8 LIMBS YOGA, WEST SEATTLE

Tuesday/Thursdays - 6:30 a.m. Level 2 flow (Ashtanga)

Fridays -  4:30 p.m. Level 3 flow (Ashtanga)/6:00 p.m. Level 1

This is it, last nite in Mysore. We had a packed day. Chai first thing at Amruth Café. Then we headed to Om Café for breakfast. Mags was a bit tired, so she actually took a quick nap on the bed in the back. That was good as we then headed to Shobha and Randy’s to learn how to make Coconut chutney and Coconut rotis.

I am in heaven! It was 2 easy recipes and they are amazing. I think that will be my first Indian meal I make when I get back. I just have to figure out how to scrap out the inside of the coconut. I can crack one open now, which is an accomplishment I was hoping to leave with from here. There is this great machine here they use to scrap out the coconuts. It is a piece of wood with a long blade that has teeth on the end of the metal blade. You just run the coconut half over the teeth and there you go…shaved coconut. So perhaps I can ask Ray to create something like this when we get back.

After a full morning of eating breakfast #1 at Om and  #2 at Shobha’s, I decided that we would leave here with eating everywhere. Off we went with Laura and Julia and a few others to Nagarantha’s house. I am taking back 3 saris and a ton of homemade snacks that she made for her daughter, so we were going for the yummy lunch she makes for us out of her house, but also to pick everything up.

Again Mags took a 10 minute snoozer on one of their beds and we ate so many amazing dishes with chapatis that our tables instantly became quiet when the food arrived. Truly amazing! Our rickshaw drivers waited for us too, so when Mags woke up she went out running to them, calling “Swami, Swami!” Swami is very Hanuman to me. He is 23, but looks about 34. He is quiet, doesn’t speak a word of English. Sadly his father was big drinker and wouldn’t let him go to school when he was young, but made him go to work and support the family. He is a quiet man and has a huge heart. When Maggie was locked in our place, it was Swami who ran to get his rickshaw friends and he ran to the neighbors getting the huge coconut cutter to use to unlock the door through the screen window. He is always picking Maggie up and putting her shoes on, helping her in the rickshaw. He really is kind to her. So naturally she is calling for him. If we go to the rickshaw stand and he is not there, she says to the other drivers…”Where Swami?”

So they played outside as one of the other drivers was shimmying up a tree collecting Nem leaves. Tomorrow is the New Year Holiday in 2 states, one being Kanaada, here. I can’t quiet get a straight answer why it is not the New Year for all of India and only 2 states. But it is. Everyone worships in the temples and it’s a huge holiday,just like our Ne Years. Tradition is you eat Nem leaves (which are super super bitter and taste like dandelions) and Jagari together. I said to myself, oh no, Mags loves that Jagari, which is like brown sugar. So the girl is going to be in heaven. At the restaurants she says, sugar please. I cave in and give her a 1/8 teaspoon and she says, “Thank you!” then asks for more again and again and again.

We left Nagantha’s and Mags fell asleep across Julia, Laura and I on our way back. Those 2 jumped out at the coconut stand and with Mags laying across the seat of the rickshaw, Swami ran me around to do errands, which is perfect. It’s like having a built in babysitter while I run in 2 seconds to pick up a gift, buy diapers, say goodbye to the tailor, cancel our car for the airport since we had 2 booked and so on.

We pull up to the house and of course she pops up, saying, “Swami coming?” I tell her no, he has to work and we go in and she is wide awake. I put on Hotel for Dogs and catch a 10 minute snoozer myself. Laksmi then shows up and I am off in a rickshaw again to Jayasharee for chanting. I have been wanting to study with her since I got here, but she was in the states doing workshops and when she arrive back, I was in my level 2 Sanskrit nightmare. Today was my first and only day to go. I sat down with 7 others and I loved it! We chanted the yoga sutras and some other mantras and I was so happy. She is the teacher of all the teachers for chanting and philosophy. She has the most beautiful voice and even the gurus go to her to learn chanting. I felt honored to be sitting there in her home, with her husband next to her, with only 7 others to here and learn the chanting. I was also now thanking Laksmi, my Sanskrit teacher, as it did really help me in pronouncing many of the sutras and I know what is long vowels and short vowels and how to chant them now. I have to remind myself that everything happens for a reason in the order that it happens. Once again that motto rang true here.

She ended with this amazing Indian children song. It is about a sparrow and how he is left alone to fly for himself. It is so sweet and beautiful when she sings it, I had tears in my eyes chanting it back to her. I honestly can’t think of any other way to end my trip here. I thought to myself, Mags would love it, so I am going to learn it and sing it back to her.
Here is Jayasharee singing it in San Francisco
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAfTuBfIHCI

I am home now. Mags fell asleep at 6 p.m. I am making a light fruit salad of banana, papaya and apples. I am up at 3:45 a.m. tomorrow for the last led class by Sharath.

