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Travels Yoga

Sunday the 18th – Koregaon Park

September 20, 2016

Early morning walk around Koregaon Park.

Half the month is over, and, as Anuja pointed out in the car earlier today, half the year is almost over. I bet a lot of people already made their New Year’s Eve plans. I’ve only been able to plan for the first week of December when I may be off for a new adventure.

This should be better by December.

However, while I’m here I would like to experience a bit more of Pune. So this past Saturday I decided to meet up with a friend of mine from my Infy days. While in the UK, Bhavani and I were out frequently clubbing, pubbing, eating or just watching movies. The last time I met up with her we went to Mallaka Spice (Bhavani & Me @Mallaka). Last Saturday we went to a popular hangout here called The Bar Stock Exchange. Nice place. Good music, good crowd and nice drinks :). We headed back to Bhavani’s house with plans of watching ‘Sinister’. Once I realized I’d already seen the film, I promptly fell asleep.

The next morning was Sunday and I’m not one to miss out on a delicious breakfast. Because of the early classes here, I’ve become very frugal with my breakfasts. But I think I’m essentially a breakfast girl. The other day (at Funky Kona in Baner) Anuja and I were discussing how much more fun and romantic breakfasts are over dinners. Show me a breakfast and I’ll show you girl who isn’t afraid to stuff her face. So we drove around a bit to get to our breakfast place. The Yogi Tree is right next to the Osho Ashram. Bhavani had her usual parantha while I had a sandwich. I have to confess, I don’t miss south Indian breakfast, but I do miss the coffee. I’ve started to hallucinate the smell of fresh filter coffee!!! I guess I know the first thing I’ll have in namma Bengaluru.

I wanted to indulge in a little bit of street shopping also while here. I did go to Lakshmi road a day before the Ganapati festival. It was crowded and I don’t think I’ll ever willingly go there again. But I managed to pick up two pairs of beautiful Kolapuri chappals, which; for the record; happen to be my favorite kind of footwear.

Many people told me that Koregaon park is known for its small quirky boutiques. Bhavani and I decided to walk around. I was looking for nice spots to take yoga photos. Sadly, couldn’t find a single pretty background. However, we did go to a few of the small boutiques and indulged in some retail therapy. I got a sense of the vibe of the place which is youthful and vibrant. There were interesting little food joints interspersed with the clothing and accessories boutiques. Lots of places for dessert, but I’m keeping my chocolate addiction under control these days.

Once I got home I said hi to Aston. Aston makes a dog’s life look very chic. He moves only if he has to. He sprawls under the TV and sort of rolls around there every once in a while. And he spontaneously has barking fits. Playing fetch is his only form of exercise, but we know he’s in love with the tennis ball. Anuja claims that he sleeps on his back and sometimes dreams about running after the ball. So she says Aston’s legs move, as though he’s running after the ball. Except he’s asleep.

I decided to strike a few poses while Aston was catching his breath.

Sunday evening Anuja and I decided to go back to Koregaon park to Dario’s. I’d heard so much about the place and I have to say I wasn’t disappointed. They have delicious food. We decided to taste the vegan cheesecake and had some bruschetta and coffee. We thought we’d go for a round of shopping before we sat down for dinner.

When we emerged from Dario’s it was raining, but the weather wasn’t going to keep a couple of girls away from clothes. We browsed through a few boutiques in Koregaon park. I was looking for interesting quirky stuff while Anuja was checking out the merchandise. We headed home early so that I could be up bright and early for my 7 am.

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Yoga

A Yogi in Pune – Day 16

September 16, 2016

I’ve practiced more in these 16 days than I ever have in my life. In Mysore practice used to be for an hour and a half. That was for 15 days. During my teachers’ training at SVYASA we used to have practice for up to 2 – 3 hours a day. Here we practice for up to 5 hours a day. Some students even opt to observe classes, so that’s more yoga during the day. It is intense, it is powerful, detailed, thorough and it’s amazing (I may already have mentioned that before.) In the past 2 weeks I’ve had time to really work on my asanas. I’ve also had a chance to see the practice in a different way. To kind of lift the asana lid and peer into the pot to find the importance and relevance of yoga in our lives. My own steadily improving practice and watching all kinds of people practice day in and day out. Doing the Trikonasana (and other asanas) over and over again drives home a few important lessons.

Practice makes perfect. But nobody’s perfect. So perfection is a process and practice is the means to it. In the age of beautiful Instagram filters, it is difficult to believe that even the jaw dropping and awe inspiring pose has scope for improvement. There is scope of improvement in everything. Your projects are a work in progress. Your relationships are a work in progress….your life is a work in progress. You are a work in progress! So accept your mistakes. Internalize the lessons they teach you and don’t make them again. Remember, a mistake made over and over again is a habit.
Spend a lot of time on your fundamentals. Here we have practitioners of all levels. However, what we practice day in and day out (yes for 5 hours daily) are the fundamentals. Trikonasana, Uttanasana, Downward dog etc. The other day the entire 2 hour class was about Uttanasana. That is all we did during the entire class. In fact, I’ve heard Abhijata say that your inversions will never be stable unless your standing poses are stable. Next time you find yourself fumbling in a pose, try and analyse why and what you can do to make the pose better. And next time you find yourself getting impatient or bored of the fundamentals, remember there’s always scope for improvement.
Cultivate discipline.Be strict with yourself because when it comes to your body no one else will be. Make the time to move your body, however inconvenient it may be. Make the time to cultivate a hobby which requires you to move. Enjoy the process of movement and getting in touch with yourself. The tragedy of our times is that people will set reminders on their phones to take the medicines they have now become dependent on, but they won’t throw back the covers and go for a quick jog. Every little bit matters, but you need discipline. To start and to stay on track.

