As I sat waiting in the doorway on Wednesday, ready to scurry like a mouse into the shala at the sound of "one more!", Sharath surprised me with "you come earlier, 6:30."
Boo, but doable.
So on Thursday, I went at 6:30, it was really nice to be practicing beside people I had become friends with. After I did my finishing postures, I tapped Sharath on the shoulder (which is really only okay if you want to take a picture or you want to pay for classes) and asked him if I could pay. We went into the office with the mysore class still going on. (To the bane of many a student, Sharath leaves the room whenever he wants. I've heard that sometimes he's reading the paper in old-school guruji fashion. This means hanging out in a pose like kapotasana [pictured]
for 25 breaths hoping that Sharath will finish his coffee and see how great you are).
"Monday you take pasasana..." yay!
"Come early at 6am." Boo!
As I handed over the 17,500 rupees for month 2, he wrote out my new id card. He told me that he thought I was Indian, and I took the opportunity to ask him if that meant I could get the Indian discount. He laughed and said, "for you double!" didn't notice until later that day that he actually wrote 5:45am as my practice time on the card. (Indian students practice in the afternoon with Sharath at a discounted rate. There are usually less than 10 people in the class and lots of personal attention. Sometimes, when he is busy, he'll tell them to go to an early class.)
What this means is that not only am I at an earlier mysore practice time Monday-Thursday, but that I have also "graduated" to the earlier led classes that start at 5 on Friday and Sunday instead of the comfortable but still difficult 6:15. You may think 5 is no big deal, but it means that actually, you have to hold a place at the gate at 4:30, otherwise you're likely to be practicing in the changing room. Up I was at 3;30 this morning. I've heard that 3am is the darkest part of the night. Is this also true in India?
I walked up the road toward the Shala, it was so quiet and so dark, I kept wondering if I read the time right. Then, from the shadows (ha!) I heard Emma calling me. (She lives really near by my house). We trudged up the hill to the Shala road which goes down hill so that really, I could tell my kids one day that when I was their age practicing yoga in India, I had to walk to and from the Shala, uphill both ways! I had this feeling that my skin was dragging me one step after another but that my organs were made of lead. As we moved closer to the gate, dozens of eyes (hollow and bloodshot) stared at me from below hoods and scarves and hunched outlines in the darkness. My eyes slowly adjusted, and I was able to make out the images of semi-friendly faces (it is only 4:30 in the morning) to huddle with.
Inside, I got a spot between Eduardo and Thiago right in front. We had such a good time in that class. Guruji led, and I caught him watching Thiago and I as we battled over (in the most yogic, uncompetitive way, of course) who could fly, bind, twist, fold, and back bend with the best/fastest/most accurate vinyasa-ist technique. Post practice, I was drenched with swet, but filled with smiles.
About 20 minutes after the class, my vibrant, so-cool-to-wake-up-this-early,-I'm-a-morning-person,-really energy wore of and turned into "must lie down". I washed my hair, which was soaked with chlorine from my stint as a mermaid this week, and managed to talk myself into washing my clothes before a fitful 1 hour nap. Hey, I tried. Breakfast at Tina's was delish as usual, but kind of sad because a lot of people are leaving. A lot of people are always leaving.
I'm off to India Song House for dinner tonight as a farewell to Johanna (the girl with super-long eyelashes who let me borrow her swimsuit for laughs).
Tomorrow-rest.
Sunday-ladies' holiday and for some, the return of the second series led class which has led to a certain degree of panic amongst those "invited" to attend. Should be fun to watch!
Boo, but doable.
So on Thursday, I went at 6:30, it was really nice to be practicing beside people I had become friends with. After I did my finishing postures, I tapped Sharath on the shoulder (which is really only okay if you want to take a picture or you want to pay for classes) and asked him if I could pay. We went into the office with the mysore class still going on. (To the bane of many a student, Sharath leaves the room whenever he wants. I've heard that sometimes he's reading the paper in old-school guruji fashion. This means hanging out in a pose like kapotasana [pictured]
for 25 breaths hoping that Sharath will finish his coffee and see how great you are)."Monday you take pasasana..." yay!
"Come early at 6am." Boo!
As I handed over the 17,500 rupees for month 2, he wrote out my new id card. He told me that he thought I was Indian, and I took the opportunity to ask him if that meant I could get the Indian discount. He laughed and said, "for you double!" didn't notice until later that day that he actually wrote 5:45am as my practice time on the card. (Indian students practice in the afternoon with Sharath at a discounted rate. There are usually less than 10 people in the class and lots of personal attention. Sometimes, when he is busy, he'll tell them to go to an early class.)
What this means is that not only am I at an earlier mysore practice time Monday-Thursday, but that I have also "graduated" to the earlier led classes that start at 5 on Friday and Sunday instead of the comfortable but still difficult 6:15. You may think 5 is no big deal, but it means that actually, you have to hold a place at the gate at 4:30, otherwise you're likely to be practicing in the changing room. Up I was at 3;30 this morning. I've heard that 3am is the darkest part of the night. Is this also true in India?
I walked up the road toward the Shala, it was so quiet and so dark, I kept wondering if I read the time right. Then, from the shadows (ha!) I heard Emma calling me. (She lives really near by my house). We trudged up the hill to the Shala road which goes down hill so that really, I could tell my kids one day that when I was their age practicing yoga in India, I had to walk to and from the Shala, uphill both ways! I had this feeling that my skin was dragging me one step after another but that my organs were made of lead. As we moved closer to the gate, dozens of eyes (hollow and bloodshot) stared at me from below hoods and scarves and hunched outlines in the darkness. My eyes slowly adjusted, and I was able to make out the images of semi-friendly faces (it is only 4:30 in the morning) to huddle with.
Inside, I got a spot between Eduardo and Thiago right in front. We had such a good time in that class. Guruji led, and I caught him watching Thiago and I as we battled over (in the most yogic, uncompetitive way, of course) who could fly, bind, twist, fold, and back bend with the best/fastest/most accurate vinyasa-ist technique. Post practice, I was drenched with swet, but filled with smiles.
About 20 minutes after the class, my vibrant, so-cool-to-wake-up-this-early,-I'm-a-morning-person,-really energy wore of and turned into "must lie down". I washed my hair, which was soaked with chlorine from my stint as a mermaid this week, and managed to talk myself into washing my clothes before a fitful 1 hour nap. Hey, I tried. Breakfast at Tina's was delish as usual, but kind of sad because a lot of people are leaving. A lot of people are always leaving.
I'm off to India Song House for dinner tonight as a farewell to Johanna (the girl with super-long eyelashes who let me borrow her swimsuit for laughs).
Tomorrow-rest.
Sunday-ladies' holiday and for some, the return of the second series led class which has led to a certain degree of panic amongst those "invited" to attend. Should be fun to watch!
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