- Adventures in Mysore India, Conference Notes, Food, Teaching Ashtanga, Uncategorized, Yoga Philosophy
A.P.P Goes to Mysore: Alcohol in Mysore
If you like to get your drank on, you will not find it easily. I have seen alcohol at 3 places. The airport (like 3 hours away), Big Bazaar Grocery Store (about 20 minutes away) and at the Green Hotel. I have not seen anything within walking distance. There may be more but they are not a part of the usual Mysore student shopping and restaurant circuit located around the Shala. There is a temple or Yoga school on every corner, but liquor stores….not so much. Ashtanga and Alcohol don’t really go hand and hand. In the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, a yogic text that we study at KPJAYI, Chapter 1 vs 59 places alcohol on…
A.P.P Goes To Mysore: Parampara
The 411 Sharath says my feet are wide enough now when I touch my heels in back bending. I now need to work on straightening my legs more. Mysore Musings Bits of information filtered through my citta. Parampara refers to lineage. The way Yoga is passed down from teacher to student. There are many different commentaries on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and The Hatha Yoga Pradipika. When I write Yoga Sutras for Modern Life, I first look at the words translated verbatim ( I sometimes compare them against Sanskrit dictionaries), filter them through my mind and what I have studied, then compare my understanding against different commentary. I am…
APP Goes to Mysore: Short Shorts and Bra Tops Are Banned
We had led today to end the week. Sharath made my hand into a fist for Marchi B. I usually have my fingers spread. Sharath did conference. I will need a day or two to process it before I will say what I learned. The biggest shock was the announcement that we are no longer allowed to wear short shorts and bra tops in the Shala. Sharath asked Usha to bring out examples of accepted tank tops which were quickly bought up. Me and one of the other girls I came with had to look for pants which is not an easy feat in India. Saris, harem pants and T…
APP Goes To Mysore: Control Your Sexual Energies
Practice: Sharath said my feet were still too close when we do backbend dips and demonstrated how far apart he wanted my feet which is pretty wide. Sharath is steadily moving people’s times up so there were definitely more people in the Shala but it was still pretty chill. Pradipika My takeaways, in my own words, from Lakshmish’s Hatha Yoga Pradipika class at KPJAYI The first limb of Yoga we should practice is Asana. It makes the body healthy so that the other limbs of Yoga are more attainable. The first four limbs are external. Last 4 are internal. The first four make the last 4 possible. It is important…
APP Goes To Mysore: First Day Of Mysore Practice with Sharath
Today was our first day of Mysore practice and it was pretty awesome. I heard all these horror stories about the line to get into the Shala so we left early to get a good spot. We showed up and…..there was no line. There was a line on the led practice days but it was nonexistant this morning. There were a few people milling about waiting to get in but the epic struggle I had heard of to get a spot in the Shala did not happen. It was totally peaceful. Sharath came out, asked us our time and how many times we had been. People with earlier times and…
APP Goes to Mysore: Ashtanga is More Than Asana
I was completely blown away on Monday. I was not given another pose. There were no break throughs in my asana. I was blow away by the Hatha Yoga Pradapika class I took with Lakshmish at KPJAYI and I cannot wait for the next one!!! Something else also blew me away. How come no one talks about this? When people talk about KPJAYI, they talk about Sharath, asana, authorization, start times, Saraswati, conferences and yoga celebrities. No one comes back talking about Sutra and Hatha Yoga Pradapika classes. I totally thought that this trip was going to be 90% asana with the occasional conference. However this week, I will be…
Making the Philosophy and Poses of Ashtanga Accessible for All
