Coffee, Yes Please!

I think it's interesting how most yogis are pretty into their coffee.

I came across this blog of another lady who'd been in Sydney for Sharath's workshop, and I love how he told her "No coffee - No prana!"

Here's proof! (The picture was taken by yours truly) :p


I took a couple of workshops with Mark Whitwell earlier this year, and an assistant brought in his morning latte. Someone exclaimed that they were surprised he drank coffee. And Mark chirped "Even Krishnamacharya drank 5 cups of coffee a day!"

So yogis... be guilt-free and drink up! (In moderation of course... I still think 5 cups a day like The Great K is a wee bit too much caffeine!)

I've also recently bought myself a travel mug... was starting to feel guilty about all the disposable cups I've been throwing away everyday with my daily morning order of "One double-shot soy flat-white, please!"


I actually lug this around with me in my bag wherever I go now, and am surprised by how many local joints don't bat an eyelid when I pull this out with my order. Yay! I'm a Planeteer! (...maybe those Captain Planet cartoons did have an effect on me afterall.)

The up side to this... I use this same mug for holding my daily intake of water at the office (with refills, of course). I like drinking hot water - no, I'm not a freak. It's a Chinese thing, where the belief is it's better on your system than cold water is. So this mug helps retain heat a lot better than a regular mug does.

Also, even though I wash it thoroughly after my morning cuppa, it still gives my water a subtle coffee flavour too! Caffeine-infused water. Mmmmmmm. (Wasn't that all the rage in the US a few years ago? Now you can DIY it, like me.) :)

Maybe that's what's keeping me up at night. I went to bed really late last night and didn't have very good sleep at all. Hence, I was useless when the alarm rang for practice this morning and I was glued to the bed.

Oops. Maybe too much coffee/ coffee-infused water isn't good for you (and your practice) after all.

Post-Sharath Thoughts & First Practice

Since my body's been kinda sorta used to waking up at 4.45am from the past couple of weeks for Sharath's workshop, I figure I might as well keep this up while I've got the momentum going. I've averaged about 4 - 5 times mysore practice a week at a shala, but interested to see how I can keep this up for 6 days a week. (EEEEEEEK!)

The only thing I've got going is that my body feels both stronger and more open now, and that's enough to keep me going (now I understand why you people keep saying 6 days a week is actually easier on the body)... I've just always thought it'd be too taxing on the body, that I'd have to give it a rest, since I'd ache every couple of days. Surprise surprise... I only ached on day 2 & 3 of the first week of his workshop, but since then it's been all good. Ohhhhhh. I think I get it now.

Since taking a month off for a teacher training intensive last year, I decided that every year afterwards, I'd dedicate a few weeks to some sort of Svadhyaya, self-study. Last year's intensive was great in that all I did for a month was eat, sleep, breathe yoga and nothing else. I had that time to reflect.

This year, my Svadhyaya was Sharath's 2-week workshop. It was interesting having to weave this into the rest of "real life". In a way, that's what "real yoga" is about, innit? Living it. Putting it into practice in real life. Carrying on, off the mat. (maybe next year's intensive will be finally going to Mysore?) :)

Writing about it has definitely helped in this self-reflection, and strangely enough it's brought more awareness to my practice as well. I have enjoyed reading everyone's comments - advice, feedback, shared experiences... you have also been a part of my "Sharath experience". I don't think I would've gotten as much out of it if I hadn't blogged about it and read all the different opinions you have shared. So... Thank YOU!

The first practice I've had post-Sharath was at our new shala. It was a breath of fresh air on every level. It's nice to be in a new space with old, familiar faces. It's also nice to finally have a bit more room between mats! (way less distracting when you don't need to think about how not to hit the person next to you!) It was also nice to be back to a Mysore-style self-practice, after going through 2 weeks of a led class.

Today's practice had a rhythmic groove to it. I started out reciting his Sanskrit counts in my head, but this slowly dropped off to just the sound of my Ujjayi breathing. Long inhales and exhales. Something felt in sync on an internal level. I was truly flowing through a moving meditation today.

I almost squealed with joy when it came to Supta Kurmasana. Teacher helped to bring left leg over my head, and I got more of my left arm through, way more than I ever have... when she brought my right leg over and I scooped my right arm under, my fingers miraculously found each other. For the past 2 weeks I'd been struggling to make this finger-connection on my own, and even though I still needed an assist to fully bind both hands together (I only managed a mini 3-finger lock on my own), I recognize this as the first step in coming close to a bind on my own. My body actually felt a sense of openness even within this tightly-bound cocoon. YAY!


So... it was a good one. Surprisingly, not tired. And definitely more strength. If anything this practice is teaching me, it's... PATIENCE (something I struggle with). Yes, I'm of the instant gratification generation - I want it... NOW!

I know I can't expect to go from zero to hero immediately. But I can feel a difference already after only 2 weeks of methodically grinding away. So... OK Sharath & Guruji... I'm sold!

Practice, practice, practice.

Sharath in Sydney: Week 2, Day 6 (Last Day!)

A few people have emailed, telling me they've tried to comment here but don't seem to be able to get anything posted. I can't figure out why yet, but a friend suggested maybe it's coz if you want to leave your name, Blogger might require you to also leave your website in the comment form. You can just put in your Twitter or Facebook profile page web link if you haven't got a Blogger profile (if you've turned on your privacy settings in Facebook, no one else can see your profile page unless you're friends with each other. So it'll just bring people to a log in page, not your actual profile page.)

It was both sad and exciting waking up for practice today... Sad coz well, DUH! It's the last day of the workshop. Exciting coz our teacher had organized a breakfast spread for us after practice by the terrace today. I like the social element of going for yoga class as well, but all too often especially on a weekday, everyone has to rush off to start their work day. So it's only on weekends that people have time to catch up. Finally, I could also legitimately whip out my camera again. :p

Today's practice... I got one final assist from Sharath today! Yippee! It was in Urdvha Mukha Paschimottasana. He gave an approving "Mmm" the deeper I got my face squished between my legs. I suppose that's the closest I've got to any kind of Paschimo squash that I've so missed in the last 2 weeks. :)

Then it kind of went downhill in the finishing postures.

Sirsasana today was shockingly shit. (Oops. I can swear here right?) Serves me right for quoting Yoda in yesterday's post. ("Do or don't do there is no try"?! WTF?) Even by my standards, only holding for TWO counts is abysmal. I couldn't focus at all - kept fussing with trying to find the right spot on the crown of my head, then my hairclips kept digging into my scalp, then I couldn't quite feel how far back my legs were and if I was lined up "straight". Horrible. I went back up a few more times but couldn't hold past more than 1 or 2 counts each time. I was doing so well until today. What The Eff?!?

But probably because I wasn't tired out from Sirsasana, I was able to hold legs at 90 degrees for all 10 counts today.

Uthpluthi wasn't so great either. Really couldn't focus properly. Then Sharath walked up to me and said "Why you cheating?" OH GAWWWD. I promise I swear I wasn't CONSCIOUSLY cheating! I had actually hooked my left foot behind my right arm! So much for bandha awareness, I was trying to get more of a boost through hooking my foot round the arm rather than using good old bandhas! So of course after this I was having more of a laugh at myself than concentrating on Uthpluthi itself.

Sharath was in a good mood today, making lots of jokes. At one point, he said "Don't hurry! Why you hurry? Are you hungry?" (referring to the breakfast that was being prepared outside). After class today, my teacher was thanking a list of people who had helped make the past 3 weeks (including Bali) possible, and she thanked the person who had delivered food from an Indian restaurant to Sharath everyday. Sharath chirped "He saved the guru. My wife will be happy!"

Call me crazy, but I'm waking up again at the crack of dawn tomorrow to practice at the new shala. It's moved closer to the beach, and tomorrow will be the first day of practice there and I want to be a part of it. I'd heard rumours that it's actually going to be an official KPJ Yoga School. And fer shizzle it's official... Sharath & my teacher are in charge, with her being responsible for running the place. Damn! I feel so close to the source. (But of course I still want to go to Mysore.)


I am very interested to see how the last 2 weeks will change my Mysore practice. I definitely feel much stronger (physically and mentally) and amped to keep up the momentum I've gained in the past 2 weeks. Observing the Intermediate class has definitely given me inspiration as well.

But enough with the sappiness, it's time to share (legitimate) pictures!
WARNING: This is me post-yoga, no make-up and keeping it real (the bare, naked truth still shocks me). But you've been given fair warning.

Sharath is my Homeboy. (they should make that into a teeshirt)

(What you can't see is I'm holding a squashed paper cup of chai tea in my left hand, and it was dripping down my left foot!)

