Back to the Shala

A couple of days and practices behind and it feels like I am back to my home. I have done two Mysore practices and two led classes. Thursday’s practice was good. I was in the middle of the room and the energy was so strong, that my mind was pretty blown away. But my body felt surprizingly good and it was just good to be back. My American friend Stacey was going to adjust me with Supta K, but Sharath was immediately next to her telling not to touch me.

Friday’s led was hard. It was my first led Primary after Dena’s led in Byron Bay and my back is still not ready for that fun. But I was able to keep Sirsasana and I could keep Utplutih longer than last time. So it wasn’t totally desperate. Afterwards my back was giving so much hard time and I was pretty worried about Sunday’s led through the whole Saturday.

But on Sunday everything was fine. Maybe my friends’ prayers (and good sleep+Ibuprofen, which I took the night before) helped, so that my back wasn’t hurting that much and I was able to keep up with the rhythm. I totally messed up Bhujapidasana, because I was wearing shorths and my skin was so sweaty. Sharath was assisting me with Setu Bandha, which I am trying to learn to do correctly. So all in all, pretty good practice.

After practice it was time to watch led Second. So many of my friends are with that group now and the Shala was totally packed. I mean about 50 students doing led Second, so it was worth to watch. Sharath really has his hands full with that class.

Sunday’s conference was pretty much about the good, old topics. Somebody asked about the kriyas (in general Sharath is not recommending kriyas unless you have some health issues) and Sharath talked about, how hard was Guruji’s life in the beginning and how he still kept practicing. Guruji did his practice even when he was very old, but then it wasn’t anymore so much about the physical postures. Sharath’s son was trying to steal the whole attention, when he was playing on the stage and showing us some postures. He looks like mini-Sharath, but he is totally wild. Unbelievably cute, but so out of control (or full of chocolate like Sharath said).

Monday’s practice was good. I got a really bad spot, because I was next to the window and when I was sweating, I could still feel the cold breeze on my back. But otherwise practice went well and my back was pretty ok. My Italian friend Gabrielli, who just started to assist, came over when I was doing Supta K and started to adjust me. At some point I said, that’s enough and he just kept going. Then Sharath came over and said, that’s enough. Gabrielli said to Sharath, but she can do it and Sharath was telling him, that yes, she can do it, but she has back pain. It was so funny, because when I got out of the pose, Gabrielli was in front of me saying, how sorry he is, because he couldn’t see my face (he knows about my back) and I was telling him, that it’s allright, I am fine. Gabrielli is like the sweetiest guy here and poor thing looked so worried after the whole episode.

When I was starting to do Urdva Dhanurasana (I am only doing small bridges), the girl next to me was doing her drop-backs and Sharath was assisting. Sharath was watching me and asking, if I still had pain. I said yes. This was hilarious, because he knows, that my back hurts and he was only teasing me with the drop-backs. This is one of the reasons, why I like Sharath so much. He is really funny. He can be superstrict (I heard that this morning one girl was late again for her practice and Sharath told her to come back four hours later), but if you do your practice and behave well otherwise, he is like the most supportive teacher ever.

So I am in good hands, because he is watching my back. This morning he even tried to call me by name (this is sort of big thing in Mysore, because he has so many students, so he just keeps calling us as common ”you” = You, next! / You do! / Yes, you can!). My name is just so tricky, that I don’t think so that he will ever learn it. Even the man who has learned all six series must have his limit…