Sharath’s Mysore Conferences

As it was the last conference of the season this week, I thought I’d share my favourite quotes and ‘Sharathisms’ from my time here in Mysore.

Every Sunday afternoon, all the students currently practising at KPJAYI with both Sharath and Saraswathi (his mother), cram themselves into the main shala for Sharath’s weekly conference. There’s always a hushed silence as he walks out of his office onto the stage and sits cross legged on his throne (ok, chair). We hold our hands in prayer position while he utters a brief prayer under his breath, then we eagerly await his words of wisdom to begin.

There’s usually a pregnant pause filled with anticipation while he surveys the room, gazing at the faces of all his students. I get the impression he doesn’t plan what he’s going to say and still doesn’t necessarily know, even once he’s sat down in front of us. It almost feels like he’s some kind of channel and the teachings merely come through him. Once he starts speaking I find I’m completely mesmerised and he holds my attention like no other speaker I’ve met.

His son, Sambhav, often joins him on stage, either mimicking his father by sitting cross legged on a chair beside him, or playing with toy cars and aeroplanes before picking his way through the seated crowd, much to the amusement of his captive audience. After Sharath has spoken for a while on some aspect of daily practice or yogic philosophy, he’ll invite questions from his students and answer them as best he can, often talking at length on a particular topic in order to ensure we’ve fully grasped the concept or understood the message.

The following are some of my favourite conference quotes from the last 3 months (direct quotes in blue).

Yoga is like terrain management. This was in reference to the Land Cruiser’s new feature, Terrain Management. The road can be sometimes smooth, often rough or bumpy, and can have lots of twists and turns, like Lombard Street in San Francisco. Yoga helps you navigate through it.

Yoga is like a knife. If you know how to use it, it has many benefits but if you don’t it can hurt you. 

Fear is dominating you; you should dominate the fear. Work out how to let go the fear. A little fear is good. No fear no fun! Everything comes too easily then. But fear will make you weak. Yoga practitioners have to be a little bit brave. He also said that there’s no asana you won’t get, even if it takes many years. It’s just your mind, e.g. fear, stopping you.

Shouldn’t do teacher trainings, just practice for 15 years, that’s your teacher training. Doing asanas all day destroys your body; destroys your mind. In 500 hours you become a yogi? Definitely not! Takes 500 lives.

Where is the sadhana [practice]? Sadhana is very important, not only to make a good teacher, but for personal transformation. A yogi will do sadhana his whole life, regardless of the number of students. If you don’t have sadhana how can you teach others? He added that you need sadhana for progress in spiritual practice.

Sharath explained that bhakti [devotion] doesn’t happen initially but develops as you get deeper into your practice. Yoga is like going to a church, temple or mosque. Initially you only go because someone, e.g. your parents, encourages you to, then the devotion comes. Something inside you will take you to the temple. Something in you is drawing you. Practice should be like a puja; like a prayer.

Karma is like garlic – it doesn’t go away. By doing good things we should get rid of all bad karma.

I can’t say yoga is because of me. I’m because of yoga.

Mother is the first guru, the No.1 guru. Who teaches you to walk, to crawl, to talk? Your mother. Then your schoolteachers become your gurus and so on. We have different gurus at different stages of our life, but we should always be gaining knowledge.

We made some sutras: “No pain, no gain.” “No coffee, no prana.” “No chapatis, no strength.” 

In reference to hot yoga: This type of sweating is not good, it’ll make you weak – because it’s gained effortlessly, rather than being created yourself, like the prana [energy, life force] we generate during Ashtanga asana practice. Not good for your heart; heart will get weaker. Breathing hot air, someone else’s exhalation, will make you sick physically and mentally – as body is controlled by mind and mind is controlled by breath. Here he gave the example of being able to control an emotion such as anger by using the breath to calm ourselves down.

Without asana, mind won’t be stable. Try stopping for 15 days and see how you feel. Mind becomes sharper, body becomes strong and active.

Mind is like monkey, jumping here and there. How to still that mind is called yoga. Many people get scared. “Oh, I still the mind, I go crazy!”

We have a saying in Kannada: “A guru will never forget; some students will never learn.” It should come within you to learn yoga. A guru awakens you, makes you capable to handle anything.

Problem with many students is they get confused. Think if they try all different systems, go to different teachers, will gain more knowledge. But doesn’t work like that. You have to follow one system.

Whenever the rain falls, ultimately it has to go to the ocean. This was in reference to all deities ultimately being the same; the divine. It’s important to devote to one God. Indians are brought up on faith. Even very poor people still have faith which gives them internal strength. It’s important to trust in one deity. You should know each God’s part. Jesus is the greatest yogi. Jesus, Shiva, Ganesh, Parvati – all come from Isvara [God, supreme being]. All the same. Just energy. There’s only one God.

Knowing only asana is like having a vehicle but not knowing how to drive it. In other words, you need to know the other 7 limbs of yoga, not just the physical aspect of asana practice. He also said that your teacher can show you where the coconut tree is and give you some tips on how to climb it, but ultimately you have to climb the tree yourself.

Sharath explained that spirituality means having a good heart and that a spiritual person works for the benefit of all humanity and cares for every living being. Everybody’s heart is good. Good heart, disturbed mind, i.e. if someone is not leading a good life or has bad karma, it’s not the heart that is disturbed; only the mind.

