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Travels Yoga

Mysore Diaries – Day #3

December 2, 2015

I woke up today with the familiarity of routine. The absence of the possibility of an unknown factor enables you to be a tad bit quicker and streamlines your movement. As a result I was ready in a minutes and driving down the main road to my class. Even before this trip started I had several misgivings. Was I going to be able to get to Mysore OK? What if something happened on the way to prevent me from getting there? What if by some weird twist of fate I’m unable to register for the classes? What if I get there and my What if I get there and my accommodation isn’t available? In short, I would hyperventilate thinking that everything that could possibly go wrong will go wrong. And my fears were well founded. The room I had booked for the first night seemed a pretty amateurish

The first pose Saraswati asked me to practice.

setup. They never sent me a confirmation mail though I asked them repeatedly. When I reached the main institute for registration I realized that I was supposed to bring a copy of the confirmation mail, a copy of my passport and a passport sized photograph. I had a copy of my passport, but had missed the part about the photograph and copy of the confirmation mail. I kept on affirming to myself that everything would work out. And whad’ya know? So far things have worked out. The accomodation was clean and the staff was friendly. I managed to find it with a little help from my GPS and phone calls. I showed the insitute my confirmation mail on the phone and managed by a sheer stroke of luck to find many passport sized photographs in my wallet. I was one of the first few in line for registration so didn’t have to wait for hours. I managed to get acquainted with a few people while in line, so whatever little wait I had wasn’t boring. I shared the one and only pen I have on this trip, and it miraculously did make its way back to me and didn’t get lost in the hordes that had to fill out their registration forms. I actually managed to find Saraswati’s class on my first day and made it through. I ate well and slept well. It’s my third day in Mysore and there are a few people who I recognize and say hi to. I feel my teacher also recognizes me and so I feel ‘connected’ to the class. After a few hiccups, I’ve moved into the guesthouse that will be my home until the 14th of this month (see, everything is slowly working out!). The room is clean, the staff is awesome. I get to decide my meal times and what I want to eat. Someone comes in regularly to clean the place. It is safe and comfortable, and the best part is that it’s only 3 minutes from my class! And I affirm: Things Work Out.

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Being nostalgic about classes.

The shala was as usual full today when I walked in. What’s more, the place I had yesterday was also taken. I decided to at least change and see what Saraswati deemed I should do today. As if on cue, I walked out of the changing room just as Saraswati was telling the girls in front of the door to scoot a bit to the sides to make space for one more mat. And that is where I practiced toay, cramped between two other students who also had to duck whenever someone opened the door. Just as I was about to start my practice, Saraswati came up to me and said ‘What I told yesterday? 20 Surya Namaskars no? Start.’ And I did virtual cartwheels in my head. Saraswati remembered me, amongst the hordes of students that she meets daily!!! Not only that, she remembered what she had said to me yesterday!!!! I was in yoga student heaven. Outwardly calm I started the Surya Namaskars.

The pose I learned today is the Padangushtasana. I notice Saraswati tells me to do one pose a day, as though building up my pose arsenal. And once she guides me through the pose twice she asks me to continue practicing the same pose for the remaining class. And both days she’s only taught me one asana. She focuses on the breath, asking me to breath with her counts. She has me repeat the asana until she’s happy with the way I’m doing it, and then tells me to practice that for the rest of the class. So far she’s been telling me when I’m done for the day and what to do tomorrow. Today she dismissed me with ‘Today this is enough. Tomorrow you come and show everything correctly.’ I nodded, did the Savasana for some time and left. Before gettting back to the guesthouse I had the obligatory nariyal paani.

I was unaware that this was being taken. One of my colleagues found it on Facebook!

In the afternoon I attended my first chanting class. During my teachers’ training we used to have this every day and it was called bhajan class. To this day it remains my least favorite, and one that I bunk if I can help it. We were handed printouts of a bunch of Sanskirt shlokas and asked to chant after a panditji. It was hot, stuffy, and chanting isn’t my thing. I lived through it. I had considered registering for a Sanskrit and Hatha Yoga Pradipika class. However, after the chanting class I decided that maybe I’m not ready for more Sanskrit just yet.

