Thank you @zzeehphotography and @makeupbyhennaanbaree for this amazing shot.
When I was writing ‘Beyond Asanas’ my aim was to write a book which would give readers insight into little known stories about the asanas. This is an aspect of yoga practice which is never emphasized, so most practitioners only understand the asanas superficially.
Little did I know that through the book I would come in direct contact with people near and far, known and unknown. People who would read my words and appreciate them. And then take the time out to give me feedback, and share my work with others. So many of you have reached out to me on social media and through other means to express your thoughts and emotions regarding my work. You have no idea what it means to me. ??????⠀
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‘Beyond Asanas’ was published this year on June 21st. The publisher, Penguin Random House felt that would be the apt day to publish a book such as this. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. The beautiful photos have been shot by Joel Koechlin. The insightful foreword has been written by Kalki Koechlin.
Do get your copy now, and please don’t forget to share your feedback. It helps.
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.
This week started out with me being all writerly. Many of you don’t know that I have a humongous collection of saris. Yet the only thing I wear most frequently are my yoga pants. So it was refreshing to attend the Guru Purnima celebrations swathed in six yards of elegance. And since I was presenting my teacher with my book on the same day I thought let me make it a Kodak moment and the result was the first Instagram update for the week.
Give me a beautiful south cotton sari any day. #noyogapants #sarinotsorry.
I’m still pinching myself about what a wonderful year this is turning out to be. Last year if you’d told me that next year by this time I would have conducted a yoga retreat in Italy, I’d dismiss you as senile. My book was in the pipeline, but I was immersed so deeply in editing that it ever seeing the light of day was almost mythical. The second update for the week saw me thinking about my unconventional journey and the twists and turns that it’s led me on. With no roadmap the only thing I’ve relied on to get to this point is my gut instinct and also blind trust on whoever wants to massage my ego! This picture was taken when my sister Ana, cousin Ishani and I were roaming the streets of Imperia trying to find Susanne and Stephanie (with whom we were going to head to Liguria).
Dancing all over Imperia.
The 25th of July is Abhijata’s birthday. In 2016 I went to Belur to attend an Iyengar yoga workshop for the first time. Abhijata was there along with Birjoo and Rajvi Mehta. I was nervous about speaking to Abhijata, but my classmates egged me on. And I finally did, thinking I’d like to remember myself as courageous enough for a ‘no’ rather than the coward who didn’t even dare. It was now or never. Abhijata not only told me to write to the institute keeping her in the loop but also answered a few of my questions. I did a blog on it and later put together a YouTube video.
And I ended the week with updates about my first book event for ‘Beyond Asanas’. The event is called ‘Feeding Body and Soul – A Book Talk. It is being hosted by Carrots Restaurant and they even curated a special menu for it!!! The menu included: Melon Mint Gazpacho, Raw Beetroot Ravioli with Herbed Cheese and Cilantro Hummus with Baked Lavash Chips. Exciting stuff!!! The first event was on Sunday evening and I spoke about my personal journey, why yoga, how I went about writing the book etc. It was an open, free-wheeling discussion and I look forward to doing the event again on Wednesday the 31st of July. Fingers crossed that this is the first of many book events. 🙂
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?
Backbends
My biggest challenge…but look at him.
Can I just point out the clean lines and the lifted sternum?
Hope you enjoyed this blog. Leave me a comment and share if you did!
By Pune I mean the Ramamani Memorial Iyengar Yoga Institute (RIMYI). For Iyengar practitioners ‘Pune’ is synonymous with ‘RIMYI’. After studying for five years under my primary teacher here in Bangalore, I started going to Pune last year. I’ve written about my time in Pune in previous blogs. This blog is about the little known and surprising aspects of the RIMYI experience.
RIMYI is the most famous institute for Iyengar yoga on the planet. It is the epicentre of all Iyengar yoga related activities in the world. There is a wait list to attend classes at the institute, and you may have to wait for up to a year or more to get a spot. To even apply for a spot you need to be studying Iyengar yoga for at least 5 years under a certified teacher. We reserve our seats and accommodation many months in advance. Sometimes years in advance.
Everyone cries. Yes, RIMYI has a lot of grownups in tears. Teachers at the institute aren’t known to mince their words or to bother about the political correctness of their words. The experience can be intense and nerve wracking. What’s interesting is that despite quaking with fear, dread and nervousness on our mats, we still return year after year! I’ve broken down countless times. The experience can be very cathartic and just goes to show that the path of yoga takes your blood, sweat and tears.
Teachers hit you. While we’re not being shoved into doors and walls, a sharp slap on the quads or the back of the knees to take our awareness to our ‘sleeping’ body parts is routine. I’ve had teachers slap my quads, the back of my knees, the sides of my thighs…even had my toes flicked painfully because, ironically, they weren’t relaxed enough. We joke that ‘BKS’ Iyengar stands for ‘Beat Kick Slap’ Iyengar!
So you see, studying at the best yoga school in the world is not a blissful-gentle-stretching-meditating-all-day experience. It’s actually a tremendous achievement to make it through and back again the next year!
At the Osho Gardens. I had Dengue during this time!
Sundays looked like this. A joke we will never forget!
