I realize that talking about one’s practice is like talking about your dreams . . . no one really cares.    You come to the mat and like a student of mine said just the other day in a post making reference to daily practice and how amazing it is that one day you can’t do something and the next day, well you do it.   Whatever it is, I am sure most practioners can surely relate as that’s what daily practice teaches you.  You keep showing up, keep applying what  you know, what your teacher tells you and you come to learn what is expected of you.

Here in Mysore it is expected that eventually you stand up from your back bend and then to top this off you drop back.   I have been practicing long enough to know this and that is the scary part.   This is something in the back of my mind always and I have stood up before only to just go back to my old tricks the next day which is not to stand up properly at least.   To be clear, properly for me, is not dropping to my knees as I habitually do.    So today as I started my practice I felt good, centered and asanas being connected like dots . . . almost.   Jump backs improving or at least feeling fine with a little lift.  I felt like it was about trusting myself for once that when I came through on a jump back I would not fall on my face or chest and that I could hold it.  I mean, seriously, I have been doing this long enough.    Besides all this will help me at the end where it seems to count here.  If I take shortcuts and avoid stuff,  I am only hindering my personal development.    I mean I can get through the practice just fine and today I felt like, well let me do this practice and find the yoga and my back bend. Come back to the dristhi when there is a distraction and there was,  or bring that awareness back to my breath and there were times I had to tell myself breath here.  Are you inhaling and are you exhaling?

All around me practitioners know what is expected and they stand up, they drop back.   You may have some preconceived notion or a plain old judgement about someone and then they are doing it right next to you.  Some pretty, some not so pretty, but they are doing it.  Also getting close to the heals seems to be some key element.   Sharath standing in front of me after I did my backbends. This was after I had one feeble attempt to stand and then the one that seemed like okay that was good enough, I’m up.  So he says, “you dropping back” and I said no and just shook my head, and said “I have some fear” and left it at that.  I think I knew what was coming so I maintained my breathing and I happened to turn my mat over minutes before as it had some moisture.  So I go and I landed it, walk it in and up again.  He was there each time with a minimal amount of assistance on the front body at the hips.  I did this three time and he says, “You can do it.”  I have heard this before from Chuck so this is familiar.  I have also learned in just 8 days that Sharath does not talk much and only says what needs to be heard so I am listening.  I’m shaking at this point and during the halves he tells me,”relax,” but I can’t, but I try.  No words.  I go back down and then here it goes again.  Walk it in, straight arms, walk it in again, straight arms and again.   I come back up and he says . . . “one inch” and makes a motion with his hands.

I took the longest rest and felt the prana pulsing through every inch of my body seeming to know exactly where to go, needing no direction from me.   This series of events leading up to my backbend is what I personally need to work through as my journey in this practice evolves some more.  No avoidance, no shortcuts and glossing over things that I thought it were just good enough.  Maybe there is some Mysore magic here after all.

Practice has been good in the Shala and anyway practice is always good.  It is what we do.  Parker and I have a routine and being here in Mysore with Sharath and Saraswathi is a time to focus on that.  I mean we get up at 3:30 am so we have adjusted our day so this is possible.  There is also Chanting and Yoga Sutra Study for us in the late morning and I somehow took on some other classes in the afternoon on some days.   I know, I like life full, what can I say.

I have the good fortune to be there for the opening chant and Parker the same at the Shala he practices in.  He is learning the words through this repetition and you know the switch that goes off in the brain when you start saying it in the streets and on walks.   That’s fun to experience and it is somewhat of a relief, like the asana sinking in, the chanting starts to sink in.

I come here to practice and to learn more about myself and yearn to go deeper inside to the heart center, to the source, through the yoga.   No matter where you are, you bring yourself to the practice.    There is no magic and no shortcuts just because I come to Mysore.  As it was said in conference and in yoga sutra study we are building the foundation for yoga through asana practice.    Strong house, strong foundation and something that will be able to sustain us in our lives through the ups and downs and the flow of the universe.   I like the energy here and the practitioners are a pretty special bunch here.  The commitment is unending and I get that.   Everyone is looking to focus, to go deeper and to do their practice.

Speaking for myself, I have no real expectations but I do have goals.  I want to do the practice correctly, feel good in my body, breathe properly and certainly have the desire to accomplish something that I have been working on.  We will leave it at that.  In Ashtanga Yoga and while in Mysore for sure, you give yourself permission to practice when you are tired, when you are a little sad, when you are maybe lonely and homesick as well as when you feel great and are ready for anything.  Again, it is what  you come to do.

