Countdown to India

After three days off, I'm glad to be going back to practice tomorrow, but also amazed at how easy it would be to just forget the whole thing because practice seems so impossible and far away. There really is a 24 hour expiration on yoga.

Spent a lot of time with the family the last couple of weeks and now things have officially sprung into motion. With the official (and somewhat surprising) blessings of both sides of the family tree, the countdown begins. Next up is sending my letter and buying my ticket, giving my leave to work, selling all personal possessions, finding a sublet, and saying goodbye to friends. I'm a bit in shock, a little scared, and very excited...

The petri dish overflows, the pimple pops, there is an outside world

Last night I saw a movie called Perfume. Very strange, but highly entertaining. I think I recommend it. Very strange in a non-gory-yet-bizarre kind of way. I didn't go to the pool. Playing the part of the menstruating female, I felt fat and couldn't imagine stuffing what felt like my lard ass into a bikini and stomping my thunder thighs toward the water. Sorry, I just couldn't do it.

Instead, I ate my ration of homemade chocolate (dark with almonds) and pined over the idea of my boyfriend and I and our little life together here in Mysore. As you know, he isn't here, but we've been talking about it and anyway, a girl likes to have her "Mrs. so and so" dreams during a certain time of the month. At least I wasn't crying. (But I almost did today when I was watching the led second class. Ha!)

Even though I didn't have to wake up until 6:30, I found myself tossing and turning at 4am. So I called ____. Cell phones are so much like cigarettes. We talked and talked until the sun was coming up and I felt the inspiration to take a shower. Imagine--I have a bucket and western shower, but choose the bucket! India is a great place to bring your kids or embrace your inner child. You get to eat with your hands. Really, you can stick your fingers into food and no one really minds. Everything is made with lots of sugar. You can walk around barefoot. You get to dump buckets of water over your head and make a huge mess in your bathroom. There are farm animals everywhere...

I watched the led second series today, which was led by Guruji. He was really on it. It was so inspirational to watch. Its not that the poses are impossible, its the whole package. It took these people many years of visits to get to that point. They had to sacrifice so much of themselves just for this moment. It was awesome. The entrance way was packed with students watching.

After the class Rachel and I had breakfast up on my roof and a little chanting session with the harmonium. A person can get away with a ridiculous amount of hippie-like behavior here. We forgot the time and it was almost 11 before we were on our way to the green market. Every Sunday, the Green Hotel hosts a green market that features what I think is mostly organic produce and products. People are very serious about the market. There is a queue formed at each table before the official start at 10am. Everyone mentally picks out what they want and if I recall, someone must ring some sort of bell because right when it turns 10am, everyone charges the table like rats on a carcass. This lasts for about 10 minutes, and if anything is left, the booths might stay around until about 10:45. Luckily, when we got there there were still a few booths set up. I want to buy more veggies and things to cook at my house, but being as it is a one room studio, I really can't be bothered with dealing with food smells or the possibility of wild life in my sleeping area. That said, I feel like I should exercise some sort of restraint when it comes to eating out, which to be honest is how I do it around here. It is so inexpensive, you don't have to clean, you get to hang out with friends, and the food is awesome. Could you blame me? Even so, I'm trying to get a few things that don't involve a lot of preparation, clean up, or odor. Like avocados, which they call "butter fruit" in India. I also bought some hummus and I'll get some bread for little sandwiches.

Tomorrow, I think I'll go to practice again. On the way out of the Shala this morning I ran into Sharath.
"You no come today." He said.
"Holiday," I replied. He nodded his head.
"But I'll be here tomorrow for pasasana!" He smiled and laughed. Its a lot like having a crush in school on a much older, super popular guy. He noticed me! *sigh*

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.