The Ladies' Holiday

I woke up this morning to a marvelous surprise--the crimson tide. What luck. All yoga traditions and many different cultures have their own policies with how to deal with the leaking woman. Among Ashtanga practitioners, you are supposed to take a certain number of days off per month. You take 3 days off for your period, everyone takes off Saturdays or Sundays (depending on whether you are practicing with Sharath or Saraswati), and everyone takes off moondays (days of the full or new moon). I've heard a few different theories about this.

1. A friend from New York told me that she never honors the 3 day vacation because she said the reason was Guruji and co. who are brahmins considered it "unclean". I'd believe this because it wouldn't be the first time I heard a culture with that sort of view... read more

2. Another theory is that you want things to go down and out and not in and up. In ashtanga practice there is a lot of in and up.

3. Sometimes you just need a break. You're tired, achy, your balance sucks. Who wants to do a headstand?

Anyway, I went to watch practice at the time I was assigned to practice (7:15am). I was up at like 2am, so I could have made it to the 5am to watch, but decided that Sharath might be like "Why are you here early?" Like I was getting to big for my britches. So I went at 7:15am. There is a little waiting room/mud room when you first walk in and all the students waiting to practice sit on the floor in there and watch people practicing. All you can hear is people breathing and the occasional "next!" or "next 7o'clock", or "you, come!". Finally there was no one left and Sharath came to the door and said "you, come!". I said "I'm not practicing today". To which he replied, "ladies' holiday?" I said "yes". He said " come back tomorrow". Now I don't think he meant come watch tomorrow because he seemed pretty perplexed that I was there. I guess the unclean theory isn't true.

Yesterday I packed my bag and moved out of the b&b, confident that I would find a place to cover the next two weeks. On August 1st, I'll be moving into Shelli's room which is in Saraswati's house. Its so crazy! Saraswati is Guruji's daughter and she teaches with them at the Shala. She had her own classes in said house until Guruji got sick. Now she only teaches at the main shala and so the house is filled with yoga students "in residence". I walked around the other day and you can hang out in the practice room whenever you want and all her pictures and stuff of the family are on the wall. So weird. This house is directly and I mean directly across the street from the Shala. I think (not counting the stairs), it would take maybe 7 paces. (I found this pic on the net.)

I dropped my bag at Alex's and went to meet up again with Murthy. He's the "needs" guy for AYRI. Basically you go to him with any needs you got and he helps you sort them out. I found a place maybe 4 blocks from the shala to hold me over until Aug 1. It will cost 3000rs which is about $75 for 2 weeks. Its not bad, not the greatest, but not dirty which is good. For those of you that can recall my Washington Ave apartment, you'll have an idea of what I'll be dealing with. The perks: its got mosquito netting on the windows, bedding, a lock on the door, a fan, a private bathroom, a western toilet. The cons: bucket shower, old smelling.

Yesterday I did this crazy "chakra breathing" meditation with this guy that the local students swear by. It was interesting, weird, and I felt like I huffed some nitrous for about 15 minutes afterwards.

This morning I tried to wash my hair with the bucket shower. Eh. Besides the fun feeling of being a baby in the sink, there's the ick feeling of standing in a flooded locker room.

Super cool things about India: easy and cheap to rent a scooter (but I have a wicked burn on my leg from the exhaust pipe). super cool and cheap clothing.

My first class at AYRI

I woke up this morning at 4am again. I tossed and turned. This time I think more from being anxious and excited than from jet lag. The first class of the morning was at 5am and it was like part of me new that people were up practicing. Saturdays there is no practice. It was a moonday on Saturday, but here they applied it on Sunday. As Sunday is usually the led class day and we had this Sunday off, today (Monday) was led day.

Definitions of mysore and led style ashtanga yoga click here.

The first led class as I said was at 5 am. I think that up until today they actually do a led second series in that session, but apparently there just weren't enough 2nd series people and A LOT of first series people, so they did 2 1st series classes.

Anyway, I took another bucket shower and I tried to take a picture of the setup but the digital camera isn't adjusting well to life in India unfortunately. I took my time getting ready and walked a slowly as I could to practice. I got there at like 6:45 and went inside to the waiting area. There were already many students crowded all over the floor looking through the double doors (which were open) at the early class practicing. Note: there is a sign that says no pictures or videos allowed, so I'll respect that and not take any. sorry everyone!

After class, students rushed to get spots for their mats for the next class at 6:15. The first class actually ended at 6:30, so we started at like 6:40. It was really great. The biggest tip i have is DO NOT GO FAST! We always tell students this and remind ourselves but people always go to fast because it is hard to go slow and keep an even pace. The difference is when Sharath is standing on our mat and your staring at his toes in chatarunga, you better not go to upward dog!

On the left is chaturanga dandasana.

On the right is upward facing dog.

You can tell which is easier to hold.

I felt really light today, which was nice. Everything was going fine until headstand. Oh headstand. Sharath counts very slow in headstand. If I have one piece of advice to someone going to mysore its work on holding headstand for a LONG time. I barely just barely made it to nine breaths. I was shaking and trying so so hard. I had to come down. He shouted "come back up!" to me. So I came back up as he made it to 15. Then down I went. "Come back up!" he said again. So I came into a headstand prep position instead of the 2nd variation. "Come back up!"

