Mysore mornings

Morning comes pretty early on the farm...PRE-tty early. Goats and chickens - with no access to late-night television or Internet - are programmed for early rising. And yet, before the chickens' automated coffeemaker has even clicked on and started brewing, E & K are nearly through their standing poses.

The Ashtanga practice routine is very particular and, once you've lived it, very logical. You get up early, you do your yoga, you start your day. Sharath keeps this routine, even though that means he gets up a little after 1 am so that he can practice before he starts his day, teaching yoga.

It is, like many other aspects of yoga, addictive. It just feels good. Though the initial bleary-eyed shuffle from bed to mat is not necessarily joyful, the rust comes off faster and faster each morning. As you might expect, morning is the least flexible time for the body, a fact which, initially, seems to indicate that this would not be the time to practice. However, there is no better way to find challenge, day after day.

Now, it's clear what you, our there in the land of Quad Cities yoga, are thinking. Let me guess...it starts with "But..." Yes, you are right. There are many, many of those, plus ifs and ands.

And yet...