I cannot say enough how blessed I feel to have been here. To experience the shala, Sharath for teaching me patience and showing me that the practice truly does work in time, the yogis from all over the world, Kumar – my amazing transgression guru, Laksmi for teaching me Sanskrit how to write Sanskrit sentences, Lokash the amazing tailor who saved my butt by making me curtains for our place which one of the spayed dogs ate, Dr. Arun for neutering/spaying 12 dogs and being so kind and happy all the time, for Sanjay and Swami our rickshaw drivers for taking us everywhere, including carting the dogs to and from the vet with me, for all of our neighbors for waving and smiling to us every day and for loving Maggie like she has always been here, Prakash – the shala security guard for always smiling and bowing to us even though his wife and 4 kids are still in Nepal as he can’t afford to bring them here, Guru and his sons fo cracking coconuts at their stand and sitting Mags on the bench with her own sweet coconut, Tina/Shobha/Anu for teaching me to cook and making me prepare the meals with them so I can really learn the recipes, Shiva and his crew for helping us out by letting the street dogs stay in our house while they recovered from their surgeries, Randy for giving us a place to feel safe and comfortable in our first days here and always helping us out from mosquito nets to converter plugs, Jessica and Andrew for giving Maggie play dates and being so kind to us, Laksmi for being with Maggie every morning and afternoon when I had class, for loving Maggie like she is her own and for shedding tears when we are leaving. My family and friends for supporting me on this journey and cheering me on as we did this spiritual adventure. I can’t tell you how the emails and Facebook posts were helping me on this path. Thank you! And last to my husband, Ray, who has been more than supportive in allowing us to leave him for two months and come here. It has wrenched his heart inside and out. I am so blessed at your beautiful kindness and support always. It is so hard to be a spouse of an ashtangi woman. My married girlfriends all talk about this with me. We get up at the crack of dawn 6 days a week, then we ask to leave our lovely men for 2 - 3 months to travel half way round the world to study with a guru. It’s not easy to be the one to stay at home and many times they think it makes no sense what in the heck we are doing here. I can say it is not unnoticed and it not for nothing, I am a changed woman for this and I see it in my girlfriends here too who have left their men at hoem to pay the bills, work, have bachelor meals and keep it going at home. I can say that I understand now that this practice does work and I understand what and who God. I understand what love and devotion is from a marriage and from a loving man, who let us come here, toddler in tow. I have learned so much more than just those things alone, but I thank you so much Ray Ray for letting us be here.

We are home in 2 days and I’ll be back teaching ina  week and those who live far from us, I will do my best to keep updating this blog as I carry on this spiritual journey back in the states. We leave at 1 a.m. by car tomorrow nite to Bangalore where we board our first plane at 7:30 a.m. We will be in route for a total of 40 hours making our way with weird Indian snacks, books and toys to keep Ms. Mags happy

Each and every one of you reading this took part in my journey in more ways than I think any of you will know.

Truly Namaste!

Today was the last day of Mysore class with Sharath, before he takes his holiday for 2 years. Laksmi showed up on the dot at 5:15 and I literally ran up to the shala. I wanted to savor every moment possible of this last practice. I walked through the door and no one was waiting in the lobby. He called me in right away. The shala is emptying out, which means maybe 100 of us now. I haven’t talked much about Sharath. He is the grandson of Pattabhi Jois and has taken over the teachings that Guruji was doing.Sharath teaches with his mom, Saraswati. Here is his site: http://www.rsharath.com/sharath.html and am amazing demo from him: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzGr3jRjB64

I liked my practice. After 2 months of 6 days a week of practicing, I am truly flowing and gliding from pose to pose. Hmmm, I like it. I slow down to sputa kurmasana where I have been for 2 months. I try once, twice, 3rd time I try my legs behind my head first then lower down to the mat. Hands still not binding. I jump to the pose before and wait for Sharath. He comes over and wrenches me into it. I grab, hold and bind! He says to me go forward now all series. Hooray!!! Onward and upward from here.

After practice everyone is outside chatting away, drinking coconuts and snapping photos of everyone. The feeling is happy and upbeat. The majority of people are from Asia and Canada with a few more from Belgium and Sweden. Us Americans are few and far between. Not sure why that is, but the old timers said it has been more and more like this with less Americans. That’s fine with me, I like meeting everyone from all over and am impressed with how many languages everyone speaks. I chuckle, oh lazy Americans, we never learn a second language.

Off we go to chai and I decide to join in today. I usually have one coconut, buy puja flowers and maybe some wheat bread made by the bread guy and beeline home to let Laksmi go home to her kids before she has to be at Randy’s at 8:30. Today, I decide to take 20 more minutes and go grab a chai from Amruth Café. We sit outside in plastic chairs in a circle and drink our masala chai. Hmmm, that is good stuff. Shelley and I drink 2 glasses of chai. The glasses are so hot I have to hold the edges with my fingers, but it is amazing! I am bringing back a great chai recipe. More pictures and stories from everyone and it’s nice to have “adult” time with everyone. We finish out chai and Shelley and I go. She’s heading home and me to get Mags. I ask one of the rickshaw guys to follow me home to run Laksmi up to her house since I am late and she likes to make breakfast for her kids.

