I always do a mental sum-up of each Mysore trip. I thought that this being my 6th trip, I’d have nothing new to say. I was wrong. As repetitive as each Mysore trip can seem to be, it is still full of surprises:
- Visibly more relaxed and more energetic, even though he was working almost 8 hours straight the shala’s peak. He joked a lot during class too. When I went to see him to say good-bye, I told him I wished I understood Kanada ... because if he was so funny in English, he must be absolutely hilarious in his native tongue.
- Giving out more poses that I have ever seen. He added 3rd series poses to Led Intermediate class, which had never been done before.
- Very engaging during conference. I’ve seen Sharath in conference when it’s obvious he didn’t want to be there. This year, he kept wanting to talk. He spoke a lot from the heart, sharing his own experiences from his practice. That plus his obvious dedication to teaching us really touched me.
Injury is the greatest teacher
This trip was tough because of my shoulder. You’re forced to deal with discomfort and it’s a struggle to keep going. The obvious solution is Rest but for me, practice helped. It wasn’t easy to maintain a pace & intensity that doesn’t make the injury worse. I have never skipped class but I skipped the last few Led Primary classes because it was too much on my shoulder. I did a modified home practice instead (I’m not sure if the one where I fell asleep on my mat twice before giving up counts as a practice though). You also have to be fully present in every movement you make (a split second of unawareness and you can go over the fine line of good versus bad pain). Mysore is most conducive for this because you’re largely left on your own anyway. Sharath creates an environment for you to go deeper into your own practice, which is where truly learning happens.
New hangout
I wrote a post a few years ago about a great local breakfast place (where people stand-up to eat). It moved to a sit-down location and was referred to the old stand-up. In typical confusing Indian evolution, they opened a new stand-up branch not far from its old stand-up location. The food is great and since we are lazy yoga bums, we always park ourselves across the road on a staircase. As the stairs are not very clean, we nicknamed the place the Dusty Bottoms Café.
More expensive coconuts
After many years, the price of coconuts have now increased by 2 rupees to 12 (roughly s$0.32)
Cold to Hot
Cold to Hot
Mysore experienced its coldest winter in over 50 years (12 degrees one night if I’m not wrong). I also experienced the beginning of the hot season; very dry (17% humidity) and intense. I left at the end of February .. the heat builds up to its peak in May (I can’t imagine how bad it gets).
Digital Pirates
Dealing in pirated movies and tv series. With highspeed downloads and lots of time on our hands, watching movies and tv series which is a great past-time. I was watching an average of a movie + 2 episodes of a tv series in a day … love it! It become common for people waiting in front of the shala gates every morning to exchange thumb/hard drives. I felt like a drug dealer when people asked to get stuff from me.
Chai no more?
I never thought I’d say this … but me (the ultimate chai lover) started to find the milk in the local chai way too rich! That plus ‘’I’m over Indian spices, all I want is a grilled cheese&tomato sandwich” in my 3rd week in Mysore is a disturbing incident for my long-term Mysore future.
Anti-social
I became a hermit, especially towards the end of my trip. I got very selective about who I went out to meet and how long I spent outside. I preferred to sit at home by myself and watch a movie. Was I homesick, bored? With too much time on my hands, I started to analyse Mysore friendships. They are special because there is no need to explain our weird ashtangi lifestyle ie why our lives revolve around our practice (we sleep early, we don’t eat / drink too much too late etc). People who come to Mysore are very different and come from multi-cultural backgrounds and varying social hierarchies. As such, it is sometimes difficult to connect and to grasp underlying values and beliefs. Mysore becomes a refuge from reality with some people running away from their real lives. So, many friendships may not go very deep. I started to miss my friends from home … whose character and values I know so well. That’s when I knew it was time to go home. As much as I treasured each morning in the shala, for the first time, I was counting down the days to leaving Mysore
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This is the most eye-opening Mysore experience I have had to date and the most ‘’negative’’ one. Having said that, I have already planned to return, September – December 2012. I guess that only emphasises why Mysore is so important to me … it’s for the Practice.
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