As usual, I came back to my room and spent the rest of my day reading and sleeping. I could really get used to this life!

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Travels Yoga

Mysore Diaries – Day 2

December 1, 2015

When it comes to classes with old and traditional Indian teachers, the first class is always a bit unexpected. This morning I woke up at 3.59 am (thanks to my body clock). I promptly got ready and drove off towards the direction of Saraswati’s class. In the dark all the houses in Gokulam 3^rd Stage look the same. I asked a lone man on a walk about where #55 3^rd main was, and he told me he had no clue. Finally, I met two people on a moped carrying yoga mats, and I flagged them to help me out. Seeing that I was new, somewhat flustered and utterly confused, they decided to take me there! Grateful that they did because I would never have been able to find it.

From the number of people I had seen at the registration, I had expected a large crowd converging to the institute. But I only saw a couple of mopeds parked outside. I climbed up to the 1^st floor of the house and let myself in. The room was full of A bunch of students were already there in various asanas. I looked around for what to do next. It didn’t look like these students had just started their practice, but I thought the first session started at 5 am. Plus there was no space to place my mat. The room was stuffed with people and reminded me a bit of the Bikram Yoga studio I went to a couple of months ago. Not a pleasant feeling. I spotted Saraswati in the centre of the room, busy helping a student. Once she was done, I went up to her and told her that I’m new and had no clue what I should do. She pointed to a room and said, ‘You wait there.’ I did as I was told. After some time, she told me to place my mat in front of the door I had just walked in from. I’m knew a lot of students were going to be coming in through that door, and I’d have to watch that the door didn’t slam into me every single time. What can I say? Yoga teachers and their eccentricities. I did what I was told.

I sat on my mat and started stretching. Finally Saraswati came over and asked me if ‘I knew anything.’ I told her no. So she stared by teaching me a very basic Surya Namakar which she asked me to do 5 times. After a while she came to me again and taught me another version of the Surya Namaskar and asked me to do it 6 times. After some time she came up to me again and asked me if I knew how to do the Padmasana. I told her yes. She explained a variation of the padmasana to me and told me to practice that. After some more time she told me that this is it for me today. Tomorrow I have to start the class by doing each Surya Namaskar variation 10 times. I nodded my head. She then pointed to a room on the other side of the main hall and said ‘Now you go there.’ I did a little Savasana and then left. I saw some people that met yesterday. Once I was done I came back to my room and for some reason slept for about 3 hours!

My friends have booked me into a guesthouse here and I moved in today. As it turns out, this new room is closer to Saraswati’s class, so it works well for me. Once I checked into this room I slept again for a couple of hours and woke up to polish off every single thing that was placed before me during lunch. So I basically woke up, did yoga, slept, woke up, slept some more, indulged in some more gluttony, read, slept, woke up, had coffee and now I’m blogging with a rerun of ‘Desperate Housewives’ in the background. Before starting this break a student of mine gave me an article that talked about leisure for the sake of leisure. According to the article, the art of leisure has been ignored over the ages to the point that now people don’t take vacations to indulge in leisure, but to ‘do’ something. I think I pretty much nailed doing nothing today.

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Travels Yoga

Mysore Diaries – Day 1

November 30, 2015

I have to admit I was sort of nervous about driving all the to Mysore alone. All kinds of doomsday scenarios kept on playing through my mind (from a flat tyre to horrible accidents). I’m glad that I pushed the negative thoughts aside and drove down. It was fun to listen to music and just think and get excited about POMELO_20151130105401_save[1] what lay ahead. I made it to Mysore on time and managed to find KPJAYI easily. Basically everyone seemed to know where it was. There were throngs of people who were already there before me to register. Registrations for the advanced class had started, and I had to POMELO_20151130201506_save[1] wait a while before I could register for Saraswati’s beginners’ class. I joined a queue of people who had never practiced Ashtanga before. We sat on the cool marble floor of the office and shared our pens to fill out our registration forms. People have come here from far and wide. Some have even brought children along!

Once I turned in my form I was given a class pass. You must keep this pass with you at all times. I have to report for the 5 am class tomorrow.