On the question of vegetarianism: Just look at our teeth. Our teeth are like cows’ teeth – we don’t have canines like lions and tigers. We’re not born as carnivores; we’re natural vegetarians.

Sharath explained there’s an Indian saying that’s used when referring to people with large bellies: Ever pregnant; never delivery!

Yoga will take you deeper and deeper and make you a different person. Then your perception and attitude will change.

Spirituality has to grow within you, like a banyan tree. A banyan tree called yoga should grow slowly in each of us.

Namaste.

Weekly Mysore Musings: Sun 16 Mar

The cutest 4-year-old ever: my rickshaw driver’s son

This week my practice got serious. Sharath gave me Ustrasana and Laghu Vajrasana at the end of last week but I only got to practice them a couple of times as I missed 2 days due to a brief period of yoga/heat/general life exhaustion.

He said I should show him Laghu, so on Monday I was trying to catch his attention from the other side of the room, but he was a tad busy as you can imagine. I felt like a bit of a lemon as it was, without waving my arms around wildly to call him over. So I just carried on and thought I’d show him the next day instead.

When I left the practice room he was sitting on his ‘throne’ on the stage (it’s just an ordinary chair but there’s something quite throne-like about the way he sits up there). He called me over and asked if I’d done Laghu Vajrasana. When I said I had but couldn’t catch his attention, he told me to show him tomorrow. On Tuesday he was nearby when I got to it, so he said “Show me”. It was definitely not the best Laghu I’ve ever done and I haven’t yet mastered staying down for 5 breaths AND coming up using only my legs. Nevertheless he said “Tomorrow Kapotasana“ . I was shocked and felt like saying “Are you sure?” but who am I to argue with the boss!

Enjoying a well-earned day at the pool

Now, although I’ve practiced Kapotasana before, this was only briefly about 2 years ago, as I had to scale back and rebuild my practice, plus I changed teachers. But suddenly, here I was, about to start a brand new asana in the main shala – and on my first trip to Mysore! I didn’t really think anything of this until a couple of people remarked how uncommon it is to get Kapotasana on your first visit. One of them was my teacher who suggested it must be down to his brilliant teaching!

Back in January I was actually craving a bit more intensity. I think for many of us there’s a desire to go deeper while we’re studying here – we have come to the source after all. Before I came several people told me it’s not a holiday but after a few weeks of being here I felt inclined to disagree. I was doing fewer postures than back home, I was practising much later than usual, I didn’t have to go to work every day, and I could swan about doing fun things like shopping, sightseeing and lounging by the pool. Sounds like a holiday to me!

Kirtan with the brilliant James Boag

Well, all I can say is January is long gone. In fact even February seems a long time ago now. This feels like the real deal. My weekday practice just got moved to 6am, with Friday and Sunday led classes both at 4.30am. So I’m going to the shala in the dark, practising for the full 90 minutes, and then trying to fit in chanting classes, Sanskrit lessons, philosophy talks, kirtans and massages. Not to mention all the blog writing, self-study, leaving lunches and all-important shopping that needs to be done (mostly for presents I might add).

So the most important thing I need to remember right now is to go easy on myself. It can be tough and this practice can take it out of you sometimes. Generally it’s because you’re going through an opening or you need a reminder of something, so it’s good to just stop and listen once in a while. To just be on your own with your thoughts and listen to what your body and heart are telling you (don’t listen to your mind though – that usually talks rubbish). I have a tendency to be too hard on myself sometimes so this is a great opportunity for me to practice ahimsa (non-violence) towards myself.

The obligatory food shot: lunch at Janaki

I also find it helpful to stay organised, which luckily for me is something I’m pretty good at! Sharath actually said during last week’s conference that you should have a schedule for each day – when to eat, sleep, practice, study, etc. – because sadhana (practice) requires tapas (discipline). So for the first time in weeks I’ve started planning again. I think I had an aversion to it before because it felt too much like work, but recently I’ve found that planning when and how to fit in all the things I want and need to do has actually been fun, as well as kept me focussed, disciplined and organised. For the first time in ages I feel productive, energised and engaged, which is a great feeling – especially in this heat!

Now that I’m going deeper into my backbending, Sharath seems more hellbent than ever on trying to get me to reach my ankles during dropbacks. The day he gave me Kapotasana he did dropbacks with me and, after telling me to “Walk! Walk! Walk!” with my hands, my fingers happened upon some toes. When I came up he said “That was my feet, I cheated you!” Ha ha! Sometimes he’s the most hilarious person in the world 🙂

No, I’m not a yoga teacher

Urdhva Dhanurasana*

Like so many other yoga students in Mysore, I’m in a transitionary period in my life. I quit my job, left my flat and put all my stuff into storage (thanks for the barn space Granny).

So the big question is: what do I do with my life now? I’ll be 40 in a few years (gulp), have no professional qualifications, and no idea what I want to be when I grow up. But then I also have no significant other, no children and no property. So, theoretically speaking, I can do whatever the heck I like. But that’s just it: what do I want to do?

This is a question I’ve struggled with all my life, as I’ve never found anything I’m really passionate about. I’ve had lots of hobbies: from learning languages to playing piano, clarinet and sax; from trampolining to singing; from mountain biking to card making. But none of them have ever grabbed me enough to make me want to go deeper. Or to try and make a profession out of them for that matter.

Until now.