He said again and if it wasn't already clear that he was speaking to me, he put me in the position and didn't let me come down. My little arms were shaking and trying so hard! Its funny because during the class, people slowly are asked to stop along the way, so not everyone does the full primary series, they are asked to sit and watch and wait until back bends to re-join the class. But honestly there were many many people who barely made it half way through primary, and I was one of like 5 people (There had to be like 100 hundred people in that room) who couldn't keep up the headstand. And out of those 5 people who needed help, Sharath came over to torture/help me. The next pose that I was dying in was the very last pose, uthplutih. I had heard that it was torture and I remember it was bad when I practiced with guruji in NY, but its a lot like childbirth. You forget how much it hurts! I honestly have never felt my stomach work in headstand uthplutih like I did today! Notice that this guy is completely lifted off the floor. While Sharath very very very slowly counts to 10. The whole time he walks around saying "lift up, lift up! Don't be lazy!" He took us straight to lie down after this instead of closing mantra and we laid there for maybe 3 minutes before he said "ok, you can go home now."

After class I waited in line by his office to give him the rest of the money I forgot to pay him the day before. "___, come in", he said. I left stunned (he knew my name!) They (Sharath and Guruji) are notorious for not remembering people's names.

On quitting your life--cold turkey

I woke up this morning at 4am. AYRI is closed today so I spent a while staring at the ceiling. All beds here are covered with mosquito netting. Most yoga students stay in local guest houses, so they come equipped (usually) with netting and all that. If not, it is way cheaper here than anywhere else. For instance, batteries are 17rs for 2 double a's. That comes to about $o.42.

I read for a bit. I tossed and turned some more. Around 6am I decided to just get out of the bed. I got dressed, did a couple of sun salutes, brushed my teeth (with bottled water), the whole time looking at the "shower" from the corner of my eye, trying to convince myself that I could go the day without one. There are a few different shower options you'll find in the guest houses. The first is fondly known as the "bucket shower". You take the bucket, stick a hot iron in it, then dip a pitcher in and pour the water over yourself as you stand in the middle of the bathroom. The floor is slanted slightly so it all goes toward the drain, passing by the toilet on its way. Desire overtook any qualms I had about the shower and toilet sharing the same floor space as I embarked on my first bucket shower. It wasn't all that bad. In fact it was kind of nice dumping water over myself. It reminded me of being a baby except I was standing in my bathroom instead of sitting a kitchen sink. I don't know if I'll be able to wash my hair.

After your "shower", there is a squeegee that you use to push the water towards the drain. Now you want to do a good job otherwise you'll get wet feet each time you go to use the toilet for the rest of the day.

I went over to AYRI like Sharath said and he was waiting there for me. I filled out the application (he didn't ask me if I already sent one) and he told me to come to the led class tomorrow at 6:15am and then to practice on normal days at 7:15am. I got a card that I'm supposed to put at the front of my mat that says my name, time I practice, etc. I couldn't really get a good picture of it. Here it is anyway. He emphasized that I should not come earlier. Fine by me. (The earliest class starts at 4am I think.) A friend told me that actually its a bit of a problem that people don't come on time. Its not that they sleep in, in fact, people are coming earlier than they are supposed to. Apparently the more advanced practitioners are assigned the earlier times and beginners are assigned later times. So people get a little miffed when they're given later times (anything past 7am). I got 7:15am. Sharath asked me after he gave me a time if I was a beginner. I'm not sure if this means that I won't be working with Sharath. I guess I'll find out.

For the rest of the morning I sat on the terrace reading and drawing with a little break to visit an organic market where I bought a jar of hummus. I haven't tasted it yet. I had lunch at Anu's by myself. Anu's is a family restaurant about 1 minute's walk from Joseph's B&B (minus a B). You go upstairs to the terrace and they put out a bunch of different dishes and you help yourself. Today there was beet salad :P, carrot salad, cucumber/tomato salad :P, eggplant and tomato :D, spicy string beans chopped up really small, something that I think involved seitan, lentils, rice, and little tortilla things called "chapati", I think. This costs 100rs or $2.5, which is kind of expensive. A lot of people from the Shala (AYRI) to eat and so its a good place to meet people. Although today I ate alone. Downstairs is an Internet cafe (where I am now), and a phone to make international calls. PS-the computers have skype.

You've left your job, your diet, your significant other, your family, your time zone, your shower, your friends, your everything. What do you do with your day? Since I haven't practiced at the Shala yet, which is why I came here, I don't really feel grounded. In New York, I practice 6 days a week. I haven't practiced since Thursday. My body feels blah, my mind feels blah, everything blah. Everyone around me seems to not feel the same. The Indians all are living with purpose. They're doing what they do. The students already here also are doing what they now do. But I'm not doing anything that I used to do, nor what I came to do, so then what do you do?

This is quitting your life--cold turkey day 2.