In conference someone asked a question and he happened to not be at practice that day.  Sharath knew and said, “Why weren’t you in practice” and of course there was not a good answer so Sharath made a joke of having to pay a 2,500 rupees fine.   We laughed but I felt sorry.  I mean, didn’t we all arrange our lives to learn and put our trust in this teacher.  People still think that they know better, that they know more.

One other question was about the inner Guru.  Some of us like to think that we are following this and that we do not need a teacher telling us as we are following the teacher we all have inside.  However and this is a big however, how do you know this is not your ego speaking and your ego getting in the way.  Practice is polishing this inner guru and it usually needs some help and that’s what we do in the rooms, through the various series.  I like what the Ashtanga practice teaches me here and everywhere I go.

Saturday was Parker’s day to practice led Ashtanga with Saraswathi.  As she came down the stairs to enter the Shala, I asked if it was okay to observe and let her know that I was Parker’s Mom.  She nodded okay and then proceeded to the office and then minutes later was doing the opening chant.  I was inside the Shala watching as there was some space to observe.  There is something wonderful about these beginners as they are all take these teachings from the source.    Some people have been practicing with Saraswathi for two years and some just two weeks.   The mats laid out in uneven rows with practioners setting up in the space that calls them.   As a group they seemed to move around and were a bit restless.  Legs straight out in front or hugging them in or even standing, with only a few sitting quietly for the start.    The journey is an evolution and the more you come to the mat, the more comfortable you are with coming to practice and learning about the energy of a group.  The more you do self practice, you start to learn the ways to help yourself in practice.  I think that here, in this place, is does not take long to be seasoned.  This is what  you come to do.

I did not have much of an inkling of how far Parker would be getting in the series.  Every day something new was added so there was a built up over the week.  Saraswathi was very attentive to Parker in such a strong loving way.  He looked tight with a down dog that is not yet that comfortable.  At the same time, he appeared attentive and confident.   In just a few days he was developing a relationship with his teacher and she was watching to see how he was doing.  One thing that is amazing is that with something so simple as showing up every day to the mat, how much progress and confidence one can develop.   Those new uneasy awkward feelings can get set aside to make room for us to experiment and grow in the practice.  There are no short cuts.

As she started the series, in the same way as her father before her, calling out Ekam, all the hands went up in unison.  She had such a command of this beginner group of Ashtangis and they settled in quite nicely.  She also had confidence in them to be able to do this practice.    The way it is taught  builds the confidence and the willingness to try.  I was struck by how still they were in the asana once they got there and how they waited for the next count.  Parker was assisted in Ardha baddha padmottanassa and was enourged by her to take his foot and go down.   With her standing behind he reached for the floor touching with the tip of his finger, teetered a bit and when he came up did the other side.   This is when you just do and trust.  He did not seem to have a choice in the matter and this young man has put the trust there so that he can learn.  It is not conscious and I think something that just happens when you leave aside all the reasons why you can’t and come to a place where you figure someone is going to teach you something.

When practioners paused, she repeated, “you do”, “jump back”, “catvari” or “okay stopping” motioned for them to sit.   Somehow with little instruction you know the drill and then when back bending came everyone was encouraged to go up and they did.  I could see Parker struggling and could identify with the difficulty of this asana.    She assisted Parker several times and he got new poses added that day up to Purvattanasana.  After back bending she guided his head to his knees adjusting on his shoulders firmly and he touched.  I laughed to myself and felt so very blessed to have her help with influencing and teaching my son.

As they say, and as I have often experienced in raising my children through some challenging times, it takes a village.  Right now I have Saraswathi, Sharath, Laksmish and all the yogis in this broad and diverse Ashtanga Yoga Community here in Mysore.

Today was a moon day so we were able to go touring around.  We had the fortunate opportunity to go with a small group of English and American Yogis and their families.  People come to Mysore with their families and this makes for a most amazing family trip.  The age ranges of the kids in the families was 3 1/2 to 10.  It is refreshing to see this younger set enjoying the sites very much and with little complaint about heat or tired feet.   Everyone participated in the journey.

Arriving in two small vans after a 3 hour drive we walked 620 steps up to the Gommateshwara Statue.   The statue is very clean as they do rituals of cleaning it as part of the prayer ceremonies and it represents absolution of material wealth and promotes peace and non violence.    I attached a link for reference on this as It is a fun adventure and something very worth visiting.  Parker was able to relax the guard that he has had up, knowing that we were in good company and that as a group things would be pretty cool.    Unlike the tour with me the day before in Mysore City at the Devaraja market which was somewhat overwhelming for him.   It is supposed to be chaotic but some panic set it as we got deeper into the market.   Our feelings relating to our experiences inside ourselves were just about on the opposite ends of the spectrum.

