DAY 46 - I Heart Mysore Part 2!

I wake up early in a small pink bedroom this morning after sleeping in my new apartment for the first time. Go through my regular early morning routine of making tea and trying to get on the internet, but the wifi we're picking up from the hotel next door doesn't seem to be working so well... OH NO! My new facebook addiction is going to suffer! Maybe this is a good thing, as my mornings could probably be better spent quietly meditating. I think to myself that I should take it as a sign that I need a break from internet communication, but plan to stop at my other house to get online later...

Today will be an exciting practice; yesterday Sharath told me I get to start Intermediate Series! Woohoo! A couple weeks ago I watched the led 2nd series class and was telling a friend afterwards (half-jokingly) that I was going to be in that class next year... hey, it's possible! It's so amazing to be experiencing this progress, and something I was definitely not expecting. A month ago I was saying that it didn't matter if I got any new postures while I was here, and totally accepting that, and here I am now just flowing through this beautiful journey without any expectations, happy to practice, practice, practice, and see what happens. I've just changed my plane ticket and extended my trip until the end of March, so today, waking up in this new house, knowing I have a new date to stay until, and preparing to start a new stage of practice, feels a little bit like the beginning of a brand new adventure: I Heart Mysore Part 2!!!

DAY 43 - THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES...!!!

Finally, the blog goes on... there's been some delay, as the days are flying by and the half-written entries are piling up on my desktop, but here's a quick status update and stay tuned for more!!! (Also, I have to admit, I became addicted to FB last week so if you're on there look me up by email: shelley@playyogamagazine.com)

I'm doing great. Practice is amazing - after a month, it really started progressing all of a sudden. Well, I guess it's been progressing the whole time, since I've moved through the rest of the series (Matthew had just given me Badda Konasana the day I left for Mysore... now I've completed Primary!), but last week I really saw some exciting things happening - I got to start standing up and dropping back (with help) and I walked in and grabbed my ankles (!) and i bound my hands by myself in Supta Kurmasana for the first time EVER!!!!! I want to stay here and practice like this forever! I love the energy and the intensity and especially the heat. I'm so grateful for this time to be dedicated solely to my own practice... I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE teaching yoga and am grateful every day for the way this path has unfolded for me, but it's also so good to have this time to just be a student again.

Everything else is good, too... it's been super-fun lately, but I think I'm in need of a little more quiet time. In the last week or so, I volunteered at a fundraiser party and met about 100 people and sold a million raffle tickets, got talked into going dancing (this also involved my first wild scooter ride through the crazy nighttime mysore traffic - so fun!), saw a bollywood horror movie in hindi and ate mysore masala popcorn, attended my regular sanskrit classes, a yoga sutra class, meditation classes and cooking classes and kirtans, caught another cold, spent lots of time at the pool - actually, both pools, and I'm moving again, to a sweet new hot pink house where I'll live with a couple of friends for the rest of my stay. There was a full moon last Monday, combined with a lunar eclipse, and I think it contributed to a whole lot of craziness that was going on around here last week - I know it sure made me a little restless.

Yesterday at breakfast there was a lot of complaining about people being sick of things here in Mysore and missing home and their usual lifestyles. It seems to be in the air right now - many people are experiencing tension and frustration in one way or another. I feel a little bit the same way and think we probably all go through it here, up and down. It's funny, though, because even as I'm thinking about how I'm tiring of the scene here and I miss my beautiful friends and family and teachers and students (and yes, my favorite pizza place) at home, I'm making plans to stay a little longer. I'm not ready to end this journey quite yet!

Last night was one of those typical Mysore "busy for hours trying to do a bunch of simple little stuff" kind of nights. Needed cash but ATM was out of service (probably out of money again). I ate a late dinner (ohhh, 5pm!) since I wasn't practicing this morning, and then met a friend to help her move an extra mattress I had in my old apartment. We piled the thing on top of a rickshaw and took it to her new home. Then I'm off to make copies of my passport and visa and... hey! Looks like the ATM is working now. Wait in line and try a couple of transactions, but no luck. Walk to the copy place, no luck there either. Walk to another copy place in the other direction, laugh out loud when the guy tells me it costs 1 rupee per page (that's about 2 cents) and get my copies. Well, I'm out and don't need to get to bed early, so I decide I'll walk to the other kinda far ATM by Barista and try there...

It's dark and there are always lots of people out in the evenings here. I put in my headphones and tune out the Mysore noise and smile, inside and out, while I wander through the beautiful commotion on the streets on the long walk there and back. People are eating food, drinking chai, shoving up to the grocery counter to shop, stepping inbetween holes on the sidewalks, dodging inbetween traffic on the streets, talking and yelling on phones or to each other. Cars and bikes and buses and scooters and rickshaws and pedestrians rush around me on the road in an endless flow of noise and movement and somehow harmonic madness. On my way back I'm overwhelmed with love for this place; I stop in the street and just stand, pausing for a moment to bask in this comforting chaos that has become so familiar to me. I'm filled with joy, grateful to be here, totally flowing with life in Mysore, and for now, I feel like I'm right at home.

DAY 25 - TGI Another Friday

I've finally figured out why we have led classes on Fridays and Sundays: just in case any of us have any energy left at the end of a week of practice, they want to make sure we expend every last drop of it before our rest day. Ha! Basically, I think they kick our butts on Friday because we'll have Saturday off... and then again on Sunday, because we had Saturday off. (Don't be lazy!)

