Farewell Mysore

Tomorrow is our last day in Mysore. Before we head back to Sweden, we decided to spend one day in a small village outside of Mysore, called Srirangapatna. We will stay at an old colonial-style villa, famously restored by an artistic spanish lady of 85, who welcomes guests wanting to escape the city buzz  and looking to indulge in fabulous own-grown organic food.  We will take full advantage of the last chance to soak up some sun, swim in the river and simply relax.

I am struggling with the fact that my month at PAVI (Sheshadri's shala) is over.  To be honest, I am not ready to leave. It feels like I just started.  Seems, I have just found my rythm here, even allowed for the comfort of routine to creap in.

 I will miss the honest, straightforward approach to yoga, which is oftentimes lacking in the west.  I will miss Sheshadri's famous intense adjustments. I will miss the amazing shavasana adjustments, his walking on the spine and his grueling backbending routines. I have felt nothing but pure trust in his teaching skills and his deep knowledge of the body. Most of all I have been inspired by finding a teacher who not only teaches yoga, but lives yoga. 

Although I've learnt and grown in more ways than one during this month, the fact is, I have just started.  Some say, yoga takes many years to master. I think, one can never master yoga, it is not a goal we arrive at. It is rather a journey, a lifestyle we choose in attempt come closer to who we trully are.   I feel blessed to have found this path to self and look forward to the lessons I have yet to learn.

Asatoma Sadgamaya

Tamasoma Jyotirgamaya

Mrutyorma Amritangamaya

OM Shanti Shanti Shanti

The Goal of Yoga

Why yoga? What's the craze about? What is it that gets us totally absorbed in this ancient art of body, mind and soul?

I have been around countless yogis now for four weeks and have heard their stories of falling for yoga.  I've watched their faces glow after the morning practise, I have seen them tear up as they leave Mysore to return to their "normal" lives.  It is obvious: yoga does wonders to those who dedicate themselves to a regular practise.  When you arrive at a point when it is more difficult to skip a practise than to do it, you start wondering, "how did I do without"?

It starts with a wish to live a healthier life, to become stronger or more aware of your body, or even as a stress therapy. What it turns into is something most of us have not anticipated at all.

The father of yoga, Sri Patanjali, who lived sometime between 5000BCE and 300CE and produced the single most important account on yoga called Yoga Sutras, writes:

"The goal of yoga is not to obtain something that is lacking: it is the realization of an already present reality. Yoga practise does not bring about Samadhi [the higher state of conciousness] directly - it removes the obstacles that obstruct its experience" (Yoga Sutras, Sutra 2.2)

And there it is.  The love, the beauty, the peace that we so desparately search for is already there. We just need to remove the layers of our conditioning, our past experiences, fears and dogmas that we are taught to follow and it slowly unveils itself, like a delicte flower in the morning light.

In the depth of a breath, in the intensity of the moment, when the ego takes a step back and the ignorance looses its hold, we get a glimpse what it's all about. And that one moment is what keeps us coming back for more.  That moment when love is stronger than fear, when we learn to surrender and let go, the moment when stillness takes its bloom, that is yoga.

Of course, there are many ways of arriving to the destination. For me, getting out of my head and getting into my body, works.  Asana (yoga postures) is a good help to achieving the rest.. and there is much more to achieve than reaching your toes or even perfecting an advanced sequence.  Physical practise of yoga without the other "limbs" is just acrobatics.  Living the life of love and kindness is what it's all about. Letting go of the need for material posessions to make us happy, letting go of craving for status and authority, letting go of fears that stop as from being who we truly are, is the goal of yoga. 

As the constant chatter of our minds subsides, in the moment of stillness, we can see it more clearly. 

It is all there.  We just have to be brave enough to face it. 

Lessons of Ahimsa

We have recently paid a visit to Sheshadri after a fabulous lunch  at Sandhya's house just a few streets down from the shala.  Andy being the man of plenty questions, asked Sheshadri if yoga was similar to martial arts. "Oh no, big difference.  Yoga is ahimsa ", he said smiling.

In sanscrit ahimsa means non-violence.  It is one of the Yamas (moral codes) of the Ashtanga Yoga system.  Ahimsa is a term that stands for non-harmful actions, words or thoughts towards all living beings.

To be a yogi does not simply mean mastering asanas or pranayama techniques, it means living yoga - cultivating a compassionate attitude towards others.  Ahimsa is also the reason behind many yoga practitioners choosing vegetarian/vegan diets.

In Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga, the importance of practising ahimsa towards ourselves is quite obvious, as too often the overachieving ahstangis will allow their egos to push them beyond their body limits.

I'm guilty of it. On numerous occasions.

Since I have started practicing in India, I have been too careless and ego-ridden believing that in just a few weeks I can fix the problem areas that I have struggled with for years.  The good thing is that your body will tell you when you go too far, as did mine.  For the last week I have had to work around a sensitive right knee, caused by "overindulgence" in hip opening postures. 

Lesson learned: Every set back in your practise is a chance for growth, as it will teach you not only the importance of ahimsa, but also the ways of working around your problem areas.  I mean,  lesson areas. 

Letting go of ego, which pushes us to compete with ourselves is an important aspect of yoga.  Listening to your body, respecting the boundaries, and enjoying exactly where you are now is as vital for a yogi as practising non-harmful actions towards others.  Every morning as I am practising modified version of Marichyasana B and Marichyasana D on the left side, I enjoy the tremendous potential for growth, breathing into my "lesson areas", feeling the ego chip away one layer at a time.

In the quiet surrender to my body, I feel it open, release, heal.  

An inner smile lights up my face - I´m starting to get it. 

    Marichyasana B, performed by BKS Iyengar