We are on to a week of standing poses and forward bends! Our first forward bend class was with Geeta. It was the best forward bend class ever and Geeta's teaching was briliant. My head was acutally in the vicinity of my leg in Maricyasana I - definitely a first! Geeta started class by looking at the people in the front row and declaring that she was tired of seeing the same faces in the front. She made everyone switch places and I ended up second row, center. It was illuminating to be that close to her. She looked me in the eye many times and I couldn't help but repsond in my poses by going deeper. She was in an extremely good mood - telling us jokes about ice cream vs. janu sirsasana. I could feel that she wanted to connect with us so that we understood what she was teaching.
Karen and I made it to our massage yesterday at Ayur Jyoti. It was a wonderful oil massage and I felt so relaxed that I didn't mind the rickshaw ride home in rush hour traffic.
I feel acclimated now to the culture, the Institute and our schedule. This has helped my stress level and my practice. A group of five of us are meeting to take notes on the clases. The others in our group are Nancy from NY, Tina from Seattle, Glennis from Englan and our flatmate Oscar. It feels a little like living in the dorm and studying together.
Tonya and Terry - I said hi to Nana. He remembered both of you. Tonya he said "yes, yes, Tonya and Barb"!
Friday, August 8, 2008
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Cyber Cafe
Karen and I are sitting in a cyber cafe so we can have high speed internet access, instead of dial up. It is completely filled with teenage boys playing Doom online. They are yelling and shouting in their immersion in what they are doing. The walk was crazy to get here and we crossed the street with a young man who seemed to know what he was doing. It is hot and stuffy despite the open windows. and a real Pune experience. I think I will stick with the slower dial up at home, as I am getting a headache from the heat and noise.
Karen and I wanted a taste of home last night so we watch Star Wars on my laptop. We are both Star Wars nuts, and it was great to watch and relax.
It is interested to practice in the hall and watch everyone use the ropes. I have learned quite a few new ways to work with the ropes and I am excited to share with everyone at home. I feel my body start to open in new ways as I am immersed in this experience. Tonight is our first pranayama class. The students who are new to classes at Pune are to go to a different class than those who are here for the second (or more) time.
Bill - we are on the second floor, not the fourth. Julie, thanks for the iPod speakers - Karen and I are using them a lot! Nitin, I will say hi to Nuvana's relatives, thanks for the tip!
Karen and I wanted a taste of home last night so we watch Star Wars on my laptop. We are both Star Wars nuts, and it was great to watch and relax.
It is interested to practice in the hall and watch everyone use the ropes. I have learned quite a few new ways to work with the ropes and I am excited to share with everyone at home. I feel my body start to open in new ways as I am immersed in this experience. Tonight is our first pranayama class. The students who are new to classes at Pune are to go to a different class than those who are here for the second (or more) time.
Bill - we are on the second floor, not the fourth. Julie, thanks for the iPod speakers - Karen and I are using them a lot! Nitin, I will say hi to Nuvana's relatives, thanks for the tip!
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Food and Clothes
Hello again,
Apparently the birds make a ruckus in the evening as well!
Our flatmate moved in yesterday. His name is Oscar and he is from Madrid. He seems like a very kind man and we enjoyed talking to him last night. It is his first time here for classes as well. He has spent some time on the west coast, and even drove from San Francisco to Seattle on Highway 101!
One post asked about food. We are incredibly lucky - we have a cook come to our flat everyday and make lunch for us. For 50 rupees (about a buck and a quarter) she makes dal (a lentil dish soupy or thick), a vegetable of our choice (cauliflower, carrots, beans, squash, okra), chappatis (flat bread kind of like tortillas but not really) and a grain like rice. We come home from practice or class and all we have to do is heat and serve! For dinner we usually have left overs, and for breakfast I have oatmeal or peanut butter bread. I thought I would have to do without ice cream, but I am happy to say I just had some chocolate B&R ice cream.
Had an interesting class with Prashant - all twists. He spoke about quality and quantity in poses. We held each poses for what seemed like an eternity while he tried to get us to connect body mind and breath. One surprise - he was very funny, making jokes several time.
Geeta taught this morning and we worked really hard. I have so much work to do on my basic standing poses. I felt like Geeta was speaking to me with each instruction that both re emphasized previous points, and took us deeper.
Finally - Karen and I had some great retail therapy yesterday. We went to see Sunita the Tailor, and we both ordered some beautiful salwaar khameezs (pant suits with scarves and I am not sure of the spelling) to be made to our measurements. There was so much beautiful fabric and Sunita was so kind and welcoming that my homesickness was completely gone.
Personal Notes:
Terry, I will say hi for you.
Apparently the birds make a ruckus in the evening as well!
