Goodbye 2010, Namaste 2011

Another 3.5 more hours and the year will be up.  Needless to say, 2010 simply flew by, and as I sit in the comfort of my own home with loved ones (instead of joining party revelers in crowded malls and pubs as they await the New Year's countdown), I think fondly of how the past 12 months have treated me. 

• My yoga practice has grown from strength to strength.  But I also recognise that the practice has had its peaks and troughs.  To quote one of my favourite Yogaglo teachers, Kathryn Budig, "some days I feel like a rockstar, and some days I just feel like a rock".  
• I love teaching yoga.... but I am a student of yoga, first.
• My third (and definitely not last) trip to Mysore, India delivered me to the presence of two great teachers in Hatha Yoga and Yoga Therapeutics.  In less than 4 weeks, my notebook was already full of notes, but my heart and mind were immersed with knowledge and shanti.
• There are so many (popular) yoga masters out there, and some shalas have, to an extent formed a cult-like association with that particular yoga style... yet those who seek will truly find the hidden gemstones among the Masters.
• It is not YOU who turns away from Yoga Therapeutics, dismissing its importance in the yoga equation... is your EGO.
• Yoga is not about achieving that much-admired pretzel posture (ok ok, it does look good on the Facebook profile page), but more so, Yoga is about balance... a fine line between nurturing softness with substance.
• Teaching at a yoga studio can sometimes be equated to working towards a slice of partnership in a law firm.  However, when the slice is offered, you get a chance to look closely at the ingredients, and realize that it may not be that delectable in the first place.
• Nothing is permanent... but honestly, non-attachment is also one of the hardest practice of all.
• You start where you are, and your yoga practice will take you there.  And where 'there' is, is exactly where you need to be. 

So as 2010 draws to an end, and the world celebrates a brand new year, I think about my New Year resolution (and creepily, I hear my mind's voice singing "I wanna be a billionaire, so friggin' bad, buy all the things I never had).


But instead, my affirmation would be to continue to do my best work.  I will infuse my teaching with enthusiasm and energy, thus making each class a gift to those who come to the mat.  I will continue to be fully present, as a yoga student, teacher and friend, to nurture, support and to do my part with humility and gratitude. 


Someone once asked me, "wouldn't you want to some day own a studio and leave behind a legacy"?  Well, if I could just touch and change one person's life for the better through yoga, THAT would be my legacy.

Happy New Year, everyone.  May 2011 bring you amazing adventures for the body, mind and heart.  Peace, love and joy always.

xx

The (inter)Neti Connection

Sinusitis affects millions of people each year (and the numbers are climbing with the increase in air pollution and antibiotic resistence).  Your sinuses consist of four pairs of air-filled cavities behind and around your eyes and nose area.  They filter the air you breathe, and keep germs from sneaking into your lungs.  And when you're under attack by the cold virus, your sinus membranes will swell, causing blockage.  Once blocked, your mucus cannot drain properly, resulting in a bacterial infection, and the next thing you know, the area around your eyebrows and cheeks hurt, and you'll have coloured nasal discharge.  Yucks! 

For centuries, yogis everywhere have traditionally chanted the mantra "Om" to help with focusing the mind, opening and closing a yoga practice (be it asana, pranayama or meditation) and to awaken Vishuddha, the fifth (throat) chakra.  And old copy of the Yoga Journal documented that Swedish researchers discovered that chanting or humming the Om can also help to ventilate and open the sinuses as well as ward off infections.  In-ter-es-ting.

Some time around Week 3 of my stay in Mysore, I studied about the Shatkriyas.  The term Shatkarma or Shatkriya means 'six actions'.  Ancient rishis considered these actions to be crucial to yoga.  "In yoga, control of the body starts with the cleansing processes known as the kriyas, the first step to eliminate poisonous substances accumulated in the system”.  The six kriyas are Dhauti, Basti, Neti, Nauli, Trataka and Kapalabathi Pranayama.