Around 5 years ago I was introduced to a practice that would change my life in ways I could never imagine. A practice that would impact my lifestyle, my diet, my health, my sleep, my confidence, my relationships and my general perspective on life, love and the universe. A practice that keeps my mind strong as well as my body; that keeps me focussed, steady, calm and purposeful; and that helps me feel connected – to those around me, to my guru and to the divine.

I am of course talking about Ashtanga Yoga. I’ve practised a lot of yoga over the years, since I was at Uni, but mostly Hatha and Iyengar. It wasn’t until I tried Ashtanga that I knew I’d found the thing I didn’t even know I was looking for.

I started practising the day before Sri K Pattabhi Jois died, and all I knew of him was what my then-boyfriend had told me. At that point I could hardly call him my guru, however, after a few months of daily practice, watching various videos and talks and reading people’s accounts and experiences of him, I soon began to feel a connection with Guruji and a great sadness that he had passed away. I instantly felt great respect for his grandson Sharath and wanted to support and share in the legacy of the Jois family. I believe in parampara and learning from the original lineage, so it wasn’t long before I was talking about going to Mysore, to practice at the source, where Sharath now runs the main shala.

For various reasons that didn’t happen until now. I’m so grateful to be here but the original question still remains. In fact it’s now louder than ever: what do I want to do with my life? And, yes, there is one answer that keeps popping up from time to time: teach yoga. I remember wanting to be a yoga teacher when I was about 19, my first Ashtanga teacher told me I’d make a great teacher one day and I was even told I should be teaching during a recent Vedic astrology reading. So why aren’t I?

Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana (sort of)*

One thing that’s struck me since being in Mysore is that I seem to be just about the only student here who doesn’t have any teaching experience. Well, unless you can count showing the Surya Namaskaras (sun salutations) to a couple of friends on holiday once. So many people I’ve met here, even if they’ve been practising fewer years than me and are further back in the asana series than me (not that it’s about that, but you get the point), seem to be teaching already. And I’m not quite sure how I feel about that.

So why haven’t I started teaching yet? Fear? Lack of opportunity? Lack of motivation? Being stuck in a full-time job? Too busy practising? Or is it to do with the whole Ashtanga teacher training debate? According to tradition, Ashtanga Yoga should only be taught via parampara, i.e. handed down from the guru to each of his students. Students are given the next asana in the series only when their guru thinks they’re ready and they’re not permitted to teach until they have their guru’s official authorisation. But in reality this isn’t always strictly the case and many students pay for teacher training courses. Even if these are offered by senior teachers who were taught directly by Guruji himself, according to tradition this isn’t the way it should be done.

During his weekly conferences, Sharath continuously reminds us that we shouldn’t be doing teacher trainings. He says “Doing asanas all day destroys your body; destroys your mind.” “Shouldn’t do teacher trainings, just practice for 15 years. That’s your teacher training.” “In 500 hours you become a yogi? Definitely not! Takes 500 lives.”

So how do I reconcile this very clear instruction given by my guru with the desire to teach? Should I stick to tradition and keep coming back to Mysore each year in the hopes that one day I’ll get authorised? That’s the way my teacher has done it after all and I have great respect for him. Or do I jump on the bandwagon and sign up for a teacher training course?

Suryanamaskara A*

I can’t see how I would be able to teach without knowing at least some basic anatomy. Oh, hang on, I’m currently studying an Anatomy & Physiology correspondence course, so I guess that’s not much of an excuse. Ok, what about adjustments then? Surely you can’t be expected to get authorised and then step into the shala as an assistant without ever having adjusted anyone in your life?

And that’s where the boundaries start to get a bit blurry. I wholeheartedly agree with the traditional way and want to follow it as fully as I can. But it’s based on a time when there were very few students, when Guruji could provide individual attention and would give people particular asanas based on their individual capabilities and physiological limitations. Nowadays thousands of people flock to Mysore every year and my best estimate tells me there are roughly 80-100 people practising in the shala at any one time. Sharath does an amazing job of keeping track of everyone and must have a photographic memory, but I wonder how long tradition will be able to reign in the face of increasing popularity and sheer numbers of people wanting to practice and teach. More to the point, is there enough room for all these teachers or will supply start to outdo demand?

In the meantime, my dilemma continues. Should I just sit it out and wait? Just keep practising, gain more experience and wait until the right time or opportunity presents itself? Or should I take action and seek out opportunities to teach, even if it’s primarily to deepen my own practice, but going directly against my own guru’s instruction?

While I wait to see how this quandary plays out inside my head (and heart), I’ll continue to get on my mat every day with utter devotion and total gratitude – that I’ve found a practice which brings meaning to my life, provides a continually changing perspective and, ultimately, completes me. Whether it becomes my profession or not.

* These photos were taken during a recent photo shoot, which I decided to do partly just for fun and partly because I have no photos of myself doing asana practice. Plus, they might come in handy if I want to teach one day 😉

Weekly Mysore Musings: Sun 9 Mar

This week I’d like to share some fascinating facts I’ve picked up during my last 2 months in Mysore. But first a quick overview of my week….

Best thali so far at Hotel Dasaprakash

We’ve been having freak storms here: plenty of rain, thunder and lightning,with trees down, debris washed all over the roads and lots of power outages (but then that’s nothing new in India). One such storm happened while I was in the cinema watching a romcom called Shaadi Ke Side Effects (The Side Effects of Marriage). We came out into the pouring rain and experienced a very wet and hairy rickshaw ride home, with no streetlights, several trees blocking the way and lots of new potholes to dodge. With the storms having occurred almost daily for about a week, everyone’s wondering if the monsoon has come early this year.

