Hello from Mysore/Mysuru!
I'm temporarily back on the blogging circuit after a 3 year hiatus! As many of you know, I started practicing Ashtanga yoga over a year ago with an Authorized Ashtanga teacher in Hamilton. But wait -- don't run off to Google 'Ashtanga Yoga' just yet! The results will include a never-ending stream of sites and sources focused on the 'asana' or physical posture part of Ashtanga. And if you think of yoga as a thaali, then asana is like that one tiny compartment just for the chutney. Um, that was a strange metaphor. Sorry, everything I eat these days seems to come in a metal cup or plate. Anyways my point is that Ashtanga yoga should be understood in the same way that we see yoga: as a way of living and not only a physical practice. Ashtanga yoga** literally means 'eight limbs' which refers to the eight aspects of daily practice: Yama (self-restraint), Niyama (personal observances), Asana (postures), Pranayama (development of energy), Pratyahara (withdrawal of the mind), Dharana (concentration), Dhyana (meditation), Samadhi (enlightenment). A commitment to all eight limbs is the true practice of Ashtanga yoga. Some of you may also be familiar with the ancient philosophical text known as Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. It is the first text (that we know of) in which the great sage Patanjali wrote about Ashtanga yoga.
There is currently no accepted unbroken lineage of Ashtanga yoga as it was transmitted mostly through an aural/oral tradition. You will find many classes and schools that either identify themselves outright as Ashtanga yoga or as lightly based on the Ashtanga yoga system. The Ashtanga tradition that I have been following is from Sri K. Pattabhi Jois (Guruji) and is most commonly accepted as the 'authentic' Ashtanga yoga program. In 1927, at the age of 12, Guruji began what would eventually span a 25 year tutelage under the guidance of Sri Tirumali Krishnamacharya -- often referred to as the grandfather of modern yoga. Krishnamacharya also taught his brother-in-law: B.K.S. Iyengar (who later founded Iyengar yoga) along with Indra Devi and T.K.V. Desikachar. For the instruction of asana in particular, Krishnamacharya famously used a method called 'vinyasa krama' which links postures together in sequence by numbers (counted in Sanskrit). It is said that Krishnamacharya was taught by his teacher (Rama Mohan Brahmachari) an ancient text called the Yoga Korunta written by Vamana Rishi. The text supposedly contained lists of many asanas which solidified Krishnamacharya's understanding of the vinyasa method (and what he eventually passed on to Guruji). Regardless of the veracity of these claims, I suspect that based on a deep desire to honour the sacred teacher-student relationship, Guruji eventually went on to teach his students the same sequence of asana that was given to him by Krishnamacharya with an emphasis on other essential elements to the practice such as drishti, bandhas, mudras and philosophy (and is what Guruji called Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga). In 1948, Guruji established the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Mysore, India (his hometown). The location and external buildings have changed over the last six decades to accommodate increasing cohorts of aspiring Ashtangis (Ashtanga Yogis). The current shala in Gokulam, Mysore (constructed in 2002) is known as the K. Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute (KPJAYI). It is regarded as the Ashtanga yoga 'authority' for lack of a better word and it is where hundreds of Ashtanga students practice annually. In 2009, Guruji passed away at the age of 93 and left the institute in the hands of his daughter, Saraswathi and his grandson Sharath.
Then there's me. I decided to keep my travel plans this summer fairly quiet until about three weeks before I left for Mysore. But when I started to tell friends and family, a common response was: 'Oh wow, are you going to get some kind of teacher certification at the end of it?' When I would answer with 'No, I'm just going to practice there' it seemed to cause some confusion along with follow-up questions like 'But, do you not have a teacher here?' I guess it doesn't seem to make much sense to spend such a huge amount of time and money to travel all the way to India and study yoga without receiving some kind of tangible end result. As with any spiritual practice tied to a specific lineage, I think there is a difference between how you approach your regular daily practice and then the more intense studying you accomplish in the presence of your teacher or your teacher's teacher. A student of art may paint beautiful canvases every day of Canadian landscapes and even take art lessons locally from a talented artist. But they may also feel a strong pull to travel once a year to Italy and take a one month painting class from the same school where their local teacher studied, and to paint the same Italian landscapes that the most famous artists of our time have painted. Similarly, I'm here to study Ashtanga yoga from the source, not to gain any certification but simply to be in the presence of one of my gurus and to deepen my understanding of this particular tradition that I follow. Oh and in case you're wondering, I'm learning from Saraswathi (her son, Sharath, is currently on leave). More on that in another post as I've only had one practice with her so far.
And so I find myself writing to you from Gokulam, Mysore, in a beautiful flat that I rented from my teacher's friend. I will be here for the rest of the summer (or 62 days by mom's count -- the last time I left my parents alone for this long was over three years ago when I lived in England). It's technically monsoon season in India which is a distinct season from summer (Mysore's summer, as with most of India, is from March to May). Surprisingly, monsoon in Mysore is nowhere near as wet as monsoon in other parts of India. I'm only two days in but so far the weather has been gorgeous -- high 20s, low 30s -- with not a drop of rain (the friends I've met so far who have been here longer say this is fairly common). The evenings cool down quite a bit so although I rented a flat with air conditioning, I've been quite happy to sleep with just the ceiling fan. I'm still trying to recover from the jet lag along with getting a stronger sense of direction for the area but I've made some very lovely friends already who have helped a lot!