Once my registration was done I found my hotel and relaxed for some POMELO_20151130201250_save[1] time before heading out again for an early dinner. I managed to find a place. Wasn’t too happy with the coffee nor the organic ‘sprouded’ moong dal dosa. I want masala dosas!!! Hopefully I’ll be able to find a place which serves strong filter coffee and masala dosas a la Adigas. POMELO_20151130184201_save[1]

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Travels Yoga

The Bags Are Packed

November 29, 2015

Dinner with my favorite people before I head to Mysore.

I’m pretty much done with packing for my 15 days of yoga, reading, writing, thinking and resting. For those of you who don’t know, I’m headed to KPJAYI (Shri K Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute). I’ll be there for 15 days, longer than I’ve ever been on any retreat. Vipassana is only 10 days.

I’ve read up everything I can about what to expect there, but most blogs are quite vague. The only thing everyone seems to agree upon is that

A separate bag for these.

everyone’s experience is different. However, I reason that the Ashtanga yoga practice is quite intense and since I’m a complete beginner, the sessions may be very challenging for me. So I’m taking a suitcase full of workout clothes and towels. And books. Because the TBR list has a mind of its own.

Another thing I’m looking forward to is driving all the way to Mysore in my humble Alto. I’ve never done something like this before. A road trip by myself sounds like a good way to unwind and spend some time reflecting about 2015. And this weather helps!

Fuel for Mysore. Fresh, healthy and homemade by my friend’s kind mom.

All I need now is a good night’s rest. Tomorrow I’ll throw my toothbrush into my bag and head out to what promise to be a phenomenal two weeks in Mysore. Stay tuned for the Mysore Diaries!

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The Teacher Today

November 25, 2015

The relationship between a teacher and student in yoga has changed over time. Centuries ago students were expected to devote their entire lives in the service of their teacher. The teacher’s word was law and blind, unquestioning faith was expected of the student.

The relationship has evolved over the years. In the plethora of yoga teachers and classes available in the market, students sometimes get confused about what they are searching for. After all, a certain amount of discernment is only fair. A yoga class can change your life, or leave you feeling flustered. A yoga teacher can point you in the right direction, or get on your nerves. You could end up learning something about yourself, or end up looking for reasons to avoid class for the rest of your life.

Where once a teacher held absolute authority over a student and her practice, nowadays the relationship has become a bit tricky. Teachers are younger, and prone to all the foibles that come with youth (relationship troubles, anxiety about getting a ‘real’ job, peer pressure etc.). And frequently they have another job on the side to pay the bills. This is in sharp contrast to traditional yoga teachers who lived to practice and to teach. Needless to say, all these aspects effect the vibe of a class.

I have mulled over the question for a while now. What is the role of a modern day teacher? After all, it’s the age of consumerism and yoga teachers and classes are being consumed with a vengeance. What then is a yoga teacher’s role? When a student walks in, you know they may walk out the next day. Or next year. How can you make a meaningful contribution to a student’s life with this uncertainty?

As it frequently happens, my teacher unwittingly gave me the answer. The other day in class, he demonstrated the Viparita Dandasana and asked us to correct his posture. He modified his pose according to our inputs. By the time we were done with our cues he looked extremely uncomfortable in the posture. He came out of the pose and told us that as a student we must learn not to depend on the teacher too much. He told us that tomorrow he may not be around and we would then be lost in our practice. He said we must observe our own bodies in all asanas, independent of the cues given by the teacher. We must focus on how the ‘right’ asana feels and use that feeling to get into the pose next time.

What this means is that a student needs to cultivate a practice which fits them. We are bombarded by information about yoga all the time, and sometimes this information is just opinion disguised as fact. The real life asana is in being able to distinguish what works for you from what doesn’t. It lies in being truthful to yourself about whether you are blindly following a teacher or school and losing yourself. Or are you learning and being guided by all this information and eventually finding yourself?

