6 weeks and counting

I have many thoughts on why it is difficult to practice alone. I think this was the hardest adjustment I had to make after returning from Mysore. Philadelphia at this moment does not have a strong Ashtanga community, each student (that I know of) is homeless in a way. I crave community. I love practicing in a crowded room feeling the pulsation of energy everywhere. I hope that when I return from India in October there will be a place to go and quietly practice.

Does anyone really read this

I got my very first computer last week. I love it! I am slowly preparing for India. My practice is still a bit wonky, oh well Svaha!

Wow

I can't believe I figured out how to put links on the blog page! It is not that hard, but I consider my computer skills to be less than remedial. I have put up links to some of my favorite people/places. I just recently added Philly Paws, an animal welfare society. Is it unfair to not like yogi's who haven't adopted their pets? I mean really dislike them. Anyway rescue/adopt, it's the only way to go!

My Favorite Snoot

Teacher Training Information Sessions

Well, I think I finally turned my practice around. I have been kind of in a funk since the beginning of spring. I am ready to move forward. Looking very much to returning to India, and it looks like my long lost practice buddy is coming along for the ride. Wake Up Yoga's Teacher Training Program is starting up literally two days after I come home from my cosmic journey. Upcoming information sessions are:



Friday July20th 7:30pm,
Friday August 3rd 7:30pm,
Wednesday, September 5: 7:30 pm
Friday, September 7: 7:30 pm
Sunday, September 9: 12 noon



See you there

Om shanti!

Oprah and Gayle

Wow, I can't believe that I am heading to India in two months! I found out that one of my yoga friends is now going to be my traveling companion, which I am sure makes my entire family feel better. I have been reading many yoga related blogs lately and sometimes people drone on and on about their physical practice. It make me wonder why do I shy away from that talk so much. I am fully down the rabbit hole at this point, nothing passes that I don't relate it with some kind of practice/study. I guess at this juncture my personal/emotional struggles are much more confusing and painful than any Karanda Vasana (which for now is impossible.)

I am been thinking about waht it means to be a friend. A good friend. As silly as it sounds, a best friend. To me it all comes down to Oprah and Gayle. I used to think that I was a Gayle and had my own Gayle, but now I think that was incorrect thinking.

India take two!

Well, it is official I am heading back to the mother ship. I am so excited. I am heading out by myself to Mysore and then Mike will meet me out there at the end of September so that we can travel for two weeks. Practice and then travel, it is such a nice combination. I think the plan is to fly out of Mumbai (Bombay), so then we can travel up the coast stopping in Goa as well. It feels so close, and there is much to prepare for.

Ashtanga Yoga Intensive

I am so excited to announced that my favorite yoga teacher is coming to Philadelphia to offer his awesome teaching intensive. David Keil is a masterful teacher truly dedicated to the practice of ashtanga yoga as taught by Guruji. He has made 8 separate trips to Mysore and is authorized to teach by Guruji himself. You can find out about this workshop and fill out an application on his website. http://www.yoganatomy.com

Hari Om

Leaning into the gap

I participated in a lovely extended mediation sit last week, and the teacher introduced this notion of "the gap", and how we must learn to lean into it. It was profound for me, like exactly the right technique at the exact right time. The gap is anything unexpected, or unpredictable. It can be pleasurable or painful or neutral. I have had many gaps arise in the last several months. Gaps in practice, friendship, and love. I will contiue to try to lean in and not be afraid of the pulsation or feeling of these wonderful teachers.

OM

Well, yesterday I mailed my letter/application to return to Guruji's shala for this September. I am so excited to return to India for study and travel. Just being in India creates such a deep connection to yoga even more than I imagined. I am so blessed that wake Up Yoga provides me this great opportunity to take time off and really dive to the heart of yoga. It's crazy, teacher training begins days after my return. I will be so full and so ready to teach. When Manorama was here a few weeks ago she said "Jill, you are an ashtangi right?" I thought an accidental ashtangi for sure. The system is so simple really and so brilliant and so relevant to vinyasa. I am excited just sitting here. Much Love to anyone who reads these random musings.

Finally!

Wow! I finally figured out how to get my blog going again. The hoops that I needed to jump through required patience that I was seriously lacking. I do believe that I am back in blogging business. What an incredible few weeks. I am starting to understand what I need, and that I have to shed some old stuff, ways of being that no longer are working for me. Before I taught this morning I was digging through my bag and found a mantra that I picked out of a sitar case. It said, "allow yourself..." So, today is the beginning of the allow yourself journey. It feels powerful.