As we head home, I see Mags outside in her Tinkerbell pajamas and hugging 2 of our street dogs. We have a constant stream of all the street dogs now who come by for their breakfast and lunch. I am going to talk to our rickshaw guys tomorrow and see if they can carry on feeding them when I leave. Literally 15 dogs come by for a meal and fresh water every day now. Even one poor cow, who I have sadly watched deteriorate here, comes by for a meal of dog food and water. She is literally dying and when I see her I give her all the veggies and fruit we have in our fridge. It’s not helping and she is loosing weight incredibly fast.

We had our last vet appointment today at noon. The doc was coming by to check on #13 dog. He is a sweet guy, but has a terrible case of mange. I have been treating him with meds for 3 weeks and it is getting better. But he cries every nite and all day from the pain. I was having the vet come to our house as we can’t get a collar on his neck from the wounds. The question is can we neuter him and can someone look after him and help cure his mange? I am not sure who would take this one when we leave.

I had another session with Kumar in my transgression therapy. It seems I have a lovely spirit guide and she has been with me for many lifetimes since she was burned at the stake as a witch. Yes, I was her apprentice, but a good witch. She has saved me from my 50 foot cliff fall in Hawaii and my 2 car wrecks that should have been fatal. The last one I flatlined and went through the tunnel to the white light. She has been there and saved me. I was doing this session to finally get the pain out of my gluts, which has been here for at least 10 years. We got to the bottom of it and I was a princess in the 1600’s in Italy. My husband was Ray, my husband now. I never gave him children and died with that guilt of leaving him alone. I stored this pain in my hips. So this lifetime I got down to business and gave him Mags within 6 weeks of meeting him. ☺ Kumar helped me say goodbye to the pain in my gluts. It worked! I woke up for practice pain free and bound in sputa. I am still pain free. Something I haven’t felt for 10 years. I was all excite and skyped Ray to tell him about our past life. I think he might think I have gone crazy.

In other news, Ms. Mags was asked to be Krishna in a photoshoot. So we went to the shoot today and they dressed her up in this elaborate costume. I should have pics tomorrow. She did great but refused to put on the black wig with the bun. So Krishna is a blonde in this shot.

Tomorrow is moon day. Rest and relax. We are going to Shobha’s, Randy’s cook, and she is teaching Shelley ad I how to make coconut chutney and subji with rotis. Yum!

Friday is last led class at 4 a.m. Then Mags and I go to our favorite restaurants. Get in bed at 8 p.m. Get up at midnite and get in the car to Bangalore at 1 a.m. We fly out at 7:30 a.m. Saturday to Heathrow and then to Seattle. One more post to come before we leave.

Jai! Jai! Jai!

As you are waiting in the hallway for Sharath to call out: “One more”, you get to watch everyone practice. It is quiet amazing what some of these lovely yogis can do with their bodies. It’s those few moments of watching everyone while waiting to hear the “one more” call, that you realize you are here in Mysore at Guruji’s home. Yogis from all over the world are here and it is such a treat to watch. One leg kicked up in the air and then disappeared. I was like, what was that pose, I peered in and it is this amazing 6’4 man, whom you would think would be clumsy with all that height, but he gracefully moves in his 3rd series poses like a butterfly. All of us are in awe at his practice, something to really aspire to.

Sharath is funny in the mornings, with so many students he can’t possibly remember all of our names and his English is limited. When he needs to move everyone’s practice times up, he will call out to people by their countries as they walk in. “Portugal, 5:45 tomorrow”, “Japan, you, 5:30”, “Canadian sisters, 4:30”, “Ireland, why you late?”. One girl he calls out to, “Sweden, 6:15”. She laughs as she is not from Sweden, but Belgium. He has been calling her Sweden for the last month. So she came walking in today with a tank top saying “Sweden, 6:15”. I’ll have to ask her if Sharath mentioned it to her. Other things he says are, “Come, don’t fear,” “what’s your hurry, you have to go somewhere?” and when someone falls from a headstand or drop back he says, “don’t break the floor.” These little sayings are priceless in our silent practice.

Shobha was covering for Laksmi today. It was early, she had to be at the house at 4 a.m. I popped out of bed at 3:45. Got dressed and was waiting with my mat bag on my back. Time was ticking and finally I looked at my iPhone as it seemed later than usual. It was 4:07. I was like, crap. Class is at 4:15 and I am not going to make it. I sat on our living room floor till 4:30 and unrolled my mat and practiced at home. Poor Shobha showed up at 4:45 apologizing . She is so kind. I said no worries, please go on home. It’s my last week and I want every ounce of shala time, but that is fine. I have through Friday. Thursday is a moon day. So 4 days left.

Amma is here. I was so excited when I heard this. How lucky am I! Guruji, Sharath, Dalai Lama and Amma all in one trip. India is sp spiritual to begin with let alone to have these 4 amazing people here in Mysore. Mags and I jumped in the rickshaw and off we went. It was packed, but great. There were 4 video screens up broadcasting her speech, but we could still see her on stage. I didn’t understand anything she said except the word God as she was speaking in Kanaada. We did get to go up and hug her though at the end. Mags and I gave her a group hug and she has amazing energy.

