Skippetty Street

Pausing to say "Hello"

skippetty@gmail.com (Skippetty) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 12:00:03 PST

Hello.

As you might have noticed, I've been on an extended, unannounced holiday from this blog. It was totally unplanned - a few days' break led to a few weeks' break led to a few months' break. How does Blogger even work now?! They've changed the backend completely. Wow. Guess I've been away for THAT long.

I have no other reason than I didn't feel like writing. So I didn't.

It wasn't like I was short on material either... From my last post in July till now, I've had one kitchen drama after another (and the kitchen is STILL incomplete, mind you), my siblings came to visit me in the dam, I went to Berlin to watch a friend run the Berlin Marathon for the first time, I went to Ljubljana in Slovenia and shot in the most magical Hobbitville forest, I went to visit some of my best friends in London after the births of their gorgeous babies, I was getting out and actually socializing for the first time in ages, even meeting boys and going out on dates and navigating the minefield that is "the dating game" (I hate it, by the way. Boys today are just too complicated), I've had visitors from out-of-town coming and going from my flat, I've been practicing ashtanga yoga a little bit, then I've not been practicing ashtanga yoga at all, then I've got back on my mat again and I'm still trying to find the balance between managing yoga and life, and life and yoga.

And y'know... I was just getting out there and "living life". And I guess I was getting out of my head a little, experiencing life without processing too much (or possibly maybe TRYING not to process too much!) I guess if this were a movie, this would be the part where a montage of different scenes from the past few months flies past in fast-forward. HAHA.

I definitely needed that blog-break. Not to say that I'll be back to regular writing again, but as with all things, it's always good to stop what you're doing, take a step back and put things in perspective again. When it came to writing about yoga, I felt like all I was doing was moaning about asana. "Wah wah wah, I can't do this and wah wah wah, I can't do that". I was boring myself to tears. I think I was/am also coming to a point where I don't particularly feel the need to share everything that's going on in my head about my practice. It helped me internalize stuff to blab about it before, but maybe it's coz my practice is taking a more inward turn that I haven't felt the need to talk about it. Also, I'd been going down the same stop-start-stop pattern in my practice that I wasn't even sure what to make of it anymore.

So... I just gave it a break. A break from all that writing and thinking and navel-gazing about it. And I think out of all that time-off to JUST BE, and get out and do stuff without thinking... Now that I'm finally sitting down to think about it, I'm gonna mix it up a little bit with my practice. Sticking to a 5 or 6-day practice a week is just not do-able in my current situation. Not if I also want to have more of a social life, or enough hours of sleep a night especially when work starts to go balls-to-the-wall busy again. And I'm done with feeling guilty and beating myself up on it when I can't stick to that practice schedule no matter what the reason (or excuse) may be. At this point, I'm gonna allow myself a 3 or 4-day practice a week (maybe less sometimes) and say "yes" to more social events. 2011 is my year of "speaking my truth" anyway, and the whole point of turning up on the mat, for me at least, is tuning in to a more mindful/ conscious way of living and not sticking to dogma for dogma's sake. And right now, it feels like this is what I need.

It makes me a happier person, and that's a good enough reason for me.

I guess that's the conundrum of being a modern-day yogi. I felt myself always having to choose between "life or yoga?" or "work or yoga"? (and I refer to "yoga" in the asana sense of "making it to practice") It shouldn't even have to come to this double bind, but I guess life just throws stuff your way and you just deal with it the best you can.

I'd much rather be caught in the RyGos double bind. Mm-hmm.

Girls in Yoga Pants...?

skippetty@gmail.com (Skippetty) — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 04:58:09 PDT

I think I'm gonna be sick.

There's a site for Girls in Yoga Pants now? I find this partially horrific and partially funny.

What will they think of next?

[UPDATE:] To even this out, someone on Twitter sent me a link for Men Doing Yoga. Hahaha!