[Above: Healthy food choices always. Remember my 80/20 rule.]

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Yoga

Nightlife of a Different Sort

September 13, 2016

Lord Ganesh would probably be the poster boy for Hindu mythology. I’ve rarely met a foreign yogi who hasn’t heard at least one legend about how he got the head of an elephant. I’ve rarely been to an Indian or an Indophile’s house which doesn’t have a picture or a statue of Ganesh-ji. I don’t profess to have more than a rudimentary knowledge of Hinduism and am not in the least iconoclastic. But I also have a beautiful statue of Ganesh in my house. One of my favorite pieces of jewellery is a gold Ganesh pendant that a friend of mine gave me when I was about to embark on an import journey in life (thanks Lakshmi).

I guess it was destiny for me to come to Maharashtra when the most special festival is going on. Ganesh Chaturti here is celebrated like Dusshera in Mysore. The festival has been immortalized in numerous Bollywood songs and last night I had the pleasure of visiting the 5 famous Ganesh mandals here in Pune. These are so famous in fact, that it is rumoured that Bollywood celebrities come all the way here to offer their prayers. Going to the old city and walking through the crowds to make your way to the Ganpatis is no easy feat, and I guess it was destiny once again that I had a group who was kind enough to think of me when they made their plan. Had it not been for Hariharan, Shivangi and Subbu I don’t think I would ever have had the chance to participate in the festivities.

The route.

We had a very capable and organized navigator. Hariharan did the groundwork. We had the names of the famous Ganapatis and the walking route printed out. We knew that it was going to be crowded, so we left our bags behind in the car and ventured out on foot. Don’t get too close to the venue to look for parking because you won’t find any. We parked on the other side of the Mula Mutha river and crossed the bridge. The area is cordoned off for vehicles.

Have to go back to this. I’ve heard there is a sound and light show here. Also, it looks very different from how it does in Bajirao Mastani. I will have to go back for a closer look.

The Ganapatis we wanted to visit were:

Kasba
Tambdi
Guruji Talim
Tulsibaugh (we missed this one)
Kesriwada

So the Ganapatis, in no particular order are:

The oldest Ganapati.

While here I want to make sure that I have as much vada pav and pav bhaji and other local fare, and in keeping with that we stopped at JumboKing for their famous Wada Pav Burger.

Mario Miranda on the wall.

Fortune tellers, old and new friends, phenomenal yoga teachers and amazing practice sessions…what else will Ganesh-ji bring my way during the rest of my Pune travels and in my life?

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RIMYI Experiences

The Yoga Mat

September 12, 2016

A photograph at the institute.

A tip for all of you travelling to Pune to study at RIMYI: Don’t take your yoga mat. I know many people are attached to their mats, and they can’t imagine practicing on any other mat. (Letting your yoga mat go would be a good lesson in Vairagya or non-attachment.) Anyways, I was unaware that mats are available in the institute, so I brought along my own. But I find I’m too lazy to lug it to the institute daily, so now I just use the mats there.

The institute has a wide collection of mats. So depending on what you want to practice,

Electric salad and Top Hats @Malaka

you can choose the thickness and stickiness of the mat. The thing is, my mat gets very dirty (maybe because of my park classes), and I simply can’t get over how clean these mats are. Even though hundreds of people use the mats daily, the mats are clean and tidy, so you don’t feel all icky about using them.

You probably use your mat daily. Probably sweat on it a lot. Probably walk across it with dirty feet, or others will walk across it with dirty feet. No wonder people find their hands and feet slipping in Adhomukha Svanasana. But a little care for your mat can ensure that it lasts for a while.

If you use your mat in the park (like a lot of my students do), then try to wash your mat weekly. The best practice to wash your mat is to lay it down on the floor and wipe it down with a sponge and soapy water. And then rinse the soap away using the same sponge. Be gentle, because you don’t want to loosen and weaken the fibres of the mat. I suggest you be eco-friendly and use water and vinegar mixed together. In Wellington I used to spray Eucalyptus oil on my mat which would keep it smelling fresh and energizing. You could also spray some essential oil on your mat. Leave it out to dry. Also, try not to use too much soap as you don’t want any residue on your mat.

Don’t wring the mat. Again, it may loosen the fibres and you may end up wringing the mat out of shape.

I know there are special yoga mat wipes which you could use to clean your mat. I know of one case where someone used baby wipes, which was a bad idea because it moisturized the mat. Which is not ideal if you want to practice Adhomukha perfectly. Some people use witch-hazel as well. I’ve never done this.

What I usually do is put my mat in the washing machine and leave it out to dry in the balcony. Simple and time effective. However, I learned the hard way that you shouldn’t put in anything else with your mat. One of my mats came out torn on one end. Learn from my mistakes.

Sunday agenda: Catching up on rest with Aston and scary movies on Netflix.

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