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Travels

2019 : The End of a Decade

December 28, 2019

The last blog for the decade can’t be anything but a collection of highlights of the year gone by…

January 2019 started with me defining my theme for the year. Month after month I strove to stick to it. I reminded myself of it in gratitude journals and monthly reviews. When asked about my word for the year in a bloggers’ group I’m a member of, I realized that mine would have to be perseverance.

February saw me travelling for the first time to Sri Lanka, to teach internationally. I was excited to be teaching in Tangalle, a beautiful and calm little beach town. We had a blast and on the way back I wrote a poem through which I tried to capture my thoughts and feelings.

March was a month of planning and preparing for a possible retreat in Italy. TBH, I wasn’t sure I would be able to pull it off, but I told myself that I’d already taught in Sri Lanka to positive reviews and with the right attitude, this would also materialize. It was a charmed time, teaching alongside Suzanne, sharing food and stories, long walks through olive gardens and along the Mediterranean. I can’t believe it’s happening again in 2020, and this time we promise it’s going to bigger and better.

In April I watched ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and wrote possibly the most fun blog ever (going by the views and comments). What else do you expect from a yogini? Read the blog now, I promise you’ll love it.

In May I did a little bit of humorous soul searching, trying to gain clarity on who I am and what I want. It will resonate with all those of us who have ever used #myfitnessjourney.

June was D-month. The month of the long-awaited yoga retreat in Liguria. We had advertised and planned. Discussed and thought. It comprised getting documentation work ready for my sister, my cousin, my boyfriend and myself to head to Italy on a 15 DAY sojourn. None of us had done anything this exciting ever in our lives and we were stoked to say the least. We booked tickets and accommodation. I planned my classes. And we were finally on our way. Read more of our adventures here.

By July I was a published author. My book, Beyond Asanas, was in bookstores and I did my share of promotional activities for it. My friends, family and students clicked pictures of my book wherever they saw it. Being a published author which was a life-long dream and in August I was forced to think about reading and writing.

In September I was in Pune for my month at RIMYI (which is fast becoming an annual tradition). I also attended my first Lit Fest as a writer and that memory will always be special. A chance question at my session became one of the most viewed blogs of the year. It’s called “Why Am I Not Losing Weight?” and you can read it here.

October saw me back in Bangalore to resume classes. And a pleasant surprise came to me as if by Providence herself! An old friend living in Tokyo, googles for yoga teachers and comes upon me. And just a few weeks later we have a reunion after 10 whole years. A decade changes us in more ways than we can define. And good friendships – they remind you of why you were friends in the first place..

In November I was compelled to take a walk down memory lane and into my closet! It was also the month where I received a sweet note from the PMO.

December was a month of national turbulence. My mind was also restless which is why my Christmas post wasn’t all eggnog and reindeers like I had hoped it would be. I wrote a hard-hitting poem about another event that shook the country, and for the first time performed it on stage too!

It’s almost the end of December, and with it the end of the decade. I’ve been thinking of my word/theme for 2020. I’ve been extremely fidgety in the last few months. The main question plaguing my waking moments is ‘What next?’ I realize I want to move on to doing projects that have a greater impact. I want to use everything I’ve learned and experienced this far to do something more meaningful in the coming months. I want to do better projects, push the envelope in terms of what I have to offer. Therefore my theme/word for 2020 came to be quite organically. And my word is : fruition.

I wish you all dear readers a very happy new year and promise that in 2020 this blog will be have you more engaged, informed and inspired. So stay with me and stay safe!

In March I was extremely honored to receive the ‘Woman Achiever Award’ in the field of yoga by the prestigious Karnataka Association for Small Scale Industries (KASSIA). The night was magical and truly special.

‘Beyond Asanas’ was adjudged best book under the ‘Health and Fitness’ Category at the Gurgaon Lit Festival in November. This was my first award as a writer and I was thrilled to bits.