In the modern day scenario, the role of a yoga teacher is to empower a student. Encourage your students to explore. Encourage them to try out other classes and teachers and encourage them to think about how they feel. Encourage self reflection (pratyahara). It is rewarding to see a student find wings under your tutelage. If you teach a student how to be self reliant, the decisions they make on and off the mat will come from a place of confidence and trust, rather than insecurity. You will foster a culture of exploration and abundance. A culture of respect and tolerance. A culture of healthy minds and healthy bodies.

“Illuminated emancipation, freedom, unalloyed and untainted bliss await you, but you have to choose to embark on the Inward Journey to discover it.” – BKS Iyengar

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Have a Healthy Diwali.

November 11, 2015

Finally Diwali is upon us and all of us are being inundated by calorie laden sweets, fried snacks and namkeens, tea/coffee and coke (shudder) multiple times a day. And the season has begun. From now until the end of the year you will be invited to numerous parties and get togethers and the main theme of these (specially in North India) is food. I don’t believe in deprivation. That’s does more harm than good. Here are a few tips that are tried and tested (and don’t include deprivation).

Don’t have sugar in tea/coffee. Not even a little bit. Since you’ll be gorging on mithai and chocolate, try and cut out the added sugar in any way that you can. Switch to herbal teas. Not only are these lower in calories, but they also prevent the onset of colds and allergies, an important thing to consider during the onset of the winter.
Increase your water intake. So every time you help yourself to a piece of mithai, grab a tall glass of water as well. Increased water intake will also help keep your hunger pangs an check.
EXERCISE. This is non-negotiable. The first thing you must do before the day gets in the way is 20 Surya Namaskars.
Share your treats. Yes, even the most delectable, custom made, piece-of-heaven delights. Share them. Lower your calorie intake and earn goodwill from those around you.
Lastly, I just want to reiterate something that I’ve already spoken about: Choose your indulgences wisely. I’ll have chocolate (preferably dark), but I won’t touch laddoos.

Also, spare a thought for the environment. Burn calories, not crackers!

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Untying the Knots

October 9, 2015

A couple of weeks ago I had a student in Supta Baddhakonasana. That’s Lying Down Bound Fixed Angle Pose, a supine variation of a pose popularly called the ‘Butterfly Pose’.

As the relaxation came to a close, I gave the instruction to keep the eyes closed and to come out of the pose in the easiest and most comfortable way possible.

The student started to undo the belt binding his legs in the pose. He realized that he couldn’t reach far enough to actually undo the belt easily. He started to reach around and fumble with the belt a bit more. All the effort made him want to open his eyes, but he wasn’t going to not follow the instructions. Finally he managed to twist and turn enough to grab a hold of the buckle and wrest the belt off. Once done he sat upright and relaxed his tightly closed lids. Hmmmm….

Sometimes a student’s behaviour on the mat is highly indicative of his/her approach to real life. Does a student twitch and move a lot when relaxing? Post Savasana do they quickly jump up and run out to meet the rest of their day? Do they fall asleep during relaxation? In this case, the student had to complete his relaxation and face the real world. One which, at that point, literally had him up in knots.

When faced with sticky, frustrating, tight, claustrophobic, rigid etc situations, our first reaction is to fight for dear life. So we close our eyes tightly and twist and turn and try to grab that which we feel is smothering us and wrench it away from us. However, if you breathe deeply and instead of struggling, you work on accepting that you are in a bind (in this case quite literally), then you may have an easier time getting out of the unpleasant situation.

Someone once told me that you can consider roadblocks to be either problems or constraints. You can choose to dwell on your problems and try to (unsuccessfully) wish them away. Or you could think about how you can carry on with your life’s work with the existing constraints. I believe that changing your perception is all it takes to change your life, and this forms a huge part of that philosophy. So next time you’re in a conundrum, think, do you want this to be a problem, or do you want it to be a constraint.

The Supta Baddhakonasana is when you lie down on your back and keep your legs in this position.

