Warning: This blog is coming from my soapbox...

At Nandi
Tea stall at Chamundi Hill...
This is the priest at the Nandi at Chamundi Hill - he blessed this string and then tied around our wrists.
We are inside of the cave where Swamiji is praying, and again blessing us - this family is coming in to pray, the little girl above is the same from the previous post photos. That is her brother looking at me.
School girls waiting in line at Chamundi Temple.

So I mentioned this in an earlier post but today it really came back to me while I was practicing because I noticed my friend Jon, who starts after me, when he was finishing because he went up on the stage I think so that Sharath could help him in sarvangasana. It jarred my memory that since he is doing everything in the series up to Marichiasana A, he does not do backbending yet. I think it is standard that you don't start working on urdvha dhanurasana even in a modified way until you can bind in Marichi C ( I don't know that this is some sort of actual benchmark, and I'd be inclined to think that it is probably different for different people, but unless we are in a led class it seems pretty standard). And it is hard for some people who have come here who when at home do backbending, they feel like they aren't being allowed to do something they can do and probably like to do. Personally I am experiencing the same type of thing - in my case it is just a few poses later - and I was prepared for the fact that when you come to Mysore for your first time it is standard practice to do primary series for one month before being given any postures from Intermediate... and because I am really a two year old at heart, or maybe because I spend so much of my time around that concrete thinking age group - I want to know why???

Then today in our philosophy class Nirasimhan said that learning and knowledge is sequential, and that reminded me that yoga is a science - and one that has proven over hundreds of years to work. It is a science that works to eradicate disease in the body through the elimination of toxins and to rid the spiritual heart of unhealthy ego addictions that manifest in emotional pain. In yoga you work with your body to heal your mind, and your mind to heal your body through the different practices. And these practices are specific and though you can read about them in a book the ideal situation is that you learn from a teacher who themselves have experienced the learning place that you are at. And if you are a teacher you should teach what you learned from your teacher, and if you decide to tweak some things here or there in my humble opinion, the closer you stay to the backbone of whatever particular technique you are teaching the greater the results your students will yield.

The yoga sutras talk very specifically about 3 major components of a successful endeavor into the science of yoga; tapas, svadyaya and ishvara pranidanani. In conference this past weekend Sharath brought up svadyaya in particular - which translates to "self-study", and which does not mean study the parts that your self wants to study, but it means do what your Guru told you to do - and Guruji used to say "Good student telling once..." which boils down to you and I taking responsibility for our own learning and doing the best that we can. But following the words of a teacher takes the guess work out of it which in turn creates space for reflection because you are not getting caught up in what I do which is ask "why" all the time!

So this practice is a formula, and the sequence of postures in their order, under the guidence of a teacher who has an understanding of the bigger picture is an incredibly powerful platform for us to aquire knowledge about ourselves. So in my case the focal point of my time here on my mat has been a majorly renewed appreciation and a healthy respect for the brilliance of the Primary Series, and if I got one and only one thing out of this experience it is to not skip poses - even if you are short on time, or you practice once a week. Yup, that's what I think. I miss you all and will see you soon! Love, Katie

Chamundi Hill

Today was the moon /rest day so we decided to go up to Chamundi Hill. Chamundi Hill is where the Chamundeswaari temple is, which is a huge temple for the Goddess Chamundi, plus also a few other smaller temples. It is a big tourist spot, and even though we left Gokulum at 7:30am there were still several 100's of people there when we arrived. Lots of buses and field trips, mostly all Indians, few westerners were there. Chamundi is an aspect of Durga or the goddess energy - she is one the more fierce of the female goddess having slain some demons to achieve her popularity. We drove the scooter up the road, and Fiona and Andrew took a rickshaw. There are two ways to get into the temple, one is the free line which wound all the way around the temple, and the other was the paid line which was much short - so we paid 20 ruppees to go into the temple and waited in a line for maybe 20 minutes, went in and got blessed by a priest in there (no cameras were allowed). It was really chaotic - and people like us who didn't know what to do were probably part of that problem - there were lots of kids, families etc. The priest stay behind the partitions and you can hand them offerings like money, or flowers and they seem to be constantly involved in performing tasks having to do with Chamundi who is back some ways sort of through smaller and smaller door ways if that makes sense.

We made it back down to town for lunch, and then back to Gokulum by 2pm - which sort of ended up being our day.