The great thing about Fridays here is that there's this vibe going around like we're on vacation, because we don't get up early for practice on Saturday morning. We go to dinner later, eating more than usual, and look forward to a whole day off. Lara and Geoffrey and I try a new restaurant for dinner tonight called Jwala. It's a cute little upstairs place, Punjabi food, and it is delicious! I'm loving the endless variety of vegetarian food here in India. We follow the spicy dinner in the warm restaurant with a walk to Just Gelato, where guy greets us with a radiant smile and offers us samples of several different flavors to help us decide... fresh mango, rich hazelnut, sweet lime. Many of the people here are incredibly warm and kind to us, like they take such pleasure in making others happy. It's really beautiful. The gelato is also delicious, and very refreshing because it has been so hot the last few days! The power goes out again and we stumble home along the side of the busy road, tripping over rocks and sand, and trying to avoid being run over by the chaotic rush of Friday night traffic racing by in the dark.

DAY 24 - Hello Full Primary!

Last week I was low energy for a few days, dragging myself through practice and secretly hoping I wouldn't see another new posture for a while. This week I've felt better and I guess it shows... today Sharath gave me the rest of the postures to complete the primary series! I spend a few moments reflecting on this incredible journey, from the day I walked into Matthew's shala and began practicing Ashtanga Yoga to the present moment, completing the series here in India. I feel really lucky to have learned this way, traditionally, being given each posture from the beginning as my teacher felt I was ready. Now I've been given the last few postures here, at the source, by one of his teachers. I've had so many opportunities over the last year and a half to just jump ahead in my practice, but I'm glad I found patience and waited, respecting the way it was meant to be passed on to me. I can see now that my practice is a direct continuation of this lineage and I'm honored to be part of it.

DAY 23 - Namaste, Guruji

Today I catch a glimpse of Guruji for the first time since I've been here! I'm so happy to see him; it's a beautiful moment, and rare right now. I've been wondering if I would get to see him, and feeling very grateful for the opportunity I had to meet him in Florida last May, because I know that I probably will not have that chance here. But still, I have to admit, I've really been hoping to see Guruji since I moved into this house. The balcony across from my room looks right onto the shala and their home, and I know he sits outside on the patio sometimes. I look out the window every single time I walk by it, and today, I'm rewarded with a beautiful sight! As I pause and gaze out the window at him peacefully sitting alone, everything else fades away and I feel totally at peace myself, happy and full of love and so present in this perfect moment here in India.

DAY 22 - Rest and Relaxation

I'm doing nothing today, off practice with no plans, so I sleep in and then decide to head to the hotel pool early and spend the afternoon there. My girlfriend got a pedicure at the hotel spa last week and her feet were actually clean for a few minutes - sounds simple, I know, but clean feet are nearly impossible here - and I think I'll do the same while I'm there today. When I walk outside I see a friend having a coconut outside the shala so I grab one, too, (nice breakfast!) and join her for a minute. Our friend Darius comes over and asks for my email and says he's leaving tomorrow; he was only here for 3 weeks. I'm really surprised that it's time for him to go home. Have 3 weeks gone by already? It reminds me of how quickly my time here will pass... better appreciate every moment! I get to the pool before 10am and I'm the first person there; it's so still and peaceful. The area around the pool is shady this early in the morning and it's not too hot yet, just a beautiful, warm, quiet morning and a few minutes alone so soak it all in.

DAY 21 - Monkeys and Elephants and Boars, Oh My!

It's a new moon today and also a national holiday, Republic Day. Melissa and I have planned a day trip to Bandipur, a National Wildlife Reserve about 2 hours out of Mysore. It's an interesting drive: long and very hot, with heavy traffic, construction, and really bad roads. We're both downing motion sickness remedies and fidgiting with too many layers of baggy clothes and scarves. When we get there we realize we're the only visitors on our safari bus who are not Indian, so we are getting as many looks as the exotic wildlife. I guess I'm their glimpse of the rare blond species, ha!

On the safari ride, we find that they are doing some kind of controlled burning in the reserve that is totally smoking us out, and all the animals, too. Hmmm... In the areas away from the smoke and fire we do get to see some animals: there are monkeys who drink out of water and juice bottles like humans, wild boar, spotted deer, some kind of big bird, a large mystery animal kind of like a deer but bigger and darker (big bird and snufalufagus!), black-faced monkeys with long, light fur, and best of all, an elephant taking a bath! She is splashing around in the water and exclaiming, making all kinds of noise and apparently having loads of fun. It's pretty awesome, she's the highlight of the trip!

So, the park was a nice day trip, but seeing animals are actually a common part of everyday life here in India. Here's a list of things I've seen: cows (cows walking in the road, cows laying on the sidewalk, cows eating out of trash bins, big cows, little cows, baby cows, bright yellow cows, cows wearing flowers, cows happily eating beautiful flower garlands off the front of parked buses). Also lots of dogs, who all kind of look the same and seem happy and are incredibly brave when running across the street through crazy traffic, and they like to take naps on the side of the road when it gets really hot. We also have a dog that hangs around the shala, he comes into the courtyard in the morning while we are waiting on led days and wines and nudges us until we pet him. Sheep, loads and loads of sheep, and on the way home from Bandipur I saw a tiny little baby one drinking from it's mama, so sweet! Wild boar, often seen in families with baby boar, and I hear they can get protective so I try to steer clear. Monkeys, naughty monkeys! On Chamundi Hill, one walked up to my friend Emma, reached out, and took her juice right out of her hand! Horses, one just laying down for an afternoon rest next to the coconut stand, and also, most memorably, a very small horse just trotting down the middle of a busy street along with all the crazy traffic one night. People riding camels. People riding an elephant. And last (my least favorite), cockroaches so big that they seem more like small animals than insects. I'm sure the list will keep growing...