Most of us have heard of two, maybe three of such kriyas, but barely practice one on a regular basis.

Here, I'll elaborate on the Neti : there are 2 types, Jala Neti and Sutra Neti.

Jala Neti is done with the help of a Neti Pot.  Neti pots are made of plastic, ceramic or stainless steel and usually holds about 450ml of liquid.  They resemble a small teapot with a long, thin, tapered spout.  

The Neti Pot

1. To use, fill the Neti Pot with warm salt water (salt is important as it helps to flush out the nasal and sinus fluids). 
2. Bring the pot to your face, and insert the spout well into one nostril.
3. Breathe in through your nose.
4. Tip your head to allow the fluid to flow out through the other nostril, while exhaling from your mouth.
5. Do this til the pot is empty.
6. Stand over a sink or bathroom floor, and practise Kapalabathi Pranayama to get rid of access mucus.
7. Refill, then repeat on the other side.

The Sutra Neti, on the other hand is slightly more tricky and a lot less comfortable.  It requires a rubber catheter to be inserted waaaaay back into one nostril, and out from the mouth!  You'll then need to gently move the rubber catheter up and down between nostril and mouth, to thoroughly cleanse the nasal passage.  Do expect much choking, sneezing, gagging or even slight bleeding from the nose.  However, this kriya is most effective in opening the nasal passages to their fullest capacity.

The Sutra Neti (or Tonsil Tickler)

Do note  however, if you're prone to nosebleeds or nasal polyps, it's best to avoid this kriya.

Neti Pots are easily available.  If you're in Kuala Lumpur, you can get them from the Indian shops in Brickfields or Masjid India (they cost about RM10 each).

So, the next time your yoga teacher chants "Om" in class, do participate with an open heart, mind (and mouth).  That might just unleash some clarity in your breathing.

To happy breaths and sinus-free days.

In The Heart of Practice

Just 2 weeks into an intense backbending practice, and the constant and insistent 'more more more' from the Master, I pulled a muscle in my back during an attempt of touching my feet to my head in Kapotasana.  As I exited from the asana, I felt an excruciatingly sharp muscle spasm on my left lower back, and immediately uttered a self-curse under my breath.


The last thing I wanted to earn while in India, was an injury.  And knowing backbends weren't my strongest forte, I had early on vowed to be super careful.


As my Master treated me with a pressure point massage, I mulled over how this could have happened.  

1. Did I forget to engage my legs?
2. Did I not engage my bandha?  
3. Did I bend from my lumbar? 
4. Did I allow myself to get distracted? 
5. Did I allow my ego to rule instead of slowly getting into the heart of practice?

The ego, or self-love in Sanskrit is "ahamkara".  According to yogic philosophy, when one is in a state of ahamkara, he is in a state of of subjective illusion, and the ego is responsible for creating that illusive phenomenon, whereby the self is unready to embrace.  In ahamkara, which is in a state of rajasic, guna (agitation) predominates, thus opening a series of afflictions, like pride, competitiveness, jealousy, even hatred.


So, after taking a 2-day rest from backbending, (and 6x50mg of Voltaren tablets), I gingerly stepped back onto the mat for some baby backbending.

You wouldn't believe how painful it was to even attempt this asana

BKS Iyengar once said, 'those who are less flexible have more to gain from yoga'.  And the late Pattabhi Jois' famous line was 'Do your yoga... all is coming'.  We must acknowledge that there are many ways of learning yoga.  There is so much knowledge and wisdom out there, that have been refined over much scientific research, thousands of years of trial and error, and documented personal experiences and direct observations from Masters to practitioners. (Maybe this is also the reason why there are so many different systems and styles of yoga out there that nobody can agree on what works best... but this topic is best left for another day).


But when we embrace yoga as a practice, I do believe that we should embrace yoga's elements as well... equanimity, compassion, balance, life and ultimately enlightenment.


Our asana practice is but our doorway to a life of yoga.  And painful reminders (like an injury) are like life's handbrake to our practice.... a teacher that is ever so patient, nudging us when we deviate from the barely-scrapping-the-surface yoga practice of ours.