I had a vedic astrology reading this week, which was fascinating as it accurately told the story of various events in my past, including a very shocking moment when the exact date of a particularly important event showed up in my chart. Even the astrologer was shocked as it’s not usually quite that precise! It also provided some much needed reassurance about my future and windows of time where certain things are more likely to occur, so I have some positive things to look forward to.

A beautiful elephant painted on a rock outside the Sri Krishna temple

On Saturday I attended an inspiring yogic philosophy session by James Boag, which included a very accessible and down-to-earth talk on the yamas followed by an exploration of their application via the means of contact improvisation. I felt very grateful to everyone for sharing such an intimate experience and it provided me with a much-needed reconnection to others via the means of physical contact. We all need a regular dose of human touch and I realised I’d begun to crave it. I think there’s probably a cultural aspect here, as there’s something very British about keeping one’s distance and not being overly tactile towards others.

In terms of my practice this week, my start times have changed again, I was given 2 more postures, I fell into my neighbour during Setu Bhandasana (don’t ask me how when I was only a few inches off the ground) and I had a major wig out when I was completely drained of energy, too exhausted to carry on and ended up in a heap of tears on the toilet floor (which stank of wee I hasten to add). I also videoed myself for the first time and discovered I’m not straight in headstand, I’m too high in half bend and too low in Chaturanga. So an eye-opening experience all round. But that’s one thing that’s guaranteed in Ashtanga – we will forever continue to learn, to adapt, to be amazed and to be challenged in this lifelong practice of self-transformation.

Did you know…?

Mysore and its environs 

• If it wasn’t for the Western Ghats the whole of South India would be a desert.
• The Western Ghats, although referred to as a mountain range, are actually the side of a plateau.
• The Cauvery river is thought of as the Ganges of the south.
• Mysore is named after Mahasuraheshwara, a demon who was killed by the goddess Chamundeshwara, a form of Parvati; hence Chamundi Hill.

Flora and fauna

• 

  Coffee flowers

  Coffee plants produce beautiful white flowers that smell very similar to jasmine.

• Coffee berries need lots of shade to grow, as do black peppercorns, so you often find them planted together.
• Eating groundnuts straight off the plant takes forever!
• There are 7 leopards living on Chamundi Hill. Yes, real live wild leopards.
• There are about 3,500 tigers left on the planet. Approximately 1,500 of them are in India, with roughly 50 in Nagarhole National Park.
• Mosquitoes only buzz or sing when they’re looking for a mate. The male and female both sing and try to match each other’s pitch in perfect harmony, which will indicate they’re a good match for mating.

Food and drink 

• 

  Traditional heritage food: didn’t look like much at first… until the rice arrived!

  According to Ayurveda you should never heat honey, as it destroys the enzymes. So you shouldn’t cook with it or put it in boiling hot drinks (only warm).

• In India if you order Chai you get normal black tea with milk and sugar. If you order Masala Chai you get the spiced sweet milky tea we call chai in the west.
• If you mix chai with rum you get a delicious drink called GoRumli (named after the tour company we were with, GoMowgli)!
• In traditional South Indian cooking you often eat the rice last after other foods. Meals usually start with a spicy tomato soup called Rasam.
• Ragi is a type of millet which can be used to make bread, pancakes, dosas, rotis, etc.

Sanskrit

• ‘Gu’ means darkness or spiritual ignorance; ‘ru’ means one who removes; therefore ‘guru’ means the one who removes spiritual ignorance.
• There are 15 vowels in Sanskrit.
• The difference between a sage and a monk is a sage can have a family whereas a monk cannot.
• Technically speaking the word ‘Ashtanga’ should be pronounced the American way with the second ‘a’ as a long vowel, as in ‘Ashtarnga’. This is because in Sanskrit it is written with a dash above the second ‘a’ indicating that it’s a long vowel, pronounced ‘aah’.

Weekly Mysore Musings: Sun 2 Mar

My highlights from last week were:

• Witnessing first hand the lovely Anu Ganesh working her culinary magic at a cooking lesson where we learnt how to make dosas, potato palya, coconut chutney and sambar, and then the best bit – we got to eat it all afterwards!

Dry frying the spices for sambar powder

Anu making perfect dosas

Anu taking us through her trusty masala box

The finished article (minus a cheeky bite – couldn’t resist!)

• Visiting a Hindu temple to perform prayers and seek blessings for Mahashivaratri, a huge festival to celebrate Shiva the Destroyer, with all-day fasting and all-night pujas. Many of the celebrations are centred on finding partners for unmarried women, so it felt like a particularly auspicious day for me! Om Namah Shivaya!

• Climbing Mysore’s holy Chamundi Hill (mostly by rickshaw), walking 3 times around a huge statue of Nandi the bull (Shiva’s vehicle), enjoying stunning panoramic views of the sprawling city of Mysore, and visiting the Chamundeshwara temple at the top. The best part was managing, by complete fluke, to visit the day before Mahashivaratri which meant the place was almost deserted – by Indian standards at least!

Nandi the holy bull

Just a few of the 1,008 steps ascending Chamundi Hill

The beautiful Chamundeshwara temple

A cheeky Chamundi chimp!

Enjoying sunset from Chamundi Hill

• Enjoying a boogie to some cheesy dance music and indulging in a spot of rum punch and sangria at a new moon party very kindly hosted by the ever generous Whittle at The Blue House.