It is interesting when you start to learn something about yourself.  He realized that he is not much of a city person.  Not that you want to get stuck in something when you really don’t have the experience but you understand the comfortable feeling verses the ones that bring up some anxiety.  The yoga gives us a chance to experience silence so that we can go inward and see what masks we wear and start to shed them.  It helps us deal with the uncomfortable places that you find yourself in and to face those obstacles in our practice, in our life on and off the mat.   Yoga is bringing about communication, openness, letting go and a tapping in that cannot come about easily in other ways.

It was refreshing to come home to Gokulum and have a nice meal at Tins’a Cafe.   It is the country here in this small village and we are feeling more and more at ease and just happier.   Tomorrow is led primary for him and I get another day of rest.

By Parker Williams, 17

How does one begin to describe the experience I’ve had only 6 days into this amazing journey? My first impressions of this foreign land tell me that “this is not normal”, but the truth is its just life that I’m not accustomed to. Cows and dogs roaming the streets, garbage and a polluted stench in the air. I’m thinking “how could someone survive more than a day here?” However as I’ve settled in to this place I call home for the next few weeks I’ve come to realize that its really not bad at all, its rather amazing. The people are friendly, the food isn’t to shabby and the smell…well it still smells.

As a beginner to the Ashtanga practice my body has aches and pains all over after only 4 days. The thought of waking up at 4:30 am was unappealing to me at first and now though i find its really not bad at all. It just means ending my day early although that’s not a problem at all.  The walk to the Shala in the morning is tedious but after my practice I feel refreshed and rejuvenated.  Every day my practice seems to ease along up to the point where Saraswathi tells me to contort my not so flexible body into postures I’ve never done before. I love it though. I’m really becoming to understand why my Mom has such an obsession with the Ashtanga yoga practice.

Chanting is at 10 am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and Yoga Sutra on days in between and on Sunday. The 2 other classes really seem to compliment my practice and give me an understanding of what the point of everything I’m doing here is.

At first I thought that my Mother and I were the only “white people” in this city, but as the days went on we met more people from all other the world. Brazilians, Spaniards, English and even people from Wisconsin. It’s great to finally find out were not in this alone. I’ve really come to be more relaxed with this whole situation.

Though I’m not strictly a vegetarian and would much rather enjoy a juicy steak and a fat burger with fries and a milkshake, I’ve come to really like the masala dosas and briani, but its always great to get a “western breakfast” of pancakes and french toast.

I have a long trip ahead of me and can’t wait to discover more of this incredible country.  Only thing I have to worry about now is avoiding the chaotic driving system, that amazingly enough seems to be in a way organized.

The rhythm of the Mysore room is incredible.  With mats inches apart all around in a synchronized pattern of neat rows, yoga practitioners stand at the front of their mat to do their practice.  I always have loved this rhythm of the Mysore room where you have the various series being practiced and the flow of the practices working together forming a rhythmic order of asana and breath.

When I start the room is just getting going as we all walk in together to take our place.  Even though everyone just about starts out together the energy builds and then students do what has been taught to them by Sharath for their yoga practice.   This group has a lot of Intermediate with Advanced practices mixed in.  LIke a choir singing no one is looking to stand apart with their breath or doing any overextending or extra steps in an asana no matter what series they are doing.   The most advanced practitioner gets in no ones way doing Nakrasana  by going on an angle or by going up and back in the small inches between mats.    After Navasana (boat pose), it gets interesting and hopefully there is a level of control over the mind that has built up over this time on the mat and this is half way through the series.  There are wide angle poses and times when knees and legs are out to the side.  There is Cakrasna (backward roll) on the mats and everything is done so quietly on the mat.  No hard landings here.  It is all about practicing yoga and you stay in control of your mind and the body will follow.  This is poetry in motion.

As my mind wandered and drishti (where I am looking), as well as you may have noted, I was noticing the intricate level at how the asanas (poses) performed in close proximity worked together like a well oiled machine.  I had to refocus as I rolled in Garbha pindasana, fearing I would roll off to the side and hit someone and the only way to get around this was to bring my mind back to my breath and back to what I was doing.  It’s possible to bring it back as I made it around nicely with a not so perfect start.