Our flatmate moved in yesterday. His name is Oscar and he is from Madrid. He seems like a very kind man and we enjoyed talking to him last night. It is his first time here for classes as well. He has spent some time on the west coast, and even drove from San Francisco to Seattle on Highway 101!
One post asked about food. We are incredibly lucky - we have a cook come to our flat everyday and make lunch for us. For 50 rupees (about a buck and a quarter) she makes dal (a lentil dish soupy or thick), a vegetable of our choice (cauliflower, carrots, beans, squash, okra), chappatis (flat bread kind of like tortillas but not really) and a grain like rice. We come home from practice or class and all we have to do is heat and serve! For dinner we usually have left overs, and for breakfast I have oatmeal or peanut butter bread. I thought I would have to do without ice cream, but I am happy to say I just had some chocolate B&R ice cream.
Had an interesting class with Prashant - all twists. He spoke about quality and quantity in poses. We held each poses for what seemed like an eternity while he tried to get us to connect body mind and breath. One surprise - he was very funny, making jokes several time.
Geeta taught this morning and we worked really hard. I have so much work to do on my basic standing poses. I felt like Geeta was speaking to me with each instruction that both re emphasized previous points, and took us deeper.
Finally - Karen and I had some great retail therapy yesterday. We went to see Sunita the Tailor, and we both ordered some beautiful salwaar khameezs (pant suits with scarves and I am not sure of the spelling) to be made to our measurements. There was so much beautiful fabric and Sunita was so kind and welcoming that my homesickness was completely gone.
Personal Notes:
Terry, I will say hi for you.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Power Out and a New Friend
First - thanks for all the great posts! I loved reading them! I was a little homesick when I opened my blog, and knowing you are all reading it made me feel better.
Power outages seem to be a fact of life here. I asked our host, Sanjeev what was going on. He said that the monsoon rains have been light this year, creating power shortages. So they have to initiate rolling power outages around the city. So far today, the regular power has gone out twice. Luckily for us, our building has a back up generator, so when the regular power goes out we can still have lights, computers, and refrigeration. But no hot water, we have discovered.
Last night Glennis - a women from England (and Karen's roommate from two years ago) came home with us after class to write down "yoga notes". Yoga notes are what us yoga nerds do after each class - writing down the sequence and then filling in detail about what was taught. Glennis is a hoot! She regaled us with stories of her travels and with her accent I felt like I was sitting next to Eliza Doolittle.
The class last night was taught by Chandra, and was a very good class. We learned an interesting new way to do headstand as well as some standing pose variations.
We have our first class with Prashant tonight. Prashant is Mr. Iyengar's son. I have heard his classes are really interesting so I am looking forward to it.
Personal notes:
Good luck Catie, let me know how it goes. Thanks for the info Bill, we will try again. Kathleen from Thursday night class - thanks again for the lavender/rosemary soap you gave me. I brought it along and it smell lovely.
Power outages seem to be a fact of life here. I asked our host, Sanjeev what was going on. He said that the monsoon rains have been light this year, creating power shortages. So they have to initiate rolling power outages around the city. So far today, the regular power has gone out twice. Luckily for us, our building has a back up generator, so when the regular power goes out we can still have lights, computers, and refrigeration. But no hot water, we have discovered.
Last night Glennis - a women from England (and Karen's roommate from two years ago) came home with us after class to write down "yoga notes". Yoga notes are what us yoga nerds do after each class - writing down the sequence and then filling in detail about what was taught. Glennis is a hoot! She regaled us with stories of her travels and with her accent I felt like I was sitting next to Eliza Doolittle.
The class last night was taught by Chandra, and was a very good class. We learned an interesting new way to do headstand as well as some standing pose variations.
We have our first class with Prashant tonight. Prashant is Mr. Iyengar's son. I have heard his classes are really interesting so I am looking forward to it.
Personal notes:
Good luck Catie, let me know how it goes. Thanks for the info Bill, we will try again. Kathleen from Thursday night class - thanks again for the lavender/rosemary soap you gave me. I brought it along and it smell lovely.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Children's Yoga, Practice near Guruji, Good Rickshaw, Bad Rickshaw
Yoga
Yesterday I observed a children's class taught by Guruji's granddaughter Abbhy (not sure how to spell her name). For those of you who don't know, Guruji means "my teacher". This is what Mr. Iyengar's students call him. It was far different from the adult classes - short holds, lots of jumpings, no props at all (except for a mat for headstand). The kids had lots of fun and I learned some new things to bring back for the adults. Abbhy is very knowledgeable and already a good teacher in her mid-20's.
Today our practice time was early, and Guruji came in right away. He always sets up in the same spot so I had the honor of practicing 15 feet away from him. He was in a good mood and flashed Karen a big smile and said namaskar when she paid him her respects. Perhaps tomorrow I will work up the nerve to approach him.