These last 5 days are going to be filled with eating at Sandhya’s, Tina’s and Nagarantha’s, pool time, picking up one more lovely thing for Ray, meditation and chanting classes. One more session with Kumar for the transgression session. And enjoy every dog and cow that comes by us. The goat herders were out with their goats today. They let them run loose through the town grazing wherever they find green life. We were on the rooftop of Anu’s house for lunch and as we walked down the stairs there they were. Mags was so happy, she ran down the stairs and out the gate saying “hi, goats!” Every time she tried to pet one, they scooted away. These precious moments I am savoring as we won’t be seeing these scenes next week.

Blessings to everyone.

It is so, so, so hot. This week it is 100 degrees plus. Midday you can’t do anything, but go back to your place and rest with the fans on. All the stores close from 1 to 3 p.m. as no one can move during this time. I am literally dragging myself from noon to 4 each day. The heat is just too much right now.

Practice was at 4:30 a.m shala time, which is 4:15 a.m. I have to stop and figure out shala time, as the clock is fifteen minites fast.So when Sharath says, “You 5:45!” that means you are on the mat no later than 5:30. We are down to one led class now. People are leaving each day to go home or on with their travels. Laksmi showed up at 4:10, so I ran to the shala to get a space. Luckily many people decided to practice at home, since Sharath was not teaching, so I got up on the stage. Very nice and my splinter didn’t bother me too much. I’m soaking it again as I write this. I can’t find the splinter, but feel it.

We had lunch today at Sandhya’s. She is this amazing woman and a fantastic cook. You have to call by 9:30 a.m. that morning to reserve a spot. We got there at 1 and we were the first ones. Ina bout 15 minutes at least 30 people were packed in her house. Julia, Lara and I went. Mags was with us, but was not having a good time at first. She was hot and hungry and let everyone know this. She has discovered, Jaqari. It is basically brown sugar and all the restaurants keep it on the table in a little metal pot. Mags found to one day at breakfast and now holds firm in her 2 year old ways to have little nuggets of Jaqari. Like it’s on the table just for her. Deciding not to ruin the 30 people’s lunch, we gave her about a ¼ teaspoon full and luckily Sandhya brought out a chapti for her. She took it off the table and went and sat on one of the mats in the next room. She was quietly easting by herself and then a group of Japanese yogis joined her for lunch on the floor and all was well.

We are going to spend our last week here eating at Sandhya’s and Nagarntha’s house. It is amazing food and we pay 100 rupees for all we can eat. Not that our yogi stomachs can hold a lot, but it is sure worth the price.

It’s amazing to hear the stories and lives of the yogis here. One yogi, Lars, is here doing his thesis on Ashtanga yoga and why and how people ended up here. When you listen to everyone it’s a mixture of everything. Some people are just trying to find themselves, so they are here for 3 months, then stay on another month and another. Then they move on. Many people leave here and travel on to Goa, Thailand, Nepal, Bali, Europe, Japan. It is amazing to listen to what everyone is doing and where they came from. Many are yoga teachers, others are bohemians really, just traveling around the world doing massage,  teaching yoga workshops, anatomy, ayurveda classes and book themselves all over the world. Two women have been here in Asia for 10 years, living all over and working as marketing/media consultants. Another is Native American, living off tribe money and is here practicing then traveling around Asia. A couple of them definitely come from families with money, as they are here practicing for an indefinite amount of time and traveling in between their months of practice here.

It’s all very interesting how and why people got here. Most of the certified and authorized teachers are very different from the others who come and go here. They are all very grounded, mostly in their late 30’s, 40’s and 50’s. They are very quiet, calm and keep a low profile. You never really see them out at the restaurants too much and seeing them here is really catching them at practice or an occasional drive by from them on the scooter. All of them are very very good people inside and out. Most of them have a home base where they have a shala or a home in one country. They make their living off teaching yoga in their shalas and through their workshops, traveling around the world teaching. Not a bad gig to see the world.

Sharath’s words from 2 conferences ago are staying in my mind these days. “If you don’t have patience, you won’t be able to do Ashtanga. Practice and patience, then all is coming.” Patience is with me now as I near the end of this trip, my practice has really blossomed here. I see the benefits of doing Ashtanga 6 days a week. I am stronger, leaner and have much more energy on a regular basis. I have seen people doing 3rd and 4th series here and it is a bit difficult. I understand clearly now the reasoning for being able to do each pose before you can move on in the Ashtanga series. Your body has to be able and ready to do a pose in order to do the next pose or future poses. It all makes sense now. Being stuck in a pose allows you to get to know your body and what it needs to do to get into that pose. Once you figure that out, it becomes easily achievable and then you move on.

Patience as he says. There are 6th series and he is the only one doing 5th and 6th series in the world. It takes time. I’m bringing this up today because not only do I see the need and reasoning for patience within my practice, but I have brought that patience into the other areas of my life too. Especially with Ms. Smiling, happy, jaqari eating Mags. 2 year olds can be a handful, but I am just breathing and practicing my patience with her. This lets her figure things out too within herself and mind. It’s been good for both of us.