What I found kinda awkward was: do I just stand next to him? Do I put my arm around him? It seemed very 1930s to just stand side-by-side to pose for a photo, but too forward to sling my arm around his shoulders... so I put my arm lightly on his back. What's the protocol for taking pictures with your guru again? HAHAHA! (Am I the only one who over-thinks these things?)

Speaking of tee-shirts, these were the last of them being sold.


I thought this was really funny. To Vinko, Sharath is his Rockstar.


We had coconuts! (next to croissants) A few volunteers woke at 2.30am to start baking muffins... the spread included muesli with fresh fruit, chai tea, muffins and croissants.





A few of the regulars at my shala.



Thank goodness this was the only time cam-whoring that I haven't pulled a Zoolander (about 90% of the pictures tagged of me on Facebook are of me in a "Blue Steel" moment).

That pretty much wraps up the 2 weeks practicing with Sharath, folks! Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Thanks for all of your comments, it has certainly helped me process the past couple of weeks too. In fact, I've got a good mind to turn this into more of a yoga blog than it has been in the past coz I'm loving the sense of community I've been getting from these posts... still thinking about it. Feel free to comment! :)

Sharath in Sydney: Week 2, Day 5

I found it hard to concentrate today. Had to extremely consciously focus on the drishti, or I'd find my mind wandering off to random places.

Following yesterday's conference and Sharath's awesome display of bandha control, bandhas were also of particular interest in today's practice for me. And the importance of bandhas was again hammered home to me after sitting in on today's intermediate class.

So before I get into the intermediate class, these were internal observations of my practice today:

1. Jumpbacks
With bandha control on my mind, I was wondering how I'd apply this to my jumpbacks today. I usually lift bum up off the floor (similar action to Uthpluthi), but it's that curving/ rounding your body to tilt it forward before shooting your legs back that I'm still working on. Feels like I'm lifting bandhas up on the lift, but when it comes to tilting forward I can't find how that works yet, then I cheat by dropping one foot on the floor to give me a boost to tilt me forward before shooting legs back. Kinda like KMB's Shuffleback. Feels more like I'm hauling myself through, through sheer brute arm strength than with the ease of bandha control. It's that bloody tilt forward.
(Side note for Liz: I tried looking back through folded legs before, which kinda helped, but got scolded by a previous teacher who insisted drishti should be ahead of you instead. I think I'll go back to trying it your way again!)

So today, I consciously thought of engaging bandhas the whole jumpback (instead of giving up and cheating with the foot) and it kind of made that initial tilt forward a little bit easier. Just a little.

2. Sirsasana
Held till his NINTH count today! Longest yet. So... I don't think I'll be able to hold all 15 counts by the time he leaves (last workshop is tomorrow), but at least it's baby steps to increasing confidence and strength in the pose. Do or don't do, there is no try (why am I quoting Yoda?!) ...so tomorrow, I WILL hang out in Sirsasana for all of his 15 counts.

OK, INTERMEDIATE WORKSHOP UPDATE!!!

First off, while the lights were still off and the intermediate cool kids were setting up their mats and getting ready, it was beautiful with the sunlight streaming in through the windows, so I whipped out my camera and took a shot (I was far away in the back of the hall, so all you could see were silhouetted bodies). And I immediately got blasted by Sharath. He yelled out from the front "NO PICTURES!!"

Eeks! I was so embarrassed. I won't even post the picture here since it's illegal. I feel so guilty I feel like deleting it completely from my camera. Remove all evidence.

There were about 30 people practising intermediate, including my teacher and her 3 assistants (one of them has just recently been authorized to teach! YAY!) It's rather awe-inspiring watching your teachers go through their practice. I have so much respect for them as it is already, and even more so after today.

I realized today that I've never just sat and observed a class. Ever. Even during my teacher training when we took turns teaching, the rest of us would be assisting with adjustments and watching out for the students; there was always something "to do". So it was an extremely interesting experience today just sitting and watching people in their practice.

First off, you can so tell when someone is "in the moment", completely internalizing the practice. Their eyes almost have this glazed over look. Coz when someone is struggling or isn't quite present, you can totally see it in the eyes. It is amazing to watch that moment when someone fixes his/ her drishti, everything looks sharp and in focus, and then the glaze comes over the eyes at that point when they go within. Pretty damn cool.

It was great seeing everyone lined up in Trikonasana and it would've made for a great picture. The alignment even in this basic pose was sometimes a little bit off, but it was interesting to see how different body types end up having different kinds of alignment issues (how someone needs to rotate the torso more, or how someone needs to tilt the pelvis more...) I have a fixation on alignment, especially with my rotated pelvis issues. Sorry for going off-topic here.

Everyone got up to Eka Pada Sirsasana, and then the last row of people dropped off and didn't practice Dwi Pada.

A few people were told to stop at Tittibhasana. While everyone was in the A version, someone was already wrapped up in the B version. Sharath looked up, pretty annoyed and said "What are you doing?" He kept repeating "What are you doing" several times coz the person didn't realize this was directed at them. Everyone else had to hold A version the entire time. He told this person "you stop after this".

B version walk forward & back: Everyone had to synchronize each step to his slow count. I felt their pain!

A couple other people dropped off at Pinchamayurasana. By the time they got to Karandavasana, there were about 18 out of the original 30 left. Out of this group, only 3 were able to do the full Padmasana lift back up. Of course all 3 were boys. How annoying! (Sorry, I struggle with arm balances and like to think it's the guys who have it much easier in these!)

Sharath went round the room and gave everyone else an individual assist to boost them back up again, and this same group continued all the way till the 7 headstands. (I'm struggling to hold my ONE headstand for longer, and now there are 7 more to look forward to. Oh Yippee.) (Of course, that is if and when I get there)

During the 7th headstand, Sharath motioned for the others who dropped off to join the group again, and everyone then went into 3 regular backbends, followed by 3 unassisted dropbacks/ standups.

EVERYBODY could dropback (I'm just thinking of Grimmly's earlier question here). Some people struggled with coming back up again on their own, some people struggled with doing it a 2nd time, but most were dropping back and standing up like they were doing it all their lives. Interestingly, I looked over at Sharath at this point, and he was watching the people who were struggling. I can't tell if he seemed a little distressed or worked up, but the expression on his face was definitely tense. And he was definitely watching the students who were struggling. I don't remember seeing him assisting anybody here - he might have but I might not have seen this.

The energy in the room during the Intermediate class is definitely a lot more serious than in Primary. No jokes from Sharath, it feels like your asana needs to be completely buttoned down before he'll let you move on to the next one.

So, in wrapping up... it was completely inspirational to watch the Intermediate series in action. The amount of strength and CONTROL it takes to do things so seamlessly, so effortlessly. And this also goes beyond just physical strength - you can see how much mental strength it takes as well to master the series. Respect to the discipline and dedication it takes to get there.

Listen to me, I am head over heels in love with Ashtanga again.

Sharath in Sydney: Conference #2

Today's talk he gave was a little bit shorter than last week's, and he spoke about the asanas.

The asanas are done to purify the mind, body and nervous system. How are they to be done? Sthira Sukha Asanam (quoting from Patanjali's Yoga Sutras)... they must be stable and comfortable. Then he repeats... "COMFORTABLE". Everybody laughs.

Build strength and stamina over time... it's not about the number of asanas you do, but about how you do them (quality over quantity, I suppose). Even if you perfect only 10 asanas, that's OK and enough.

On a side note, yesterday I'd asked if anyone had any questions to ask him at today's conference and Grimmly had asked a couple of good ones (see yesterday's comments). Unfortunately, those questions came in after the conference was over, so I didn't have the chance to ask him. However, what Sharath says here might give you a clue as to how he feels about it.

Sharath continued with saying each asana is connected to each other. There are certain ways to do each asana, it all has a purpose for purification. When the asana is perfect and sthira/ sukha happens, the nervous system is purified then the mind is ready and clear to go to the next level.

Then he brings up an example: In the Primary series backbends and dropbacks, "if you can't do that, intermediate will be difficult". (I put those in quotation marks coz I wrote down notes and that was exactly as he'd said it). So, I dunno if that answers Grimmly's question or if that's still open to interpretation.

I personally feel that having listened to him in both conferences and how he keeps emphasizing that there's a method to the progression and "Don't hurry", and especially after watching the intermediate class today (I'll write more about this in the Week 2 Day 5 update after this), I feel dropbacks probably need to be mastered before moving onto intermediate in order to get the maximum benefit from the intermediate series.

Don't get me wrong here, I mean, sure you can practice intermediate if you can't dropback yet, but the whole point of intermediate is about Nadi Shodhana, which works on the energetic body. So... if the physical is not completely cleansed or there are still blocks within the physical body from not having mastered all of the Primary series, then how can you obtain maximum benefit when you start working on the energetic body through the second series? (especially when the initial asanas within second series are all about backbends!) This is of course, my interpretation and understanding of it, especially after listening to how he keeps emphasizing that there is a method to the progression.