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The King of the Asanas

September 27, 2015

Whenever I teach the Sirsasana, I never forget to mention that it’s the King of Asanas. And I go on to say something like, it’s the King ‘cuz it’s the grandest and most amazing pose. And well, it’s really difficult too. Until the other day when a student pointed out that that describes pretty much most advanced asanas. Got me thinking, so I did some research.The reason the headstand is the King of the asanas is the role the head plays in the life and times of an individual. The head defines a large part of who a person is. The thoughts originate in the head. Rational decisions come from the head. The power of reason and discrimination lie in the head. So much so that when a baby is born, it’s the head that comes out first. Metaphorically, the head deals with the world before any other parts of the body.

The skull and the brain are located in the head, and these control the nervous system of the body. A healthy mind is essential for a healthy body. The brain is responsible for intellect, knowledge, discrimination, wisdom and power. According to ‘Light on Yoga’ just like a King controls the kingdom, the brain controls the body. Therefore, the Headstand is the King of all the other asanas that the body can perform.

Regularly practicing this inversion stimulates circulation of blood to the brain cells, which helps in rejuvenation of the mind (and also helps in giving you that yoga glow). This flush of fresh blood to the brain cells enables you to ‘see’ and think more clearly. Quite literally, you see from a different perspective. This pose is great for insomniacs because it gives the brain some respite from the stress and tension of life. In the correct posture your torso is expanded, enabling you to breathe better and more deeply. It’s great to increase your lung capacity.

According to BKS Iyengar, regular practice of Sirsasana ensures that “One becomes balanced and self-reliant in pain and pleasure, loss and gain, shame and fame and defeat and victory.”

Yoga is a state of equanimity. (Samatvam yoga ucchyate.) – Bhagvad-Gita.

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Vegan For a Day

September 3, 2015

I got invited to a full day workshop about veganism this past weekend. We were invited for a detailed talk about what it is and why it’s good for us. We were going to be treated with a vegan breakfast, lunch and snack. And we were surprised with a goodie bag at the end of the session to enable us to continue on our Vegan journey without a stop. The session was quite intense, but there were a few things that stood out and they made sense to me as well. What I’m trying to say is that it wasn’t all mumbo jumbo. Some of the ideas were logical. And I’m going to try a few of the things they spoke about. And in no particular order these principles were:

Eat a whole plant based diet. Vegetarian food is high in fibre. Not only is animal based food high in fat, it is high in cholesterol as well. Because only animals produce cholesterol. So effectively cholesterol is a hormone made by animals. And ghee happens to be 100% fat.
Good sources of fat are nuts and seeds.
Meat and milk are equal. Both contain hormones, antibiotics and pesticides. On top of this milk contains IGF – Insulin-like Growth Factor.
It is a common misconception that we are a milk drinking nation. We are consuming more milk now than ever before. Historically in India, people used to have one cow and not feed it hormones to give more milk. The milk that humans would consume would be the one left over after the calf had finished nursing. So that would be very less, not gallons upon gallons that we consume today. Krishna was stealing other people’s milk products because he wasn’t drowning in milk and ghee himself. Even though he was quite wealthy and had no reason to steal anything.
The body gets enough protein on a whole plant based diet. Think about it, very few people report protein deficiency.
Plants are better sources for Calcium than milk. Only 30% of the calcium in milk is assimilated. And anyways, you need Vitamin D to absorb Calcium into your bones. So having only milk doesn’t mean that you will assimilate all the calcium in the milk. What you should do is ensure that you have adequate Vitamin D so that all the calcium you provide to your body is assimilated.
Eat whole foods because refined foods lose a lot of nutrients.
Replace animal milk with soy, rice, almond peanut etc milk. (Basically plant based alternatives.) Sesame seeds have more calcium than milk.
Say no to sugar. Have dates and raisins instead. Fruits have plenty of natural sugars. And jaggery and honey not allowed because they aren’t whole.
Replace plain butter with peanut butter, cashew butter, sesame butter or almond butter.
Replace paneer with tofu.
Don’t have curd made of animal milk. Make your curd out of soya, peanut milk etc.
No meat.
Replace white rice with unpolished rice.
Replace maida with atta, jowar, bajra, nachni etc.
White salt with Himalayan salt, rock salt or sea salt.
Don’t fry your food because vegans don’t use oil.
Have smoothies for breakfast. So blend bananas, coriander and mint and have that for breakfast.
Avoid tea/coffee because the increase blood sugar and stress.
People tend to say that sugar causes diabetes, but it’s actually fat that causes diabetes. so avoid fat in your diet. The technique to eliminate fat is to eliminate all refined fats. Refined fats are those without fibre. Animal products don’t have fibre. But coconuts do, so coconut fats are good. After a fatty meal your blood thickens and fat cells get deposited in the arteries. If you remove the fat, your blood will start flowing again. Meat has free radicals which can damage the inner lining of muscles. Plants on the other hand contain anti oxidants.
People think that Diabetes and Hypertension are hereditary, but that’s false. Both these conditions are lifestyle related and directly related to your diet.
Honey and Jaggery are not ok. Both are not whole. However, you can eat sugar cane is good because it’s whole and unrefined and natural.
Cheese is 70% fat. Cheese is like Vaseline. Your system can’t ingest cheese, it can’t ingest Vaseline.
Have only 10 nuts a day. However, peanuts are not nuts. They are legumes. So you can have more than 10 a day.
Whole foods have complex carbs. They take longer to digest and keep you full longer. Hence you end up eating less. Refined foods have simple carbs. They digest immediately and you want to eat more.
Don’t have two grains in one meal. So don’t have rice and roti together.
Broccoli has more protein than steak. Excess protein causes osteoporosis and kidney disease.

