed to drop off. I figure with a little spare time on my hands, this is a good time to try to reinstate it. The days fly, which seems strange considering I really don't have anything I have to do, but I'm working to embrace this lack of responsibility, as it is something I may not experience again for a while.
I hope you all are happy and well and know that I'm thinking of you, and will be glad to see your smiling faces when I return.
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