After this, he asks people for questions, but there is a long pause, people are afraid to ask. Then he goes off and starts talking about the qualities of a yogi. He recites a very long chant (it could've been a poem or a saying, but I've no idea what this is). Then he goes line by line and interprets it in English. I think some things got lost in translation but very loosely, it went something like, a yogi has a slim waist (?!), speaks well (his words are musical/ nice to hear), and is soft-natured... I got a bit lost here so this part didn't really come to much in my written notes! For this, I apologize.

Then the questions came.
Q: When practising on our own, do we practise to your count? As long as your count?
A: You can go up to 5 breaths if you have the time. The important thing is the inhale should be as long as the exhale. So if the inhale is 2 seconds, the exhale should also be 2 seconds. Inhale 5 seconds? Then exhale 5 seconds. It is important to focus on your own asana and don't compare to the person in front of you! Think about what you're doing in your asana, cultivate them by focusing on your own asana.

Q: Can you talk a little bit about the bandhas?
A: Do bandhas properly for a long life. Jalandhara bandha (chin lock) is mainly used during pranayama. What's the source to control your mind? ...Mula bandha (root lock). If applied right, it can be practised all the time. This is why many can't do Karandavasana - coz you only have arm strength, no bandha strength. Same thing also for jumpbacks. Who can do jumpback from Padmasana properly? It's the bandhas, not the arms. It's about your internal strength, and synchronizing the breath with bandha control.

Then he asks for who can demo a jumpback and teasingly asks a guy to do it. "Jacob! You come and do!" He looks like a physically strong guy, he comes up and says "I can't actually do a proper jumpback". Everyone laughs. He gets up and does it though and this is what annoys me about guys and upper body strength. TOO EASY FOR THEM!

Sharath then gets into Padmasana and does a vinyasa out of Padmasana, lifting up with complete control, getting an impossibly high lift (elbows at 90 degrees!), pauses for what feels like a few seconds balancing mid-air in Padmasana (his body is at an incline, not perpendicular to the ground), then quietly, gracefully and slowly... unfolds his legs mid-air and shoots back to Chaturanga. WOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

He then lifts his shirt up to show how it's all in the bandhas and internal strength. His Uddiyana Bandha lock is ridiculous. It actually folds his abdomen in half! At first I thought it was coz he was tucking his chin in, holding his shirt up with his chin, causing the fold in his belly... but he's a skinny guy with no fat/ folds in his skin, so why was there this massive fold in his belly?! Yeah folks, it's called Uddiyana Bandha Power to the MAX!

Q: How do you know when you're ready for more advanced poses? Like headstand? [giggles from the crowd]
A: A good teacher will know when to move you on. But you can already practice headstand if you're doing the Janus and the Marichyasanas.

Q: Does your head touch the floor in headstand?
A: Yes, it touches the floor, but no pressure on the head. Come down slowly from headstand and rest a long time after. Allow the blood to go back through your system slowly. Headstand can be longer than shoulderstand. You can do this asana for as long as you like. It has many benefits.

Q: How long should Savasana be?
A: What you all are doing after your asana is not actually Savasana. Savasana is an asana in the 6th series! What you're doing resting after your asana is more like Sukhasana... Easy pose, or Happy pose! In the 6th series Savasana, which means dead posture, you actually stop your breathing. Well, you don't actually stop it but is close to it. You remember the story of Krishnamachrya stopping his heart beat? ...that's not me yet! [laughter] But my grandfather taught me this Savasana, to stop the breath in 6th series.

In Sukhasana after practice, 10 to 15 minutes is long enough. Otherwise your body gets too cool.

He then ends off by saying: You must remember that yoga doesn't need us, we need yoga. Keep the tradition, don't change it.

He then showed us a DVD of the KPJAYI Trust, a charity that Guruji set up in Mysore when he turned 90. A part of their karma yoga, they help the orphanage and mentally disabled. What was cool is one of my friends is in the video! She's the hot blonde chick who appears a few times and is teaching the kids (she also has a bad-ass intermediate practice)!

His talk on the bandhas and bandha control made me think a bit more about it in today's practice, and I'll have an update on that a bit shortly. It's dinner time now. :)

Sharath in Sydney: Week 2, Day 4

Today, we were told that we'd be allowed to watch tomorrow's intermediate class. YAY! ...of course we'd have to sit at the back of the hall and not make a sound (wonder if I'll be allowed to take pictures?) Apparently they got up to the last pose before the 7 headstands yesterday, so maybe we'll be in for a treat with the full intermediate series tomorrow? *rub hands together in glee*

By the way, if anyone has any questions they'd like to ask Sharath in this evening's conference, put them in the comments! I've gotta have them by 5pm Sydney time (GMT +11hrs) TODAY! I'll only have the balls to ask ONE question so I might ask the most interesting one.

Got some nice updates and observations today, will put them in point form to TRY and be brief.

1. Pre-workshop chatter
A lady spoke about how Sharath's a lot stricter in Mysore. She first went there when Ashtanga was still pretty new to her, spent FIVE MONTHS there, but he wouldn't progress her past Marichyasana D. Not until she got the full bind first.

In the Sunday led classes in Mysore, she said people would be stopped during the Primary series if he felt they weren't ready to go further. Whereas during this workshop, it seems like he's letting everyone practise the full Primary even if they're not ready. He's a lot more playful and humourous during the Primary practice, but a lot more serious with the Intermediate "cool kids".

He not only stops people often, but also says stuff like "this is why you must come to Mysore". Awww... *Bitch Slap!* (I'm joking, of course.) I think it's pretty funny he says that. It definitely makes me want to go to Mysore... which I suppose is partly why he does these tours. Rockstars sell more records when they go on tour, but Sharath gets more people back to the source when he goes on tour. :)

2. Bhujapindasana

(Photo credit here)

Following on from yesterday's obsession and all the lovely comments and advice in the comments section... I was thinking A LOT about this yesterday. To the point where I kept replaying "youtube chick"s video and visualizing me jumping straight into it like her (and Liz), rather than fussing with it from standing. I was so excited, post-dinner last night I tried it in the living room - bare hardwood floor, no mat. And thought of Liz saying "no chickening out". So I went for it.

BAD IDEA!

Of course I knew it was a bad idea. I wasn't warmed up, I'd just eaten, and even something inside me said "Don't do it". But enthusiasm won over wisdom.

I landed straight on my bum, and now I've added a new fear to achieving this jump: it's not the elbows that are likely to break, but my wrists!! Fortunately, nothing broke, everything's still intact... but I think how I'll get to this jump now is through BABY STEPS.

My new thing with this now is jump feet forward and immediately from there hop up and cling thighs to arms. NO FUSSING. Just 2 steps: hop feet in front of hands, then hop thighs up. IT WORKED! So I'm hoping through this, I'll eventually build up the nerve to bring it from these 2 steps into 1 smooth jump. (Disclaimer: this is completely not an orthodox method, just my way of figuring this out)

What clicked for me was watching Liz's and "youtube chick"s (oh dear, I hope she never reads this, the term is not in the least meant to be disrespectful) hops... I always thought your thighs were supposed to be really high up your arms, but realize now they don't HAVE to be.

Bhuja's a pose that never really bothered me - from the get go, I'd found it pretty easy to get into the final asana so never really thought too hard about it (hope that doesn't sound arrogant. If it does, pls read about my Sirsasana struggles first before you judge me!) So it's kinda cool that I'm trying to take myself out of my comfort zone with this pose and see if I can take it to another level.

Also, I've got forehead on the floor now, I'm working my way to getting chin on floor. Today, I just got midway and squished my nose into the mat. Distance judgment FAIL.

3. Kukkutasana & Uthpluthi head position
Holy drishti! Very interesting adjustment from Sharath today. I was holding in Kukkutasana, looking down with drishti at my nose... he walks past, and gently puts a finger on my head and pushes back, tilting it back more. (I seem to have this problem - he's done this before with me in Upavishta last week, and again today verbally said "Head up" in Ubaya Padangusthasana)

Just because drishti's at the tip of your nose, I was always looking... well, DOWN, and I guess that meant my chin was tilted down too. (How was I supposed to know? Look at your nose - your nose is below your eyes, so I'd naturally tilt the head down!)

(Photo credit here)

So just a simple lift of the head (but still keeping eyes on the nose) made the pose feel kinda different. How different? I can't tell yet, but wait till I tell you about Uthpluthi.

So when we got to Uthpluthi, I got thinking: I wonder if I should try the same "chin up" head position? ...well, since Kukkutasana and Uthpluthi are almost kinda, sorta similar. Today, on an energetic level, Uthpluthi felt like a whole new different pose altogether for me.