[UPDATE 2:] I also just got another link for men and yoga in my inbox. Why, HELLOOOOOOOOOO! Yoga Dudes. It's probably also not fair of me to much prefer/ be less horrified with the yoga dudes links than with the yoga girls in pants link. I think it's coz the yoga girls are all cam-whoring as opposed to the dudes shots which are pretty artfully done. Y'know...? (or does this sound like I'm rationalizing now...?) HAHAHA!

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Disaster Area

skippetty@gmail.com (Skippetty) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 06:08:41 PST

Amidst this rubble lies a kitchen in hiding.

Part 2 of renovations = kitchen installation. I am living through this and can't wait for it to be over. Ugh.

Everything in this truck is basically sitting in my living room now. It's not that big of a kitchen; it's all packaging. And I'm dorkily thinking of the massive carbon footprint this one little kitchen has already left behind.

It was pretty cool how they used the vertical lift to get it all upstairs through the window though. And that crane in the middle of the road was lifting the stone counter top. Fun muscle man action. :D

Soon soon... This mess too, shall pass.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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Broken Leg? Do Your Practice!!

skippetty@gmail.com (Skippetty) — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 03:21:56 PDT

My friend Mel posted this on Facebook, so I reposted it on Facebook, and it's now making the Facebook rounds of every Ashtangi I know.

It's too good not to share here too.

As Sharath says, "Anybody can practice ashtanga yoga. Except lazy people."

Broken femur? DO YOUR PRACTICE!! Here's how this hero modified his Primary series (and part of Second).

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Of Moving House and Visiting Teachers

skippetty@gmail.com (Skippetty) — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 08:24:01 PDT

Between work and dealing with the builder and figuring out what to get and what goes where in the new house and oh yeah, I moved in this weekend finally... I haven't actually had time to post updates! I don't think I've even shared a single photo of the new place here yet. I might just start posting random photo updates just coz that's faster and time isn't what I've got much of these days... (I actually started writing this post a week ago and haven't been able to finish it!!)

Oh yeah, and did I tell you Clayton Horton was also in town? He was here the last 2 weeks actually, and it's been great FINALLY having daily Mysore sessions at the shala. I'm totally lapping this up.

An observation I've made: I cannot function on 6 hours sleep, followed by a 2-hour practice, followed by a full-on 8 to 10-hour day at work. I used to make the joke that my yoga practice was the hardest thing I had to do of the day and since I'd be done with it by 8am, the world would seem all good after that. Unfortunately, I've realized that with what my job entails, I'm no longer sure if my practice is the hardest thing I do of the day. So you can imagine after Week #2 of Clayton in town, it's starting to kick my ass. I'm exhausted and miss the little afternoon naps I could take in Mysore to recover!

The first week Clayton was here, he also did a 3-day teachers' intensive. It counts for Yoga Alliance's 30hr continuing education credit. So glad I took some time off my day job just to reconnect with yoga and other yogis too! The first half of each day was spent discussing philosophy, and the second half of the day was spent on breaking down the Primary series and going through the various adjustments for it. It's been AGES since I've taught, and my adjustments are completely rusty now, I might need to start a little yoga-playgroup going to refresh my adjustments! Or maybe ask to assist my teacher at the shala... Too many things I want to do, so little time! Guess it'll have to happen AFTER the move and doing up the house. ;)

In the first couple days of Mysore classes, I was still getting back into my body and only doing Primary series. Like all teachers trained in the traditional Pattabhi Jois way, Clayton wanted to see me stand up from backbends, then dropback and stand up again 3 times before moving me onto Intermediate. I was totally crap the first few days - wobbly and crashing and hurling onto my knees... And then after a couple days, suddenly my body remembered what it had to do and everything clicked into place and it happened. WEIRD. I can't explain it except... er, muscle memory?