Today I once again got the feeling that I know so little, even after 12 years of study. It was informative to watch the advanced practices of the others, and to try to memorize the inventive prop setups being used. It is a privilege to be here!
Rickshaw rides
Karen and I took two rickshaw rides in the past couple of days.
The first was with Naana. Naana is a rickshaw driver patronized by the American students. The ride was exciting, fun and Naana organized our itinerary for us. He also acted as tour guide, telling us the name of rivers, bridges and hotels. Yes Bill, I said hi for you and Naana was pleased to know that I knew you. He asked how you were doing.We did some shopping and got some gifts for people back home. We arranged a Tuesday trip with Naana to a tailor to have some clothes made. This was the good rickshaw ride.
Today we had booked Ayurvedic massage appointments and decided to take our chances with a rickshaw driver. We were told - easy to get there, 10 minute ride. Bad decision! We never got to our destination - even though we had a business card with a map on it. He pulled over numerous time to ask pedestrians for directions and we went in circles for 30 minutes. Finally, he asked and English speaking person for help, and we asked our good Samaritan to tell the driver we just wanted to go back home. I think the rickshaw driver felt embarrassed he couldn't get us there, but we had long missed our appointments. So instead of getting relaxed, we were wiped out by the ride, fumes and frustrations. Next time we will go with Naana!
Personal Notes
Come on people, more posts back would be great! Especially KA! Thanks to the 5 people who posted yesterday. It made my day to read these post from home after our rickshaw ride from heck. Marion from the UK, I am glad you are enjoying the blog. Dad, thanks for the note and Nitin, I will check out the laughing yoga.
Julie, I had a chat with Glennis last night and she remembers you and kept saying over and over how nice you are.
The power went off in the middle of this post - thank goodness for autosave.
That's it for now!
Yesterday I observed a children's class taught by Guruji's granddaughter Abbhy (not sure how to spell her name). For those of you who don't know, Guruji means "my teacher". This is what Mr. Iyengar's students call him. It was far different from the adult classes - short holds, lots of jumpings, no props at all (except for a mat for headstand). The kids had lots of fun and I learned some new things to bring back for the adults. Abbhy is very knowledgeable and already a good teacher in her mid-20's.
Today our practice time was early, and Guruji came in right away. He always sets up in the same spot so I had the honor of practicing 15 feet away from him. He was in a good mood and flashed Karen a big smile and said namaskar when she paid him her respects. Perhaps tomorrow I will work up the nerve to approach him.
Today I once again got the feeling that I know so little, even after 12 years of study. It was informative to watch the advanced practices of the others, and to try to memorize the inventive prop setups being used. It is a privilege to be here!
Rickshaw rides
Karen and I took two rickshaw rides in the past couple of days.
The first was with Naana. Naana is a rickshaw driver patronized by the American students. The ride was exciting, fun and Naana organized our itinerary for us. He also acted as tour guide, telling us the name of rivers, bridges and hotels. Yes Bill, I said hi for you and Naana was pleased to know that I knew you. He asked how you were doing.We did some shopping and got some gifts for people back home. We arranged a Tuesday trip with Naana to a tailor to have some clothes made. This was the good rickshaw ride.
Today we had booked Ayurvedic massage appointments and decided to take our chances with a rickshaw driver. We were told - easy to get there, 10 minute ride. Bad decision! We never got to our destination - even though we had a business card with a map on it. He pulled over numerous time to ask pedestrians for directions and we went in circles for 30 minutes. Finally, he asked and English speaking person for help, and we asked our good Samaritan to tell the driver we just wanted to go back home. I think the rickshaw driver felt embarrassed he couldn't get us there, but we had long missed our appointments. So instead of getting relaxed, we were wiped out by the ride, fumes and frustrations. Next time we will go with Naana!
Personal Notes
Come on people, more posts back would be great! Especially KA! Thanks to the 5 people who posted yesterday. It made my day to read these post from home after our rickshaw ride from heck. Marion from the UK, I am glad you are enjoying the blog. Dad, thanks for the note and Nitin, I will check out the laughing yoga.
Julie, I had a chat with Glennis last night and she remembers you and kept saying over and over how nice you are.
The power went off in the middle of this post - thank goodness for autosave.
That's it for now!
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Sounds of India and More
One of the hardest things to get used to is the cacophony of sound. The typical day begins with the din of thousands of birds at daybreak. I don't know how anyone could sleep through it! Then the rickshaws, motorcycles, cars, buses and truck begin hitting the streets and the honking begins. Honking seems to be the preferred way of letting another vehicle know that you are going to pass them. So the honking isn't in anger, but more of a courtesy. Still, it can grate on the nerves after listening to it all day! Of course, all of these vehicles also have loud motors, and there are so many of them. Another sound in the mix is the generator - this morning the electricity failed, and they fired up the generator to get things back up and running.