Foreign travel 101: Learning how to sit & know your taxi

Here I am in Mysore, India. It is 8:22pm and the mosquitoes are biting. I'm trying hard to think of what has happened since I boarded the plane from New York on Friday, but it has all turned into a dazed blur of me shuffling from one place to the next and sitting. A lot of sitting.

On sitting waiting at airports:
Delta at JFK has really unfriendly waiting areas. First of all, I was at the international departures. To me, it makes sense that people leaving on international flights might have international size send-offs from friends and family in a comfortable waiting area. Instead, passengers are shuffled through check-in lines and security with no time or place for a proper goodbye.

On sitting waiting on planes:
The Delta flight was reasonably comfortable. It was clean with a wide range of movies to choose from. The food wasn't bad at all either. I think it was catered by Jyothi (the people who make the canned indian food). I was half looking forward to burying myself in the pseudo-horror book I bought at the airport, but they turned the lights off pretty quickly. I ended up watching way too many movies.

"The Lives of Others" Spying in East Germany on other East Germans. German with subtitles. Kind of hard to get into the plot of a movie with subtitles with those ridiculous headphones they give you on the plane. But at least they were free.

"Zodiac" I waited to watch this one after I had woken up from my first bout of "sleep", when the cabin was really dark and quiet. I was hoping it would make it creepier. The only thing creepy was that Jake Gyllenhal's character didn't age a day between 1967 and 1989.

"The Namesake" This was the second time I watched this movie and it seems to get me every time. Young love, families, losing a parent when you're young, losing a husband, reconnecting with your heritage-- lots of stuff to jerk those tears. And the bits that are filmed in India really do look like India. Except it isn't nearly as hot here as it seemed in the movie.

On what to do instead of sitting waiting in airports:
I had an 8 hour lay-over between Mumbai and Bangalore so I took a taxi to a hotel to get some zzzz's. Not as simple as it sounds. First of all, there were no ATM's in the international airport (thanks Jim* for making me bring cash). There was a cash changing place though, so that's what I did. Then I saw a stand for pre-paid taxis, which sounded like something I should use since I barely new what I was doing. I paid for a ride to the Sheraton, but the lady behind the counter was less than confidence inspiring. She gave me a ticket and said "look for this number". So I proceeded toward the exit sign, where I saw dozens of Indian men holding signs with people's names, but not one taxi. Not even a sign that said taxi. Foreign Travel 101: know what local taxis look like. Seems simple, but I asked some other people on the flight with me who were Indian if they knew where their taxis were, but they were just as confused as me. Random men would shout "taxi" and point saying "over there, over there!" As they pointed to the crowded, dark parking lot. In fact, they really were "over there". I found my guy and gave him the ticket the lady at the counter gave me. He looked at it, looked at me and said "where you go?" It definitely said "Sheraton" on the ticket. He opened the car door, let me in, and then went for a walk. He came back 5 minutes later and off we went. About 2 minutes later we pulled into the Las Vegas strip of tourist hotels featuring the Hyatt, etc., amidst shacks, rickshaws, stray dogs, and old men urinating. To the left was this massive, crazy luxurious hotel, which turned out to be the Sheraton. I paid a ridiculous amount for 4 hours of sleep in a super lush, dream hotel room, and a bag full of toiletries that I hadn't packed in New York.

On sitting in cars:
I arrived on Saturday at about 8:30am and was relieved to find that I was greeted with a driver sent from the bed and breakfast I had booked. It was about a 3-hour drive to Mysore with me sitting in the backseat swatting at flies, holding back the contents of my bladder and watching the people, places, and interesting traffic philosophies from Bangalore to Mysore.

By noon I was at my bed and breakfast sitting on the terrace overlooking Mysore eating a delicious fresh fruit salad feeling incredibly hungover. On the right is a picture of my room.

The rest of the day involved meeting up with friends, learning the neighborhood, and trying desperately to keep myself awake until a good time to go to sleep in order to adjust to mysore time.

I went by AYRI today and Sharath told me to come back tomorrow to register at 9am even though they are supposed to be closed. Awesome.

No practice today because it's a moonday. No practice tomorrow as well at AYRI.

Oh and for dinner, Shari, Stella, and I were segregated from the men at a restaurant to a "women only" section labeled "only families" (see left). Not soon after embarking on the meal, we were running out as the staff "fumigated" the restaurant for mosquitoes. (Burning coals in a pan with deet poured over it as they fan the open flame around the restaurant. The smell was a mixture between burning plastic table covers and burning plastic table covers soaked in deet.) On the right is a picture of the waiter chasing after us and trying to coax us back into the restaurant.

*Names changed.

needs versus wants: prioritizing the to-do list for a three month journey to mysore

So, here I am with Kate making a blog instead of getting a calling card to get a car to pick me up from the airport....or reserving a place to stay. I think probably the fact that I arrive two days after I board the airplane makes me feel like I have lots of time to arrange such trivial matters. I think I'd rather watch a movie and enjoy a bath instead.

But it is a fact that I do leave tomorrow and I do still have a lot of stuff on the list to do.
Kate is eating vegan chocolate chip cookies and watching me type which is quite embarrassing, so I think that's it for today. I think a job well done for a first post!