And since then he's been watching me do each pose at a time in Intermediate. He asked where I was up to, then said "Let's start with Pasasana". The next day after Pasasana, I lay down to do backbends then he told me to continue through to Bhekasana. And the day after that to go to Parsva Dhanurasana. And we're now up to Laghuvajrasana. I'm pretty happy hanging out here at this pose and working my way through it (my regular teacher M gave me Kapotasana about a week before Clayton arrived, but I am so totally not ready for it at all!) I've been so completely exhausted the past couple days of practice, I've been coasting my way through it, ie., not really putting in 100% effort. Conserving energy! I have my whole life to figure this out, I'm not gonna kill myself to try and impress a visiting teacher... ;)

There's something about this teacher-student relationship in Ashtanga that I find compelling. The student learning to submit to teacher - I totally get the humility and respect it takes to do this. Interestingly, I used to be of the theory that "you are your best teacher"... But I'm now going through the phase where I feel you can't really say you're your best teacher until you've had enough time and training with a GOOD teacher, who can spot your weaknesses and imbalances and guide you to where you need to be/ what you need to work on. Only when you've been shown the way and can feel it from within can you tap into that again when you're on your own.

A good teacher doesn't just help you physically on an asana level either...a good teacher can tell from the way you breathe how this can affect you energetically, or how it can affect your Vata/ Pitta/ Kapha doshas... (just from the quality of the breath, length of the breath, inhales versus exhales, at what point in the vinyasa you breathe and how this affects you, etc.) I realized this just from being in the same room as Clayton, seeing what he picks up on in different people's practices, including mine. Such wisdom comes from years of experience and a depth of study on various subjects.

While breaking down Laghuvajrasana with me one day, I had a moment of realization, that AHA! moment when I understood why some teachers put such a focus on learning to dropback and stand back up again before moving students onto the Intermediate series. It became totally apparent in Laghuvajrasana that day when Clayton was explaining how to use the inhale to come back up from the floor again (I still can't go all the way down to touch my head to the floor. If I do this, I get stuck and can't come back up). It's a totally similar movement/ action to standing up from a backbend!! It's using that inhale, pressing the hips up and forwards that's similar. Sounds easier than it is, of course.

A great thing that's spun off from his workshop series is there's a group of us who enjoy the regular morning practices so much to the point where we were bummed that the shala still only opens on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for morning Mysore classes. So we asked if the shala was STILL not gonna open on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, could we start a self-practice group on those mornings instead? And TA-DAH! We got a set of keys to share between us. :)

This morning, there were 5 of us in self-practice including Clayton (he flew off to Barcelona today and wasn't teaching; just practising). This little group feels really promising, hope we get to keep this up!

I have to say I've really enjoyed having a visiting teacher for a solid long stretch. 2 weeks is a luxury! Usually most workshops happen over a weekend or the teacher visits for a week... But having 2 solid weeks with the same teacher really helps expand one's practice just that little bit more. And the whole shala just feels a lot more inspired too.

So now maybe I need to start working on my next post - the before and after shots of the apartment!! Mind you, there's still sweet f**k all in the living room except for a TV. I'm thinking of having a ghetto-style housewarming party where everyone has a picnic on the floor (nope, the sofa hasn't arrived yet). And since the kitchen doesn't get installed until 2 weeks' time... People will just have to order takeaway pizzas or bring their own food. Hehe. Fun times!! :)

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What the Governator Taught Me About Laghuvajrasana

skippetty@gmail.com (Skippetty) — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 14:17:54 PDT

Yes, I'm referring to Arnold Schwarzenegger. You know, that BEEFCAAAAAAAAKE megalomaniac sex-fiend? Yessiree, he taught me something about yoga.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

A couple weeks ago, I went to a screening of "Pumping Iron". It's a cult-classic documentary from the late '70s about the world of bodybuilding. And of course, it stars good old Arnie, pre-Hollywood fame. He was already the 5-time Mr. Universe/ Olympia winner by this time and was defending his 1975 title for the last time before retiring from bodybuilding. A 24-year old Lou Ferrigno, aka The Incredible Hulk, also makes an appearance as the "pipsqueak" upstart who hopes to take the title from old-man-Arnie (or rather, Lou's dad seems more intent on this).

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this. It is a HILARIOUS documentary that gives a good glimpse into the mindset of what it takes for world domination. At least in the bodybuilding world. And actually, maybe this same narcissistic god-complex is required to make it in Hollywood too. And maybe also in politics, if Arnie's behaviour and later accomplishments in life are anything to go by.

