Gabi : Shala registration and first practice

Gabi charming the local wildlife
Gabi charming the local wildlife

I’ve settled into Mysore pretty well. It is a very easy going sort of place. Its not too busy in Gokulam, near KPJAYI, Sharath’s Shala, and is only slightly busier in Jayalakshmipuram where I am now staying.  Gokulam itself it full of yogi’s and goras, or foreigners. Consequently there are lots of healthy living, vegetarian, vegan westernized cafes. But they all have good coffee so I can forgive the hippyness. It has been good in some ways to have a few days before beginning practice to settle in and get used to India, but its been  terrible in others. I’m surrounding by all these ashtangis raving about their classes, what posture they did today, or the adjustments
they got or the amazing thing Saraswati did (She simultaneously held two people in Utthita hasta pandangusthasana FYI). And here I sit, itching to get to practice, but in reality doing not much but slowly eat my way from one café to another.

Another thing that I have found very hard, and the caveat is that this may change when I start practicing, Mysore is really ALL about yoga.  Other yogis and ashtangis seem to be able to switch of their lives outside ashtanga and focus on their practice. For me, my job is my brain so I take it with me, and switching that off is incredibly difficult. I was eavesdropping in a café (ofcourse) to one ashtangi saying he has decided to move on, because while here all he can think about or talk about it his other passion. I do wonder whether I will be the same. Science has always been my passion, and ashtanga has been a kind of antedote to it. I think being here may well, like the other ashtangi, serve to highlight my true passion more.

Having said all that, today I registered and met Sharath. I nearly wet myself I was so nervous. I kept reminding myself, “He is just a man, and this is just another practice”. Though, true to form, I couldn’t help but comment on the clam shell he had on his shelf. In an incredibly weird coinkydink, it just happened to be a species of clam that I worked on. When I asked, Sharath said he had no idea what it was, he barely even realized what I was talking about, to him it was just something someone gave to him. So I nerded out and told him the common name and the scientific name, and that I would bring him a picture of it alive. Some how I think I may have made an impression. Either way, tomorrow is my first class. I’m starting with led class.  I’ll be practicing with Sharath for 7 weeks. By the end, who knows? Maybe Ill be where I was when I started, maybe not. It is all part of the journey.

~Gabi

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