Mysore/Life Style

A long time ago my friend Adam sent me an email that quoted some long time Ashtangi's and then asked where I stood on the matter.

"don't let yoga ruin your life." David Swenson

"yoga will ruin your life." Richard Freeman

At the time I remember not having an opinion about these wild and contradictory statements. So many people ask me why does practice have to be in the morning. I think about it like this....I practice and then I get with the rest of my life. Ashtanga yoga practice is very important to me but so is spending time with my husband, enjoying time with friends and doing things that aren't necessarily yoga related. My practice enhances my life so I can continue to experience life fully. So I say..."practice and then get on with life!"

the long goodbye

Here are some things I am really looking forward to

1. Mike's graduation is nearly here!

2. Putting something together for Maha yoga in Massachutes

3. Spending time with and practicing with Cyndi in Newark

4. Finding a new home in Virginia

5. Hot weather for sweaty practices

6. Enjoying the ocean in the Ocean State

7. Mysore week at Motion Center

8. Meagen Satinsky's visit

9. Having another chance to sift through what I am ready to get rid of.

10. Loads of love and practice

Blog Flashback

I just got back from practice. I left my house at 8.20am this morning and now it is nearly 1pm. Sure I could have just rolled out my yoga mat and practiced in my room like I do most days but the weather has been dark and cold and the sun hasn't made a solid appearance in at least one week so I needed to drive to the edge of the state and practice in a bright room with some others and a heating system stronger than my little space heater.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

I think most Ashtangi's find Mysore, India so welcoming because the community understands what practice requires. I was looking back on what I was thinking about last year and yes! I was thinking about this same thing. It is a bit lonely being unafraid of the hard parts of yoga, not settling for the periphery of the material and unapologetic aiming for the center so that there can be resonance with the point of this whole dance.

Here is the link.

http://jillmanning.blogspot.com/2010/05/what-is-yoga.html

Up and off to practice

Time to Shine

Spring!

Ready, Steady

Home for 6 weeks and I am just starting to feel the post-Mysore blues. I would like to think it happens to all of us, but even more so for people like me who come home to a very solo practice. Practice is always a solo journey, but I do long for a shala with heat and heart. So still most mornings the first step is turning the space heater on. I have been getting in some group practices. I have traveled to Westerly to practice on Monday morning, and to Boston on Sunday, and Motion Center on Wednesday, but all this jumping around isn't all that helpful for a steadier me.

I haven't really been able to pull together a vision for myself. So I have come up with a plan for practice. From now until Mike's graduation I feel I need to focus on primary series for all of its grounding. I feel sad that I never really found a yoga community, a connection of teachers that want to just geek out on yoga, but I need to refocus my mind and be grateful for all that I do have in Providence and direct my attention on and in the now and steady myself for the bright future.

How the same nothing seems to produce something.

I have been back from Mysore near;y 6 weeks and while that isn't even half the time I spent in Mysore the amount of life that has been going on is staggering. Since returning home I have taught in NJ, Philly, NH, Providence, Pawtucket, and in Bridgewater, MA. Since returning I know what is next for Mike and I. We are moving to Virginia. Mike has a full time teaching position at Longwood University! This was a great wave of relief. We are still riding that wave and looking forward to the next chapter. In the midst of the excitement the reality of the 'to do' list has set in. When will we leave Providence? Where will we live in Farmville? What will I do? In this tornado of change there has been celebrations and the anticipation of some of the most exciting RISD MFA events. There is the graduate final thesis show at the convention center, and graduation the first week in June. So much is happening that tending to this seems impossible.....did I mention Mike and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary on Friday.

Nestled into the bright egg yolk center of Mysore...life is simple and very often boring as one watches the paint dry of practice. That is why it works so well. To pull away from life for a little while, to be in the heart of nothing...produces change and new ideas. For me to be blessed to come home to all this something...while my body often feels stiffer that those halcyon Mysore mornings my heart is juicy and full of gratitude.

new photos

May Day!