There are some priceless gems spouted out of Arnie that make you go "WTF?!? This guy ACTUALLY became the Governor of California and was seriously considering running for President?!" Case in point, my favourite WTF moment when he was talking about how bodybuilding made him feel:

‎"It's as satisfying to me as, uh, coming is, you know? As, ah, having sex with a woman and coming. And so can you believe how much I am in heaven? I am like, uh, getting the feeling of coming in a gym, I'm getting the feeling of coming at home, I'm getting the feeling of coming backstage when I pump up, when I pose in front of 5,000 people, I get the same feeling, so I am coming day and night. I mean, it's terrific. Right? So you know, I am in heaven."
- Arnie

... ... ...

I mean, seriously right?!? I was in hysterics with a good LOL. (Especially considering the whole fiasco with his housemaid in the past month)

Anyway, while doubled over in laughter, Arnie also said something else that made me recall what my yoga teacher was telling me about building up my leg strength for Laghuvajrasana. She said that I should go down and come up a few times, going down lower each time, or at least training myself to keep dipping down lower each time before holding there for the final 5 counts. If I don't do this, my body will never get used to how it should be pushing itself lower to the ground.

Arnie basically said the same thing about doing reps in training. He said his competitor would do 10 reps of something, but he would go beyond this, doing an extra few more... coz "the last three or four reps is what makes the muscle grow. This area of pain divides the champion from someone else who is not a champion. That's what most people lack, having the guts to go on and just say they'll go through the pain no matter what happens."

OK, so maybe only the first sentence in that quote is applicable. The rest is completely egotistical, unyogic and totally not applying Ahimsa to one's self.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

Well, at least I got something out of that, right? Basically - don't be a wuss. To get the hang of Laghu, I should just rinse-and-repeat like my teacher and Arnie say. From a physical point-of-view, at least I know what good I'm doing.

Yeah Arnie, I'm gonna be a champion, just like you! *cough*

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Hello Kapotasana!

skippetty@gmail.com (Skippetty) — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 03:09:16 PDT

You. SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!

That is all.

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Union... With Pain?

skippetty@gmail.com (Skippetty) — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 13:54:58 PDT

As my boss instructed, I've been going to yoga this week. And I've noticed something interesting I hadn't noticed before.

After a month of on-and-off flakey practice, without any semblance of even the full Primary series at any one point in time... Getting back on the mat again was of course going to be brutal. Apart from the obvious muscle atrophy - OK, that's a bit dramatic but you know what I mean with the loss of strength and flexibility... I also started to notice how out of alignment I'd become - that weird scoliosis in my tailbone that's twisting my pelvis hadn't been noticeable in the last month, but in the last week since I've been back on the mat, my pelvis and back have started to feel out of whack again. The knots in my shoulders and neck which hadn't been noticeable in the past month have suddenly flared up again and are screaming out for help. So I've booked an appointment with my Osteopath.

With the amount of bodywork I've had over the years, I know that these chronic issues didn't just "suddenly flare up". They've always been there, I just haven't been tuned in enough to feel them. Which makes me wonder... I've tended to "blame the yoga" for some of these muscle knots and aches that I've had. It's easy to think this way especially since I'm starting to feel them again now that I've started up my practice again.

Now I'm realizing that it's not actually the physical yoga that's causing these knots and aches. My body issues are there and have been there... The yoga's just helped me tune into them. In the past couple of years, I've learnt that most of my issues are simply posture and ergonomics when I sit at my desk, coupled with the effects of the scoliosis. I can't believe that a month without practice had made me so out of tune with my body - to the point where it didn't feel like I had anything wrong. Actually, I don't know if that's a good or bad thing. Coz now that I'm more in tune and feeling these aches and pains, I've gotta spend more money to do something about it!

Yoga as "Union" - a blessing and a curse at the same time. HA!

So it's back to the Osteo tomorrow for a bit of a tune-up.

