India Day 25 - 24th of August

Led class was great today.  I felt strong throughout the whole class.  Marichyasana B and C were easy binds, and D was very close on one side, and only a little further on the other.  I think these massages might be making a difference.

I finally managed to give away my bike today.  A less than emotional affair - I managed to find someone who would use it. They weren't too sure it was a good idea, so I initially lent it to them with full 'right of return' if they didn't like it.

I chose to kiss Saraswathi's feet today.  It's something I never thought I'd do.  I did it because I think I've really accepted her as my teacher.  I hadn't noticed anything different about how I regard her compared to other teachers until someone said something at Santosha.  They said something like "your face just lights up when you talk about Saraswathi."  It's true, there is something special about her.  (I didn't really kiss her feet, just went down and touched them the way that you do, Indian style.)

Tullia's farewell was today at Anu's Cafe.  They actually had nice food today which was cool.  I haven't liked their food so far.  It was very expensive, but nice.  I'm going to miss Tullia.  She reminds me of home and my family.

In order to get to Madhu's more cheaply, I hired a scooter.  This was a great idea until the scooter broke down somewhere in Saraswathipuram.  We ended up catching a rickshaw to Madhu's class, though we were very late.  After class, it was a shambles trying to get the scooter fixed.  The issue wasn't the scooter, but more that the guy that hired it out is a pathalogical liar.  He managed to lie to us five separate times about where he was, what he was doing, and how we were going to fix the scooter.  It was truly terrible.  No having been in India a while now I understand that there is a more 'fluid' relationship with truth here, and that honesty gets discarded to save face or gain advantage.  But there has to be a limit.

While waiting for the Scooter owner to turn up, I shot this pic of Krishnas being painted on the side of the road.

In Ayurvedic massage class today we did the neck.  It was a fantastic class again today.  I'm really loving these classes, their approach to massage is totally different to western massage.  It's much more like Thai massage, but just a lot more forceful.

India Day 24 - 23rd of August

Big news today is that my bicycle isn't stolen.  After sitting outside the shala for a couple of days, the guy that manages the gate had put it inside.  So it's been sitting inside one of the Jois family's properties all this time.

I wouldn't have found out about it, but went to chanting, and the chanting guy Lacksmish said that it'd been left around and put away.  So my grand plan has been foiled once again.  It seems that nobody wants to steal that bike, so I'll have to find another way of getting rid of it.

Saraswathi made me do Uttita Hasta Padangustasana twice this morning.  We did it once, and she said I didn't do it properly, so needed to do it again.  I love that pose.  It's such a nice rest, and it gets me prepared for the impossibility of Ardha Baddha Padmottanasana.

I finally visited Easy Day.  It's a nice supermarket with lots of range.  I went with Britt to get her a new suitcase.  We carried it home on the back of her scooter, which was typically Indian - the two of us and a HUGE red suitcase behind my back.

Today was the first of the hands-on Madhu massage classes.  We did the head today.  We all had a go, and it was a lot of fun.  At one stage Madhu's son Mahadri came in and helped teach the lesson.

In backbending class with Vinay I did wall walking for the first time.  I don't know whether he finally thinks I'm ready to do some actual backbending, or that he's just exasperated with my lack of progress.  While everyone else is going from strength to strength, my poor body is losing flexibility, and Vinay is confused.

After Madhu's class, I was doing Vinay's class with an oily head.  This is not a good way to do backbending, because the extra heat of having a head covered in oil is dramatic!  Vinay gave us backbending T-shirts today.  They were 'one size fits most' and I clearly have broader shoulders than the average Indian so had no chance of fitting it.  It's sweet though.

I'm spending a fortune in rickshaw fees with all these extra classes, so I'll have to get a scooter.

India Day 23 - 22nd of August

It appears I have finally had success with getting the bicycle stolen.  Finally it wasn't there today outside the shala, so hopefully that means that someone is cycling around another part of Mysore on it.  This was surprisingly hard to do, but I've achieved success.

Massage exam today at Lillie's.  It was a lot of fun, and quite easy in the end as we've spent a good three days practicing.  Also my studies in Mexico helped a lot as well.  Lillie cooked us a fantastic Thai meal, and gave us the cutest little certificates.

India Day 22 - 21st of August

Thai massage classes with Lillie again today, and I think we're getting quite good at this.  We had a good laugh and also ate lots of chocolate together.  One of my favourite things about going to Lillie's place are the puppies on her street.  They're just too cute and cuddly.
The bicycle isn't turning out too well.  It's far too small for me, and I also keep breaking it, and so keep having to get it fixed.  So I've decided to get it stolen.  Instead of putting it away at night, I'm going to leave it outside and hope that somebody takes it.  I'm sure that there's somebody around here that needs it more than me.

I actually went to chanting today.  I wouldn't have gone, but it was the best place for me to leave the bike, so that's where I left it overnight to get it stolen.

Again went to Gokul Chats for lunch.  That place is lovely.

 Today was the first of the Madhu massage classes.  We're doing them as a three, being myself, Charalambos, and Isabelle.  I've spoken of it before in this blog.  It's not typical Ayurvedic Massage, rather it's Ayurvedic Bodywork.  Like the Ashtanga primary series, it strips layers of [something] off the body.  It's hard to explain, but I'll do my best.  On the physical level it improves your flexibility, it fixes muscle imbalances and does your typical physio/ chiro/ Musculo-skeletal stuff manipulating joints to get things re-aligned.  On some other sort of level, there is some sort of release of something.  You can feel it coming off you, and it fills the whole room.  I don't like the hippie word 'toxins' so I won't use that, but don't have my own word to explain it.  The final result is that you feel softer and cleaner on the inside.

It's also brutal.  I mean really brutal.  Have you ever had physio for a damaged achilles or plantar fasciitis?  It's that sort of deep pain, and it goes on for an hour and a half.

In the class we did mostly theory.  We spoke about Ayurveda, massage, and the principles of how to treat a patient.  Perhaps one day I'll write some of this stuff up, but for the moment it's scrawled in my notebook.

Photo reblog

http://weheartit.com/entry/13613812