Goodness knows why I kept looking down - maybe I was trying to engage jalandhara bandha. You see, this is when a little bit of knowledge is dangerous... I remember reading somewhere about how Guruji stopped people practising kapalabhati breathing in this pose coz many would get light-headed or not know how to control the kundalini energy generated in this, and somehow in some warped way I thought "I'd better engage jalandhara and keep the kundalini within". Oh dear. That sounds so daft now, but I'm glad I'm realizing better now. HAHA.

When I lifted the chin up (but still keeping nasagrai drishti), suddenly I felt an upward surge of energy. It wasn't like the pose became physically easier, but it FELT like I had a boost from under me shoot straight up. WOW. Pretty rad.

On average, I've held uthpluthi till between his 6th - 7th count (that's 8sec per count, sometimes much longer if he's being cheeky). Today I held till 7, and had to come down to rest for a bit before going back up again. So it's not like the pose became physically easier, but it became easier to concentrate on the hold itself than trying to shut out the monkey mind AND try to hold.

Interestingly, I was ultra mellow after today's Uthpluthi. Usually when it comes to the closing chant, I'm so out of breath and still panting that I can't even complete the first "Om" in the chant. Today, it was easy, breezy and felt exceptionally centred. WOW! WOW! WOW! What a difference just a simple tilt of the head makes.

After class, I asked Sharath where head position is in Uthpluthi, and he also confirmed - straight ahead. Drishti's at the nose, but head position is straight (that's chin up for me!)

I've talked too much today (I feel like I'm talking when I'm writing)... so I'll leave you now with a picture from the trenches... this is my huge-ass bruise from Garba Pindasana. It's about 2 days old now. I get them every now and again. When I first started getting arms through my lotus, the bruises started a lot higher nearer the shoulder. But now that I'm getting more of arms through, you can see it's come lower, nearer my elbow. (I dunno why this would be interesting, but it takes a yogadork to know one, and I would find this random picture interesting myself). :p

Sharath in Sydney: Week 2, Day 3

Before we started today, I engaged in some gossip on how the Intermediate workshop's been going. No, no, "gossip" is not a good word. Well, I'm just "curious" to see what's been going on in there since we're not allowed to watch!

We heard that in previous led Intermediate classes on his World Tour, Sharath had actually stopped people at... PASASANA! Seriously?! The first pose of the series?!?? Wow, I guess that takes balls to step into his Intermediate class even if you can't do the first pose properly. Actually, maybe I should get in there and get stopped at Pasasana, so that can be my ticket to sitting in and watching the rest of the class. Hahaha.

On a side note, I've actually been given Intermediate before, and was practising up until the first few backbends, but then when I went back home and practiced with an authorized teacher, he told me to go back to full Primary and get all my binds and dropbacks right first before moving on. It was good eating humble pie, coz it's definitely made me a lot stronger in the Primary series. Now that my body's opening up in a few places, I understand what he was sayinng and can see the wisdom in the progression of this system. Ashtanga, oh how I love thee. (but of course... I'm still asking: when oh when will I get to Intermediate again?!)

Anyways, back to this Intermediate workshop. Apparently they haven't completed the whole series. I think they've only gotten up to Karandavasana so far. They stopped earlier in the series from Day 1, but everyday he's added a few more poses up to Karanda so far. There were some people who are practising Intermediate back in the Primary workshop today... so... hmm. Sounds like it's a toughie.
(Any Sydneysiders in the Intermediate session want to comment on how it's been going?)

In today's practice, my obsession has been Supta Kurmasana. Lew had a great link to this chick in yesterday's comments. Can I just say... Waaaaaaaahhhh! Strong.


Confession: when we came to Mari A, I was already thinking of how I would jump as effortlessly as her straight into Bhujapidasana, with nary a bit of support from just... a flick of the foot. (Liz, I suppose this is why your teacher disapproves of watching youtube videos? HAHAHA.)

My reality of course, was a different story. I hop and land pretty softly with feet in front of hands but I can't work out how to grab around your arms with your thighs and just hang there like her almost immediately? (Feel like I'll hyper-extend or injure the elbows if I jump straight into it with my full weight!)

And Supta K... thanks for all of your comments yesterday, they were really helpful. From Kurmasana, I came up slightly but still on the floor, tried to put left leg behind head but can't do this on its own. I had to physically come up and guide it there with my right hand. Then I went back down with face on the floor and couldn't seem to get my right leg behind head. I eventually shuffled it close and hooked it over my left foot, but that's kind of cheating coz I know it wasn't fully over my shoulder (right hamstring is also tighter than the left side).

Oh... the other thing was - I had NO TIME to get into this! By the time it came to getting the right leg over, he was already counting "ONE"... YIKES! So this panic to get into the pose also limits how much you can work yourself PROPERLY into the pose (Forget about binding the hands!) Even more respect to the chick in that youtube video.

Sirsasana today was so-so. Held til "SEVEN" today, then went back up and held from TEN till FOURTEEN (mind gave up before the body and couldn't get to FIFTEEN). Too many people falling down today! So distracting! Not an excuse, but it definitely affected me.

That's all for today. Oh, he's giving another conference this Friday. I'm gonna try to make it again even if his talk might be similar to last week's. The Question & Answer session alone is great food for thought.

Sharath in Sydney: Week 2, Day 2

Holy Headstand, Batman! I had a mini-breakthrough today. Note the key word "MINI".

So, no, I didn't hold for all 15 counts, but I did hold till his EIGHTH count! If you recall, I've only ever managed to hold till SIX before (only once), and all other times I've averaged til FOUR or FIVE.

I came down for 2 counts, then went back up again from TEN till FIFTEEN.

WHOO HOO! ...it's all about the baby steps, innit? I'm just thinking that it's only another 2 counts I need to get over to hold the whole way. Of course by the time he came to FOURTEEN, the voices in my head started back up again. "HOLD... HOLD... HOOOOOOLD... Almost there just haul yourself up!"

Oh, and at 90 degrees, again I held for the last 5 of his 10 counts (it actually took me the first 5 of his counts to catch my breath after the first round of Sirsasanas!). By the 10th count, I've usually just come down straight away instead of bringing legs back up again on the inhale, before releasing on the exhale.

Today, after the 10th count, I gave it my best shot and hauled those HEAVY legs back up again on the inhale. I didn't make it all the way straight to the top though, and had to release about 3/4 of the way up.

What made it easier today to hold for longer in the regular Sirsasana is pulling my legs further back. It's complete fear that has held me back from bringing them too far back. Fear of what? Fear of falling over. (Sharath says "No chakrasana!" a lot when we come to Sirsasana!)

...and all this on only 4 hours of sleep. If Sharath hadn't been in town, I would've probably had a lie-in, telling myself I'd be no good at practice with not enough sleep (as you can tell, this has happened before). So I'm pretty chuffed that even though I was exhausted and crabby and didn't want to be there today, mini-breakthroughs are still possible.

So... how long more until I get to this variation? Look Ma, NO HANDS! HAHA.

Photo Credit here

I realize too, that after almost one and a half weeks of Led, what I'm really missing from a Mysore practice, is as follows:

1. Adjustment in Supta K. I need help in catching my hands behind and getting my legs bound behind my head. Once I'm wrapped, I'm in the pose... I miss the tightly, snug bound feeling in this pose, and on my own I just can't seem to grab my hands behind my back, let alone wrap the legs behind my head fully. It's starting to piss me off too (why can't I find my hands behind my back? Is my belly roll getting in the way THAT much?)

My hands feel kinda close-ish behind me but they can't seem to find each other. Anybody has any tips or recommendations on what the heck I'm not doing enough of? (I'm trying to scoop as much of my shoulders under my legs to get more of my arms through. Now what?)

Oh, I'm also missing doing that lift up into Dwi pada from Supta K... I've recently been able to actually lift off my bum in this more regularly (even though I can't hold past 2 breaths!) Hello Mulabandha!

2. Dropbacks. I miss doing these. I've started to stand up on my own from backbends (right now, it looks more like I'm hauling myself up and hurtling at the wall in front me, or stumbling around at the top once I'm up. No grace yet)... though I'm still working up the nerve to drop into the abyss from standing, on my own. So, I miss getting the dropback assists.

3. Handstands. I've recently been given these, and still working on bunny-hopping into it. Just before the workshop started, I was just kinda getting the hang of hopping up (CORE CORE BABY!) *sung to the tune of "Ice ice baby"* and wondering if I'll still be able to find that point after this week? (shoulders over wrists!) Staying up is a whole other story... kinda like my Sirsasana issues... what's supposed to be "straight" doesn't feel straight to me. Yet.