As I approached backbends today I figured I would do more than the allotted three and let my breath open my body, building up after each backbend.   I have in my mind to use those three D’s I learned in my first Sutra class this week;  my determination, my dedication and the devotion to the supreme being that could lift me up.  In any event I will not go into the results however the trials were equal, working to continue to try without the attachment to success or failure.  We have to look at this as all moving in the right direction and that this is the part of the journey where we can flourish or give up. The assistant was there for my drop backs and with the wonderful timing Sharath was giving Supta Vajrasana assist right next to me.  He says to me smiling, “Looks like you need an auto rickshaw to get your feet.”   I get it, I get it.  You may have to think about this but it’s a nice side joke that you may not get often here.  I will take it!

Parker’s reflection to come, stay tuned.  From what I heard people are following him!

Everyone likes to ask you if this is your first time in Mysore.  I ask it, people ask me and it is sort of the conversation opening.  No one talks about the series or the poses, what  you do at home, what you do here, just if this is your first time and then how long are you staying.    I also like to know when I meet people how seasoned they are.  You can start to tell and I know I totally look like a novice but I’m finding my way.    I was able to walk in with the early crowd today.  It’s fun and they look like that have a notion of exactly what spot they are taking. Some have been here a while and have developed these samsakaras around this I think.  In any event, it is like that everywhere and human nature is basically the same.  I was just glad for the heads up from Chuck about the uneven places.   I felt more at home today in the Shala.   Every day you learn, every day you grow in the practice.

There is a welcome shift that comes with practice here.  It is a calming shift to doing a practice with no expectations, no agenda, no hurry, no worry and to take the practice inwards.   When it comes down to it we are working to controlling the mind. I am finding that I have a lot of mind stuff that comes up and I am working on being patient with that.  It is easy to get distracted with these beautiful practices that seem to flow without skipping a beat and then with the practices that are taking a little more work.  What I am finding is that everyone is working on doing what the practice calls them to do and to finding that inner peace and tapping in to the source or Atman as it is referred to in Yogic Philosophy.

For this Ashtangi, I did not have this voyage in the forefront of my mind until fairly recently, and I think this is one of the places you come to want or long to get to eventually especially since I enjoy teaching so much.   I think the situation right now in this time is unique with Parker at Saraswati’s Shala and me in the main Shala.  My expression of how proud I am of this cannot be put into words as whatever happens there is a tapping into the source that is happening here for this  young man.   I walk down to the Shala with him and feel special that I have something so precious as this relationship as I walk quietly back up to the main Shala.  I tuck it right in my heart.

With the universe in it’s perfect order, the new session of the Yoga Sutra class started this morning.   It is just under an hour and we covered a lot and for Parker this was interesting as it was the basics.  We all need to go back to the basics to remember how and why we are called to this practice.  There are what we call the 3 D’s to take benefit from yoga; determination, dedication and devotion.    And the key is that it is required to have all 3 to start to begin to practice yoga.

With things not so perfect I am installing myself in the middle of a Sanskit class and getting some special help this afternoon before tomorrows session.  This should be interesting to say the least.

Om Shanti!

Parker has the earliest start time and I have the latest one they are giving out this time of year, 4:30 am and 7:00 am respectively.  This is Shala time and you have to figure that out (basically 20 minutes earlier).   He is at Saraswati’s Shala and I am at the main Shala which is a 6 minute walk.  We are the first to arrive where he is is supposed to go and we sit outside the gate.  I thought it was going to rain on us and just then two men walked on by, thru the gate and up the stairs.  Parker took the opportunity to follow.  These guys knew the ropes and from what he told me they started their practice.  He waited for Saraswati and I told him to wait for her.  He would not have started even without that advise.  Best not to pretend that you know when you don’t and that seems to be the first thing one has to learn anywhere.   She would teach him and we had time.   His practice was nice with lots of sun salutations and the first part of standing poses.    Sit in lotus and rest.  It was an hour, it was good.  He will learn and I will let go.  Chanting class is at 10 am.   This is out of the comfort zone but feels right here at this time and place and he is enthusiastic about the process.