I hope everyone is well, we leave in 10 days now. Mags has settled in nicely now, we will see how her re-entry to the states will be. Her favorite saying these days is, “Bye Swami” and waves as our rickshaw driver pulls away.

Namaste.

As I am writing this in an old school wicker chair, I lifted my left foot up and the hugest splinter went in my heel. It hurts and I am soaking my foot now to get ready to perform tweezer surgery. Problem is I can’t reach it very well to get it out. I know you would think with my limber ways from all this yoga, I should be able to bring it right up to my eyes and pull it out with my teeth. But that is not happening at the moment.

With 6 days left of practice at the shala, I will hobble up there at 4 a.m. tomorrow and practice lifting my heel slightly up off the mat if I have to.

The last 2 days we have been picking up things here and there: mala beads, clothes, etc. Tina, who runs one of the restaurants, took us to her friend who sells kids clothes. All the clothes were on their way to the Gap, Old Navy, and other stores, but somehow they are in her closet. It didn’t seem to be black market, I am saying that these were “extras”. So this is her business. Very nice woman and her kids are great. Mags played with them and loved it and I selected some great pieces for about $1 - 2 each.

Mags has been asking to go to school these days. There are schools all over the place and every time she sees one, she says, “Maggie’s school.” So this morning I took her to the daycare my Western friends take their kids to. She was there last Saturday morning and loved it. We packed her lunch this morning and off we went. Julia and Vera met us at the coconut stand and Swami drove all of us there. When we pulled up, Mags ran out with her Hello Kitty lunch box, took off her shoes and ran up the stairs. That was it, gone! Julia, Vera and I headed to the market. We decided not to take Mags here, because it is narrow aisles outdoors and lots of commotion. Too much to watch our purses, try and shop and have all the people swarm here trying to take pictures of her.  Not to mention it was 102 degrees today by 11 a.m.

The market is great, tons of vegetable vendors, incense makers, teas/spices, puja flowers. You name it. Vera is good at haggling, so she haggled for us. It’s hard for me to haggle when something is 50 cents to begin with, but she was doing that ad we got a few fun things. I really wanted to buy some spices, but am figuring out how best to bring them home. The saffron here is so inexpensive that it is worth it to wrap it and bring it back.

Meditation with Kumar was great this week. There were about 30 of us in the room and he takes us to a great meditation for an hour. The first day was getting in touch with “fear”. I again went back to me being an animal. This time I am a tiger cub. I saw my parents attack a deer and eat it, nudging me to partake. I was thoroughly disgusted and thought, why can’t we just eat berries. Makes sense now why I am a vegetarian this lifetime. Day 2 was “Anger”. I didn’t go back to my animal days, but I did go back to high school when I did have a lot of anger built up. Majority of the people went back to situations with their mom or dad. This is a good reminder for me to always be kind and gentle with Maggie, no matter how difficult times may get with her and I. It was nice both days to get in touch with these feelings and cleanse them. Kumar says we have all lived at least 100 lives and that we have no conscious of our lives till we become human. So we first cleanse our human lives, then we can work back to our animal lives and then our plant lives, then our spiritual being lives. That is a lot of work and it is why no one has reached Samadhi in our lifetime. That is the reason for yoga and meditation to become enlightened in Samadhi and move on.  I am ready to peel this onion of myself. Next week is more emotions that we will explore.
As my last week is approaching, I am going to start going to chanting classes all next week with Jayarsharee. She is the mother of all chanters and people, gurus and all, come to see and study with her. She was just on a US tour and the Portland shala with Anne Finstad hosted her. I was here, so I am honored she is back and I’ll be able to get a few days of chanting with her.

Our dogs are doing well. We neutered #11 yesterday. He is a good guy, one of my favorites. When Mags and he see each other in the street, it is as if they have this amazing love affair happening. She screams, Bubba! and they run right to each other. He did well with his surgery. When we picked him up by rickshaw, I saw they notched his ear this time. They said it’s what they are to do now so that the animal control and everyday people know not to poison them. This lets them know they are spayed/neutered and vaccinated and should be spared. I said can’t you put a collar or tag on them or something less violent them notching a piece out of their ear. They said no. I have no more words and realize this is India and they think very differently than we do. I am thankful for them working with me on all the dogs. We have one little guy left who is severely covered with mange. He will go in on Saturday. I am not sure what the doc will say as he is pretty bad off and cries all the time. Very heartbreaking. The remainder money for the last 8 dogs (20 in all) will go into certificates which I am handing out to the garbage collectors here. They live in shanties a few blocks away and have been asking for help with their dogs.

Again I am so honored that we are here. I am blessed that my lovely husband, Ray, has let us come here and take this journey. I am learning so much.

Om.

I went to Kumar’s meditation class this evening. He holds 3 a week for an hour and there is a different subject each week. Tonight was fear and getting in touch with that place in ourselves and finding the original cause of our fear. There were about 30 people in the room, including my 3 lovely Japanese neighbors.

It was a really nice session and I easily went to that fear spot lodged in my upper right shoulder blade. He took us back to see when the first time we saw fear in our lives. Again, I was an animal. A tiger cub this time with my family. They were eating a deer and I was thoroughly horrified that we had to kill something to eat it. I was thinking, why not plants and berries? Ahh, connecting the dots, makes sense why I am a vegetarian now and my sympathy for all animals that are in need of help. Hmmmm, hmmm, la, la, la…it’s all coming full circle here in Mysore.