4. Paschimottanasa Squash. Need I say more? ...oh, that glorious squash after backbends.

I wonder if I'll "lose" any of these poses after not doing them during this 2-week workshop? (not #4 of course, teacher always gives that squash). :)

Sharath in Sydney: Week 2, Day 1

Yesterday's Moon Day was a nice break from practice, except I woke up at 5.30am (about an hour later than usual) and was bright-eyed and bushy tailed. My body was like "What? No practice today?" (but I'm not as gung-ho as Grimmly, who still does a short practice on an official day off!). So I was ready and raring to start WEEK 2 today!!

This week, Sharath's teaching led Primary from 6-8am and led Intermediate from 8-10am. Which meant that even though the room looked full today, there was a little bit more space between mats and it didn't feel as sardine-packed since about a third of the class would be practising later.

He seemed to be in a good mood today. He walked in and saw his regular chair wasn't in its place and said "Eileen, where's my chair?" ...then he laughed. I dunno why but I found that really funny (I'm very easily amused by him).

He lightened up the mood a couple of times by reversing numbers. In Padottanasana it went "ONE... TWO... FOUR... [giggles]... THREE [more giggles]... FIVE". And he did it again I can't remember when now, but I think in Supta Padangusthasana too.

Sirsasana Report:
On my walk to the workshop I felt strangely hungry. But I'd had a big dinner last night so what was up with that. Then I realized it was butterflies in my tummy. Yup, I was already feeling nervous about a Sirasasana 15-count encore!

Anyways, so we came to it today, I held to about his 5th count, came down and went up again for another 3 counts, then came down and went back up AGAIN for about another 2 counts (the most I've ever gone back up again for was twice, so OK... at least I'm trying for a third time now?)

I kept trying to take my legs a little further back, remembering how far it felt when he had adjusted me on Sunday, all the while trying to find that point of balance in the centre. Since I need to re-wire what "straight" feels like with my crooked pelvis, it felt like I was playing around with this today rather than getting panicked.

Legs at 90-degrees: came down after TWO counts, but went back up again for the remainder of his last 5 counts.

OK... slowly but surely I'm getting a bit stronger. There's no hurry to get anywhere, just have to keep reminding myself of this. Monkey mind was much quieter today (coz he wasn't there to distract me! HAHA!)

That's pretty much it for today. Oh yeah, 2 ladies in front of me today asked "are you the one with that blog?" GULP. They saw Sharath adjust me on Sunday then read (and laughed) about it and figured it must've been me.

Sometimes I forget it's not just my mum who reads these posts. Ha.

So if you're new here... HALLO! If you'd like to know when I've got a new post up, you can subscribe to RSS feed updates by clicking on the icon in the right column or follow me on Twitter too. (Warning: tweets are for yoga dorks only!)

Sharath in Sydney: Week 1, Day 6

Stop the press! I got my first adjustment today. In fact, I got TWO!!

First was in Upavishta Konasana - second part where you're catching your legs up in the air. My drishti was up to the ceiling, but he walked past, put one finger on the top of my forehead and pushed down, tilting my head back more. I was like "huh? But I WAS looking up!" ...I guess not enough?

Being the yoga dork that I am, I came home and immediately referenced David Swensen's manual. I could've sworn my head was in the same position in the "E" picture (quick Ashtanga dorks, pull out your books now!) ...coz it sure FELT like he was really pushing my head back a lot more than in Swensen's photo. Hmm... will have to bring more awareness to that in the next practice!

And the second adjustment? (more like an assist)... Are you ready for this?


*DRUMROLL*


Sirsasana. Crikey.

(If this is the first post of my conference reports you've been reading, please read the days preceding this and you'll get why this is big news for me).

So after the shoulderstand vinyasa, as we were prepping for headstands, I glanced up and lo and behold... who should be looking my way? Oh, but of course, the eagle-eyed Rangaswamyji! Yes, it definitely was an eye-lock moment we had. Oh crap. I couldn't help but grin back at him though, coz I had this pervading sense of fear and dread that something "bad" was coming my way.

Someone asked in yesterday's comments how long his L-O-N-G counts are in headstands, and I'd estimate about an average of 8 seconds per count. Apparently it's supposed to be 4sec inhale and 4sec exhale per count.

OK... so are you ready for this juicy story?

I'm up, he starts counting, and I hear his voice coming closer my way with each count. All the while I'm trying to focus on the breath and count, but you must understand the voices in my head are starting to get louder by now... I'm thinking about what he said to me yesterday... and I keep trying to stop my thoughts but by the time he says "FOUR" and I know he's right behind me in front of my mat, the voices in my head are yelling now "DOES HE REALLY THINK I CAN HOLD TILL FIFTEEN?!? GO AWAAAY!!! YOU'RE DISTRACTING MEEEE!!!!"

I promise I'm really not a loonybin. Maybe just a little intense, but not crazy.

Then he catches my legs and pulls them back towards him. I had an AHA! moment... I wasn't completely straight. I have the same problem in handstands too with finding that balancing point where everything lines up straight.

It's all over in my head by now. Forget about silencing anything and finding dharana... I had a million and one things going through my head from... OH NO! He's really gonna make me hold till fifteen! What, am I really that un-straight? Shit, don't pull me back THAT far, I'm going to fall! But if I fall it's OK, he's right behind me! OMG, it's only the TENTH count? I've to hold another FIVE? My arms are giving out, I can't hold. Engage the CORE! You're not pulling the belly in enough!

And then I realized that with where he's guiding me to, I'm feeling completely off-balance and it feels like I'm working my left side much harder. I am of course, "straight" but feel the off-balance due to the rotation in my pelvis (I'm not bluffing! I've got a slight scoliosis in my tailbone the Osteopath picked up. You can see the X-Rays here) ...then of course this sets me off on a whole different chain of thoughts (Oh! No wonder I've got issues with this pose. Not that it should be an excuse or anything... etc.)

...that's just a tiny snippet only of what was flying through my head. A couple of times he tried to let go of my legs, but I couldn't find that point of balance to hold myself up on my own - yeah, with those thoughts racing through my brain I'm not surprised I couldn't actually find the pose!

It reminded me of the first time I ever did backbends or pigeon - y'know, when you open up areas that are tight, releasing all this "stuff" and random thoughts... or when you go through a Yin class and sit in one pose for 5 minutes, and it brings up all these "AARRGHHHHH!" thoughts in your head? That was my Sirsasana today.

Especially when he came up to "FIFTEEN". Mentally, I switched off and was like "RELIEF!!" ...but then he didn't let go and made me go into legs-at-90-degrees! Voices in my head said "HERE FOR ANOTHER 10 COUNTS?! IMPOSSIBLE!"

I'm embarassed to say this now, but he was holding firm ensuring I'd stay there the whole way... but I had a Little Britain "Computer says No" moment and literally had to kick him in order to get his hands off my legs so that I could come down.

What can I say, I had an internal meltdown (plus my arms really couldn't hold up anymore). But I felt much better after resting in Child's for a couple of counts... and felt I kind of redeemed myself by going back up again to legs at 90 degrees for all of his last 5 counts.

SIGHHHHHHHHH.

I went and thanked him after class today and he was all smiles. I was truly grateful.

I am excited I got an assist, but I'm also deflated that I couldn't hold throughout the 10 counts of 90 degrees. It is what it is, and tomorrow will be another practice... wait hang on! Tomorrow's MOON DAY! Hahaha.

Time for retail therapy. Today, I bought another Tshirt coz I love the different fonts. So here's my "99% practice, 1% theory" tee, and "Eat more Chapatis" tee. :)
(and yes, it's branded y'all... see the "Eight Limbs by KPJ" logo. Don't mess!)

Sharath in Sydney: Week 1, Day 5

Sharath & I walked past each other as he was leaving today. He said something but I didn't realize he was speaking to me, until he tapped my arm and repeated what he said.

"You hold all the way tomorrow. Headstand - you hold for all the counts tomorrow."

EEEEEK! (I had a BOO! IT'S HALLOWEEN! moment) Has he been reading this blog or what?!? (haha, yeah right) ...Or maybe he's just noticed this is the one pose I'm going balls to the walls with. WOW. I'm impressed (if you've been following my reports since Day 1, or is it Day 2... you'll know what I mean).

Today's headstand - I held up to 6 of his loooooooong counts (he goes up to 15), came down for a couple counts, then went back up again for another 3, almost 4, counts.

Then with legs at 90 degrees, he usually counts for 10. I've been too winded to even bother here and been resting in child's. Up until today - I held at 90 degrees for 5 counts! Geewhiz, it really is a mind over matter thing innit? (what he said about our bodies are strong but minds are weak - has really stuck, and I guess I'm trying harder).

Hmm... maybe eagle-eyed Sharath noticed this today?

So... it's not quite a physical adjustment, but definitely a verbal prod to adjust my mindset.