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RIMYI Experiences

A Pranayama Sequence – Day 7

December 5, 2019

Pranayama is the fourth limb of the Ashtanga system of yoga. The other limbs are (in sequence):
1. Yama
2. Niyama
3. Asana
4. Pranayama
5. Pratyahara
6. Dhyana
7. Dharana
8. Samadhi

Most scholars believe that this is a sequence and practitioners have to gain a certain level of mastery in one to go to the next one. Which is why in many schools of yoga, pranayama is only taught after many years of intense asana practice. For instance, beginners in of Iyengar yoga don’t practice pranayama. In 2017 I experienced a pranayama class at RIMYI and wrote about it here.

However, some schools of yoga believe that these are limbs and not steps. They believe that it is therefore possible to practice several of the limbs at the same time. At SVYASA pranayama is taught to all patients, regardless of fitness levels and health conditions. Also, some pranayama is included in the asana classes and trataka (candlelight gazing) medition sessions.

I’ve been attending pranayama class every day here and although I don’t practice pranayama in my personal practice (yet), those readers who are interested are welcome to follow the below sequence. This sequence has been designed by SVYASA after extensive research.

Opening Prayer

1. Kapalabhati
20 strokes
40 strokes

Mudra: chin mudra

Relax in the Shitali dandasana.

2. Sectional breathing
Abdominal breathing 5x
Mudra: chin mudra
Thoracic breathing 5x
Mudra: chinmaya mudra
Clavicle breathing 5x
Mudra: adi mudra
Yogic breathing 5x
Mudra: brahma mudra

Relax in the Shitali dandasana.

3. Nadi Shuddi aka anulom-vilom pranayama 10x
Mudra: chin mudra with the left hand, nasika mudra with the right hand

Relax in the Shitali dandasana.

4. Brahmari pranayama using the N-kara
Mudra: chin mudra or shanmukhi mudra

Cooling pranayama practices

5. Shitali pranayama
Mudra: chin mudra

6. Sitkari pranayama
Mudra: chin mudra

7. Sadanta pranayama

Mudra: chin mudra

8. Nada anusadana
A-kara 3x
U-kara 3x
M-kara 3x

Closing prayer.

I’m missing practicing in my own space. This is from a practice session a few weeks ago. Although I’ve learned a lot here, I’m itching to head back home and resume asana practice.

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Travels

What We Don’t Think About When We Think About Responsible Tourism

October 14, 2019

The summit covered by clouds at the beginning of the trek.

Last Sunday a bunch of us decided to trek up the Savandurga hill. My friends reached my house at 4 am. We were to reach the base camp by 6 am and start climbing. Later than this and it would get too hot. We had registered for the trek on https://myecotrip.com/. This is an initiative to encourage eco-sensitive tourism by the government of Karnataka. They offer eco-friendly tour packages that showcase the natural beauty of Karnataka. These include day-long treks, visits to bird sanctuaries and wildlife safaris. Navigating through their website is easy and they are quick to respond to queries on telephone.

Savandurga is a hill 60 km from Bangalore, and is considered to be one of the largest monoliths in Asia. There are two famous temples at the foothills which many pilgrims revere and visit year round, the Savandi Veerabhadreshwara Swamy and Narasimha Swamy temple. The hills are centuries old. It is believed that these hills served as the capital for Magadi rulers such as Kempegowda. It was later taken over by those in power in Mysore. In 1791, during the Third Anglo-Mysore War, Lord Corwallis captured it from Tipu Sultan. At one point in time it was also known as Savinadurga or the fort of death!

It is a difficult trek – mostly uphill and on rocks. When the rocks are wet they are super-slippery.

Our guide showed us an ancient Hanuman temple a little away from the trail. Hanuman faces left, which is unusual.

The ancient Nandi at the summit.

For the most part the trek was great. I would wish that there was less litter and plastic strewn around, but I think the monkeys may be responsible for that. On the whole I saw that the trekkers were responsible, helpful and considerate towards others on the trail. But I must mention the exception.

A couple planted themselves right in front of the bull, with no regard for the multitudes of others who had huffed and puffed their way up to the top to get a glimpse of the ancient Nandi. This is disrespectful on so many levels. Not only is this a place of tourist interest, but also a place of worship. All the visitors waited patiently for their turn to whisper their wishes in Nandi’s ear (a custom) while this particular couple refused to move an inch. Finally my friend went up to them and pointedly asked them to move, which they did…for 10 minutes.