• Moving house! After 2 months of living in a Maharana Suite at Mystic School, I decided it was time to move somewhere that felt a bit more homely. It was a tough decision, as I would be giving up so many luxuries: wifi, filtered water, hot power shower, new bathroom, fresh sheets & towels, lockable safe and a cafe with sauna and jacuzzi on the rooftop. “Are you mad?” I hear you cry! I know, I know but I’m now living in a sweet apartment in a different neighbourhood, which feels more Indian and less like a hotel room. I have to say the pink and green furnishings really sold it to me. And the best bit? I’m now much closer to the Chocolate Man!

• In the process of arranging the move I had a day where I had lots to sort out, including trying to get the key off the previous tenant and contacting the flat owner via Facebook. By the afternoon I was experiencing this strange feeling that seemed so familiar and yet so alien too. Then I figured out what it was: stress. For the first time since I left the UK in the New Year I realised I haven’t once felt stressed. And now I was getting mildly agitated over such simple things as trying to organise a key handover and having a slow internet connection! Those long, pressurised days of slaving away in an office in the corporate world suddenly seemed such a long way away. And for that I’m so very, very grateful.

Before….

….after

The local roadside key cutter

The local removal guy aka my lovely flatmate Neal

• Attending Lakshmish’s Sanskrit and Hatha Yoga Pradipika classes. As a Linguistics graduate I’m fascinated by language in all its forms, so am relishing the opportunity to learn the basics of this ancient language, which not only has a different alphabet to my mother tongue but many different sounds too. By the end of it I might even be able to decipher some of the mysterious chants we dutifully recite day after day.

The highlight of my yoga practice this week comes in the form of a small, cheeky 7-year-old Indian boy called Sambhav – Sharath’s son. He’s just the epitome of cuteness. On Thursday we had a counted led primary class due to the moon day on Friday, but it was also Mahashivaratri which is a public holiday, so Sambhav had the day off school. We were almost at the end of the practice, sitting in Yoga Mudra, with Sharath counting his slow count to ten. He had just called “Six” when suddenly this little voice piped up from the doorway, shouting “Seven!” The whole room was sent into fits of giggles and Sambhav proceeded to follow his father around the room and into both changing rooms during Utpluthih to make sure all his students were holding the dreaded posture for the full ten slow breaths! Simply adorable.

My Top 10 Uses for Coconut Oil

When I was back in the UK packing to come on this trip (feels like a lifetime ago already), I had every intention of packing lightly and was trying to consolidate the various toiletries and products I might need, which proved no easy task. I mean there’s certain things a girl just can’t do without. Right? From night cream to hair conditioner, from body cream to hair serum, and from eye make-up remover to insect bite relief.

But of course, as soon as I got to India I realised there’s one product that performs all these functions and more. It’s readily available, incredibly cheap and best of all completely natural. And the name of this miracle product? Coconut oil.

I knew you could use it for a lot of things, but I had no idea how far reaching these were until I came across this great blog post 101 Uses for Coconut Oil. So I decided to try out some of the suggestions and my favourite ones are listed below. As I don’t have a full kitchen I haven’t really been cooking for myself, so most of these are external uses, but as you can see from the list there are countless culinary and internal uses too.

1. Body Lotion

Used sparingly as an all-over body moisturiser after showering. Gives your skin a lovely, healthy glow and a fresh, tropical scent for the rest of the day. Just make sure you wait a while before putting your clothes on!

2. Face Moisturiser 

Makes a wonderfully rich, nourishing alternative to night cream and is thought to have anti-ageing properties.

3. Intensive Hair Treatment

Before you go to bed you can rub it into your scalp and all the way through to the ends, giving yourself a relaxing head massage in the process. Leave it on overnight, then wash it out in the morning for an intensive deep conditioning treatment.

4. Hair Serum

If your hair is anything like mine and you suffer from frizz and pesky flyways, rubbing a little coconut oil into your hands and smoothing down the hair shafts can do wonders for your dry hair, particularly on those dry or split ends.

5. Eye Make-up Remover

On the increasingly rare occasions when I decide to wear some mascara of an evening, I’ve found that dabbing a piece of tissue or cotton wool in a little coconut oil removes the mascara like a dream.

6. Insect Bite Relief

Dabbing a little coconut oil on insect bites, particularly from mosquitoes, really helps reduce the itch.

7. Massage Oil

I’ve had several massages where coconut oil was the main oil of choice. It goes on easily, is cheap enough (in India at least) that you can be generous with it, and it leaves you smelling lovely all day.

8. Cold Relief

When I was suffering from a cold a few weeks ago, I would blend a spoonful into herbal tea to help speed my recovery. But be careful – I found it makes the tea much hotter when you first put it in!

9. Oil Pulling 

I decided to try oil pulling while I’m here, which is a process of swishing oil around your mouth and ‘pulling’ it through your teeth for about 10-15 minutes each morning when you first get up. You can also use sesame or sunflower oil, but I decided to try coconut oil for the taste and also because it’s in such plentiful supply. I’ve noticed my teeth feel much cleaner and smoother after a couple of weeks and I think my gums feel healthier too. There are claims that oil pulling can help with not just improved dental health but in curing many other diseases and ailments too.