Even better. :)

PS. They were selling "R. Sharath World Tour 09" Tshirts today. I bought one that said "Eat More Chepatis!" coz I absolutely loved that story from yesterday's conference. It still cracks me up!

Sharath in Sydney: Conference

As promised, here's my little report on his conference last night. Some of you are chomping at the bit to hear about it... I will try as much as I can not to mangle what he said (though I'll be paraphrasing all of the time). Will try to follow Susananda's lovely reporting style on his recent UK conference since I enjoyed it very much.

He started with an opening chant (I have no idea what!), and then a talk on the practice of yoga. Umm... yes, I took notes (I have to, otherwise it's in one ear and out the other!).
[Update] This was the Opening chant: "Agnyaana Timiraandhasya Gnyaana Anjana Shalaakayaa Chakshuhu Unmeelitam Yenam Tasmai Sri Gurave Namaha"

A Guru can save us from the pangs of ignorance (darkness) by applying to us the balm of knowledge or awareness of the Supreme, I salute such a Guru.

The talk kinda sorta touched on the following:

Yoga came from the rishis in order to help them attain higher consciousness. He talked about the importance of the 8 limbs of yoga - where Ashtanga gets its name. We must follow the Yoga Sutra's 8 limbs step-by-step, building from the foundation up.

Hence, starting with the Yamas & Niyamas (guidelines on how to live your life), before progressing onto asana, pranayama, pratyhara, dharana, dhyana, samadhi.

Asana is the foundation - we use this to purify the body and the mind, then the next step is pranayama and so on and so forth. By doing so, your organs come under your sense control. The purpose of doing asanas is so "the practice should change you."

This is why the Ashtanga system is complete in incorporating asana, pranayama, drishti, following the 8 limb path.

People say things like "I only do meditation, but not asana"... but how can you sit still with your mind if you haven't learnt how to control it through asana? Doing so is just sitting, not meditating [this might rile some people up!] Asana is one limb to connect to the rest. All the limbs are important, you can't practice only one without the rest.

An interesting point he touched on when talking about the Niyama "Svadhyaya" (self inquiry) is it's important to think about "what is yoga"... get more knowledge from the practice, to sit, think, read about it. He talked about Guruji's famous quote of "Yoga is 99% practice, 1% theory"... this "practice" does not refer to just physical practice... it refers to your self-inquiry of svadhyaya.

Then he spoke of the importance of lineage/ the role of the guru (don't freak out! "Guru" here simply means teacher). For everything, there is a way to do it. To fully understand and learn, you must stick with the same teacher and have faith in his/ her method. There are exercise videos & books you can learn from, but energy doesn't transfer if you just watch.

Even Krishnamacharya read many books but couldn't find any teacher to learn yoga from. He finally heard of a yogi, Ramana Mohan Brahmachari (let's call him RMB from now), who lived at the foot of a mountain (or was it a forest?) but when he went to see him to ask him to teach him yoga, RMB refused to see him for a few days, only sending his son out on the second day with 2 chepatis (flat bread). Krishnamacharya said "I'm not here to eat chepatis, I want to learn yoga". [giggles ensue] So he passed the test and learned from RMB for the next 7 years.

His point was that these days people learn a few months from this teacher, then another few months from another teacher, then after that coming up with their own "system"... there's no depth to their knowledge when they don't stick to one lineage/ method. People can offer teacher trainings for a few months, claim to teach you pranayama or meditation in one class, tell you you can reach samadhi. People go to different gurus to learn different things, but this will only confuse you. Go to one teacher.

He related a story where he sat next to a lady on a flight and he asked her what she did. She said "I'm a yoga teacher". Everyone burst out laughing. Someone chirped "What did you tell her what you did?" Sharath replied "Nothing, she didn't ask me."

Question & Answer session.
Q: Do you find Westerners different, more easily distracted?
A: You are more distracted because you have more distractions in the West. You go to different gurus. Ultimately it's up to you to decide. But follow the rishis, who followed one teacher. India has a more disciplined life, but there are different kinds of attachments/ non-attachments. Many Western students have been able to adopt a disciplined life too.
[This reminded me of something I read somewhere (Heart of Yoga?) where Krishnamacharya refused to teach Western students for the longest time, thinking they weren't disciplined enough. This kinda makes sense why now, looking at it from the 8 limbs point-of-view]

Q: How long should the primary series take to practice?
A: 1 hour 30min, 1 hour 35 minutes. Anything more and you'll be tired.
[No wonder we've been more tired so far... each led class had averaged 1hr 45min!] :p

Q: What do you think about the use of props?
A: No props! For chikitsa, to cure diseases, if you can't walk, then yes OK for props use. But all of you are healthy and physically able - why do you need props
[Hmm... I smell a debate on this one]

Q: What's the best time to practice? / Should you practice at the same time every day?
A: Early morning is the best time. Less distractions, the mind is pure. 3.30am - 5am is best. I had to practice with my grandfather at 1.30am. If you wait till later in the day, your mind will be distracted by what has already happened that day.

Q: Is there such a thing as "positive attachment"? Isn't any kind of attachment bad? What if I am too attached to my yoga practice?
A: Attachment to your practice is good. It's a different kind of attachment. Can you survive without food? This is just like how you need yoga. If you don't practice, you get distracted and you get sick mentally.

Q: Do you feel a burden having to carry on your Grandfather's work?
A: There's no burden if it's not a burden. [what an awesome answer!] I was on my way to getting my electronics engineering degree. But my mother called and said "please come and help your grandfather, he's too busy". I planned to be there only for one month to help him, but once I started, I knew I was to be a yoga teacher.

Q: I love yoga and I know this is my path, but I don't want to teach. Is this wrong?
A: Yoga is for your spiritual knowledge. Yoga helps you in your work. Yoga helps you in your life. You don't have to be a teacher. The teacher's path is hard.

Then we closed off with a chant honouring Guruji.
[UPDATE] Thanks, @Ashtangikali for what both chants were, including translations:
"Om Sahana Bhavatu, Sahanao Bhunaktu Sahaveeryam Karvaa vahaiand
Tejaswee Naava Dheeta Mastu Ma Vidvishaa vahai Om Shanti Shanti Shanti"

I pray that you help me teach, you help me learn. May our study be brilliant and may we not misunderstand! Om Peace, Peace, Peace!

And we also chanted the also the Closing Prayer again, wishing peace & happiness to all beings on earth.

I was struck by his matter-of-factness. There was nothing high-faluting or esoteric at all about how he explained things. It was a "this is just how it is" manner about it. He's got a quiet calm about him, is earnest and serious in his discussions, but also cracks the odd joke (I like!) and he's soooooo down to earth and humble.

A very inspiring teacher. When's the next flight to Mysore again?

Sharath in Sydney: Week 1, Day 4

"You physically strong. But the mind is weak."

So says Rangaswamyji aka Sharath at the end of Uthpluthi today.

He counted "One", and paused for about 5 counts before people started giggling in anticipation of the "Two" that didn't come. He probably held for another 5 counts before he decided to go into "Two".

Funny thing is, I've been starting to feel the same way about my practice in the past couple of days. And it hit home when I heard him say it this morning. (I mean this in the most positive way, even though what he said sounds kinda hardcore.)

Today was a decidedly inward-focussed practice. Maybe I'm tired. Maybe the excitement about being there, having everything fresh, shiny & new is wearing off already, and I'm really starting to get focussed on my practice groove.

I could've sworn I was closing my eyes quite a bit today - in most of the seated forward bends especially, but I think maybe my eyes were open (Hello drishti!), but my mind was in the zone. (I was going to say "my mind was somewhere else". But it was definitely there, yet it wasn't. I'm finding it hard to articulate this now, I hope you get what I'm saying).

Today's headstand was decidedly stronger. Held for 6 of his counts, came down, then went back up again for another of 2 of his counts. OK, seeing how I came down at his 4th count yesterday, I'm pretty pleased with myself. Besides, this was the first time in a loooooong time that my biceps were burning in headstand towards the end, so OK, slowly but surely I'm going somewhere. Who knows, tomorrow I might not even be able to get up! (a guy from my shala holds sirsasana for 108 long & slow breaths. Geepers! ...that's something to inspire you!)

A short report today, but it was a good practice for me at least. :)

His conference is on this evening, so I'll hopefully take some notes to post here some time after tomorrow's practice. (Yes folks, Saturday will not be our rest day. Monday will be our rest day.) (Pedantic traditionalists, take note! Heh.)

Here's a bizarre ad I spotted on the walk to the workshop this morning to make you laugh. I'd be afraid to go there if I were a bear, and likewise if I were a man (or woman). I'd love to see the other (bad) ads their ad agency have come up with for other clients!

Sharath in Sydney: Week 1, Day 3

If I had one word to describe how I felt today, I wouldn't know which one of these 2 to choose between: SORE. TIRED.

