Samasthiti

Date : 4th October, Friday (logging in for last evening's class) Day : 6  Ok I know a week is 7 days and not 6. But my next class is only on Monday, October 7th, and since it's the end of the week anyway might as well feel happy to know I survived week 1 :) The class I went for last evening was June's Hom. The best part about doing the same class twice in a day is that your body know what asanas are coming next and it's already prepared from the morning's practice. So i went into class and did a few Suryanamaskars to loosen up my body and then lay down on my mat in Savasana. It was a small class : only 8 people. Perfect ! Also, if you go for a later class, the room itself is very heated up. But an earlier class in the evening : 5 or 6, the room is still into it's second afternoon hot yoga session, so it's relatively much cooler. And trust me when you are in a downward facing dog trying to maintain your sense of calm and sanity in between droplet...

Date : 3rd October, Thursday Day : 4 and 5 (making up for Saturday) The hot journey has a theme for each week. And the theme for Week 1 is Presence. Here's what the sheet I received says: Finding presence is at the heart of all yogic practices and essential for living a happy, fulfilled and enjoyable life. Our yoga practice encourages us to truly wake-up, to become present to the state of our body, our mind and ultimately our lives. As we awaken to the truth of our reality, we develop greater wisdom, compassion and empowerment. This first week we will explore how breath control and physical postures can act as vehicles for developing concentration and ultimately greater presence. I think in the few posts that I have published on this blog, I could't have stressed the importance of the word "breath" more. It's all about your breath. That determines how long you will stay in your pose for and how high you can push you feet and how much further ca...

Date:  2nd October, Wednesday Day: Day 2 and 3 ( making up for Friday this week: I'll be out of town - and no it's not cheating!) Haha. Death is not really the term to use in a yoga blog. But when you go for two Hot Flow classes, then you are dead for sure. So I was in two minds about going for a Hot Flow in the evening. The Flow is drastically different from the hatha and hom classes, in the sense that there are NO breaks. It is exactly what the name suggests : flowing. There is no stopping, no lovely little savasanas  in between for you to catch your breath. You can of course take your own breaks and rest and have a sip of water if you feel it's too much for you. But the practice has no breaks built in. And a series of poses are connected to each other with the vinyasa, it's almost like dance, so beautiful to look at if you are a bystander and so painful to be in when you are practicing it. But like everything else in yoga, you learn to love it when you learn ...

Date : Tuesday, October 1 Day : 1 I woke up thinking about this beautiful  A.R Rahman and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan song : Gurus of Peace. We sang it in school for our annual day, it is just such a beautiful song. It talks about love, harmony, peace and freedom. And of course when maestros like Rahman and Khan saab come together, it has to result in something as magnificent as this. In fact in my growing years, whenever we hosted people for lunches and dinners, my father had his standard tracks / albums / artistes to play : Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Yaani and Sultans of Swing.  Anyway, so I woke up with that song in my head and it played in my head when I brushed my teeth, got ready and on my way to the MRT. I had to force it out of my head when I got to the mat this morning. I almost slept off. Haha. But I forced myself up and did 2 suryanamaskars to get myself back. And sat down in Jnana mudra with my eyes closed. Jnana mudra does to me in a seated position what Samasthiti...