Tomorrow we have led primary at 6am - I know that some of you are reading my friend Jonathon's blog - and maybe you read what he wrote on his last post that he "loves the led classes because Sharath walks around teaching and Saraswathi adjusts"... hmmm - he and I must be in different classes! The led classes here are my least favorite - and I really have to practice my yoga if you know what I mean in order to even go to practice my yoga! As I mentioned in an earlier post which was I think after I'd been here about a week - and at the time I'd still not gotten one adjustment, nor had any interaction with Sharath or Saraswathi - you remember - well I still have yet to get adjusted in any postures. Now that said every day one of them helps you after you've done drop backs with the 3 drop-backs hands crossed over chest, and then the attempt to grab your ankles deal - and on Thursday after Sharath helped me with this he held his forefinger and thumb together in front of me about an inch from each other indicating the distance my fingers where to my feet and said, "on Monday you take your ankles". And so it goes...

So I have more to say about that, but this post is already getting kind of long and I need to read a little and go to sleep. I hope you enjoy the pictures and you have a wonderful weekend.

Much love...

Ritual

this is an edited version of the "sponge bob" post from last night.

"To our ancient mother, India – origin of civilization long before our written history dawned, abode of the noble ones (aryas), land who brought forth an endless stream of sages and liberated ones (rishis), who produced the manifold sciences (vidyas) and the language of wisdom (sanskrita), and who does not cease to provide paths for those who dare. May there dawn a new age that reveals again your original splendor. "

This is the dedication to Gregor Maehle’s new book on the Intermediate Series that I brought with me. I love this but if I was to write this I would change the last line to “May there dawn a new age that reveals your effulgent spiritual knowledge to all."... or something like that - because all you need to is come to India and you will see the original splendor is a living thing here - it's in other places maybe that I hope will learn from this place and integrate it's bountiful offerings.

Everywhere you look there are offerings, in sight, smell and sound, little details everywhere depict the stories of luminosity and divinity - and in nooks and crannies, in the weirdest dirtiest places you will find a statue of Ganesha, or a few flowers, a little spot for puja. The "call to prayer" coming from the mosque nearby is eerie sounding, and well... loud, way louder than the Rocket Market, and at 5am no less, and not to mention the other morning a band of kirtan carolers complete with cymbols were strolling down our street at 5:30am, singing a song to Sita and Ram. As a child here in India you would be as familiar with devotion, ritual and the teachings associated with spiritual knowledge as my kids are with Sponge Bob,the Disney princesses and how to work On Demand!

Here, these simple acts are tokens of devotion and aids to meditation which can be performed by anyone of any age at any time. Last night Jennifer told me that Richard Freeman used to talk about reaching down for flowers and offering them up toward the heavens during utkatasana in the sun salutations, she was using this beautiful image to try to help me understand how to extend my chest upward, not just in utkatasana but throughout, so this morning every warrior, or upward dog was an offering of my heart, and the physical action required, the energetic action, was profound. I finally started to feel like I was coiling my spine, and really lifting, and that my head was extending rather than falling back onto my trapezious muscles. It became part of the ritual of my practice - and it was much more than deepening my back bend for the sake of having a deep backbend. It was just like lighting a stick of incense, or singing a beautiful song, or placing flowers in a bowl of water, each successive time recalled my mind to the thought behind the act. Even in a busy day this simple method is especially accessible for the beginner or those who don't know what to think of God or spirituality talk. Thank you Ma India for this teaching.

Happy Birthday Jennifer!

Happy Birthday Jennifer! Thank you for being my yoga sister, my teacher, my friend and now my chauffeur!

Monday Morning

the steps and door into the shala
the gates at the shala
woman making chai at Sandhya's

Today is Monday - 4 days of mysore style before another led class (I much prefer the mysore) and 4 days of Jayashree. Jennifer rented us a scooter and yesterday we made our way all over so we now have much more independence - though it is a little frightening. The driving here is a bit wild, whole families are on a scooter (even little babies). Yeah, car seats are pretty much non-existent from what I can see - well few people actually drive cars. There are many things here that are different, but mostly just a different take on the same theme, however one thing I've noticed here in India is that lougie hauking - hawking? - anyone know how to spell loogie hawking? - in public doesn't seem to carry the same social stigma here in India as it does in the US. It's interesting. Well off for a bucket bath and then to shala for practice. I hope you are all having a nice warm Sunday evening. Thanks for all the comments - I appreciate hearing from you. Love, Katie

Old Shala and conference...