In other practice news, I've still been working on standing back up from dropbacks. It's touch and go: sometimes I get it, sometimes I don't. Today, teacher M said something so many teachers before her have told me "You're thinking too much about it. Don't think, just do." She told me to stop rocking back and forth so many times before standing up, coz she can see me starting to analyze the move the more I rock. HAHA! (I think I usually take about 4 rocks before hurling myself up?) So I cut it down to about 2 (I think? I dunno, I wasn't counting. See? I stopped thinking about it!) And her advice worked! Somehow when there's a teacher's eagle-eye on you too, you're just able to channel something from within and just do it. Weird.

Also, since my practice at the shala has been sporadic, I've only mostly been practicing the Primary series while I've been there. I've started to add back my Intermediate poses again and today teacher M asked "You're not doing Kapotasana?" I replied my last pose given was Laghuvajrasana. And she dangled the carrot in front of me by saying "Oh, I think you're ready for Kapo, but let's see you practice through Laghu a few times more first if that's been your last pose."

Holy shit! OK, I know you're not supposed to want poses and to be honest, I'd given up hope already having been stuck at Laghuvajrasana for 1.5 years now. HAHAHA! So this is kind of exciting. There is some kind of method to this madness of being given poses... Right now, I'm finding it's injected a renewed enthusiasm for my practice. I could've mail-ordered a pair of Lululemons for a similar effect, but somehow this feels more satisfying. And smug. ;) I'm allowing my ego some room here even though I'm TOTALLY counting my chickens before they hatch (which never bodes well, so the ego will be properly put back in place in no time...) :p

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My Boss says "Go to Yoga!"

skippetty@gmail.com (Skippetty) — Tue, 31 May 2011 12:52:23 PDT

I'm pretty sure I have the world's awesome-est boss. Yesterday, he said to me "You're pretty strung out. Have you been to yoga? I think you should make the time to go."

This dude does not practice yoga at all, but he can definitely pick up on how yoga affects me.

Once again, I've not managed to find the balance. I've been going through a slammed period at work, I get the keys to my new home tomorrow, and today would've been a year ago that K and I broke up after 5 years together.

So... there's a lot going on on every level and it really felt like I was at breaking point a few days ago. When your phone's still ringing at midnight with work calls and starts up again at 7am, and when you get a 15-minute respite from work only to have to attend to new-house stuff like choose tiles with the contractor or discuss induction versus gas cookers with the kitchen guy... it's a bit hard to tell your arse from your elbow when you're going from spinning one plate to another. And when I say "you", I really mean "me".

So... I've been strung out and exhausted. In my head, I couldn't really face having to get through a 2-hour practice followed by an 18-hour day at work with full-on stress. Leaving what... 4 hours of sleep?! When I got it in my head that "tomorrow, I will go to the shala to practice even if I don't get enough sleep"... some how this would add to my stress levels and I'd end up insomniac. Totally sabotaging all plans to practice in the morning since by the time I'd fall asleep, it would be 3am.

Some meditation and gentle forward bends before sleep has helped... But I guess I'm struggling with "that Ashtangi mentality" of "Do your practice" (EVERYDAY). I can't. I give up.

In the past year since moving to Amsterdam, I've learned to be OK with where I'm at with my practice. I mean... it's been 1.5 years since I was officially given my last pose, Laghuvajrasana, in Sydney. It used to upset me that all this starting and stopping of my practice because of my up-and-down work schedule had "stagnated" my practice.

But I guess that's only if you look at it on the surface, from a total Asana point-of-view. The other things I've learned along the way include being kind to myself - not beating myself up if I've missed a practice (or a few...), and also learning to accept that people go through different stages in life and your yoga practice needs to adapt to that too.

Sometimes I wonder how much of that is STILL making excuses for not getting on the mat and how much of that is really learning not to be THAT attached to the asana part of the practice. Even if I've done just 3 sun salutations or meditated for 10 minutes, I don't "count" that as having practiced. But dammit, it all counts!

