Spiritual Gang-stas

We’re happy to be part of a small social group of students coalescing mostly around shared practice time. Vanessa, Vikram (yes, rhymes with “Bikram” and he is therefore the target of a now-unfunny but unrelentingly-daily joke from Sharath: “Ah, Vikram. Ha. Get ready for ‘Vikram Yoga.’ Haha”) David, and (Miss) Stan are all from Toronto (yes, it’s THAT David) and we usually share a few words over post-practice coconuts. David has the most experience in Mysore, and it is interesting to hear stories: for example, there was the one about an authorized teacher who threw a party in Gokulum and handed out baked goods laced with who-knows-what without telling anyone. At least one person had a seriously bad trip and went to the hospital. It sounds like the teacher was kicked out of the shala, ex-communicated, shunned or whatever it is that they do. The teacher was not named. Guesses?

Practice, practice, practice. It is truly a joy to go to the shala every day. It only gets better as time passes. After having completely submitted to the necessity of healing injury instead of adding postures, I (E) was given pashasana this week. No one was more surprised than I. Also, Sharath has taken helping me catch in backbending as a personal mission, coaching and manipulating me in a much more specific way in the last few days. I haven’t gotten further than clawing at the ankles with my fingernails, but have received a “Very good” and “Next week.” Yikes. K added krounchasana and will probably be onto shalambhasana next week. We’re both working the jumps of the Primary Series pretty intensely. Strangely, this skill—which we think is one of the most important for the poise and strength it builds—is virtually ignored here in Mysore, at least as far as teaching is concerned. Looking around the shala, there are all levels of it, and Sharath seems not to care in the least. One thing that is clear is that it has nothing to do with being given new postures.

We have been acutely aware, for obvious reasons, of any modifications going on in the practice space. There aren’t a lot, but more than you might expect. Most common (or at least apparent) is knee problems. There are several people with bad knees, modifying one or both sides of many Primary postures. Most hindering are shoulder/wrist injuries. There is one woman who clearly has one or both of these going on, such that she does SS on her forearms and, while she does all of the Primary postures, she does not do any of the jumpback vinyasas. Does this hint at a new touchy-feeley, listen-to-your-body shala? Mmmmm, not exactly. There are still students held up in the middle of Primary, either at the marichyasana postures or garbha pindasana. There is also the occasional shout from Sharath, correcting for some otherwise invisible posture imperfection from across the room: close fingers, heel down, arms slightly wider, etc.

Our usual daily routine is practice, then some fruit and working/napping (it’s the coolest part of the day), lunch “out” somewhere, errands/Internet, and dinner at our flat. Additionally, there's usually a stop by the coconut stand or an evening walk thrown in there. It's an easy rhythm. Trips into the city (Mysore proper) are usually entertaining, if exhausting. With practice, we make a decent scooter-driving team (E driving and honking/K watching and hand signaling). Once we make it into town, it’s not hard to wander into a new restaurant with a few minutes of walking.

It is best to take a quick assessment of the restaurant and then simply enjoy. That is, don’t think too much about food preparation, kitchen conditions, etc. (this is true in the States as well, but absolutely ESSENTIAL here). For example, K had rava dosa at a typically grungy cafe. It comes up at the window and the server scoops up a small pat of butter onto it and brings it over. Delicious. Let’s leave it at that.

Let’s NOT consider that the butter is sitting, not only unrefrigerated, but completely uncovered, in an open container in a stifling open room beside the kitchen. Or that it’s doled out pat-by-pat with the server’s bare, grubby hands, which also wipe tables with filthy rags, buss tables, carry supplies and who knows what else. Let's not think about that.

We're closing out another 48 hours of rest after Saturday's off-day and Sunday's moon day. 430a practice tomorrow and then probably watching the Intermediate led class again. Feel free to drop by…we have a spare room…

The shala is NOT closing

The “special meeting” called by Sharath finally happened Friday morning, and the shala was full to bursting with students. In essence, Sharath said that there are some “serious” issues regarding yoga students in India. First, the national government has changed visa requirements such that it seems that a tourist visa is no longer sufficient for studying yoga. Instead, a yoga student visa is required. This latter is more difficult to get and requires verification and documentation from the institute at which the student will study (in this case KPJAYI). Of course, most of the students now in Mysore received tourist visas with no problem, because they were approved long before the new rules were passed. You would think that these tourist visas would be honored as they were issued before the new rules, but that is not necessarily the case. Read a little about this on kpjayi.org.