Tomorrow’s session is anger. I will be interested to see how that goes. He laughed and suggested we sit farther apart for tomorrow’s session.

Sanskrit class was before meditation class and I actually understood what we were doing. We are now down to 3 people from 7.

Practice was good today. I am moving along and one of the Japanese girls commented on how nice my practice is and asked how long I have been practicing. That was nice to hear as you never really think of what you look like, especially when you are soaked in your clothes and it’s 100 degrees in the shala.

Today was such a quiet day. Our breakfast date with Kathryn was a no show, so we headed to Nagarantha’s thinking she might be there. She wasn’t, so we had her home cooking to ourselves. Mags was outside most of the time playing with one of the kids who lives there and the cleaning ladies. But she came in when the dosas came out and ate every last morsel of hers. Nagarntha’s daughter lives in seattle, so we are taking saris and snacks back for her family. It will be nice to meet them. They have a 3 year old daughter, live in Bellevue and she is an amazing cook too and has offered to make us dinner anytime. Hooray!

After lunch we came back to our house and rested till 4. We haven’t had a day like this of just resting and relaxing for probably weeks now. It is quiet here in town and I am really liking this.

We fed all of our dogs today, kept our dog bowl full outside our house and the Lead Garbage man, Krishna, came knocking today to ask if his 4 dogs could be spayed and neutered. Shiva and I are going to help him before I leave. Mandu, a rickshaw driver, is bringing his girl to the doc at noon tomorrow for us to spay her. The word has spread around town now and it is really promising. I can see that one day the homeless dog problem is really going to be in a better situation these next few years.

My transgression therapy session for Friday has been moved to Tuesday now. My poor friend, Sheila, couldn’t go under today so she is taking my spot on Friday as she flies out Friday evening. I laughed at her doing this right before she leaves, she’ll open a channel and be crying the whole way back to LA.

Our power is out again. It’s hot and the fans are off so the mosquitoes are snacking on me. I am going to close here, but wanted to share some great advice I got years ago and I can’t remember from who. But it truly has opened my eyes all these years and it is always a 100% right on, at least for me. Here it is: When you go to a restaurant, take notice of how the people you are with treat the waiter and the wait staff. This shows their true character and is a clear indication of how they will treat you and others in their lives. This has worked for me so many times over the years. People you wouldn’t expect can really be different in restaurant situations. Later on, I find out that is really how they are overall. I am bringing this up, because we go out to eat so much here and I am really getting to know and see my fellow yogis in a new light: good and also enlightening.

I miss all of my friends, family and students.  11 more days. I hope to dig into the meditation, finish my sanskrit class, soak in every ounce of Sharath and the shala I can in my practice, eat some great food and maybe even partake in a week long Ayurveda class. My goal is to become an Ayurvedic doctor, which will complement nicely with my yoga.  Let my journey can start here with this.

Namaste!

Sharath holds a conference every Sunday  where he talks to us in the shala for about 15 – 45 minutes about anything related to yoga. This Sunday was his last one as his last day of teaching is 3/27. My last day in the shala too. It is quite sad, yet he had so much wonderful information to share with us.

Surya Namaskara A & B, aka Sun salutations, were created by Guruji himself. I never knew that. They were never the original part of the Ashtanga system and Guruji came up with this when he was teaching years ago. He put this combination together knowing it would cure any illness. He has proven this works time and time again: arthritis, cancer, mental illness. He has healed people with these ailments time and time again. So even if you can’t do all of your ashtanga practice, at least do your sun salutations every day.

The shala is getting very quiet and it is nice. Spaces are actually open now during the mysore practice and the attention we are getting from Sharath is wonderful. He helped me with supta kurmasana today and we both laughed again, I am a half a fingertip away from completely binding! Hooray!!!!

With everyone leaving, things are quieter overall in Gokalum and it is really nice to have this peace and quiet. Not that the streets have quieted down with the rickshaws, scooters and cows about. But less westerners, less commotion as in non-packed coconut stand, restaurants, pool, shops, etc. It’s nice and I find I am really savoring these last 2 weeks with Mags. We are having a blast!

Yesterday we got a driver to take us to Bylakuppe, the Tibetan Refuge Settlement. It is the largest one outside of where the Dalai Lama lives and this is main base when he comes to meet with the people and monks of Tibet. The Golden Temple is simply stunning. As we drive in, there are monks walking on the roads and about, some even walking and talking on cell phones. Many are children playing with toy cars and just being kids. As we enter the settlement the prayers flags are flying by the 100’s in people’s yards, on the side of the roads, from storefronts and huge flags about 8 feet long are lined up by the 100’s in rows flying in open fields. It is truly amazing. We snap so many pictures, then when we get out of the car to go to the temple, people start coming up to us and scooping Mags up again taking photos non-stop of her. Once people see what is going on, more and more people run to get in the photos. It is like traveling with Madonna wherever we go! I am humbled by the monks dedication to their life long work. A feeling of calmness and happiness is abound here.