The best teacher is not merely a Master that we prostrate before.  The best teacher lies within us. 


To become more balanced in life on and off the yoga mat, I trust that we should be equally connected to failure as we are to success.
We should strive for progress, not perfection.
And assert cOMpassion whenever and wherever we can.


And as our practice evolves, and yoga takes on a richer flavour, then only can we be truly free.


Stay curious to the teacher within, and pain free always.
xx

Expect the Unexpected

I can't even begin to marvel how sneaky India can be.  The subcontinent has a habit of kicking me out of my comfort zone.  India tested me everyday... sometimes in her wicked spasms of humour, several times a day even.  She wreaked uncertainties on my yoga practice... my patience, endurance, focus, shanti... heck she even deflated my ego.  


The India I've come to know, is a great place to learn the yogic lesson of giving your best effort, but not getting hung up on the results.  In my time here in Mysore, I've come to learn that things here don't often go according to plan, but if I'm cool with expecting the unexpected, what needs to happen usually does.  And it all comes together at some point in time when the soul is ready to receive.


Here are some of my personal favourites : 


1.  We had hired an auto rickshaw driver to take us to the yoga shala everyday at 5am.  He diligently turned up at our gate for the first 6 days, and one cold rainy morning, he was nowhere in sight.  He did turn up the next day however, and when we asked him about the no show, he said, it was rainy, too cold to come and decided to sleep in (he even added a head wiggle for good measure).  On the subsequent morning (and the mornings thenafter), he failed to show up again.
Conclusion : Auto rickshaw drivers here are quick to try and whip an extra INR10 from tourists by faking a faulty meter, but do not seem to want to commit to a regular piece of business.


2.  A 10 minute walk to anywhere in India, if told by an Indian person, is actually 30 minutes.
Conclusion : When in India, adjust to Indian time.


3.  It can be raining cats and dogs during the monsoon season, but a burst pipe causing water shortage in the neighbourhood can take up to 5 days to fix, thus causing drought indoors.
Conclusion : Irony is best taken with a head wiggle.


4.  India is the land of organized chaos.  Traffic rules are made (and made up!).  Vehicles do not seem to stop when approaching a roundabout (known as a 'circle' in India), but instead everyone honks and charges to the centre of the roundabout, AND THEN try to figure who has the right of way.  Surprisingly, at zero accident rate.
Conclusion : India has very creative drivers.

Side saddle and helmet-free

5.  Traffic rules when it comes to road crossing : Cows stopping mid-street to poop, horses and occasionally people who are lost in thought and take their own sweet time to cross the road have the right of way. 
Conclusion : See no. 6


6.  Holy Cow : here's the unwritten law on Indian roads. Bicycles and rickshaws make way for auto rickshaws (or 3-Wheelers). 3-Wheelers stop for cars. Cars make way for buses. And EVERYONE stops for the Holy Cow.  Cows are big and venerated in India. When a cow crosses a road or decides to siesta in the middle of one, they are king!

7.  You can never rush the Indians.  They never seem to be in a hurry.  On the other hand, you can hardly find an impatient Indian.  
Conclusion : C'est la vie (with a head wiggle).


8.  Oh, and about practising with the Master.  Just when you think you're getting into a pretty strong practice, the Master steps in and shatters any egoistic thoughts.  Whether it is purely a kind gesture, or a form of testing your focus or dristhi, the Master uses one of those battery operated mosquito swatters, (you know, the ones that creates a spark and a loud crackle when mossies are caught), and happily waves the swatter in front of you when you're frantically balancing in Virabhadrasana III.
Conclusion : You may wobble and you may topple but at least you'll be dengue-free.

Snap, Crackle and Pop

I love India. I mean, what's there not to love?  She cracks me up daily... opens my mind up to new possibilities... and teaches me to be less uptight because there is no such thing as perfectionism, and nothing is ever permanent.


