I had several students ask me before I left if I would blog about my trip to India. Over the years, I have read many Mysore blogs and found most of them to be quite entertaining, but since I had to travel around the world to completely disconnect from my responsibilities, the only thing I am committed to for the next month (with the exception of my husband of course) is 'being a student'. Therefore, this may be my one and only post, we'll see how inspired I am.
After seven years of practicing Ashtanga Yoga and two prior trips to India, I finally made it to Mysore. Traveling to India takes a tremendous amount of planning and support from my family, students and teachers so that life goes on while I am away, not to mention the cost of the trip. I ran around taking care of endless details for weeks before leaving so that by the time I got on the plane, I was completely exhausted. After two days of flying and sitting in airports, I arrived in Bangalore at midnight and took a 3 hour taxi ride to Mysore where honestly, the driver could have taken me anywhere and I wouldn't have known the difference. So if I am completely honest, yes I continuously have moments where I wonder "why the hell am I doing this?" And somehow, here I am.
I guess you could say it is Sraddha. The word Sraddha is best translated in English as faith. Faith that is generated out of conviction, which may not be the result of any rational belief or intellectual wisdom, but a spiritual inspiration.
All of my yoga experiences led me to this place and looking back, I am aware that this is exactly how it should have unfolded. I am here without any expectation for my asana practice. I am here to immerse in the lineage. The shala is a reflection of Guruji, you can feel his presence everywhere. I can imagine him sitting in the empty chair on the stage and hear his voice saying "eeekam". The room is filled with pictures of Guruji and Amma, Krishnamacharya, Saraswati and Sharath. This is the source! During my first two days of practice, I ended up in relatively the same spot and during my closing postures (while upside down), I had a clear view of this picture. Not only is this one of my favorite pictures of Guruji, but a sweet reminder of why I am here....Sraddha.
After seven years of practicing Ashtanga Yoga and two prior trips to India, I finally made it to Mysore. Traveling to India takes a tremendous amount of planning and support from my family, students and teachers so that life goes on while I am away, not to mention the cost of the trip. I ran around taking care of endless details for weeks before leaving so that by the time I got on the plane, I was completely exhausted. After two days of flying and sitting in airports, I arrived in Bangalore at midnight and took a 3 hour taxi ride to Mysore where honestly, the driver could have taken me anywhere and I wouldn't have known the difference. So if I am completely honest, yes I continuously have moments where I wonder "why the hell am I doing this?" And somehow, here I am.
I guess you could say it is Sraddha. The word Sraddha is best translated in English as faith. Faith that is generated out of conviction, which may not be the result of any rational belief or intellectual wisdom, but a spiritual inspiration.
All of my yoga experiences led me to this place and looking back, I am aware that this is exactly how it should have unfolded. I am here without any expectation for my asana practice. I am here to immerse in the lineage. The shala is a reflection of Guruji, you can feel his presence everywhere. I can imagine him sitting in the empty chair on the stage and hear his voice saying "eeekam". The room is filled with pictures of Guruji and Amma, Krishnamacharya, Saraswati and Sharath. This is the source! During my first two days of practice, I ended up in relatively the same spot and during my closing postures (while upside down), I had a clear view of this picture. Not only is this one of my favorite pictures of Guruji, but a sweet reminder of why I am here....Sraddha.
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