In our dog world, we have spayed and neutered 8 dogs now and 2 more puppies will be stayed in 2 months when they are old enough. It is a huge accomplishment and I am so happy and thankful that we got to do this. People in the town are thankful we are doing this and everyday a local will come up to me to ask for help with their dog. They truly want to spay and neuter their animals, it is just a matter of money that is keeping them from doing this. I am leaving here with a sense of giving something back and saving some future lives of these street animals. Our dog and water bowl out front of our house stays constantly full. We see so many dogs and even a cat and cow come eat out of it. I feel blessed we have been able to give them all a good meal and some clean water. We are leaving a bag of food on the kitchen counter in our house with the bowls lettingour next tenants know we have been keeping the food bowls out there for all of them. We may just start a Mysore tradition.

I went to see Kumar on Saturday for my past life session. It was pretty dang cool. Didn’t think I would transgress, but went back to 3 lives: a Native American woman at the age of 20, a male mountain goat which a boulder fell on my hind quarters in my den and a Medieval princess. All insightful and helpful to connect the dots of my karma and dharma happening now. Kumar says that people from our life now have traveled with us in other lives. A few others here have gone to see him, which is what led me to him. We are doing one more session Friday, stay tuned. He is a very good man and is truly gifted. He has been helping yogis here with some amazing breakthroughs.

Mr. V, the palm reader/vedic astrologer, gave me my mantra to chant each day. I went to him today and he had me chant it with him about 5 times to get the pronunciation correct. My deity is Dattatreya so my mantra is to him. He had me sit in lotus and chant and Mags sat in the chair next to me crossed legged and was bowing her head. India is changing her too and though she is 2, I know things are soaking in for her.

India is still amazing and I am peeling the onion of myself more and more each day. My mind is getting quieter and I am really processing myself and life around me. It feels good and I am at peace. I see some people here frustrated with India and they are ready to leave. I see others young and still needing to learn lessons from the yamas and niyamas. Then I see others young who are wise beyond their years. We all are learning each day, some more than others. I see westerners who have moved here and are really starting to go crazy. India is an amazing place, but it can be very tough to live here. I think some of the westerners who have been here should probably move on as they need to get back and check in with themselves. Some of them are angry and lash out at the locals. It can be quiet crazy. Things here can be frustrating and we are half way around the world. The Indians think completely different than us in the west or even other parts of Asia for that matter.

I have much to be thankful for here. I am blessed we have been able to be here and practice with Sharath. I lost my teacher in Seattle 8 months ago, so I can truly say I have found a new teacher with Sharath. He is kind, wise and humble. We have a good connection and he is very good to me. I am learning more and more each day and I am soaking in every aspect and morsel before we leave. This trip has been grounding for me and I am hoping this is one of many trips to Mysore. I have learned so much and I have so much more to learn.

11 days left.
Lokasamasta Sukhinobhavantu. Om shanti, shanti, shanti.

Today was led class and I have been hearing that Harry Potter is here practicing. I was like that young guy? I saw him but was like, no way that is not him.People said, no really, he is here.

I walked in and did not have to wiggle my way in for a spot this morning as the shala is emptying out. I put my mat down and who was next to me? You got it, Harry Potter. He is here and he has a stunning practice. Nice energy too. Very quiet. we didn’t exchange words as I didn’t want to say. Hey, you’re Harry Potter , right?

Madonna, Wilem Dafoe, Sting, Adam Yoch from the Beastie Boys, Gweneth Paltrow, they all have come here to study wth Guruji ad you give them their space and respect. It’s like being in seattle and we see Eddie Veder, people don’t bombard him, you let him be. So I did the same with Harry Potter.

But I did want to ask him where he got his nice practice from. He floats through the series like a butterfly and he can put both his legs behind his head. Maybe I’ll see him Sunday.

After Harry and led class, about 12 of us headed out to this Indian Water theme park. It was about what I expected. Bizarre and a good time. Mags loved it. We were in a wave pool, a tube ride through somewater falls and there was a huge Native American statue, like Mt. Rushmore that had waterfalls you could swim under. It was a good time, but also bizarrre with Indian music playing and rickety rides.

Tonight a few of us girls are off to this woman’s house, Samja, I think is her name. You call her in the mornign before 9 a.m. and she will cook for you in her house. People say it is the best fod in Gokulam. I am excited.

Other than that, tomorrow is Kumar, the past life massage. So you will be hearing from me tomorrow.

Om namah shivaya!

People have really been picking my brain lately about having Ms. Toddler on this trip. I call her Madonna now as everyone knows her and people know her name and never mine.

Having her here is a blast. She keeps me really busy and I find myself listening to the other yogis about their days eating breakfast after practice, napping, laying by the pool reading and then having a relaxing afternoon before dinner with friends. I find myself not knowing what that would be like. One of my friends from LA said she is bored, so she started volunteering at the orphanage. I would like to be bored for just and hour.