A word of warning though: DO NOT swallow the oil once you’ve finished pulling, as it will be full of harmful bacteria and toxic bodily waste. Spit it into the toilet, down a sink or drain and then clean out the receptacle and your mouth with plenty of water afterwards. Tongue scraping immediately afterwards also feels very cleansing, particularly when you see the residue that’s left behind!

10. Nappy Rash

A slightly delicate subject this one, but important nonetheless. The combination of the hot climate (and it’s getting especially hot now), tight clothing and overuse of either toilet paper and/or bidet spray showers can result in a sore, painful rash around the genital region. Applying coconut oil to the area after showering is not only safe and soothing but reduces the rash in just a few days.

The benefits and uses of coconut oil are almost never-ending; it really is a miracle product. Now, if only we could find a way to grow coconut trees in the UK…

Weekly Mysore Musings: Sun 23rd Feb

Freshly pedicured feet (complete with insect bites!)

I’m the kind of person who likes to keep busy. Not in a manic, stressful way; just in a there’s-always-something-useful-I-should-be-doing way. So when I came on this trip I made sure I had plenty of ‘stuff’ to keep me occupied: I brought 2 correspondence courses with me, which are part of my current life plan – ‘Anatomy & Physiology’ and ‘Writing Features and Articles for Health, Wellbeing & Fitness Magazines’; I’m reading Edwin Bryant’s The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali for a bit of light self-study(!); I started this blog as well as keeping a travel journal; and I’ve set myself the challenging task of learning the correct Sanskrit count for the entire Ashtanga primary series. Phew, it’s exhausting just thinking about it all!

The trouble with setting myself these potentially unrealistic goals is the guilt and disappointment that comes with not achieving them. Well, thankfully, this week I’ve let it all go. Just like that. Getting out of the city and being in nature on the wildlife tour last week really helped to shift something and I started to get a fresh perspective on things. So this week I’ve concentrated on doing things I actually WANT to do rather than things I think I SHOULD do. What a relief! (Plus I got a High Merit for my first lesson of the A&P course so that should keep the guilt at bay for a while.)

Rooftop kirtan (it got livelier as the sun went down!)

As well as the usual yoga and chanting classes, this week I have: learnt a meditation technique to help improve the eyesight from B Naga Kumar at Mumuksha; had a very relaxing and therapeutic gong bath (to the point where I was practically asleep) at The Blue House; received a wonderful ‘special pedicure’ complete with leg massage from the lovely Sanna at Iora Beauty Salon; visited the spectacularly opulent Mysore Palace (where I was caught sneakily trying to take a photo and had to pay a bribe to avoid my iPhone being confiscated); wandered around an Art Gallery containing a random but fascinating collection of Indian, Japanese and European paintings and artefacts (including the highlight of the collection: a French musical calendar clock which not only chimes each hour, but has marching soldiers and music too); attended an interesting talk on the meaning of the Ashtanga opening mantra by Arvind Pare; sang and danced at Mark Robberds‘ beautiful rooftop kirtan as the sun went down; had the most amazing 2½ hour deep tissue/emotion releasing/energy healing massage (there’s that fusion again) from Ravi Kumar that not only worked on my muscles, but the bones, joints and tissue too and helped release some of my energy blocks and stuck emotions (totally fascinating); and of course ate and drank plenty of delicious local and not-so-local food and drink – one of my favourite pastimes!

The splendid Mysore Palace

Last Monday at the end of my practice Sharath looked over and asked “Did you catch your ankles?” I gave a little snort, looked back at him with an expression of incredulity and shook my head. He laughed and said “Tomorrow!” Luckily it was my ‘ladies holiday’ for the next 3 days so my next 2 practices were counted led classes on Friday and Sunday. On Monday I finally decided to try out the whole coffee malarkey (“No coffee, no prana“) and had an amazingly strong and focussed practice after one cup of brain juice. When Sharath did dropbacks with me and told me to “Walk! Walk! Walk!” I felt I could go deeper much more easily. I came up and said “Getting closer” and he gave a little laugh. Hmm, I suspect I still have a long way to go!

A rare people-free shot!

On Sunday my led time got shifted from 4.30am back to 6am (phew!) and it was the quietest I’ve seen it in the shala so far. I arrived late (meaning only 15 minutes before the start time rather than an hour), there was no pushing or shoving, I had a choice of where to put my mat (which totally threw me) and we even had space around our mats to actually do a full asana practice – total bliss! I stayed afterwards to watch the led intermediate class, which was a very inspiring and eye-opening experience. I’ve never watched a counted led class before and there’s something so beautiful about the mass of people all moving together in sync as one, united, body of yoga. Observing the strength, flexibility and muscle definition of some of the bodies was also awe-inspiring.

But the most surprising thing for me was realising how many people left the room after Eka Pada Sirsasana, as they only practice up to that point – which is probably about a third of the way through the intermediate series. And I suddenly realised that it’s not as far away for me as I had thought. I mean, of course, I still have to get past the dreaded challenge of Kapotasana, but for the first time in a few years of consistent, steady practice, I feel inspired again – to work harder, to go deeper, to get stronger, and to commit myself more fully to this nourishing, transformative, inspiring practice.

Om shanti!

