Closer to Self Practise

Being the last week of the beginner's 2 course and the final week before starting mysore style practise, today's class was a mysore style practise. We were able to progress at our own pace and do our best at remembering the sequence. I was pretty much able to remember it all which I surprised myself at. After Marichyasana A I spent some much needed time on the finishing sequence. I used a blanket under my mat for Salamba Sarvangasana because the bone at the base of my neck really digs into the ground and hurts after a while. My teacher helped adjust me in this pose and I could finally feel what it is like to get this pose correctly. It felt awesome. It is taking me a while to get Sirsasana as it takes some time to feel comfortable standing on your head. I have difficulty finding the spot on my head that enables me to get into this pose. I find it hard to know if I'm straight in the pose or not and have trouble getting my legs up off the ground.

I'm really excited about starting mysore classes. I'm nervous too, but far more excited. Just to be in the room with everyone doing their own pratise at their own pace and feeling the vibe of the room. I remember being blown away by the led class I did a couple of weeks back. I stayed after class this morning, had a chai and watched the mysore class. It was awesome to just see people at different levels practising together. I could see how the more advanced students really flow with their practise. It just looked unreal, like a really soft flowing dance. Amazing.

One small concern I have is how much this is all going to cost me. Keeping a regular practise and driving half an hour to and from the studio every morning. But what is money when it's your health? I'm just going to have to cut back on other expenses which is fine because there is no way I'm giving up Ashtanga. No way at all.

Back on the Mat

Well, it's been a week since my last entry mainly because I haven't been to class because I had a foot infection. It's a lot better now, but before it was a lot worse and could hardly walk, I had to hop almost everywhere. Somehow I must have cut my foot and it got infected. My foot was swollen and tender. I'm on antibiotics and it's so much better. I don't take any sort of medication unless absolutely necessary and in this case it was. Thank god it's better because not being able to do yoga has been killing me. I feel like it's been so much longer than a week. But now I'm back on the mat!

Obviously having missed a week, this morning's class was a little off. There isn't anything in particular that stands out about the practise except for my energy levels being a little low and having to be a little careful with my foot. We only went as far as Marichyasana A before we went on to the finishing sequence up to Karna Pidasana. I have to start using a blanket under my neck in Sarvangasana as the bone at the back of my neck digs into the mat and hurts. It felt so good to be back on the mat this morning. Because I missed Monday's class due to my foot, I think I'll go to one of the led classes on Saturday or Sunday.

Tomorrow morning my younger sister is going to Canada for 3 weeks on a Contiki tour and then staying with friends before coming home. So tonight the family is having a dinner at my parent's house to see her before she leaves, so I'll miss arabic drumming class tonight. I haven't seen my little sister in a while as she's been away on Grad camp for her work so it'll be great to see her before she leaves.

Tomorrow night there is Kirtan again at The Satyananda Yoga Centre in Collingwood so I'll hopefully get along to that. Then off to my friend Ylleyna's for dinner and a dvd. She's off to China in a month for three weeks and I haven't seen her in a while either so it'll be great to see her again too.

Other than that, I hope to spend a lot of the weekend reading the mountain of books I've got to read.

Full & Half Vinyasa

I found this morning's practise to be really good once again. We had a new teacher this morning who was filling in for our usual teacher who was doing Dena Kingsberg's workshop. She was a lot of fun and brought a fresh relaxed atmosphere to the class. I managed to go further than usual into each posture by really working my bandhas and being more aware of my breathing. I've just bought 'Moola Bandha - The Master Key' by Swami Buddhananda for a deeper understanding of this bandha. I hope it comes in the mail today. The more I read about Ashtanga the greater my understanding is of what i'm doing and why, which in turn can be appplied to my practise.

I only just found out this morning about a 'full vinyasa' practise with full vinyasa between postures and half-vinyasa between sides. The more I find out about ashtanga the more complex it becomes. It's unreal! Lino Miele recommends a 'full vinyasa' practise to those students who have completed primary series. He says it takes many years to build up the endurance and stamina. I'm sure there are people who have their own thoughts and experiences on this. I hope to discuss this with my teacher after next class.

Well, there's only 2 weeks to go until this course is over and I can start daily mysore classes at 6am at the studio. I've been doing practise at home on days of no class, but I'm really looking forward to mysore classes. I'm a bit nervous as I'm not entirely sure what to expect. I'm a little worried about not remembering the sequence and stuff, but I guess for those of us that are new that's what the teacher's there for too I suppose.

Morning vs Evening

Dammit! I wrote a whole entry and then lost it. Now I have to try remember what I wrote.

