Everything has a time, and a place....

My 2 year long membership with Hom yoga ended on Thursday, December 2nd. I was dreading the day that would happen. It did. And like everything else, I survived it. I woke up that morning, went to the morning class, went for the lunchtime class and almost went for the evening class, but had a Christmas dinner to go to and so couldn't make it for the third class. I bid the studio at Boat Quay goodbye and as I climbed down those stairs, I looked back one last time and heaved a sigh. I'm dramatic like that. I'll obviously go back to the studio now and then to meet my teachers, maybe sign up sometimes for their workshops as well or who knows sign up for a membership :) But for now, it's a goodbye. I already have a membership at Pure Yoga, which I have mixed feelings about, and it doesn't make (financial) sense for me to renew my Hom yoga one. Plus, I am also going to be in Bali for a month in Jan to go learn how to become a yoga teacher at High Vibe Yoga (more about that later!)

(Upper Studio at Hom Yoga, Boat Quay)

(Hom Yoga, Boat Quay)

(I miss Ashtanga at Hom! SO MUCH!)

For now, I will talk about this story that Michael, my teacher at Pure told us at our Universal Mandala class yesterday. After a long time, I decided to give Michael's Universal a try again. I had injured my right shoulder, really badly around Diwali and couldn't practice for two weeks. It's still healing the shoulder and I'm extremely mindful of any stunt pose that I try, because I don't want to be injured for my training! So ever since that Mandala class, I haven't had the courage to step onto a cross mats practice again. This Saturday, i decided to get over my fears and give it a try. Also, I needed to be distracted this Saturday, because it suddenly seemed like I had all this time and nothing to do. So, I decided to fill all my time with Yoga. And Books. And oh, Chai! The amount of chai I've had this weekend it ridiculous. I am officially an addict. Anyway, here I go rifting away from the topic again.

So I went for the universal class and Michael told us this story about a butterfly in a cocoon. He said, there was once this man, who was observing a cocoon and how the to-be-butterfly inside it was wriggling and trying to get out of the tiny hole at the end of the cocoon. He continued observing it everyday. And then one day, he saw no movement and wondered what was wrong. In his impatience, he decided that he would take a scissors and cut the bottom of the cocoon just a tiny bit, to aid the butterfly with it's efforts to wriggle out.  And as soon as he did that, a butterfly emerged. Except that, it wasn't exactly a butterfly. It's legs were too short and too small to carry the weight of it's body. It's body was un-proportionately big and it's wings were tiny and not clearly developed. And so it couldn't fly And spent it's short life crawling on the earth. The lesson is to give things/people/situations in our life it's own time, to develop to grow, to blossom into something and not force it happen before it's time has come.

Often in life, I have this urge for everything to happen NOW. I was telling someone the other day, how the old me, say me from last year, would be impatient, would want to know the future of the path that I've chosen, to know whether the decision I made was the right one, to know where I will be in life this time next year... etc. But with  lot of practice and understanding, with the help and guidance of my teachers at Hom (and now folks like Michael at Pure) and also my own experiences, I've realised that nothing in life is certain and that if something is meant to be, it will be and if something isn't then nothing I do will force it to happen. When I heard Michael narrate this story yesterday, it was almost like he was reaffirming that thoughts I had had a week back. And every part of me, wanted to run out of the studio and get a pen and paper and right down what I felt ! That urge to put down in words what Im feeling was so strong, that I pinched myself to sit quietly and not squirm while Michael went on with his story. So he invited us to give our best at the practice that day and enjoy the class and not wonder when and how we will reach that asana and perfect. Because, most times, life is not about the destination, but about the path you take to get there.

Class yesterday was challenging. Universal is a challenging practice. You have to keep at it, continuously, with dedication, almost like Ashtanga. In fact, a part of me thinks Universal is sometimes a tougher practice than ashtanga even, because you are playing with the energy fields in the body,shifting it to all four directions, to the two sides of the body and sometimes even to  certain limbs. It's beautiful to see and feel the energy all welled up on the left side, when you've worked only that side of the body for 40 mins and the imbalance it creates. And then the balance that the body eventually regains once you work the right side of the body through all those asanas. It's a two hour long class at Pure and Michael spends the first 30 mins warming up (this is not n easy warm up sequence!), the next 2 30 mins on the left and right sides. 15 mins of inversions, front bends and back bends and the last 15 minutes of meditation or pranayama or chanting. And although it's physically a very very tough practice, you leave the studio after two hours feeling absolutely blissful. But maybe that's just me !

I then treated myself to kaya toast and a teh! And went back to do Deborah's Yin. In my quest to prepare for the teacher training, i am planning to go veg, slightly increase the number of classes I do in a week, but also to try and fit some restorative classes into my schedule. And I love Deb's Yin. The one on Saturdays is a 75 mins class and it's lovely. I needed some shoulder and hip opening and desperately needed to relax my muscles and Yin was just absolutely perfect. So that's how I spent my Saturday.

My asana for the day, that deb started with in her Yin class is this what Let It Go will look like if an asana was ever called that. So Viparita Karani in Sanskrit and Let it Go in my language, also commonly known as the Legs-Up-The-Wall Pose

(Source: Carmencanvas.blogspot.com)

Source: yogaoutlet.com

You can either do the full pose without any support or use a bolster to support your lower back. If it's not already obvious from the two pictures I've posted, you definitely need a wall to do this pose. 

1) Start by sitting on your right/left side against the wall. If you are using a bolster, the bolster should be placed against the wall and your lower back should rest against the bolster 

2) If you have you left side against the wall, turn to your left and bring your legs up onto the wall. If you are using a bolster shift your lower back onto the bolster before bringing your legs up onto the wall.

3) Lower your back on the floor and lie down, resting your shoulders and head onto the floor.

4) Shift your weight from side to side and bring your buttocks close to the wall, and let your hands rest on your side with palms facing upwards.

5) Close your eyes and breathe with awareness for 5-10 minutes.

6) To release, slowly push yourself away from the wall and bring your legs down. Use your hands to push back into a seated position. 

It's absolutely blissful, this pose and just the freedom from doing anything is heavenly. The release you find in your hips and hip bones and your lower back is extremely relaxing. Completely signifies, Let it Go for me.

That's the end of this post. I will come back soon (i promise!) with more exciting details about the teacher training I am going for in January 2015. Excited, but extremely scared as well....until then, I will continue living life with open arms, receiving with gratitude everything this universe gives me, and pushing for nothing at all.

Namaste.