I have a pretty regular practice, I'm at the shala at least 4 times a week, though I try to make it 5 - 6 times. Sometimes life "gets in the way" of my yoga practice (LOL!) so the requisite, traditional 6 times a week of mysore style practice isn't possible (does doing a few sun salutes or meditating count as "practice" when I can't make it to the shala?) I've done my fair share of 3 days' practice in a row before... so why did my quads feel like steel deadweights as of last night? And my triceps too.

He makes you work hard, this Sharath! No cheating!

A hot shower before I left and a little warming up before we started this morning seemed to help. The thighs weren't burning as much today as they were last night. Most of my energy was focussed on ME today, so a little less to report on Sharath.

1. Dinner
Yup, By the second count (DWE: EXHALE!) into the first forward bend, I could feel last night's dinner in my belly. And was thinking "great, today will be interesting". In case you were wondering, I'd cooked me some miso soba noodles with leftover tofu + veggie scramble thrown into it. I got the sense I was still digesting that choy sum. Yuck.

Which made me think of the discussion most yogis eventually have at some point: what & how much to eat the night before you practice? ...so that you get enough sustenance through the first few hours (since you don't eat before practice), but also so you don't start groaning like me in the forward bends and twists.

2. Stronger or trying harder?
Even though my body's a little winded, today I thought I'd try a little harder and hold every chaturanga instead of cheating by placing the chin on the floor or the upper body on the floor. Earlier in the week I thought "pace yourself", which in my book meant not flooring the chaturangas.

He makes sure everyone holds in every chaturanga. You hear "Don't Hurry" a lot when we get to this pose. If anyone has moved ahead to Up-Dog, he makes them go back down again (which means the rest of us are STILL holding in chaturanga). Now you understand why I've been cheating? :p

Anyway, today with the little pact I made with myself, I surprised myself by holding about 95% of all the chaturangas and realized my arms and core strength are probably a little stronger than I give them credit for. Yay for me. I wonder if I've already grown stronger, or am I just trying a little harder?

3. Uthpluthi
By his 6th count, I had to come down, rested on the 7th count, then went back up again. Sharath walked by my mat around the 8th count, stood right in front of my mat, facing me - all I could see were his feet. IN FRONT OF MY MAT! Then he counts "NINE"... I'm still holding (I don't think he saw that I'd come down earlier. Hehe.) and then he gives a little cheeky, conspiratorial "ohhhh..." (as in "ohhh... so you think you can hold so long, do you?") I don't know if he was referring to me coz I was staring down at a piece of fluff on my mat towel, concentrating on "HOLD! STAY UP TIL 10! HE'S IN FRONT OF YOU!"... and then he goes and calls out "Nine... and a half..."

Dammit! He made me (and everyone else) laugh and I had to come down. I was too shy to look up to see if he was making fun of me. What? Me, Star-struck?! Noooooo.

4. Sirsasana
Dunno if this is better or worse than yesterday. Had to come down by his 4th L-O-N-G count, but then went back up again and held for another of his 4 counts. All the while thinking of the advice/ comments I've been given by the cybershala. There's a lot of ego and fear involved in this pose for me. And that's all I'll comment on for now. (Still processing, not ready to talk about it!)

5. Closing Chant
Too winded to even complete the first "Om". had to stop halfway and catch my breath!
But... being the yoga-dork I am, I looked up the closing chant on the KPJAYI site yesterday and was reciting it. Yes, extremely dorky. But it worked coz today I wasn't straining to figure out what the heck he was saying and was able to focus a little more inward as the words were a little more familiar and rolling off my tongue a little easier (how many times can I use the word "little" in a sentence?)

Oh, this goes for the Sanskrit numbers too. Looked it up yesterday, and the practice went a little smoother (in my head) coz I knew the counts and wasn't distracted by silly thoughts like "Huh? Is that a number or is that something else he's saying?"

That's all for today!
PS. There'll be a conference with him at 6pm this Friday at the new Yoga Moves shala, 40 Hall Road in Bondi Beach. Yay!

By the way, a friend of mine had asked if she could take pictures on the first day, but Sharath didn't give permission. So I haven't dared to bring my camera in. These are shots from outside the building waaaaaay before most people have showed up.




This is directly outside the hall, at around 5.30am.


And this is the same place after practice, about 7.45am. Gorgeous innit (yup, that's the Harbour Bridge in the distance).



We're right next to a park by the yacht club. :)

Sharath in Sydney: Week 1,Day 2

This is what a geek I am. I've discovered another use for my Blackberry. Since I've got about a 10 - 15min walk from the workshop to the train station, on my post-practice walk there I whipped it out and started typing down little notes from this morning on the Memo Pad app. Hey, it's important! By the time I get back, shower, change, get back on the train to head to work etc. I'd probably have forgotten half the things that I found interesting during the practice! (so this is what I'm referring to now as I type this post. Heh.)

The numbered points worked for me yesterday (and prevents me from going too far off-tangent, for your benefit too)... so here goes my observations on Day 2:

1. Opening & Closing Chants
The opening chant as recited by Sharath sounds weeeeeeeird. It sounds completely monotone and without the usual "melody" I'm used to chanting it in. Is there supposed to be a tune with this, have I just been singing it all wrong (y'know, the "Western" interpretation of the chant). As opposed to Guruji's version here (scroll to the bottom of page)

Yesterday was the first day I ever recited the Closing chant (7 years after discovering Ashtanga!) It was kinda cool. I'm gonna research this a little bit more today for its meaning. The only part in it that I recognized was one of my favourite phrases, "Lokum Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu" (May all beings everywhere be happy and free). This seems to be more recited out loud (like reading from a book) rather than chanting or singing.

2. More Sharath humour!
- UHP: people getting off-balance especially when it came to the second sideways variation (utthita parsvasahita?) and he says "No dancing!"
- Backbends: after extremely long counts in Urdhva Dhanurasana and everyone came down after the last one with a big SIGH (of relief), he says "No crying!"
- Uthpluthi: he says "Stay up. Don't come down. $25 fine if you come down".

This isn't really part of his humour, but I found it really cute that he doesn't use the word "Ujjayi". His reminder is simply "breathe with sound". I was trying to figure out what he meant by "free breathing" (closing in baddha padmasana), but then he repeated with "free breathing with sound".

(since it's another long-ish post, I'm breaking it up with a nice picture of baddha padmasana). :)

3. Counting
Today's counts seemed more manageable than yesterday's. Have I already gotten used to it, or was he just a little bit faster? Chatted with someone who'd been in the Bali workshop last week and she says the counts there were definitely a lot longer than the counts in Sydney (she reckons maybe it's because people were on holiday in Bali as opposed to how everyone needs to rush off to work after here). As an example, we're supposed to go from 6am - 8am (the timings they more or less stuck to in Bali), but the past couple of days here, we've finished at 7.45am.

Oh, also, we've been doing 5 Surya A's and only 3 Surya B's. Both today and yesterday. I thought it was coz we had a bit of a later start yesterday being the first day and all so didn't think anything of it, but it happened again today.

Found myself struggling to concentrate on the breath in Mari B - D. Or rather, struggling to regulate my breath to his count (I was starting to veer into 2 or 3 of my breaths per one of his counts. FOCUS!)

4. No adjustments again today!
...but he adjusted people on BOTH sides of me! (should I be grumpy about this or relieved? LOL!) Gimme a bind in Supta K, dammit! :p

But I also realized today how used I've gotten to having assistance in getting bound into Supta K (without doing much work myself even though it feels like you're working damn hard. Which I suppose you are, but in a different way). It's quite a different way of working your body when you're trying to bind the pose yourself (and failing miserably). Ha.

5. Body aches
Started yesterday evening with a bit of burning thighs and triceps, and really felt it when I woke up this morning... and after the practice, walking up the slight incline all the way to the train station really got me a bit winded. Really felt those thighs in backbends today too.

Headstand - I have this really weird thing that happens when I get to about 20 of my regular breaths (that's about, oh say 5 of Sharath's counts?)... my right foot starts cramping and I have to come down and flex it out (oh who am I kidding, the rest of my arms can't hold myself up by then anyway). Am I trying too hard here or what? Gonna try and see if I can build up strength over the next few days to hold for longer since he's a good metronome and I can gauge by his counts how strong I'm getting. Or not. Haha.

6. The Inhale-Exhale timings from seated asanas
See comments from yesterday's post. This is what I've been obsessing about from yesterday's practice. So I was straining really hard to work out what the heck he's saying when we come out of seated postures, moving into vinyasa. It's Inhale-look up. Something-Exhale. Dwadasha-Inhale etc... (my next mission is to learn sanskrit numbers!) But it's definitely "Dwadasha-Inhale". And I found out today Dwadasha means TWELVE. (Thank you Google)

So folks, I reckon what got me crossed-eyed yesterday thinking he was instructing the "lift up" on the exhale (when it should be on the inhale), was coz I thought he said "Exhale: dwadasha"... and not knowing what dwadasha meant I thought it was "lift up". As in... "Exhale - lift up". Lost in translation y'all!