I am trying to implement routine, but the only routine thing about India is that I practice at the same time and we go to breakfast after that. She is up when I get home at 7:15 a.m., we get dressed and head out for breakfast. Then we do an adventure every morning after breakfast. Whether it is feed the cows and dogs, go to the pool, go to the city to buy something fun, drink a coconut or ride a rickshaw.

Today we got in the rickshaw with our driver Sanjay and I said, show us temples around here and show us cool things you like. Off we go in the rickshaw for about 20 minutes. Mags is loving it as we whiz by scooters, rickshaws, people on tractors, carts being pulled by oxen, women walking with their gorgeous colorful saris and people everywhere. I like it too as we are seeing new sights and India is amazing! It’s so dang busy. That is one thing here, it is always busy. With billions and billions of people here, there are people everywhere always.

Our first stop is the Shiva temple. We leave our shoes in the rickshaw, buy puja flowers for 20 rupees and head in. The temple is covered in gold and amazing paintings are on the ceiling like the sistine chapel only of Shiva and lotus flowers. We wind our way up to the shrine and hand over our puja and another 20 rupees. The swami gives Mags a flower and a package of I think, sugar. (But I didn’t let her know that.) We wind past the shrine like in a museum with actual roped off pathways. Out the door and back into the rickshaw.

Next stop is this huge ashram. Now this swami has some serious cash. The place is huge!!!! It takes us an hour to just walk the grounds of these amazing temple buildings, manicured lawns and foreign trees in these gardens from all over the world and just statues and shrines hidden in the trees all over the place. We get inside the main entrance and chanting, chanting, chanting is ringing throughout the building. As we get closer these children dressed in orange robes are the ones chanting and pouring water over a Ganesha statue’s head. The average age is probably 8 years old. Sanjay says parents bring their children here at a very young age and leave them to be raised, till they are 17/18 and can go on their own to do their devotional work. It’s crazy and amazing. They love Mags too and are asking her to come over to them. This is one of the first times she is a bit unsure and is hiding behind my legs.

Back in the rickshaw we go, she falls asleep with 5 minutes. There goes lunch. Our former landlord, Joseph, invited us to lunch with about 10 other people at the Green Hotel. I was very excited to try somewhere new to eat and see friends, but…life with a toddler, we headed home and down for her nap she went.

An hour later she pops up ready to go and now Mommy is tired. I pop in a DVD and buy myself 20 minutes of a nap time. We open our door and in comes walking one of the dogs we neutered and he has a couple friends with him. Mags is running around playing with them. She has so much energy, we have to get out of the house. Off to the coconut stand for a few coconuts, then we head to the grocery store.

Now the grocery store should be simple enough. But it’s India, so Mags decides not to ride in the cart and is walking with me. We grab our things in the cart and she is playing with the front doors while I’m at the register. I have to keep peeping to make sure she is there. No one is in the store but us as it’s nap time for everyone in Mysore, so being here at 3 p.m. is like being in a ghost town. The guy comes to my cart and makes me put all the veggies and fruit in a basket. He is a bit annoyed with me like I should have known to do that and he gives the basket to another guy who walks away. Meantime, he is ringing my items, very, very, very slowly and not putting them in any order. So of course, he gets screwed up about what he did and didn’t ring up and of course, he can’t find skus for some things. So he is reading the receipt line by line as he is taking everything out of the bags. Meantime, Ms. Toddler, is standing at eye level to the candy aisle saying she wants this and that and this and that. She ducks away and I have to make sure she is in my line of sight.

Finally we get everything paid for, back in the rickshaw. Back to the house, unload the groceries and then someone decides she doesn’t want to get out of the rickshaw. 5 minutes of talking to her to get out and we are inside. I flip our hot water switches and we have to wait for 10 minutes for that to kick in. Thought I’d give her a quick bath before Laksmi shows up as it’s 100 degrees out.

No luck, Laksmi is here, no bath and Mags is crying for me not to go. Laksmi pushes me out the door and off to Sanskrit I go. It’s a hard class but getting a little easier. Of the 7 of us in level 2, we are down to 4 people now.

After class I stop at Silver Nest to get a silver cylinder that Mr. V, vedic astrologer, is going to fill with…well, I’m not sure with what. But Vera, Sheila and I all have to bring our cylinders on Monday when we go to get our own personal mantras that we will chant to our deities for the rest of our lives. No luck the Silver Nest woman just got back from the doc and has to rest. She said come back tomorrow. I head home with 2 of the shala puppies in tow for dinner.

We take Laksmi home by rickshaw and go get dosas for dinner. She is playing peek a boo with the chair to the waiters and everyone is staring and smiling at her. India loves children! I am staring half blindly into space sipping a cup of coffee. Back for bath, trying to get her in bed, but she follows me out and is quietly playing with her toys and falling asleep on the floor. I pick her up and put her in bed. I had to check email and do some things. I saw her peak around the door and I am pretty sure she fell asleep behind the bedroom door on the floor right now.

Ahhh, India with a toddler. Would I change it? No. My friends who are here alone are bored. I am not bored. But I am thinking of taking a little more Laksmi babysitting time, so I can just go have a coconut or meditate somewhere before I leave in the next 2 weeks.

Om, shanti, shanti, shanti.

’s