Shala Day!!!!!!!!!!

(For those who don’t know ashtanga poses, here is the primary series so you can refer to some of the poses I am talking about in here. http://ashtangayoga.info/asana-vinyasa/primary-series/index.html)

I was up at 4:30 a.m. ready to go to the shala!!! Laksmi was right on the dot at 5:30. I showed her around and left to walk in the dark with my yoga mat and mysore rug to the shala. I was calm and relaxed and happy.  First time in a week that I have been on my own with out Mags. I love her but it was a sense of freedom to be going to practice by myself.

I walked through the gates, slipped my shoes off at the door (along with 75 other pairs of shoes!) at 5:40 a.m. and walked into the lobby to sit and wait to be called. There were about 12 others waiting too. It’s cool as you sit on the floor just waiting to hear Sharath or Saraswati say, “One more!” We sit there and watch everyone practicing. The room is packed and super, super hot. Not from the heat turned on but from the people working on their mats. That is the beauty of ashtanga and as Guruji says “boiling the blood to burn off the toxins.”

I am waiting and as another person gets called in to put their mat down, I am inching forward and now I am getting butterflies and tears of joy. I have practiced and practiced and practiced since 1998. Every day and sometimes lazy and have taken a month or two off here and there. But I have worked so hard on myself, my soul, my body and my mind. Now I am finally here after 11 years! The shala, the birthplace of Ashtanga, Guruji’s house.  I hear, “One more! from Sharath. I look at the others and they say you go, we’re the 6:15 group. I walk in and smile. Sharath says go here. I lay my mat down, look around and stand in Samasthiti and start the chant in silence. Vande Gurunam…. Hooray!

I thought I would forget the sequence or get distracted by others at all the amazing poses and what people are doing with their bodies. One alone, people are catching their ankles or knees in their backbends. But no, I am solid and in my space on my mat, not distracted at all, but just being. Go girl go!

Standing poses all good, jump through sit down, keep going. Yeah!!! Marichyasana D is coming. I got this, I keep saying in my head. You see, before Mags, I was quite the skinny minny and binding all these poses were very easy. It’s easy to do poses when you have 7% body fat and you weigh no more than 115. But mamacita here, as I had mentioned before, well those 12 pounds have messed with me binding in Mari D. The rule is in Mysore, you can’t bind in a pose, you stay there till you can. I have been working and eating salad just so I can bind here at D and do my primary series. One I am past Mari D, it’s smooth sailing everything is flowing from here to the end. All newbies at the shala have to do primary for the first month, regardless of what series you are on. So I knew now 2nd series here for me, but come on….least give me all of primary. I traveled 32 hours/half way around the world  to get here!

Next stop..Mari D. Bind on the right side…hooray!! Bind on the left side…hooray! I did it. Hmmmmm, singing a little tune. Lalala, kurmasana. Lalala. Sharath comes by, says you bind in Mari D? I said, “yes, want to see?” He said, “you stop here”.  Ok. I think perhaps he saw my sadness, as I am so not the poker face person. So he gave me a chance, he said…”kurmasana”. I smiled and done, Kurmasana! Then he came and started to put me in supta kurmasana. No prob, I can put my legs behind my head. Hmmmm, hmmmm. Oh, my hands bound behind my back too, well, now, well, crap. I guess that counts as not binding fully in the pose. He said, “you stop here, do backbends”. I am fine with that.  I stand up to drop back and he says, “no on the mat”. I’m ok with that too.  I am here, at the shala, happy and I have another month to go.!

Om! Namaste! Jai! As Guruji says, “All is Coming!”