So... Granted, I have been feeling lost of late, and it was good to have had a pep talk with the boss. He basically pulled me aside and we just talked. Talked about life stuff. Talked about finding balance. Talked about how at the end of the day, it's JUST work. He was basically telling me I need to reprioritise and put yoga at the top of my list, since he could see how I get affected when I don't practice. "Even if it means you come in an hour late coz you need to go to yoga, take that time. Otherwise when you work the way we work all the time, you're gonna burn out fast."

He's a pretty progressive boss, my boss. I am grateful to have someone as understanding as him mentor me at work. Guess I needed that timeout to pause just for a bit and think about what the hell I've been doing. I definitely need a holiday, that's for sure! Oh but wait, I have to fix this house up first. Arggghhhhhhh! Hahaha.

There's a lot going on. I just need to remind myself to take it one day at a time. Sometimes it feels like I need to take it one hour at a time. Oh, and... I need to GO TO YOGA!

Gas vs. Induction Cooking

skippetty@gmail.com (Skippetty) — Wed, 18 May 2011 06:08:12 PDT

Totally non-yoga post. But the topic that's been consuming me all week has been: Gas or Induction cooktop? Oh, the joys of home remodelling!!

Since I posted a photo of a pair of questionable shoes I put on reserve yesterday and got an overwhelming response of NO!! DON'T GET THEM!! from the good people on Facebook, I figured I'd also post another question to help me with my indecision of gas cooker or induction cooker?
Incidentally, those questionable gladiator-flipflop Converse here:

(HAHAHA! I think I've been well advised about not getting them?)

It all started when I wanted to get a gas cooker with a single burner on each grill. It's just easier to clean this than to deal with lugging the huge grill that traditionally goes over 2 burners. But Miele only does single grills on a glass top. Like this:

Super stylish in comparison to the boring gas on stainless steel that is the usual, no?

But then of course the Miele showroom people showed me their epic-stylish induction cooktop and explained the joys of induction cooking (more energy-efficient, safer coz no open flame, only the part where the pot touches the stove heats up. And "If you want a stove that's easy to clean, this is the easiest of them all". Blah blah blah)

My sister also said "Eric Ripert uses Miele induction, so should you." Okaaaaaay. I had to google who Eric Ripert is, so obviously this is not going to influence my decision. HAHAHA!

OK - barring the huge additional expense of an induction cooktop, my main concern is: HEALTH EFFECTS. Anybody got a clue?! Mr. Google is throwing up mixed reactions and pretty much "non-conclusive evidence since not enough research has been done".

An induction cooker works by electromagnetic waves reacting with your magnetic pots/ pans and heating them up. Some kind of (minimal) charge/ radio-frequency radiation can be transferred if you touch the pots or stand too close (like... about 30cm too close). Say what you like, but I fall into the "better safe than sorry" category and hardly use my microwave oven these days because of the same mixed reports people have had on its health effects.

Which is kind of why I'm eyeing this induction technology with suspicion too.

Anybody have an opinion on this topic, please? (Otherwise I'm gonna stick to good old gas and get them stylish gas-on-glass cooktops).

Discuss, please! :)

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Casualty of Yoga

skippetty@gmail.com (Skippetty) — Mon, 09 May 2011 04:54:46 PDT

There are casualties of war, and then there are casualties of yoga. Today, I took a hit for yoga.

OK, I'm being a Drama Queen.

It's not really an injury or anything serious per se, but I've noticed an extremely peculiar phenomenon. Basically, when I've had a bit of a break from yoga and then go back to it again, the little blood capillaries in my face burst and I end up with little blood-red... er... blood spots on my face. They're not bumpy, they're just red spots under the surface of the skin. They don't hurt, they're just downright FUGLY. Especially after a couple of days when the fresh blood-red colour becomes... erm... PURPLE. Y'know, like how a bruise would react.

Actually, I thought it was just the yoga practice itself that maybe made me heat up or something, thus causing these red splotches.

BUT.

It happened to me when I was in Prague too. I didn't have time to do a full-on Ashtanga practice, so would either do some meditation or pranayama, followed by headstands. Ladies and gents, I think Sirsasana is the culprit. Must be all that extra blood rushing to the face or something while I'm upside down!!