This is sort of an addendum to the last post - which is sort of out of order if you are trying to follow what is going on. Because today is your Friday night, so Saturday morning here, (no practice day) and our marathon chanting day was Thursday. Yesterday after the led class, we did some errands and I did some quality skyping with Lucy and then Jen and I went to Sandhya's in Laxmipuram near the old shala for lunch. Some of the photos from below are from Sandhya's place - the food was amazing and it was nice to meet with Fiona and Andrew and also meet Chris from Scotland and a few other really nice people. One woman named Christa from Orlando is six months pregnant with her first child, she is looking amazing, and has a beautiful practice but I recognize all too well that sort of tired-but-managing-look, I think it would be hard to be here and be pregnant, but that is just me - over being pregnant-anywhere.

So anyway we stopped by the old Shala on our way back (pictures above). When Jen was here last it was at the old shala so she was a little sentimental and showed me the famous "stairs" where you would wait for your turn, and she talked about where Guruji would come out and sit for conference - it is all really amazing to see, and to think about how fancy and huge the new shala is - how this one man taught for the majority of his life in this teeny tiny place with a handful of students - and it reminded me of conference last weekend with Sharath that I didn't really write about.

Sharath started off by saying he was going to tell us how his Grandfather made Mysore a famous yoga destination. He briefly told us the story of when Guruji met T.K.V. Krishnamacharya at a yoga demonstration in 1927 and how Ashtanga Yoga came to be what it is today. He talked about how important vinyasa is, breath, and how this practice is so much more than just asana. He talked about practicing the yamas and niyamas and that people think they understand yoga just from taking practice from this or that teacher without really applying themselves for many years to daily practice. He said that dedication is the most important aspect. He said many people think they know what yoga is because they do a teacher training program, and now they teach yoga, but they don't know what yoga is. He quoted a sutra at this point I think, though it might have been from the Pradapika but from my memory it was this:

Practice becomes firmly grounded when it has been cultivated for a long time, uninterruptedly, with earnest devotion. (Sa tu-dirghakala-nairantarya-satkara-adara -asevito-drdhabhumih) Sutra 1.14

This section of the yoga sutras right now is my favorite, because a few sutras later it talks about having faith - or in sanskrit sraddha - which I believe is Sharath's daughters name. In one of my sutra books it says that the faith Patanjali is talking about is "provisional, flexible, undogmatic, open to doubt and reason. True faith is not like a picture frame, a permanently limited area of acceptance. It is like a plant which keeps on throwing forth shoots and growing. All we require, at the beginning, is a seed." (Swami Prabhavananda) And the seed need be nothing more than a feeling of interest in the possibility of living a more meaningful life, a more deeply connected or integrated life, encompassing all aspects of who we are; our physical bodies because we live in this body and our relationships to ourselves and everyone/thing we come in contact with because we do not exist in a vacuum.

He said this with a smile on his face, “without true dedication, it is very difficult to understand yoga.” People like to pick and choose which aspects of yoga they "like" and they have an aversion to really dedicating themselves to one system or one teacher and taking practice daily, making the time for it, and allowing the transformation away from self-limiting, pain inducing patterns - it seems they think they know better. It was in some ways gratifying and reinforcing to listen to Sharath, but for a moment it made me sad that the whole commodifation of yoga thing is such a huge movement. And being a yoga studio owner am I just playing into all of that, and should I even be teaching yoga at all, and I really shouldn't be doing teacher training - ahhhhhhh! But then I remember the old shala, and Sharath's grandfather getting up and teaching everyday for 65 years or more, and that handful of dedicated students who got us to where we are today - got me to be sitting here in Mysore, India taking practice everyday, and I think of all of you back home coming to the shala, as often as you can, taking practice with pure intention and good hearts and the ripple effect of what your practice has done for your bodies, your minds, your relationships with your children, spouces and friends andI know a seed has been planted and in that I have faith and in that I am so grateful for.

Chanting and more...

Lots to tell... yesterday was another marathon day here in Mysore. After a nice practice we ate breakfast at Vivian's which is two doors down from our flat. I sort of have this little "clique" that I'm in. I had heard that it was kind of "cliquey" here so I decided to join one right away - no, just kidding. My theory is that people who arrive around the same time sort of gravitate toward each other because a.) you are lost and alone half the time so you recognize the same in another and naturally gravitate toward each other and b.) once you sort of have your group of friends you don't have that same lost and alone look about you and new-comers are less likely to gravitate your way. So anyway we sort of have this group Jonathon and Susie from Charlotte, NC, Vanya who is Swedish, but lives now in Canada, Michoto who is from Japan, Fiona and Andrew from New Zealand, and of course my flat mate Jen from New York, and Jen from Charlottesville. So also because we arrived at about the same time, we have basically the same start time for our practice, so we see each other every morning and so most of the time when I say "we" that is often who I am referring to because we also often meet for at least one meal per day.