I am having a tough time getting started. I did purchase a camera, but then I needed to return it hopefully I will be able to pick it up today. Practice isn't going very smoothly at all, total fits and starts. I am trying to change up my schedule so that I can bring more joy into my life, again it a rough start.

Hello April!

I just found out the I will have a place to practice starting tomorrow. I am very excited! Philadelphia is an amazing city, but when it comes to the practice of Ashtanga Yoga, it is seriously lacking. I did purchase my very first camera yesterday and I will have pictures up very shortly.

A Cruel Month

March has been a cruel month for me. I have slowly leaked out all of the India juice that I was living on. Picking up this blog again may be a way to spark some new awareness in my life. My practice is suffering, and teaching feels draining, I find myself complaining all the time, and judging all the things around me. I do need to get myself a camera, maybe I'll be able to get that done today. I starting reading from Krishnamurti's book this morning about the act of listening. He poses this question which I hope practice, "Can one listen without any conclusion, without any comparison or judgment, just listen, as you would listen to music, to something you really love? Then you listen not only with your mind, your intellect, but also listen with your heart, you listen with care, objectively, sanely, you listen with attention to find out."

Om Sweet Om

We are back and it feels good to be home. Hopefully I'll get some pictures and comments about our journey North. I am taking some time to begin to absorb this experience and I'll begin teaching on Saturday at Wake Up. See you then.

Hari Om

I am squeezing one more blog post before Mike and I head home. We are in Delhi today and leaving tomorrow morning at 3am. If all goes as planned we will be back in Philadelphia by Sunday night. What incredible travels we have had. I can't even begin to process it all. We have seen so much. India is spectacular. Right now my favorite part of our journey has been waking in the foothills of the Himalayas and wading knee deep in the Ganges (Mike too!) I have taken so many pictures, done so many Downward Dogs, and participated in so many pujas. I will miss India and its chaos, but I look forward to seeing home.

Om Cycle

Mike and I head out on the road tomorrow. First we travel to Delhi, then on to Agra, Jaipur, and finally to Rishikesh. Am I sad about leaving? I am sad about leaving some things, morning practice, the shala, Guruji, Shakti house, and the dogs that live here. I am however ready to leave some things behind. Corina always tells the TT’s that yoga students show up on their mat, just how the show up in their lives. The same is true here in Mysore. You show up exactly how you are. Enzo, the first time I sat with him after my massage, was sharing his wisdom about the “scene” that exists here amongst the students in Mysore. He said, “That students expect Guruji to walk up to them with a red telephone on a silver platter and on the other line is God, just waiting for them.” As corny as it is what you discover here has always been inside of you. Just like in the Wizard of Oz, and just like Dorothy, to me there is no place like home. I look forward to seeing you all when we return. I can’t say it enough; I am sending you all love, love, and more love.

Guruji and Me

My last practice will be Thursday morning. Before chanting last night, I brought Mike to the shala so that he could take a picture of me and Guruji. I also managed to get a nice picture with Saraswati. I had dream last night about lasagna, and garlic bread with red sauce. I am looking forward to my Mom’s Christmas dinner. For any of you out there who still want to apply to the wonderful Wake Up Yoga teacher training program, the application deadline is fast approaching. (Dec 1) http://www.wakeupyoga.com/ I am so looking forward to sharing this India experience through the lens of teaching yoga. Love, Love, Love. Mike read this quote at the copy shop, and felt particularly inspired by it.

“Arise, Awake, and stop not till the goal is reached.” ~Swami Vivekananda

“Do You Have To Go?”

A few months before we left for India Mike and I went out to lunch with his Grandmother. She asked us if we had to go to India. The answer then was, no, we don’t have to go, but now I feel different. This trip was something that I had to do. It is an interesting feeling making a dream manifest. It can provide some insight, that really nothing that is important to you is impossible. I had a great practice today. I feel really connected to the energy all around. I feel really connected to the practice of yoga. I think I am more in love with India, and the whole of yoga than I ever dreamed.

“Unless you practice meditation side by side with your work, how will you know whether you are doing the desirable or the undesirable thing?” ~Sri Saradamani Devi