He usually does the count, followed by the instruction. Y'know... Ekam (One): Inhale. Dwe (Two): Exhale. Trini (Three): Inhale. Chatvari (Four): Jumpback etc. First it's learning the numbers, and by the end of these 2 weeks I'll be getting my diploma in Sanskrit linguistics, you watch.

By the way... for my tweeps who keep asking if there are boys in #skimpyyogashorts at the workshop... I DON'T KNOW! Pratyahara y'all, withdrawing my senses and all; not focussed on things around me. HAHA. But I went earlier today and set up my mat towards the front/middle of the hall and got a better view of the goings-on ahead of me. When it was time to start, Sharath stripped off his trackpants to reveal mid-thigh cycling shorts and somehow I thought of my twittershala. Nothing tittelating (or is that "twittelating") at all, not like this guy.


That pretty much wraps up today's report. Have a happy Wednesday!

Sharath in Sydney: Week 1, Day 1

Wow. I woke up at my usual time to get to mysore practice in Bondi this morning, since it's the same train line to get to where Sharath's workshop is taking place. It said class starts at 6am, with registration open from 5.15am. So I figured by the time I got there around 5.40am (rough estimation), I should still be OK.

I didn't realize how GUNGHO Sydney ashtangis are. I got there as estimated, with a good 20 minutes to go... but the ENTIRE hall was pretty much packed to the rafters already. I had to set my mat up in the first row (where no one else would venture). I didn't mind since I usually like practising in the front of the shala - less distractions when all you've got is a wall in front of you. In this case, I had a window with a lovely view of the yachts in Rushcutters Bay.

There were about 100 - 120 people in Drill Hall. It's a really interesting building - looks like it used to be someone's boat shed which they've now converted into a dance hall. So you've got lovely high ceilings, but shocking bright white lights like in a school gym. And inside the hall, they've built a raised dance floor leaving about 1 metre around the edges of the building in its original condition. (I dunno why I notice these things, but perhaps it's because I was right in front and had space to leave my stuff in this 1-metre sunken space, I found it rather amusing)

(Oh look, it's classified by the National Trust of Australia. Read its history here.)

Oh dear, I've gone into another history lesson.

So... how was Day 1?

I'm still processing but my first impressions:
1. Sharath has a sense of humour.
We heard someone crashing into someone else in Prasarita Padotanasana (I think it was around the B or C variation), and he said "Hey, no chakrasana now!")

And of course in the 5th Navasana he counts for longer which got everyone in stitches.

2. L-O-N-G counts!
Maybe it's coz I'm whizzing through my morning practice in order to make it to work on time and have got used to a faster pace (full primary in 1hr 15min or 1hr 20min, depending how long I take in Savasana). But OH MAN. His 5 breath count is double my usual count! Which is good though coz it forced me to slow down (time and again, many teachers have kept telling me to "SLOW THE BREATH!")

For most of today this was OK, but I really felt it in Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana (all variations of it) and found myself thinking "OK, come now hurry up with the counting!"... oh, and of course I also felt it in Navasana.

Uthpluti - 10 L-O-N-G and super slooooooow counts. (I usually manage about 25 regular breaths but I was shaking by the end of his 7th or 8th counts and had to come down a few times).

3. Timing the breath
I can't remember when the last led class was that I took, but I really enjoyed having somebody count out each breath. It made me extremely aware of lengthening each inhale & exhale, and always coming back to the breath. I guess this is why some people practice with a metronome.

It took me the first few Surya's to work out where the count was. As in "is ONE on the inhale, in between inhale/ exhale or on the exhale?" ...and kinda figured his count was on the exhale or towards the end of the breath as in: Inhale-Exhale (ONE)... Inhale-Exhale (TWO)... only coz I got caught out in the first Surya A when everyone was jumping forward right after he'd counted FIVE but I was still on my 5th exhale scrambling to finish up and jump forward.

4. What comes on the inhale/ exhale now?
I realized today how I've gotten a little sloppy with mysore practice. As in: he had precise instructions for "Inhale: do something", "Exhale: do something". And I guess when practising on my own I sometimes gloss over these things. Like when we came to all the supta poses towards the end. He kept saying "lie down" after each vinyasa and stopping people from putting their legs over their heads first. Not until he counted "Inhale, legs behind" (can't remember what exactly he said now for this instruction, but you get the idea).

5. Sanskrit
OK - so I know most of the Sanskrit names for each asana but today it felt like going from Sanskrit 101 to Sanskrit 102 (OK, maybe a Sanskrit 201 class). Each count was in Sanskrit... now I have to learn the NUMBERS too?! Except when he got to holding within each pose, which was an English count.

What I found cute was the way he said "eight". "SIX... SEVEN... YYYATE... NINE..."

The one thing I'm still trying to work out if it's coz of his accent or if he's saying it in Sanskrit and I'm not understanding... I'm not sure now, but in the seated postures when it comes to the vinyasas, I always thought it was Inhale-Lift Up, Exhale-Jumpback to Chaturanga. But I could've sworn today he kept saying "Exhale-lift up"... which got me a bit confused.

I've just checked Arjuna's site for the counts and he also lists Inhale-Up, Exhale-Chaturanga... so maybe I'm not comprehending what Sharath is saying here. Anyone care to comment on this?

Oh my goodness, Miss Longwinded has struck again. I think it's coz I obviously had a great time. I didn't have any adjustments from him - he adjusted the guy next to me in Marichyasana A and it's quite imposing having him count right next to your ear. That's as close as I got to an adjustment but hey... I have 13 more days to go!

Oh yeah, the one thing I found myself thinking was this: because of the longer counts, I'm working a little harder than I usually work, and in some poses I found myself thinking "Pace Yourself! Don't floor it on Day 1 and kill yourself later!" OK... so I've got 13 more days to go, but isn't the point of it to also take yourself to your edge (whatever the heck that means), and see how far you can go? I'm still trying to figure out how "hard" I should "work"... kind of viewing this like a marathon for now.

Ahhhh... good start to my Tuesday. Happy days. :)

Sharath Is Coming To Town!

You could almost read that title as "Santa is coming to town!"

Well, that's what it feels like for us Ashtangis in Sydney anyways.

Photo credit here

He's doing a week in Bali from 19th Oct, and then moves here for a 2-week workshop from 27th Oct - 8th Nov. That's 6 - 8am, 6 days a week for those 2 weeks. I've signed up for the full 2 weeks of led Primary (in the second week, he's doing led Intermediate too, right after the Primary class). Our shala's organizing the Bali workshop as well, so lots of hardcore regulars will be doing the full 3 weeks in both Bali & Sydney. (it kinda makes me feel a bit less mad/ jittery for signing up for the full 2 weeks here... the fact that there are people who'll be doing all 3 weeks in 2 different countries!)

Got my pass last week, YEEHAR! It has started building up the excitement/ anticipation now. Short of going to Mysore, India, to practice at the hallowed KPJAYI with him (one day soon, this will happen!), this is the next best thing. A twittershala mate who did his 2-week NY workshop called it "Rangaswamy's House of Pain". Heh.


You can feel the buzz in the shala starting already. This morning, apart from us regulars, a lot of new faces popped up to practice. I thought it was coz it was Sunday morning, and the weather's starting to get nicer (y'know, just like how people start heading to the gym to work on their "summer body"). But a friend rightly pointed out that people are probably gearing up for his trip here.

We are usually pretty packed, 5 in a row with about 2 inches between mats, but this morning we had to squeeze SIX mats in a row. There was literally 1cm between each mat. (Teacher said "just like the good old days in India")

I was right next to the wall and crashed into it while rolling around in Garbha Pindasana, and my kind neighbour was hanging out in Downdog while waiting for me to finish rolling over her mat, underneath her! How could you not crack up at that! There were so many people, everything was steaming up inside the shala from the collective heat-generation. Even the walls were dripping with sweat/ condensation! Yeah, sounds kinda gross, but it was lovely feeding off the group energy.

To top it all off, an added bonus to this morning's practice: a live kirtan singer with his harmonium was singing as we practiced. It really helped to turn your focus inwards, especially in such a jam-packed situation. I took a picture from a few Sundays ago, when he was also playing.


It is pure magic to practice with live kirtan... it's like you're being held throughout the practice and all the chatter in your mind really comes to a place of stillness. At some points I found I even lost count of how many breaths I'd already taken coz I was just lost in the soothing dulcet tones of the music and his voice!

Ah, blissful Sunday. I am grateful.