Today, I finally made it back to the shala again and just started back with Primary series only (on a separate note, I was surprisingly strong and bendy. Funny how a break from the yoga does this. Also, Hello Summery Weather! Heat really helps to open up everything!!) But I digress.

So after today's practice, I looked in the mirror after my shower and was shocked to see this FUGLINESS on my face.

I'm warning you. It's pretty graphic and not pretty.

You have the chance to stop and look away now.

Are you ready?

I've got an extreme close-up of the burst blood capillaries too.

OK, you've been sufficiently warned.

Here goes...

That's not as bad as the close-up shot you're about to see. In my defense, I can unequivocally tell you that before this morning's practice, my skin was smooth. No zits or anything. All this redness came up after practice!

Ready?

... ... ...

... ... ...

Let's go!

ARRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

WTF right?!

I can handle bruises, I've had them everywhere from practising yoga, but er... ON MY FACE?!?!??? I'm a little bit too vain for this.

My teacher M at the shala had spotted my Sirsasana issues. Remember my moment with Sharath? Well, I could hold Sirsasana a wee bit longer in Mysore earlier this year, but still couldn't hold it till the end of Sharath's count. Teacher M in Amsterdam spotted me in it a month ago and basically said "you need to push your hips out a lot more. You're using too much of your arm strength right now and not using the balance in the pose enough. Coz you're not completely vertical."

AHA! No wonder I was getting all tired out in it. So I've been pushing those hips forward and getting over that fear to cross the last bit that would get me completely vertical. Who'd have thunk. I suspect this might be what's getting me red-faced? Maybe?

Eww. Those photos are disgusting. To make up for it, I'm leaving you with something a heckuva lot more beautiful. Variations on Surya Namaskara. I posted it on Facebook a few days ago but it's too gorgeous not to share here. Enjoy!

Pretty Prague

skippetty@gmail.com (Skippetty) — Fri, 06 May 2011 15:57:14 PDT

Holy Tamale. It's almost been a month since my last post?! Where'd the time go? ...I'm not even gonna make excuses. I've obviously been busy. In between prepping a shoot, I bought a flat. It felt like when I was spinning plates in the air - once I put the work plate down, the house plate had to keep spinning. Since something had to give, I suppose it was keeping up with this blog. Sorry!

A couple weeks ago, I was in Prague on a shoot. Daaaaaaaaaaaaamn. Prague is pretty. No wonder people rate it highly. You definitely get the sense that this place was once a filthy RICH boom-town. There's gilded EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE. As in... there are fancy accoutrements on the oldschool buildings, inside the buildings, and as a workmate pointed out, there are statues EVERYWHERE. In any nook and cranny they could find, a bust of a person would pop up or be built into it.

We had a wee bit of downtime on this trip (we actually had like 4 hours on a Sunday free to roam around! Wheee! Sounds sad that that was the only time we had for leisure, but that's quite a luxury when you're on a shoot!) And fortunately we were shooting in some pretty spectacular locations so we got to do some "sightseeing" while on the job. HAHAHA.

Check out the interior of the opera house. This place is bananas.

And the National Museum there's pretty bananas too!

The food was... Well... It was pretty much full of pork. I felt like I was in a Monty Python skit. Y'know, the one about the spam? Just substitute the spam with pork, pork, pork. And pork. Would you like pork with your potato-pork dumplings? Pork in your pork stew? Pork neck? Pork hock? Pork tripe? Pork sausage? Pork, pork, pork. And more pork for you?

***GAG***

(BUT... to the credit of the city of Prague, they actually had pretty decent vegetarian options on the menu so I was safe)

On the Sunday afternoon we had free, we made a tourist-blitz around the city. Well, just to the top of some hill to see the church and castle up there.

(We were cracking up that that looked like a medieval baseball bat. We are so cultured)

(I got photo-bombed there on the right. But as far as photo-bombings go, that's actually a pretty good shot!)