Second, Sharath said that on the local level, within Mysore and Gokulum, there have been complaints about yoga students. He had a student read aloud a local newspaper article which described the actions being taken by the police commissioner to essentially crack down on foreigners by enforcing the new student visa requirements. This would, of course, be a problem for us and everyone else who has come here under the “old rules” of tourist visas.

After working everyone up into quite a lather, Sharath addressed these problems. He said that there have been rumors flying in the ashtanga community that the shala would be closing (as a result of the new visa requirements), and that he would no longer be teaching. He denied this and directed everyone to watch kpjayi.org, as he will keep the most current information there. He also said that he has been in contact with the local and national government “trying to keep my students safe” and work out a way through these new regulations. It sounds as if the government has passed these new regulations essentially in response to terrorist acts, and only now are the full implications being understood as enforcement begins on the local level.

In the end, he asked that we trust him to resolve the situation. He has received a promise of a grace period of one month from the police commissioner of Mysore so he can organize the proper paperwork to satisfy the new regulations. He told us not to put any rumors about the shala closing or him leaving “in email or on your Facebook.” These are untrue and stir up many long-time students who then call or email the shala, panicked about it potentially closing. He said it is HIS problem to solve. At the same time, on the local level, he asked that we do our best to deal with the complaints in Gokulum by, well, not being a$$hole foreigners: NOT blocking the street outside the shala, supporting local, Indian businesses, avoiding the questionable restaurants set up by foreigners who are likely not here on a business visa and therefore operating illegally, etc.

It’s hard to tell if this is much ado about nothing or something truly serious. We believe Sharath when he says he has the situation under control, but also when he intentionally used the words “serious problems” a number of times. One indirect result of this meeting was a real sense of responsibility, protection, and affection from Sharath for the students. Daily interaction is usually in the vein of teacher admonishing student, but in the face of these problems, it was very clear that Sharath is workin very hard to protect all of these people who arrest and/or arrange their lives to come from all over the world to study with him.

In short, the shala is NOT closing and Sharath IS teaching as scheduled. It is not clear how the visa situation will shake out in the summer and fall, for the “special (teacher) training” scheduled, but it seems certain that Sharath will post this info ASAP on kpjayi.org.

Not-so-lazy Sunday

Sunday was perhaps our busiest day since we got ourselves settled here.

We started off with led class at 430a. Our led time on Friday is 6a, but because Sunday also includes a led Intermediate class (more on that below), Sharath announces on Friday during the 6a class that the first x number of rows should come at 430a on Sunday. K has been in the first couple of rows each week. After announcing on Friday that the first two rows should come at 430 on Sunday, he must have seen K in the second row and me (E) in the third, b/c as everyone began to disburse he walked right up to me and said “You also come 430 Sunday. With your…girlfriend. I don’t want to separate you.” AWWwwwww…

Anyway, 430 is pretty d@mn early, but we made it, leaving the flat at 345. We were still in the last 1/3 to arrive, so we may need to bump it up even a bit more. The first round of students on any given day must wait outside the gates, huddled under the streetlights. It is not an inspiring sight. At best, the students look vacant, perhaps engrossed in an iPod, at worse some look downright morose. Soon enough the lights come in the shala and the “houseboy,” Prakash, opens the gates. No dragging at that point, it’s a barely-restrained crush through the doors to get a spot I must get a spot so I don’t end up stuck in the waiting area or even worse the locker room so I have to get a spot OH LORD I HAVE TO GET A SPOT HOW ABOUT RIGHT HERE!!!!

It’s a little stressful.

We were done with practice long before dawn and after the ceremonial milling around and consuming fresh coconuts we went back to the flat to clean up before the led Intermediate class.