So the two things you should ask yourself if you want to aim to eat vegan is whether what you are eating is plant based, and whether it is whole.

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When Your Back Hurts

August 20, 2015

All of a sudden I have lots of people asking me how yoga can help with slipped and herniated discs. These are people who don’t want to go in for the surgery that the doctor has told them is inevitable. These are people who are not interested in taking drugs to numb the pain. Basically, these are people who have heard that yoga can help and want to manage their condition rather than let doctors cut them open.

So here are a set of moves that you should do in the sequence given below. You need to hold each posture on each side for about 10 minutes. So you do need to set aside about an hour to do this every day. Yes, do these every day. If you do this set of postures while you are experiencing the pain, you will get instant relief. Tried and tested.

I only had a makeshift yoga belt with me when my friend and I found time to take these pictures. You can use a stole or a dupatta, basically anything long enough to use for these asanas.

Start with lying on the floor. You must fold your legs like in the picture. The lower back should lie flat on the floor.

2. Next loop the belt around one foot and straighten the leg. You lower back should still lie flat on the floor. Push the heel out. Keep the toes inclined towards your face. Also, people tend to think that the closer they can bring the leg to the torso, the ‘better’ it is. That is not true. You must keep the leg either straight up, perpendicular to the floor. If that’s too intense of a stretch for you, then you can bring the leg closer to the floor, until the stretch becomes tolerable. The heel must always stay extended outwards. Knee must be locked. Note: the other leg is bent with the foot on the floor. This is intentional and you must practice just like this.

3. Straighten the leg which is on the floor. Do this by slowly walking it out, and not by lifting it up and pushing it forward. You have to do all these movements slowly and carefully, after all, you want to be careful with you back. In this posture, both legs mimic each other. Knees are straight and locked. Heels are pushed out.

4. Next ease our leg on to the floor. Again, no jerky movements. Also, if you are unable to get the leg all the way down to the floor, you can use a pillow or a small table to rest you leg on. Heel pushed out. Knee locked. And the torso should be flat on the floor. Usually there is a tendency to lean to one side because of the weight of the extended leg.

5. Bring the leg back up and this time, ease it to the opposite side. Only 30 degrees to the other side. So lower back is still in touch with the floor. The opposite leg should stay active.

6. And finally, the posture which gives the most relief. For this one you will have to tie the ends of the belt together. Then insert a leg through the loop and put the opposite shoulder through the other end of the loop. Almost like you’re carrying a shoulder bag. Allow the leg to fall sideways. It doesn’t matter how close your knee/thigh/leg is to your torso. What matters is how relaxed your leg is.

Remember to practice each posture on both sides. Hold for 10 minutes on both sides. When done daily these moves ensure that your back pain is eliminated.

Thanks Sujith for the photos. 🙂

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