When we think about responsible tourism, perhaps we need to think of this aspect as well. Just because this temple/place of interest isn’t manned by temple/government officials doesn’t give you permission to be rude, insensitive and inconsiderate. Some of us trekked up for a darshan of the Nandi, some of us to look at an ancient historical monument, either way we deserve to look at it without two inconsiderate lovebirds crowding our frame.

When we talk about responsible tourism we need to factor in responsible tourist behavior too. Lest civic sense become as uncommon as common sense.

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Books Enquiries Into Yogic Philosophy

29th Sept – 4th Aug

August 5, 2019

Three times a week I have a student coming home early morning. For an hour we work with all our props and what follows is a deep, delicious savasana.

The first post of the week was a snapshot of my hand balancing practice. I’ve been trying to invert for many years now. Some days it’s good, some days not so much. But I do a certain amount of inversions daily. I find using blocks for pincha mayurasana and a bolster for adhomukha vrkshasana helps to activate, stimulate and access my core muscles.

On Wednesday, the 31st I had an amazing book talk hosted by Carrots Restaurant. Carrots is my default go-to for such events because their food is amazing and the vibe of the place is just the right amount of holistic health meets real life people. Geetanjali, a friend of mine since college, also attended and relegated us all with anecdotes of me from college. She reminded me that I was a huge fan of the Khadi Bhandar even back in college when such stuff wasn’t ‘cool’ like it is now!

All writers dream of when they will be signing their books. It still feels surreal.

Grateful for friends who partake of and enjoy your success.

In other new, I spotted my book ‘Beyond Asanas‘ at Higginsbothams on MG Road and was quite kicked about it. As usual I took a million pictures of it.

In the run-up to my book launch, RJ Grisha, a lovely lady based in Chicago reached out to me via my Facebook page to see if I would do an interview for her radio should called ‘Life Aaj Kal’. It was great because I got a chance to analyse myself and introspect a bit. After all, it’s when we come across major breakthroughs that we think most about the meaning of everything in our lives. When I listen to the interview now I smile in spite of myself. I sound excited and nervous, happy and cautious…a young girl on the brink of the greatest event in her life. You can listen to the interview here on the RadioPaaniPoori site.

Yesterday (4th Aug) I was kicked about doing an event for a company called Floh. My talk was about how yoga has helped me with my personal and professional life. I spoke about how our relationship with ourselves pretty much determines our relationship with others. Therefore, it’s imperative to work on that relationship. When I became more conscious of how I treat myself, talk to myself and perceive myself, then miraculously, others also became conscious of it.

But the best part of Sunday is my weekly runs at the Ulsoor Lake. Yesterday I clocked 5 km and followed it up with some stretching and hanging upside down.

Favorite thing on this planet – loads of time to practice, run, stretch and monkey around Ulsoor Lake.

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Enquiries Into Yogic Philosophy

The Unwitting Yogi

April 7, 2019

I was a little late jumping on to the ‘Bohemain Rhapsody’ bandwagon, but when I did I was spellbound. The movie was well done, and the portrayal of the characters was spell binding.

Freddie Mercury was perhaps the greatest rockstar of all time, but he was also an unwitting yogi. While going through a bunch of his pictures on Pinterest I started to notice that a lot of his moves on stage looked like yogic postures. The more pictures I saw, the more yogasanas I recognized. So I put together a bunch of Freddie Mercury’s pictures and the corresponding asana.

Trikonasana/Triangle Pose

I have a love-hate relationship with this asana, but you’ve got to admit it looks like Freddie is performing it in this iconic pose.

Vrkshasana/Tree Pose

That costume and balancing on the toes!!!

And variations of the Tree pose…

Chaturanga/Plank Pose

Every yogi knows the agony of getting this one right.

Those biceps though.

Virbhardasana/Warrior Pose

Marichyasana/Sage Marichi’s Pose

This is a bit of a stretch of the imagination, but you have to admit there’s a twist there. Also, Freddie’s flat abs, his chiselled body, the energy – is this the real life?