So we had breakfast together and then we all went on our merry way to varied classes and appointments. Jen, Fiona and I shared a rickshaw over to Dr. Jayashree's house. I think I mentioned last week that we had registered for this Yoga Sutra class at the shala, and since we were also doing the Gita class we were maybe not going to also try to fit in with Jayashrees' schedule - wrong! Normally the class is one hour of chanting and one hour of philosophy - but this thursday it was two hours straight of chanting - we did all four chapters of the Yoga Sutra as well as some of the Shantih mantras. There were about 20 students sitting on the floor of her small room that was sort of a living room / office, some of them were already very competent at the chanting, she calls, we respond - and there is a booklet to follow along with. During the class I think both Jen and I silently resolved to convince the other that this was more important than attending the sutra class at the shala and since we were in agreement it was a done deal and we realized we would be eating the 700 ruppees we had to fork over to the shala for the other class. It is just too much of a special opportunity to miss - her teaching style, which is the tradional method of teaching yoga philosophy is called Sruti Parampara, where over time, the ear, tongue, and mind are refined and purified and the Sutras are committed to memory. But it is more than that, it has to do with her voice and just her. So we will be going to her class Monday - Thursday from 11-1pm for the rest of our time here. I feel so incredibly lucky.

So then, hop back in rickshaw and go straight over to James' house which is not in Laxmipuram, but is Saraswathipuram (sorry about that misinformation). No food, no nothing, luckily we still had a little water. This is now my fifth class, and we are about 3/4's of the way through the 2nd chapter. The major themes at this point as I understand them are that Krishna is telling Arjuna that he must know his dharma, and that he is a lucky person because his dharma is the best dharma of all, which is to fight for... dharma. And the one who can see opportunity within adversity is the greatest of men. So the idea of dharma is also talked about as following your path in life - it is the natural order of the universe and that if we follow our path with pure intention and good heart, then there is no such thing as unsuccessful effort, no matter how much we question whether what we are doing is right. So, the "pure intention" piece is what gets broken down next by Krishna, as we begin to get into the section about not being concerned with the fruits of our labor.

One more!

Today ends my first full week of practice here - this week everyday so far has been mysore style, but today is a led class and tomorrow is a rest day. Remember that first day when I said that I touched my heels in urdvha dhanurasana - well I think I must have been touching Sharath's feet or maybe the person next to me - because that is not happening. Yesterday I think my left foot felt the air move a little bit from my left hand flailing around in it's vicinity but I think that is about as close as it is getting. My focus everday is to do all the vinyasas correctly, so breathing. On my first two days Sharath corrected the following things:

• to narrow my stance in trikonasana
• not to spread my fingers (oh by the way I saw him correct a persons closed hand in marichiasna a - told him to open it up)
• and to close my heels in urdvha mukha paschimattonasana - which has opened up a whole new world for me as it applies to a lot of postures
  

But get ready for this: I've not gotten one adjustment this week - what, I travel half way around the world, pay $700 for a month of yoga classes, I mean the least they can be doing is adjusting me - right? In fact pretty much the only interaction between them and me is when they yell "one more!" and I jump up to try to find the spot they are talking about. That is not to say that Sharath and Saraswathi are sitting around drinking latte's, quite the opposite they are pretty much full-on helping what seems closer to maybe 200 people batching through that room each morning. (I asked the coconut guy who brings his cart to the shala how many coconuts he goes through each morning and he said 300!) I think it is Tim Miller who says something like "the practice is the teacher" and that is really how I feel. I feel like I'm getting adjusted, and corrected in every posture practically each day.

The teachers Sharath and Saraswathi are holding the sanctity of the practice and the space for me and they will tell me when I need to work on something else either by adjusting me or otherwise and until then I have plenty to do. It makes me believe even more that this practice works best in the mysore style and that it WORKS. It is also being strongly reinforced in me how important it is to do the postures in their order, not skipping around. There are plenty of people here who are stopping at one of the marichiasana's. My one friend Jonathon who I will tell you about later came here after 6 weeks of Ashtanga, and feeling like he can barely complete 10 surya namaskaras, after one week is is already up to marichiasana a, and I suspect he will stay there for quite some time until he can bind, which I have no doubt he will do. It is inspiring to watch him.