A little background: each of the six Ashtanga sequences has a specific day of the week assigned to it. Strangely, the second series (Intermediate) starts the week on Sunday, and then Monday-third, Tuesday-fourth, Wednesday-fifth, Thursday-sixth, and Friday-first (Primary). Of course, this is mostly theory, as Sharath is almost certainly the only person in the world following this schedule in full. In the meantime, you do however many sequences you know on the appropriate day.

So, at the shala, there are a decent number of students working on the Intermediate series. Once they learn about the first third of it they attend the led Intermediate class on Sundays. It is a regular pastime for the other students to huddle in the waiting area and watch the led Intermediate class, usually with mixed feelings of envy, fascination, admiration, dread, and, if we can be honest, the occasional wave of schadenfreude.

We have watched led Intermediate classes on previous trips, but this was the biggest one: probably approaching 50 people. It is inspiring to see, and also sadistically fascinating to watch how Sharath works the room: different postures than Primary, obviously, but just as wicked. Rather than dragging out the count in Navasana, for example, here he instead makes everyone wait in chatvari before coming all the way down to the floor for the various prone backbends. Also, for any readers who have braved Kapotasana, which holds a special, black place in my heart, know that the count is brutally slow. So involved was I in watching that I forgot there is a Kapotasana B and gasped in empathy when it was called and counted.
Sunday is also the day for student conference. At 430 in the afternoon students—bearing enormous sunglasses and decked out in their floaty, elegant, scarved-n-shawled Sunday best—attend the optional time with Sharath, usually about an hour, which involves a little lecture/pep talk/admonition and questions. It is a far more casual vibe than any other time in the shala during the week. This week Sharath told some stories, vaguely answered a few questions and smiled while his 7-8 year-old daughter stole the show with a shortened version of the dance she’d just done for recital.

It is nice to be back to Mysore-style practices now (Tuesday). K has been given the next posture, Krounchasana. It looks like Sharath hands them out one per week at most, which would put K at about Ustrasana by the end of our time here. I have been working my a$$ off trying to catch the heels/ankles during backbending. Today, almost. Tomorrow, “is coming.” After my first real attempt at it on Monday, Saraswathi offered some sage advice: “No shake, you.” Take that to heart, dear reader.

In more local news, our landlord had some workers do some repairs to our shower, which was apparently leaking in his kitchen. “One hour work is there,” we were told. The hammer and chisel started at 530p and mercifully, finally, ended at 1030p. No power tools here, just breaking out the existing stone floor with pure strength and the putting down concrete. Concrete, BTW, involves three piles in the driveway: sand, gravel, and cement. They are eye-balled for proportion and mixed manually with a shovel/pick-thing. Add water, scoop a portion into a wide metal bowl, set the bowl on top of your head and walk it up the stairs to the job. Repeat for three hours and you’re good to go. Made us feel that our yoga practice was pretty lazy.

The whole community is a-buzz today over the unexpected, mandatory meeting for all students at the shala at 530p, which Sharath announced during practice this morning. Dare we hope for a pizza party?

Superstars, Pashasana, and modifications

In the end, Sharath didn’t seem to have even noticed that we missed class. So, this is our confession: Sharath, we’re sorry!

The fact that he didn’t say anything seems to imply that he has things on his mind OTHER than OUR practices, start times, wishes and wants, general well-being, and what we are doing each day. Ha! Unlikely.

Surely you are wondering what kind of yoga skills we’ve seen around the practice space. Yes, yes we should have our eyes on our own mats, but come on now. For you, reader, we’ve compromised our morals and looked around.

One student we’ve noticed is David, who teaches at the Ashtanga Yoga Center of Toronto in Canada. David practices all of the Intermediate series. His strength and equanimity make what he is doing quite distinct because it is clean, precise, and refined. Practicing in the same room, you can’t help but take note as each Sun Salutation begins with a pike handstand press before lowering down to chatvari, similar to the embedded video, though he doesn't bring his legs all the way to vertical. There is a similar press from kneeling after each of the kneeling backbends in the sequence (Ustrasana, Laghu Vajrasana, etc), lifting/pulling/pressing the bent legs up the chest, belly, and hips and then a controlled lower into chatvari (most students hop or step rather than lift). It is inspiring.