It's 10:30pm here in Mysore and for us yogis that is quite late so I should be getting to bed but I will leave you with a few photos from my trip thus far. I hope you will join me this summer in my adventures: as a yogi, as a traveller, and in many cases as an extremely wimpy dork who, for example, took about 8 hours to muster the courage to kill a cockroach in her kitchen yesterday (in my defence, it was a HUGE roach that made a disgusting crunch sound when I whacked it with a straw broom and yes I cried). There are many moments of my day where I think to myself "Gosh I wish _____ were here to see this" or "______ would relish this meal" or "I bet ________ could have bargained for a better price". So I'm hoping my posts will help to keep us connected while I'm away and perhaps give those of you who can't be here right now a taste of life in Mysore. More to come!
I'm temporarily back on the blogging circuit after a 3 year hiatus! As many of you know, I started practicing Ashtanga yoga over a year ago with an Authorized Ashtanga teacher in Hamilton. But wait -- don't run off to Google 'Ashtanga Yoga' just yet! The results will include a never-ending stream of sites and sources focused on the 'asana' or physical posture part of Ashtanga. And if you think of yoga as a thaali, then asana is like that one tiny compartment just for the chutney. Um, that was a strange metaphor. Sorry, everything I eat these days seems to come in a metal cup or plate. Anyways my point is that Ashtanga yoga should be understood in the same way that we see yoga: as a way of living and not only a physical practice. Ashtanga yoga** literally means 'eight limbs' which refers to the eight aspects of daily practice: Yama (self-restraint), Niyama (personal observances), Asana (postures), Pranayama (development of energy), Pratyahara (withdrawal of the mind), Dharana (concentration), Dhyana (meditation), Samadhi (enlightenment). A commitment to all eight limbs is the true practice of Ashtanga yoga. Some of you may also be familiar with the ancient philosophical text known as Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. It is the first text (that we know of) in which the great sage Patanjali wrote about Ashtanga yoga.
There is currently no accepted unbroken lineage of Ashtanga yoga as it was transmitted mostly through an aural/oral tradition. You will find many classes and schools that either identify themselves outright as Ashtanga yoga or as lightly based on the Ashtanga yoga system. The Ashtanga tradition that I have been following is from Sri K. Pattabhi Jois (Guruji) and is most commonly accepted as the 'authentic' Ashtanga yoga program. In 1927, at the age of 12, Guruji began what would eventually span a 25 year tutelage under the guidance of Sri Tirumali Krishnamacharya -- often referred to as the grandfather of modern yoga. Krishnamacharya also taught his brother-in-law: B.K.S. Iyengar (who later founded Iyengar yoga) along with Indra Devi and T.K.V. Desikachar. For the instruction of asana in particular, Krishnamacharya famously used a method called 'vinyasa krama' which links postures together in sequence by numbers (counted in Sanskrit). It is said that Krishnamacharya was taught by his teacher (Rama Mohan Brahmachari) an ancient text called the Yoga Korunta written by Vamana Rishi. The text supposedly contained lists of many asanas which solidified Krishnamacharya's understanding of the vinyasa method (and what he eventually passed on to Guruji). Regardless of the veracity of these claims, I suspect that based on a deep desire to honour the sacred teacher-student relationship, Guruji eventually went on to teach his students the same sequence of asana that was given to him by Krishnamacharya with an emphasis on other essential elements to the practice such as drishti, bandhas, mudras and philosophy (and is what Guruji called Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga). In 1948, Guruji established the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Mysore, India (his hometown). The location and external buildings have changed over the last six decades to accommodate increasing cohorts of aspiring Ashtangis (Ashtanga Yogis). The current shala in Gokulam, Mysore (constructed in 2002) is known as the K. Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute (KPJAYI). It is regarded as the Ashtanga yoga 'authority' for lack of a better word and it is where hundreds of Ashtanga students practice annually. In 2009, Guruji passed away at the age of 93 and left the institute in the hands of his daughter, Saraswathi and his grandson Sharath.
