Tuesday, February 16, 2010

No Shala? Still Got The Practice! (If I Can Find It)

I have found the silver lining in this cloud of NO MORNING MYSORE CLASSES AT ALL in Amsterdam (OK, maybe it's not "no morning mysore AT ALL". There's only one 7am class on Wednesdays. And another at a different place on Sundays at 9am. That's IT. That's pretty dismal. And pointless, really.) (Oh, there are also more evening Mysore classes, but that's not my vibe as I wouldn't be able to make those timings.)

But where was I, I was going in a positive direction here.

I think I would much prefer to crank the radiator to full blast in my little hotel room, stumble out of bed into the shower, and then start a warm, toasty practice all within a 1-metre radius... Rather than having to wrap myself up in multiple layers and trudge through the snow and ice in -6 degrees Celsius weather in the dark just to get to a shala.

TAH - DAHHHHHH! ***Silver Lining Shines Through the Clouds***

I actually much prefer this self-practice vibe in this super-cold winter (especially since you pretty much have to walk to get to anywhere here). BRRRRRR.

My Sydney teacher said that Guruji once said something along the lines of "If you start your practice in the winter, you will have it for life." ...Alluding to how much harder it is to haul ass onto your mat when it's cold.

Dammit, just when I thought I'd got through the Sydney winter (a piss in the park to get outta bed in comparison to here!) SIGH.

I've only managed to get the full primary practice in on Sunday in my little room. Yesterday was 3 Sun A's. And today, I snoozed for TWO HOURS, so it's game over. Another 3 Sun A's before heading out. What's going on?!?

I can do this. GRRRR.

5 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh, home practice is soooo hard. There's only one mysore class a week here (tonight actually). So for the rest of the week, I'm left on my own. It does kind of suck, but you do build a lot of discipline by practicing on your own. You can do it. Good luck! :)

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  2. Thanks Arkie! You have a nice blog (I'm following now!) Where are you based? ...it's nice to have cyber shala encouragement. And er... I guess accountability too. Coz... if I've got no teacher here to keep an eye on me, I know I've got you guys. Haha.

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  3. Thanks! I'm in Northwest Arkansas (USA)...Fayetteville, to be exact. There's not exactly a lot of ashtanga around here. But there's a small group of practitioners. I like the 'cyber shala' idea. It does keep me motivated to read other yoga blogs. Keep trying with the practice...even a short practice is better than no practice at all. :)

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  4. hi Skippetty
    some studios in Europe have strange mysore hours. i can think of one in Paris.

    i remember a yogini going to Amsterdam, where she sought out a famous Iyengar institute. she went to a class that lasted about an hour and a half. they did about 6 or 8 asanas during that time. she was dumbfounded.

    hope what Guruji says it's true. thanks for sharing.

    hugs
    Arturo

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  5. Ohhhh... so that's where the "Arkie" in your name comes from. Duh. Cool! Thanks for the encouragement, it helped me not beat myself up too much when I only had time for Half-Primary today. :)

    Hey Arturo, I like the occasional Iyengar class. It's good for technique and alignment. I went to Yin classes before too, and it was similar in that you hold each pose for like 5 minutes or something (total of 6 - 8 poses per class). It really makes it a different internal process altogether. Good compliment to ashtanga I reckon. xxx

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