Went to class last night at 6.30pm as I missed class on Monday morning at 6am. I noticed a big difference between practise in the evening compared with early morning. I had a lot less energy and concentration thanks to a busy day at work. The mornings are a much better time to practise as everything is fresh and I have the energy and concentration. Last night I had a lot of difficulty breathing throughout the practise. I was also unable to get as far in each asana as I usually would. I couldn't believe how much energy I lacked. My teacher noticed after the standing sequence that everybody was exhausted more than usual. The energy in the air was really bizarre, so she took us through some different asanas at a slower pace that enabled us to stretch and work certain muscles without pushing ourselves too far. It was a welcome relief by all. Like I said, the vibe was quite strange. We finished the class with a good 10mins in Savasana.

After class I had the opportunity to ask my teacher several questions I had compiled from reading Guruji's 'Yoga Mala' and from my own practise. Some of the questions were about: variations of Utkatasana, discussion about knees being at 90 degrees in such asanas as Virabhadrasana etc., discussion of bandhas, and correct Neti (nasal cleansing) technique and where to learn it. Talking to my teacher certainly shed some light on a lot of things as it gives me a deeper understanding of this practise.

Led Class

Well another weekend over. I didn't make it to class on Thursday as I was still not 100% and didn't want to push my body. I figure when you're unwell it's best to rest.

I woke up yesterday feeling a lot better. Because I missed class on Thursday I went to a 2 hour led class yesterday. It was unreal. I'd never actually done a class aside from the beginner's courses, so it was a great experience. Everybody was so into their practise. You could feel a raw passionate energy coming from everyone. As I haven't been feeling well, I really noticed how little energy I had compared to the level I normally have. I rested when I needed to during class, but was able to manage getting through to the end. It was the vinyasa between postures that sapped my energy. I had difficulty with the finishing postures mainly because we are still going over them in class. Utthita Hasta Padangustana A, B, C, D today were the best yet. I didn't fall out of the poses once. I have a lot of difficulty with my toes in Janu Shirshasana C. I can't see how over time I can get my foot the way it's supposed to be. It just feels so unnatural.

New postures for the first time included Marichyasana A, B, C, D, Navasana and most of the finishing postures. I couldn't go very far forward with Marichyasana A & B but was able to bind them. I was also able to bind in C & D but had difficulty with the lotus feet in D. Navasana was unreal on the abs and I found it extremely hard trying to get my legs straight. Felt like such a great ab workout.

I realised I need to get a mysore style mat to go over my black sticky mat. I've been litterally dripping with sweat and it's been making my mat slipery which is quite dangerous. The only place I know that sells them is EMP Industrials in Malvern but they are only open Mon - Fri which means I can't get there as I work fulltime. I'll have to ask my teacher.

On Saturday I went to St Andrew's market and spent the day relaxing out there in the sun drinking chai and catching up with my group of friends. I got my haircut there from Kirsty. An amazing lady with such beautiful energy. She spent a long time travelling around India, does daily meditation and is a shiatsu massage practitioner. Everytime she cuts my hair we seem to laugh a lot and put eachother in really good moods.

I saw Greg and Tracey, the owners of the Ashtanga yoga shala, at St Andrew's market. I didn't get much of a chance to chat as I had my hair appointment with Kirtsy. My friend Deej, Kate and Sue came to the market as well. It was so great to see them all again. It's our weekly ritual, especially in summer, to spend almost every Saturday relaxing at St Andrew's in the sun drinking chai, shopping and sometimes drumming.

On Satuday night I went to my parent's house for dinner for my sister's 21st birthday. It was great to catchup with the family. After dinner I hired "The Next Best Thing" with Madonna, because I heard it had Ashtnaga yoga in it. It wasn't very exciting at all. There wasn't that much footage. Madonna is very good though.

Indian Groceries

Class on Monday was by far the best yet. I found that it flowed really well for the first time. I was more aware of my bandhas and ujjayi breathing throughout the practise. I didn't have too much difficulty breathing throughout the practise. I still had trouble with the balancing postures but feel myself progressing very slowly. The best thing about Monday's practise was being able to get Padmasana with holding my toes behind my back, and holding my toes behind my back in the standing forward bend (Ardha Baddha Padmottanhasana). I felt a sense of achievement which was great. My teacher helped me get into full Padmasana and it felt fantastic being able to do it. The only other noticable thing in my practise this time was getting sore shoulders in the back bending (Urdhva Dhanurasana). I guess I just have to build up the strength in my shoulders, but I'll raise it with my teacher tomorrow.

On Friday I found an awesome little Indian grocery store. I found it just by chance. I was having my lunch at a little bakery near work and saw an arcade. So I wandered down and found it. I spent about 30 minutes in there talking to the owner about India (as I hope to go to mysore at some stage in the future), browsing the huge collection of spices and incense and groceries, and I ended up buying some chicken tikka seasoning, more chandrika soap (god i love it) and some mysore sandalwood soap. I have to go back and get my chai ingredients.

