Life post Mysore

From the whole Mysore experience I gained a wife with whom we have 2 beautiful children and certain perspective on life, best put in words by Saraswati: "go back home, make money, and come back to study again". Well, I might go back to Mysore again some day, but not any time soon. I do miss inexpensive Indian food and easy life, but that stage of my life has passed and is not coming back again ever. Life is good where I am now, and I don't need guidance anymore. I am making my own path without gurus controlling my way. Don't you remember? You ARE Brahma!

India again in 2010?

Wow. We are thinking about India again - Mysore is calling us.

My wife (whom I met in Mysore) is a Bharatanatyam dancer, her guru Vasundhara Doraswamy is there, so she wants to go.

This year she wants to try to take junior certification test for Bharatanatyam - you have to register before new year, so we would have to go there the latest by Christmas.

Wow - I looked into ticket prices and they are not cheap.

My usual carrier, Malaysian, is asking for $1662 round trip! I'll need to shop around and see if I can find anything cheaper.

Leaving (Again)

This year has been great. We stayed above Vasundhara's dance shala, sharing the bathroom with Veena. There was a cosmetology class here for a while (11-1 Mon-Sat), but they got booted out due to the complains by the neighbors. We enjoyed the terrace very much. Next year we are thinking about getting a spring mattress - stiff neck has been a problem this time. I have seen "Curl On" or something similar to it brand of spring mattresses for sale here, they are about $100. This time we bought a cotton mattress, but it was not too comfortable. Maybe I should bring a slab of memory foam next year? We shall see.

This year we were supposed to leave on the 10th, but what happened was that we got denied exit from India due to forgetting to register student visa. Yes, student visa needs to be registered, although last time traveling was not a problem as the border guards did not ask for the certificate. So we got turned around, our luggage got offloaded and our boarding passes got canceled. And we had to go back to Mysore to clear all this with the Police Commissioner. After running around for 2 days, waiting in long lines and not knowing how and when things work out we were able to obtain the certificates. My advice: register when you arrive to avoid the mess later. All you need for registration are 2 passport photos, 3 copies of the study invitation letter from the institution you are at, 3 copies of your passport and 3 copies of your visa. Then you might have to fill out a sheet with personal info. In about a week you will be registered, and will avoid having to pay late fee ($30USD but payable only in rupees), having to write an explanation letter to a commissioner, and wasting lots of nerves and time. I have heard that Indian government has a new "yoga" visa in sights, so all you who go to study yoga on a tourist visa now will have to have a "yoga" visa and that will have to be registered. Be prepared, and good luck!

Consolidating my blogs!

I am concentrating on my "leicadig.blogspot.com" blog.

I might update this blog once in a while, but for all recent developments check leicadig.blogspot.com

Thanks for reading!

India in sight again

Time is coming again to leave cold weather of Santa Monica and head out to warmth of India.

This year we plan on Mysore again - where nice people, good food and BNS Iyengar will lead my spiritual and physical development.

My wife plans to return to her "Amma" - Vasundhara Doraswamy. We leave right before Christmas, flying through Taiwan, Thailand and Bangalore.

Yoga as stress

Today in the morning I walked over to Yoga Works on Main street in Santa Monica. I was going to try Vinnie Marino's flow class.

Guess what: class was full! There were people waiting in line to get into the studio who drove for hours and got stuck in traffic! They were complaining and were very disappointed.

I was not going to stress out, so I left.

At home I tried taking a nap, but that did not work out. So I just went out for lunch as I planned.

Day was good, now time to go to bed and try Iyeangar class with Chris Stein tomorrow.

I am happy that I don't have to live in a cage.

Yoga back from Mysore

Since I came back from Mysore, I tried to keep up with what I have learned.

I have learned that you don't need a fancy place to practice. No need for fancy clothes and yoga matts. You just need to PRACTICE.

Well, that sounds good in theory.

In reality, you do need a place to practice. And you need to practice CORRECTLY. Lately, my back has been bothering me. So I went to see another instructor at a fancy yoga place. She told me that my alignment was not correct. She suggested that I keep stretching hamstings and leg muscles to alleviate pressure on the back. I guess I will be changing the way I have been practicing, as I am learning that bad practice will lead to bad things, like pain.

That was my reality check, now I can continue with my practice :)