While every student does some version of backbending, David is one of the few students working on “advanced” backbending, which consists of: 3 press-ups (Urdhva Dhanurasana), after the last one, stand up. Then 3 dropback/stand up. At least three “tic-tacs”—downdog/handstand/upward bow/handstand/downdog and then three Scorpions, dropping over from handstand while pulling the feet as close to the head as possible, and then stand up. Finally, Sharath comes over and assists with one final Scorpion, pressing the feet to the head as David holds handstand, and then the regular ashtanga assisted backbending routine.

Ok, ok, “David this” and “David that.” But what about our heros?

K was given Pashasana on Tuesday, only one week into practice here. Sharath said “Last time Primary only? Tomorrow Pashasana.” This was nice to hear for two reasons. One, because K is being moved on and will have almost the whole time on this trip to work into the beginning of Intermediate with Sharath’s instruction. She had a little bit of backbending weirdness (nauseous, feeling faint, etc) during the first couple of practices, but since then she “is catching” and has received a “Very good” each day from Sharath.

The second reason it’s nice to hear from Sharath “Last time Primary only?” is that it implies that Sharath at least remembers enough about us to know we’ve been here before. That is something with so many students. There are still many arriving. We have been both early and lucky and have parlayed our way up to a 730 start time (we originally began with 830). This bodes well as we are only a week into it and we hope to keep movin’ on up.

I (E) am discovering something else about practice at the shala: they do allow for modification. In short, my knee is $%&*ed up for the time being. Closed knee + lateral hip rotation is not happening currently. So far it seems like the kind of thing that will heal up eventually. In short, it’s not the injury but the timing that is bad. Anyway, Sharath has ok’d me to practice all of Primary, but modify as needed. This is nice, as it allows for all the jumps and backbending without re-aggravating and gives me plenty to work on so I won’t be tempted to push too far. There are a few students doing something similar. It must have been apparent to Sharath when my postures were so different between L and R sides that it was an injury rather than an imbalance.

Speaking of injuries, one more funny thing. During our timeslot it is common to see students who are still learning how to dropback/stand up. Yesterday a female student really ate it during her (unassisted) dropback attempt. There was much preparation and pomp and circumstance. She was standing, leaning back, leaning back, extending her arms, leaning back, extending, balancing, leaning…CRACK! and her head hit the tile floor (through her rug and mat, but it was still damn loud). Saraswathi, who didn’t see it but knew it was not a good sound, said “Oooooh.” It was the most epic failure we’ve yet seen in mid-class. The student in question was fine and decided that that was enough on her own and instead collected herself, stood and waited for Sharath’s help. When he made it over to her he was laughing pretty hard, so we didn’t feel so bad about laughing (though on our previous trip K was scolded for laughing at her own dropback wipeout).

New product idea: Dropback crash helmet?

Shala time

We may be in trouble.

Well, not REAL trouble, but the kind of pretend, scowling, scolding trouble that makes up so much of the ashtanga tradition.

We missed led class this morning. Or, more accurately, the beginning of it.

Sharath said “445” and so we rose at 4, shuffled around and grunted at one another until 420 and then hit the scooter. As we pulled up to the shala we heard the first dawn-sounds of birds. And counting.

Uh-oh.

Either too proud or too smart to sneak/barge in to an ongoing class, we scooted back home. We walked back into our place with the clock reading 431a. WTF?

Rumor has it that the clock at the shala is EXACTLY 17 minutes fast, also known as “shala time.” We knew that everything runs about fifteen minutes early there and had figured this into our schedule. That would mean that Sharath’s 445 is actually 430, our time. This means we should have been arriving at the shala at about 423-25. This is maybe cutting it close, but we knew from our previous trip that 445 led class usually starts at about 5a by the shala clock inside and that the call for 445 is to make sure that no one is late. So, I repeat, WTF?


Methinks that, in addition to the other changes Sharath has been making, he’s been inching up the led class time a little. In retrospect, we can now remember that in addition to saying “445” he also said “430” for the led class time. This would be 430 and 415, respectively, in non-shala time. In short, it’s time for a new plan: ARRIVE at the shala at 4a OUR time. That may or may not happen for Friday’s led class, but certainly will happen again soon.