I've got a sore throat at the moment which is why I didn't write this entry on Monday. I took Monday arvo and yesterday off as was unwell. I still have a sore throat but am feeling better. I've taken vitamin C, echinacea, a couple of garlic cloves, drinking lots of herbal tea and lots of water. Why am I getting sick? I eat well, I exercise...I don't get it. Is there some universal/spiritual meaning behind it? I have my own interpretations. I just got back from that Indian grocery store I just mentioned and bought a veggie curry that I just made here at work and almost burnt my mouth off...lol. It was soooo hot, it was awesome! I've also just made myself a tea that is 'supposed' to help ward off the cold/flu. It's called Samahan (from the Deshiya System of medicine) and contains 14 different herbs. It tastes great! Hope it helps. I'm always open to alternative forms of healing. If it works it works. I tend to believe that just because Western medicine and science cannot explain a particular treatment or form of healing does not mean that it doesn't work. Like anything, some things work for some people and not for others. It's all personal experience.

Full Class, Questions, Chai

Yesterday's class was awesome. At times I found it a little challenging as I kept running out of breath. That's something I'll have to talk to my teacher about. We had a really full class yesterday (and would you believe one other male besides me...lol) as we had people who are already doing Mysore classes but needed a little refresher on some things, and we also had a couple of people from the first beginners course as they got the days mixed up. It was great to see so many enthusiastic people. When somebody was being adjusted, we could all over hear and therefore were aware of the adjustment for ourselves, so I learnt many new minor adjustments. The room was energetic and everyone seemed to be feeding off eachother's energy. I had a girl next to me and occassionally we would accidentally bump arms or something as we were so close as the room was packed. I'd read posts of people who had been to Mysore and mention bumping into people. Was a new experience - made me smile. Made me more aware of my body during the practice in a new way.

Over the past few weeks I've been reading John Scott's book and Guruji's Yoga Mala and have been writing down questions as I've been reading. I haven't had much of a chance to speak to my teacher about them as after class I often have to quickly shower and get to work or I'd be late. I often push the time enough as it is. But yesterday I showered, made myself a Chai and waited til my teacher was finished at reception to talk. I got my answers to most of my questions which was great. My enthusiasm sometimes gets the better of me but I didn't want to have a huge list of questions all at the one time, so I was glad I got the ones I had answered. She also discussed with me more about how the course I'm doing will run until the end in 4 weeks. More personal feedback, more mysore style towards the end, learning the sanskrit names for the poses (which I'm having trouble doing).

Aside from practise I've spending time preparing myself for more of a lifestyle change once I begin Mysore classes. Being disciplined enough to get to bed early (getting up is always ok), thinking about the impact this is going to have on my social life. Adam is very supportive which is fantastic. He saw me after class once and was blown away at how alive I looked. He knows how much I love it and how much it means to me and has seen so many positive changes. He said he fully supports me as he sees how happy it makes me. I had coffee with my friend Daniel last night and was telling him about the yoga I've been doing, but I somehow can't wonder how much will change in my life through doing this and how my friends will view my practise and dedication. There will be many sacrifices from my part. I'm guess I'm just thinking too much. But I know other Ashtangi's have gone through the same. I just like to prepare myself as much as possible.

Cold Autumn Morning

Woke up this morning to a temperature of 2 degrees Celcius outside. The weather lately has been such a change to the warmth we've had most of this year. When I arrived at yoga this morning at 6am, quite a few people had sniffles and were commenting on their low energy this morning. I noticed it myself. My energy levels were a lot lower this morning than usual.

Class was great this morning. A much slower pace which everyone seemed to appreciate. I was getting short of breath during the first half of the class while my body was taking its time to warm up. It didn't help that I was tired because I got to bed late last night. Once I had warmed up I found all the forward bending to be exactly what my body needed. It felt so great stretching the hamstrings etc. Nothing else seemed unusual during this morning's practice besides being tired and feeling short of breath at the beginning. We started Janu Shirshasana C today and found I had trouble with getting the foot in the vertical position and opening the hip. Will see how I go next time. Only one other positive thing stood out - that was being able to go much much further into my forward bends. I have never gone so far. It felt fantastic.

Being a Monday I am so glad class was this morning. What a fantastic way to start the week. I look forward to eventually starting most of my days like this. What a natural high!

Had a relaxing weekend. Saturday I went to brunch with my best friends Lisa and Deej (Kylie). We went to one of my favourite cafe's in Warrandyte and sat outside in the cold for about 3 hrs stuffing our faces with eggs, french toast, oj, coffee, etc. It was so great to see them. Then I spent the rest of the weekend with Adam, bumming round the house in trackies, watching dvds, cleaning, eating, washing the cat (CC) etc. It was great to spend some quality time together as we both had a very busy week.