After I leave Parker, it’s 4:30 am and nothing is open for me to go and wait for my start time.  Parker has our key to the apartment.  So I figure I would go to the Shala and wait there.  I am in the waiting room and I look up and Sharath is there in front of me telling me I can’t wait here.   I mention that I know my start time is later but that my son is taking practice now with Saraswati and I thought I could wait. He listens.  Anyway,  no problem, I go outside and figure I would wait outside on this nice bench just inside the gate.  It’s safe there and I figure I’m not bothering anyone.  Just then I hear Sharath talking to me from inside the window to his office and he tells me to come inside and take practice.  I was taken back and not sure it was him as it seemed that this was not something he normally does, talk to people outside from his window.  So I come back in.  The Shala is full and I really don’t see a spot.  Now what?  I am back near the door to the Shala and see a spot just in the corner near his office.  It was like it just appeared there, like an oasis.   It is just next to the men’s changing room and no one in front which is sort of nice.  But his office is right there so I am working hard to mind my drishti and all.  Nice practices all around me and the breathing is steady and strong but not forced at all.  Energy is building all around me as I start and I feel a slight shake but it quickly leaves as I start my sun salutations.  I have been doing these a long time, no problem but I want to find my Bandhas and be sure to push through my heels and all that.    What I found in this mornings practice is that my practice just flowed.  It was easy and just as I got to Utthita Hasta, Sharath jumped up out of his seat on the stage to assist me.  I thought that was pretty cool.  Chuck knows how much I like that adjustment.  I think I may associate it with love.

I kept moving and breathing and kept my head down in the forward bends to touch.  This is calming to me and I was working to maintain my  calm and not to let the mind wander too much.  I had a lot of mind stuff going on from my restless sleep and going over words and conversations in my head and then waking from a cool dream.   Every asana felt right today, sat up took my legs in Supta Kurmasana, slide my arms effortlessly thru in Garbha Pindasana and then in back bends made an attempt to stand and just waited.  He assisted me again and when he said walk in, I walked my hands in.  Again, I did it some more.  I was really glad I had been working on this with Chuck.  Come up, sit down, push down and go.

Upon leaving to go to the finishing room he says, “you come same time tomorrow.”  Then asks “how old is your son?”   He smiles with my answer and I felt blessed, so very blessed to have made a connection . . . again.

Such a weird release to take all my rupees and get registered for class.  Remember, it’s Parker and I so we had a lot and then we had none.  After going by the Shala, taking a picture in front and getting scolded and then coming back today, getting told to wait (we were too early) and now having my card and Parker has his we feel real.   He can count the times on both hands that he has been on the mat and is so looking forward to practice, chanting classes and so forth.   Going with the flow of the place so to speak.   He says I cause ripples.  I’m trying not to, especially when Prasad gave him the key to the scooter and started it up for him and said “you want to go for a ride?”  I couldn’t look . . . no helmut and p.s. the traffic is on the opposite of the road remember?

The main Shala is cool with pictures of Guruji and Ama and it feels nice to be there and wait.  Ronnie is short with you (very efficient) and is not so much into small talk but she’s pleasant and hands out the forms.  Sharath’s son walking around saying “you know my name” and exchanging smiles.  I told him that he did not know my name so how could I know his.  Then we exchanged names and I loved the way he accentuated the “B” at the end of my name.  I should probably call myself Dev, like the popular Indian pop star Devin then it would be so easy.

I have a regular time which is probably late for this season, 7 am.  Parker on the other hand starts at 4:30 am and will have led on Fri and Sat at some unknown time right now.  Saraswati’s Shala is  6 minute walk from the main Shala.  We may just have to go for that scooter after all but for now we will be sure to get good rest tonight and be up at 3:30 I guess.   Of course I will go and sit somewhere and wait for my time to start.   Then we have chanting class on Monday so that will be fun.

Just trying to blend in but I like to talk, take pictures, ask questions and laugh!  Oh yeah, the Indian people love to practice saying “Hi” and “How are you?” so we (I do anyway) exchange pleasantries a lot.   They love getting their picture taken too!

Wow!  So you may have seen pictures but when you see The Mysore Palace all lit up it is pretty magical.  We took the rickshaw and the driver waited for us which is always comforting.  So crazy how they can find you and how you can find them in a sea of people.  Bumped into my buddy Prasad inside while on the way out as there was a mix up – too long of a story – and amazing how he could find us as well.  Fun place, still taking it all in.  I was thinking of first impressions and the first time to do anything and how wild that is. Just when you get used to it and used to the way things are, you secretly sort of wish for the newness again or just yearn to see it through a child’s eyes.  So how this relates to relationships, to travel, to life, to the practice . . .  enjoy the ebb and flow of them and not to be too concerned when things settle or there are some ripples and when it’s not so difficult as it was, or it’s too difficult, because just when you think you have it all figured out it’s gonna just change on you.

Think of how boring it would be otherwise, right!  I seriously like when it’s good though and when my faith is strong.  So much I have learned through the practice and facing the difficulties there help me here.

http://www.mysorepalace.gov.in/