And over the next few weeks, I made peace with India and opened my soul to a heart opening, spontaneous yoga practice.  I flowed with the tide of change, accepted that transformation begins with imperfection, and learnt to shift my perspective on life, which surprisingly led to great contentment.

Settling In

After settling into my new rented home at Chamarajapuram, I ambled over to the Mysore Academy of Yoga in Lakshmipuram on Day Three, to meet my yoga master, Archarya Ramesh Kumar, and to get the course timetable.


Here's a look at the curriculum :
(Daily, including Moon Days and Saturday, with Sunday as Rest Day)


Asana Practice             5.30am - 7.30am
Pranayama, Mudra
and Kriya I                  8.00am - 9.00am
Yogic Anatomy and
Yoga Therapeutics I      9.00am - 10.30am
Break                         10.30am - 1.00pm
Pranayama, Mudra
and Kriya II                 1.00pm - 2.00pm
Yogic Anatomy and
Yoga Therapeutics II     2.00pm - 4.00pm
Backbend Practice         4.00pm - 5.00pm


Hmmmm..... looks like I've got to get up by 4am (since there are 2 of us sharing the house), which isn't too hard, since I'll be sleeping on this faux luxurious bed...

... wait for 30 minutes so that this high-tech piece of equipment can grant me a hot bath in the freezing cold monsoon morning... 

Water heater (read : boiler) and bath tub (read : orange bucket)

.... in order for me hop onto a speeding auto rickshaw and get to the shala by 5.15am.

The humble Mysore Academy of Yoga

Early nights and sweet dreams, everyone.

Getting Acquainted with the Unfamiliar

Another year, another trip back to Mysore.  This time, to an unfamiliar part of town.... Lakshmipuram.... where the crowd is less sophisticated and a little more rough around the edges, though still steep in warm Indian hospitality.


Settling down this time was certainly not as smooth sailing and well-oiled as my last trip in 2009, in the more posh suburb of Gokulam.  The "Rent Mafia", we were told, had taken dominance over the house rentals within Lakshmipuram and the nearby areas.  Apparently, the "Don" at a certain popular yoga shala in this district monopolises all rental enquiries, and by defacto standard, all landlords appoint them as Rent Agents, and the agent commission is tiered, depending on where you're from (read : commission for locals and Asians is slightly lower than Americans and Europeans).  It is a bit unsettling to see how some of the locals have become unattractively greedy (from the self declared housing agents, to rickshaw wallahs)... this, I suppose, comes from the opportunity of leveraging on foreign yoga students who flood to Mysore yearly.


However, for those who come to India with a pure heart, there is always a cloud with a silver lining. You'll just need to look for it.  Mine came in many blessed ways.  Like in the guise of a kind and honest landlady who stood up for me when confronted by an overzealous rent agent.... a humble Yoga Master and his family who ensures that I eat breakfast and lunch at his house daily.... a rickshaw wallah who waives a waiting fee while I was practising in the shala... a vegetable seller who waits patiently whilst I picked up my fruit and veg (eventhough he was in a hurry to go for his Friday prayers).... and a little stray dog who led me to the shala when I lost my way in Day One in Lakshmipuram.


I realise that India, like your yoga practice, tests you every day.  She demands your total surrender... tosses you out of your comfort zone, plays havoc on your patience, perseverance, focus and intention.  As it's the monsoon season, she rains on your parade but chooses to cut off water supply to the housing area for 5 days .... 

The kitchen roof was leaking rainwater and caterpillars!

... and presents you with the saggiest mattress known to mankind, and gifts you with constant backache when you wake up each morning.

My little dungeon for 7 weeks

Yet, India, like yoga, teaches you to expect the unexpected, and embrace total acceptance for The Now.

In time, I learnt to recognise each blessing that came my way, and these definitely outweighed each obstacle, hiccup and unfavourable moment.


And for the next 7 weeks on, I, The Seeker, found humility, light, peace and renewed passion in my yoga teaching and practice.


Om Namah Shivaya.