The palace by night…

…and a close-up of the countless light bulbs that make it possible

Weekly Mysore Musings: Sun 16th Feb 2014

The fun and games of changing practice times continued at the shala this week. Having moved most of the time slots forward an hour during Sunday’s conference, Sharath promptly had to move them all back again on Monday morning! Suddenly it seemed the whole world was practising at 7.30am and the students were spilling out all the way down the steps. After what seemed an eternity of slowly shifting closer and closer to the front door, and eventually through it into the entrance foyer, with Sharath constantly coming out asking “What’s your time?”, he finally said “Wrong announcement; bad announcement!” and shifted everyone back to their times from the previous week!

Delicious fusion thali and ‘green smoothie’ at Cafe Mandira

The word of the week for me has been “fusion”. Many of the restaurants here have a fusion of Indian, Chinese and Western dishes and I ate a wonderful fusion thali at Cafe Mandira in the Old Mandala School in Lakshmipuram, which included tasty treats like grated beetroot and roasted squash. Fusion massage seems to be rife here too, with many people offering a combination of Thai, Swedish, deep tissue, sports and Ayurvedic massages. I had one on Saturday which was amazing and got deep into parts of my muscles that I didn’t know existed! I’ve also been wearing a fusion of Indian and Western clothing, as I’ve bought a few beautiful traditional kurtas lately and love pairing them with jeans or leggings.

How to jumpstart a rickshaw – Indian style!

On the way back from one such shopping expedition (thali/shopping/coffee = the perfect girlie afternoon), my friend and I were treated to a wonderful example of roadside recovery – the rickshaw foot jumpstart! Unfortunately the rickshaw we had jumped in after our hard day’s shopping decided to break down. The driver told us to get out, then pushed his vehicle across the middle of a very busy junction and indicated for us to follow. We saw him handing over some rupees to another driver and then he gestured for us to get in that guy’s rickshaw instead. We could never have anticipated what happened next. Our original driver pushed his rickshaw over in front of the one we were now in, our new driver started up and then drove along with one sock-covered foot pushing on the back of the broken down rickshaw in front. Every time we stopped he made sure he got up close behind it so he could give it an extra push as we started off again. It was hilarious! I’ve no idea how the original rickshaw driver managed to keep going but somehow he did and waved us off as he veered off across another big junction into the distance. And that, my friends, is how to jumpstart a rickshaw!

I’ve been having a few digestive issues lately, namely bloating and constipation. After getting the usual bout of Delhi Belly soon after I arrived, I now seem to have swung the other way! And what better place than India to try out some traditional Ayurvedic remedies. I followed a friend’s recommendation and went to see the lovely Dr Chitralekha at the Mysore Academy of Ayurveda. She did a prakriti analysis to determine my doshas, told me I have a moderate level of ama (toxins) in my body, gave me some diet and lifestyle advice, prescribed some herbal medicine and showed me some marma (energy point) therapy to do on myself. And all for only Rs570 (about £5.70)! So this week I’ve been: taking lots of pink medicine that’s basically like Pepto-Bismol; giving myself pressure massages; carrying a pot of ghee around with me to add to my food; trying to avoid bread, dairy, nuts and eggs; and taking herbal laxatives each night. I also have some rather ominous looking black pills which I can take if I decide to do a ‘purgation’. But that basically involves a self-induced sickness which will put me out of action for 2-3 days, meaning I won’t be able to practice. Hmm… watch this space!

The highlight of my week has to be the 2-day wildlife tour I went on with goMowgli. Friday was a moon day which meant we had 2 days off in a row, and provided the perfect opportunity to head off into the forests of Coorg in the Western Ghats to experience something other than the usual hustle and bustle of Gokulam. We had lunch at a beautiful spot by the river at Srirangapatna; we did a forest safari in Nagarhole National Park where we saw deer, bison, monkeys, wild boar, peacocks and elephants; we stayed at the very rustic Bethel Home Stay on a beautiful hillside; we invented a new drink round the campfire called GoRumli; we had an early morning, very invigorating ‘shower’ at Irupu Falls; we did a hill trek for some amazing views and saw evidence of tigers (very hairy tiger poo = a very dead deer); we walked around a coffee plantation and learnt how coffee, peppercorns, groundnuts and cashews are grown; we fed some elephants at Ane Chowkur Elephant Camp; we were fed like kings the whole trip and had a jolly wonderful time! And here’s the evidence:

The beautiful Cauvery river at Srirangapatna

The alternative James Bond

Little Bambis!

Langur monkey just chillin’

Girls’ dorm at Bethel Home Stay

The spiciest breakfast I’ve ever eaten

Striking a jungle pose

Mimi looking cute amongst the coffee

Hungry elephants

Nelly’s snuffly trunk sucking up orange pieces like a vacuum cleaner

The gang after a sweaty hill trek

One happy tour group!

Weekly Mysore Musings: Sun 9th Feb 2014

Photo courtesy of MariaSaraEva Jen

This week my practice time changed twice (or was it three times? I can’t keep up!) AND I got 3 more postures. Phew, not used to so much activity in one week! There’s been a big transition of people leaving and arriving as well, so it’s all change at the moment. It can feel a bit unsettling at times but “The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” – Alan Wilson Watts

Sharath seems to have got into the habit of standing at the front of my mat when I’m in Urdhva Dhanurasana so that when I come up he’s right there and I have to be careful not to bump noses with him! It’s a pretty good way to stop me over-shooting when coming up from dropbacks, as the last thing I want to do is hurl myself at him! Last week I almost did and he laughed and said “Too fast!” On Wednesday when he let me all the way down after halfbacks, he told me to walk in about 4 times but I was struggling on the last one, and when I came up he laughed and said “Stuck!”