Another noise I have had to get used to is the elevator in our flat. Not the sound of the elevator traveling up and down, but the song the elevator plays. That's right - the elevator plays a musical number, in our case "Fur Elise". It goes on all day and night, like a cell phone that a inconsiderate person never turns off.
Now a comment about the students at the Institute. Us Americans are out numbered. There are Indian students of course, but there are also Greeks, Spaniards, Italians, Canadians, Belgians, Chinese, Polish, German, Russian, French, English and Irish students! And also one women from Iran. I am sure there are other countries represented, as these are the students I have encountered in the first two days of classes. I look forward to getting to know some of these people from around the world.
My second class was great and I was much less intimidated. Today is a day off and we indulged in some shopping.
If you would like to post me a message, please do, I would love to hear from you!
Another noise I have had to get used to is the elevator in our flat. Not the sound of the elevator traveling up and down, but the song the elevator plays. That's right - the elevator plays a musical number, in our case "Fur Elise". It goes on all day and night, like a cell phone that a inconsiderate person never turns off.
Now a comment about the students at the Institute. Us Americans are out numbered. There are Indian students of course, but there are also Greeks, Spaniards, Italians, Canadians, Belgians, Chinese, Polish, German, Russian, French, English and Irish students! And also one women from Iran. I am sure there are other countries represented, as these are the students I have encountered in the first two days of classes. I look forward to getting to know some of these people from around the world.
My second class was great and I was much less intimidated. Today is a day off and we indulged in some shopping.
If you would like to post me a message, please do, I would love to hear from you!
Friday, August 1, 2008
Sleep and Yoga
Finally, some sleep! While I never felt sleepy during the day, I could not sleep at night for the first 3 nights here. But yesterday Karen and I moved into our flat (a huge improvement over the Ambience hotel) and I finally slept like a rock. Life will be pleasant here - we are directly next to the institute, and my room overlooks the courtyard between the Iyengar family home and the Yoga hall. Our host, Sanjeev, is incredibly nice and generous.
On Thursday, I attended my first practice. You are given a practice time everyday to work individually and access all the yoga props the institute has to offer. I was intimidated the moment I walked in. Everyone seemed to know what they were doing, and many of the practices seemed quite advanced. I set up, hoped no one was watching me, and started in. Then, Mr. Iyengar showed up for his practice and also to work with others. It was amazing to watch this almost 90 year old man do his practice and speak about yoga! By the end of the practice session I was feeling better and slightly more confident.
Yesterday was my first class with Geeta. I was terrified when class started. The hall was packed - I thought there were at least 120 people and everyone was working to get a spot for their mat. It was humid and hot, and I didn't know anyone around me. But once we got underway, there was no time to be anxious. Geeta worked us hard, even though we mostly did basic poses - downward dog, tadasana (about 12 times), and the basic standing poses. Geeta was in a good mood and made many jokes. When we first laid down in savasana, she joked "the shouting is over!".
Personal notes:
Julie, Norma from SY says hi. Glennis is not staying in our flat, but will be in our building. She doesn't arrive for a few days. Karen knows Glennis and will point her out to me. Ryan and Lindsey, thanks for the post! Nitin, it was nice to see you. Barb, I had dinner with Anne (from Portland) and we discussed classes in Portland. I also chatted with Jeff from NY (FPR Anne's teacher).
Time to head to my second class!
On Thursday, I attended my first practice. You are given a practice time everyday to work individually and access all the yoga props the institute has to offer. I was intimidated the moment I walked in. Everyone seemed to know what they were doing, and many of the practices seemed quite advanced. I set up, hoped no one was watching me, and started in. Then, Mr. Iyengar showed up for his practice and also to work with others. It was amazing to watch this almost 90 year old man do his practice and speak about yoga! By the end of the practice session I was feeling better and slightly more confident.
Yesterday was my first class with Geeta. I was terrified when class started. The hall was packed - I thought there were at least 120 people and everyone was working to get a spot for their mat. It was humid and hot, and I didn't know anyone around me. But once we got underway, there was no time to be anxious. Geeta worked us hard, even though we mostly did basic poses - downward dog, tadasana (about 12 times), and the basic standing poses. Geeta was in a good mood and made many jokes. When we first laid down in savasana, she joked "the shouting is over!".
Personal notes:
Julie, Norma from SY says hi. Glennis is not staying in our flat, but will be in our building. She doesn't arrive for a few days. Karen knows Glennis and will point her out to me. Ryan and Lindsey, thanks for the post! Nitin, it was nice to see you. Barb, I had dinner with Anne (from Portland) and we discussed classes in Portland. I also chatted with Jeff from NY (FPR Anne's teacher).
Time to head to my second class!
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