Luckily, we have our own little Sharath who lives in our computer, so we were able to practice, accompanied by a nice sinking feeling of guilt. Is it possible this is all a (subconscious) part of our masterplan to ensure that Sharath remembers who we are? The tea leaves are inconclusive.

Regardless, it’s back to Mysore-style class tomorrow morning. Either we will show up, wait, and get called in in the customary fashion and nobody will even notice that we were absent. Or, Sharath will mention it to one/both of us during backbending (the most consistent “face time”). Or, worst case scenario, he’ll see us in the waiting room and say in front of everyone something like “Yesterday you are sleeping? You already have one moonday, how many you need? Too much partying?” (characteristic chuckle and scowl)

Better or worse than being told to eat “ONE MEAL ONLY”?

One More

We are already creeping up in start time in the morning. A large number of students had their last practice day on Tuesday, so we showed up pretty early on Wednesday and were not only called in earlier than our 830 practice time, but were also told to come at 800 the following day. We will continue to come early; making ourselves available for “bumping up” in practice time is key. We’d love to practice as early as possible, mostly for the opportunity to see the most skilled yogis here.

While in general new students register and begin after all current students, experienced students are sometimes started early immediately. We recognize one such student who registered on Tuesday (we were hanging outside the shala waiting to pick up a scooter) and was already practiced and gone before we arrived to practice on Wednesday. There is definitely some logic to keeping the students who are working on approximately the same skills/series’ together. We have been surprised at how many faces we recognize from our last trip, as well as a few from workshops with other Ashtanga teachers.

Overall, Sharath seems cheerful and happy to be here. This is different from our memory of our last trip when he seemed to take more pains to be the curmudgeonly, disapproving teacher. He buzzes around the room in a long sleeve AYRI shirt, black shorts and some kind of towel wrapped around his waist, presumably for depositing students’ sweat. He is smiling and joking with students, even giving encouragement (!) During our practice time, he spends most of his time backbending students, occasionally adjusting Marichyasana postures or explaining which postures comes next and telling new students when to stop.

There are some remarkable students here. There are several men doing handstand presses during Sun Salutations, and a decent number of students working on Intermediate Series. Many have very good jumping/floating skills and it’s apparent that even though most everyone is doing the same sequence (Primary Series) the potential for refinement is infinite. Some are sloppy, some are precise. Of the few students at our times doing Intermediate, one woman in particular caught our eye as we were waiting to be called in for practice: she did Karandavasana THREE TIMES in a row, unassisted. Apparently it wasn’t up to her standards as she kept repeating it, but as far as we could tell it was perfect. We have also seen students doing incredible backbending: catching the shins/calves unassisted, without putting the hands down. Don’t try this at home, kids. All of that said, there are representatives of all skills levels here.

Today was the first led class of our trip. Fridays and Sundays are led classes. By luck we ended up in Sharath’s second led class at 6a (Saraswati takes over w/ another at 8). It was brutal and wonderful. He counted pretty fast, but wrung all he could out of the really juicy parts (Navasana, anyone?). Ut Plutihi is always a joy. Today we both counted about ten actual breaths in the space between “One!” and “Two!” and let’s not even talk about “Nine!” and “Ten!” Sunday is a Moon Day, so there will be no class. Monday will have led classes instead of Mysore practice to make up for the Moon Day. Sharath advised “No partying!” We find ourselves in the first led class on Monday: 445a.

Yesterday was a long day of homemaking after a terrible night of sweating and mosquitoes in our new place. It’s not uncommon to notice students riddled with bites during practice: but not us! The mosquito net is in place, along with water supply, cooking stove, dishes, pots and pans, etc. Our place is remarkably big: one main room, two extra rooms, a shower room and a bathroom, all very spacious and located above a house. We have it all to ourselves unless we decide to sublet the extra rooms (not likely!). Furnishing it meant two days of going through rupees like water, but in the long run it’s an excellent place at a time when everyone is scrambling to find a room.

Other adventures: mastering the scooter, getting an expert cobbler sandal repair on a streetcorner (btw, the sandals in question were labeled too far gone to fix by a shoe repair establishment in Davenport before we left), learning how to select a ripe pineapple, and readjusting to the joys of India power outages, both planned (every night 8-9p) and otherwise (most anytime, including as this is being written), and the first hot shave.