North Indian Special at Sixth Main restaurant

This week I ate my best thali so far, at Sixth Main restaurant – a favourite eating spot. Most places offer both North and South Indian options and I went for the North Indian special. I can’t tell you exactly what was in it, I just know that everything was delicious! Especially the tomatoey soup, curdrice and buttered kulcha (a bit like a nan bread). Oh and the gulab jamun and ice cream for dessert of course -hence the “special”! While we were there I also saw my first monkeys of the trip. A whole gang of them climbed out of a tree on the other side of the road and ran down the street. Must have been lunch time…

Thursday marked the end of our sutra study classes, where we chanted all 4 padas (chapters) of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras across 10 sessions, and Lakshmish explained what they meant. He has a wonderful way of teaching, using examples from everyday life; often relating to his family, his strong desire for an iPhone or his passion for watching Hollywood action movies in his batchelor days. He even confessed to having dreams about flying in a helicopter and shooting people with a machine gun – quite surprising for a Brahmin priest! It was fascinating to gain a better insight into the sutras, which basically set out the principles and practices one should follow in order to become a true yogi. I’m not sure I’ll be mind reading, walking through walls or growing new limbs any time soon, but I certainly have a renewed respect for the yamas and niyamas and how to apply them to everyday life.

This week I visited Ranganathittu bird sanctuary with some friends and it was lovely just to get out of the city for a few hours, as we bumped along in a rickshaw past rice paddies, palm trees, simple villages and the most garishly painted houses I’ve ever seen. There are no cages or aviaries at the sanctuary, which is great, but it does make it very difficult to actually spot any of the birds listed on the signs. The best bit was the brief jaunt down the Cauvery River in a little rowing boat, where we saw lots of storks, pelicans, spoonbills, bats and…. wait for it…. crocodiles!

Ranganathittu has the largest freshwater crocodile population in Karnataka state, so sightings are very common and we weren’t disappointed. We watched them silently gliding through the water with just their eyes and nose above the surface; swimming slyly towards the birds preening themselves on the rocks as if about to pounce at any moment; and basking themselves in the sun so we could appreciate their full enormity. There was a slightly alarming moment when one croc we’d got particularly close to suddenly opened his jaws very wide, then slipped into the water beside our boat. But the boat man assured us it was perfectly safe as the crocodiles weren’t hungry right now!

The obligatory rickshaw shot

Birds, bats & bamboo

The Big Bamboo!

Big croc

Ian being a sexy Russian tourist!

Painted stork colony

Cheeky monkey

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After all this strenuous activity (well I did practice 6 days in a row…), I was knackered by Friday, so decided to have an indulgent me-day. I got a great back and shoulder massage for Rs400 (about £4), then chilled out on the roof terrace of Mystic School, using the sauna (biggest sauna I’ve ever seen), jacuzzi (again, huge but cold water – very refreshing!) and sun loungers. Gosh it’s hard work sometimes this yoga-travelling-malarkey! I also decided to book a Vipassana meditation for the 2 weeks I have spare after I leave Mysore. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do and the only centre I could find with the exact dates I needed happened to be the same one a fellow traveller had recently been to. So I’m taking that as a sign from the Angels that it’s meant to be. Now I just have to wait for the acceptance confirmation… exciting but scary!

Mystic School’s rooftop cafe and jacuzzi

Sunday saw my first 4.30am practice. What an experience! There’s something very surreal about getting up at 3.30am when the only other creatures awake are rats, roosters, dogs and other crazy Westerners yawning their way to class. I got a lift on the back of a friend’s scooter: we arrived and joined the throng of sleepy-eyed yogis sitting patiently in the street outside the shala, waiting for the gate to open, like groupies waiting for their favourite band. As soon as the gate opened there was a silent stampede as everyone fought for a spot in the main room, or surrendered and graciously accepted their place in the entrance foyer or changing rooms. When we came out again it was still dark and still felt like the middle of the night. By Sunday evening the practice felt like a lifetime ago and as I crawled into bed at 10pm I realised my mega early practice was still 2-3 hours later than Sharath gets up every day. Now that’s dedication. 

I love Indlish!

As a Linguistics graduate who’s always had a soft spot for the English language, I find great delight in puns, plays on words and clever word games or tricks. One of my favourite pastimes is spotting misspelt words (either intentionally or otherwise) in signs, on shopfronts or in menus.

Admittedly, I do have an abhorrence of misplaced apostrophes and a growing dread that apostrophes might be phased out of the English language completely within my lifetime, however, there remains a certain charm to spelling and grammatical errors, particularly when made in an official capacity, like on street signs or product packaging. And when such errors or imaginative use of English are used in countries where English is not the first language, that charm seems to magnify.

Here are my favourite examples of ‘Indlish’ that I’ve spotted so far…

A wonderful example of apostrophe use on a Loyal World supermarket receipt.

No comment!

Teaism: my new favourite word.

Menu marketing by Snazzy design.

A were-dog perhaps?

On the back of a rickshaw!

Great marketing in Barista coffee shop.

The equivalent of the UK’s “No cold callers”. Nuff said.

Khushi’s cafe: Yes, I have a Particulars intolerance.

The Indian skin-based plumbing systems just can’t handle it.

Addicted to shopping? “Never again”!

This cooking oil is a car-free zone!

“Electrifications” by J.K. Electricals – sounds like a cheap Harry Potter spin-off.