Then there's me. I decided to keep my travel plans this summer fairly quiet until about three weeks before I left for Mysore. But when I started to tell friends and family, a common response was: 'Oh wow, are you going to get some kind of teacher certification at the end of it?' When I would answer with 'No, I'm just going to practice there' it seemed to cause some confusion along with follow-up questions like 'But, do you not have a teacher here?' I guess it doesn't seem to make much sense to spend such a huge amount of time and money to travel all the way to India and study yoga without receiving some kind of tangible end result. As with any spiritual practice tied to a specific lineage, I think there is a difference between how you approach your regular daily practice and then the more intense studying you accomplish in the presence of your teacher or your teacher's teacher. A student of art may paint beautiful canvases every day of Canadian landscapes and even take art lessons locally from a talented artist. But they may also feel a strong pull to travel once a year to Italy and take a one month painting class from the same school where their local teacher studied, and to paint the same Italian landscapes that the most famous artists of our time have painted. Similarly, I'm here to study Ashtanga yoga from the source, not to gain any certification but simply to be in the presence of one of my gurus and to deepen my understanding of this particular tradition that I follow. Oh and in case you're wondering, I'm learning from Saraswathi (her son, Sharath, is currently on leave). More on that in another post as I've only had one practice with her so far.
And so I find myself writing to you from Gokulam, Mysore, in a beautiful flat that I rented from my teacher's friend. I will be here for the rest of the summer (or 62 days by mom's count -- the last time I left my parents alone for this long was over three years ago when I lived in England). It's technically monsoon season in India which is a distinct season from summer (Mysore's summer, as with most of India, is from March to May). Surprisingly, monsoon in Mysore is nowhere near as wet as monsoon in other parts of India. I'm only two days in but so far the weather has been gorgeous -- high 20s, low 30s -- with not a drop of rain (the friends I've met so far who have been here longer say this is fairly common). The evenings cool down quite a bit so although I rented a flat with air conditioning, I've been quite happy to sleep with just the ceiling fan. I'm still trying to recover from the jet lag along with getting a stronger sense of direction for the area but I've made some very lovely friends already who have helped a lot!
It's 10:30pm here in Mysore and for us yogis that is quite late so I should be getting to bed but I will leave you with a few photos from my trip thus far. I hope you will join me this summer in my adventures: as a yogi, as a traveller, and in many cases as an extremely wimpy dork who, for example, took about 8 hours to muster the courage to kill a cockroach in her kitchen yesterday (in my defence, it was a HUGE roach that made a disgusting crunch sound when I whacked it with a straw broom and yes I cried). There are many moments of my day where I think to myself "Gosh I wish _____ were here to see this" or "______ would relish this meal" or "I bet ________ could have bargained for a better price". So I'm hoping my posts will help to keep us connected while I'm away and perhaps give those of you who can't be here right now a taste of life in Mysore. More to come!
The cook at our family friend's place in Bangalore made this delicious aloo paratha for me the morning I arrived, along with my first of many cups of 'garam garam (hot hot) chai masala'!
This is the flat I'm renting in Mysore. I'm on the second floor.
This morning I decided to be a 'bad lady' and watch Orange is the New Black. Guruji used to call women 'bad lady' or men 'bad man' when he would adjust them (lovingly, of course). Apparently one woman confronted him about this and said "I have discovered your secret, Guruji. 'Bad Lady' really means 'good lady'." "Oh, haha," he laughed. "Smart lady."
This is my favourite place in the flat. It's a little 'puja closet'. Most of the pictures and murthis (statues) were there before but I brought the picture of Swami and Lalita Ma and my japa mala as well. There is such an echo in that space when I said my first 'Om' I thought there were five of me praying together! I love to say my Sanskrit chants in here now. Dad's bhajans would sound incredible in this closet.
Ah, my second favourite place in this flat. If you've spoken to me on the phone since I've been here, I was probably sprawled across that window bench. I love to sit there and look at all the people going by. There are women in saris carrying the world's largest picnic basket of fruits and vegetables on their heads, families taking their kids to school on a scooter, men peeing against the wall opposite the road (ok...that last one is not so charming).
My room, which just so happens to have a bedspread that matches my yoga mat :)
The kitchen, where the famous roach incident of July 1st occurred.
Sharing a rickshaw with my friends Julie and Zac. They took me to a franchise store here called Fab India and it took all my yogic mind control powers not to go absolutely retail crazy in there and buy everything. It's just so cheap and the clothes are perfect for wearing to bhajans at the Sai centre back home and they have an entire section with, wait for it, EXTRA SMALL: soft cottons with delicate patterns and stretchy churidar pants in every possible colour you could want or need. I 'finished' shopping within 20 minutes and left with three items. THREE ITEMS, PEOPLE. Be impressed.
And last night I came home to find this horse eating watermelon right outside my front door. I named him 'Tarbooja' which means watermelon in Hindi. He was very cute and dad suggested I use him instead of a rickshaw to get around from now on. If my bargaining skills don't improve I may just do that :)
**The information I provided above regarding Ashtanga yoga was written in consultation with Matthew Sweeney's "Ashtanga Yoga As It IS" (third edition published in 2005), Guruji's "Yoga Mala" (first English paperback edition published in 2002) and the KPJAYI Website (links open in new windows).
Wonderful post Divy! Thought your thali comparison was perfect. I will always think of you every time I eat chutney. Lol! We miss you lots but are happy to hear about your spiritual adventures. Lots of love xoxo
ReplyDeleteFantastic Div - thanks so much for sharing, I look forward to being a part of your journey throughout the next few weeks.
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