Right now we're looking down the barrel of over 48 hrs of rest time. What to do?

Ah, this is the life

Well, we slipped right back into the yoga bum lifestyle as if we never left. It's almost as if we live some version of this way even when at home. We're two days into practice at KPJAYI and feeling thoroughly sore in the hammys and satisfied overall. We have a start time of 830a, which is pretty late, but not difficult to understand with the shala as full as it is. Sharath is still teaching during our practice, and for this we are grateful. We were both told to do full Primary on the first day. I (E) am a little gimpy due to a knee issue, so Sharath almost stopped me at Marichyasana D, but I told him to buzz off. No, seriously, I was able to catch, even if only by my fingernails. Not sure if my knee is in the process of opening up into some new magical vista of flexibility or if it's just falling apart, but I'm working with it.

There are all levels of students at the shala. With our start time we see mostly those at our level and below, as the total beginners are arriving as we are wrapping it up. There is probably some 3rd & 4th series craziness going on at 5a; we're hoping to have our times bumped up, especially as Sharath's first month ends.

Today we are happy b/c within 30 minutes of ending our practice we had secured a great place to stay and a scooter. These two chores, especially the former, had been weighing on us as everyone EVERYONE told us how many students are here and how there is no housing. We won't have wi-fi in the place, and it's your average Indian concrete, barebones structure, but it is three or four rooms, an open air hallway, kitchen, bath, etc. With the scooter, Internet is only a few minutes away. So far, Indian driving rules seem to be: do anything at any time as long as you honk excessively.

Today as we were waiting to be called in to practice, one student was leaving through the waiting area. He was very noticeable b/c he actually a little…stout. Portly. Husky. Chubby. You get it. You wouldn't even notice him most places, but for the shala he's heavy. So, anyway, he's almost out the door and Sharath calls across both the practice space AND the waiting area: "Andrew! Remember, today ONE MEAL ONLY." He comes hustling across the practice space and sticks his head out into the waiting area and says it again. Andrew says "Yeah, I know, I've already lost 6 kilos." Sharath says "Six more!" and turns on his heel and goes back to work.

The first lead class approaches (Friday morning). It should be a swift ass kicking and we're looking forward to it.

...zzzZZZZzzzz...

Three flights, two layovers, one taxi ride and about 30 hours in transit and we are officially back in Mysore. Currently, that means sitting in an open air Internet Cafe in about 75° early Friday morning, typing away. We have about 15 minutes of good sleep between us in the last 48 hours, so we're gritty-eyed and thick-headed, but otherwise well.

To be here again feels remarkably surreal. Surely the sleep deprivation has something to do with it. But more than that, it's a deja vu sort of feeling to be again in a place that has remained vivid and frequently visited in memory in the last two years. It almost feels as if we never left, and yet it was overwhelming to simply walk through Gokulum for the first time a few minutes ago. It's loud, hot, dusty, aromatic, urban, and somehow like stepping directly into a memory you've been savoring on a daily basis for years.

For today we are staying with an Indian family. That is only until we find a more suitable place (they normally don't host couples, and it's a little too far from the shala), which is the main business for today. That means knocking on a few well-known facilitators' doors, and also asking most anyone we run into. There is sure to be a significant turnover at the end of Sharath's first month of teaching here (Tuesday the 9th) and hopefully we can scoop up a soon-to-be-vacated prime spot. Dare we hope for wi-fi?

We've also been invited tonight to go see some Indian classical dance with our host family. It will be a good reason not to go to bed at noon (Mysore time). If we can make it through the performance before crashing out, we're well on our way to shaking off the jet-lag.

Our first practice day at the shala will be Wednesday Feb 10th. We will probably register at the shala on Monday the 8th and hope for a good (early) start time. Hope Sharath likes our new haircuts! There looks to be enough room in our living space to practice on our own until then. K is looking forward to sweating again; E is already sweating from the typing exertion.

All for now. Shout out to all who attended the first Mysore class in our absence, which wrapped up just a few hours ago!