Mysore Adorned

Everywhere you look here things are adorned with color and beauty. Mostly there is symbolism and tradition, or simply aesthetically it is just the way it has been and continues to be. People have their puja, where they pray, and usually there are garlands of flowers which you buy all over the place draping, the sidewalks in front of peoples houses are decorated in mandala's on special occasions and including, you guessed it, the women. The women here dress in fancy, colorful sari's (pronounced see-rie here)to do the laundry - and pretty much every married woman has her nostril pierced, left side means you are married, and it's all gold, and not these little teeny tiny silver specks we see all the time in the US. So of course I had to get mine pierced - what is this my fifth time? We'll see if this one heals, maybe that was the problem all the other times, it's too clean at home, and all the polution, dust and whatever else here is what I need for it to heal - or it could be a few weeks without chubby little hands clawing all over me that will do the trick - (though I can't wait to see those chubby little hands.)

In any case here is the deal if you want to get your nostril pierced while you are in Mysore (by the way Lars did not give me this information). First you go buy the jewlery, which means going to a gold shop, and there happens to be a small reputable one right around the corner from the ATM machine that is closest to the Shala. Then you take it to the hospital which is a short walk, like 100 meters up from the Coconut Stand. You go in and ask for a consultation with the doctor, they bring you to this room, and the next thing you know you've got a nose ring! $108 ruppees for the doctor, the nurse and someone else all involved. I was feeling a little wierd about that part and hoping there was not someone with a more urgent medical need who was waiting while I got my nose pierced - but obviously that didn't stop me. A photo will be forthcoming as well as other news for the day. But it is looking like the power is now out.

Scarves, chai and more...

Jennifer arrived today - safely and soundly! I went over to Randy's house after practice this morning and there she was. We didn't have any other classes today so we decided to go back to town. I needed to find a copy of the Bhagavad Gita and David had asked me to buy a scarf for him at a specific place. Wow - this place turned out to be amazing and I was able to find the two most important gifts I'd been asked to get which were a scarf for Lucy and a scarf for Grace. Here are some photos from the day.

Also here are a few more words on utplitihi sent in as a supplement to my blog:

This is not a correction of your commentary on UthPluthi, just a supplement.
According to Guruji via 'Yoga Mala', UthPluthi strengthens the waist and perfects uddiyana and mula bandha; over time it will gradually open the three granthis.

Gregor Maehle adds that it "is one of the best postures for restoring energy. It eliminates fatigue at the end of the practice."

David Swenson has commented that it is put at the end of the practice to get the prana flowing strongly before entering deep relaxation enabling the prana to course through every part of the body doing it's healing work. The 'pranic wash' you've noted.

Yoga Mala

A bunch of you have asked what posture "utplitihi" is - and it's true it is difficult to find information on the internet about it - the following is from memory, I believe from Yoga Mala, if anyone knows more or better feel free to correct me. Just as samasthiti is the first form we begin our practice in, utplitihi is the form we end in - the significance of the names of these postures is that unlike all the other postures their names do not end in "asana" but in "tihi". I believe this is part of the garland or mala of completeness allegorized by the ashtanga series. Utplitihi, I think is considered to me a "mudra" rather than a "posture" but I've heard this of sirsasana also and sirsasana ends in "asana"... so the other thing I know is that utplitihi, is also referred to as "uprooting", it is the deliberate practice of reversing the downward flow of apana which can potentially stimulate the awakening of kundalini. So it is done at the end of the practice I think as the final, if you will, "pranic wash", stimulating the entire body. But it is also sitting in padmasana (lotus) and lifting your body off the floor between your arms while you wait for the teacher to count to usually 10 - but Guruji and Sharath are famous for keeping students up in this posture for long periods of time - to build moola bandha, and stamina.

Today I arrived at the Shala promptly at 6:50, and it was backed up outside so I waited for at least 30 minutes if not longer before I started. I had a nice practice, since I've been here I've finally been able to get my second leg behind my head in order to get into supta koormasana from the dwi pada position - (sans drama) I thought he wasn't letting people do it that way, but everyone who can, does - so that has been nice because I can keep my rhythm much nicer that way. I was finished by 9am - and that was when Sharath left - he had been adjusting since 4am, which was after he did his own practice. That is intense work - don't you think? Tomorrow I am starting at 6:45 - and also tomorrow Jennifer arrives! Thank you all for your comments - it is nice to feel connected. xxoo