I thought it was pretty hilarious that all the tourists were stood in the middle of this amazing abbey, ALL with their cameras pointing skywards. People nowadays just can't stand still and take in the awesome wonderment before them without feeling the need to capture it on camera somehow. (and of course I'm the most guilty of the lot)

It was the week before Easter, so there were groups of ladies dressed up in traditional costume (at least that's what I think they are?) and they were singing throughout the church.

Is it odd that I LOVE this door hinge? I don't think I've seen a more beautiful door hinge in my life. And I never thought the day would come when I'd wax lyrical about a door hinge either.

This is their famous clock in the old town square. Unfortunately it was out of order, so we didn't get to watch the whole spectacle that happens at the start of each hour.

See what I mean by there are statues EVERYWHERE? I mean - they've put statues on pedestals in the middle of a wall. It's bananas.

A GORGEOUS art-nouveau building, filled with stained-glass and ornate artwork.

One of the highlights of this trip was shooting in the Barrandov studios. The Chronicles of Narnia was shot on the backlot here, and it's just pretty amazing to see soundstage after soundstage after soundstage in one place. The most famous (and oldest) soundstage here is Studio 4. It's entirely built out of wood and is basically where Leni Riefenstahl, Hitler's filmmaker, shot most of his Nazi propaganda films. HOLY SHIT!!!

The caretaker here very kindly unlocked the studio and allowed us to have a peek inside this infamous place. It is still a studio in use till today. I have to say, the inside of this place smells DISGUSTING. Damp, dank, and it just smells really OLD and STALE (must be all that negative joo-joo from years gone by).

The interior is pretty spectacular though. Like a post-apocalyptic warehouse wasteland.

(Hehe)

And then we walked round to the backlot. Yes, that same backlot where Narnia was shot. This same place was once a winter wonderland for that film, but now it's a medieval town. It's hilarious how the inside of the set really feels like you are in an old town, but when you knock on the walls, it's all wooden and hollow.

I love this shot showing you what a facade it is!!

And that's pretty much all I can share with you of the trip! The rest of the pictures can only be revealed after the spot airs. ;p

PS. Have I mentioned I'll get the keys to my new apartment on June 1? Yeah, MY VERY OWN HOME! ...Will have more rivetting updates soon of kitchen tiles and contractors. Haha.

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Commitment Takes Surrender And Being Present

skippetty@gmail.com (Skippetty) — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 13:38:52 PDT

There are milestones in life that one hits. I believe I just hit one today. I bought an apartment. Or rather, I signed a purchase contract, with the sale subject to the bank approving the mortgage. If all goes well, the transfer of the deed happens in a couple months.

PHEWWWWWWWW!!!! How very adult. *Gulp*

Here's my housing agent and notary. HAHAHA! Yes, we took photos.

Needless to say the past month has been filled with house viewings (33 in total), agonizing over what compromises have to be made (Location? Square area? Condition of the house? Price?) and it's been a whirlwind of endless questions I've been asking myself, my closest friends and family. Many apologies to the ones closest to me who've had to hear me agonize over the issues. I am seriously a nut case.

HAHAHA!

Of course, I already knew this. But I guess it was when my housing agent looked at one of the conditions in my initial offer and said "Well, that's refreshing! I've never come across this kind of request before!" ...That I realized that... OK, I might be more of a basket case than I thought. I had requested to spend ONE NIGHT in said apartment because I was fretting over the potential noise at night. The flat is on a busy street corner and even though it's got double-glazed windows, sound insulated floors AND I couldn't really hear much traffic noise during the day, I was getting anxiety attacks that what might seem OK in the day may turn out to be annoyingly LOUD at night.

Since the apartment had just been renovated with no one living in it, I figured that seemed like a fair request. I thought I could do a sleepover there with a friend who was up for it too. "Just like going camping!" she said. HAHAHA! (Oh, the naivety)

In Amsterdam there are rules that allow squatters to live in your house if they've somehow managed to get into it (don't ask me about the details coz I have no idea) - since this was a case with "squatter potential", the seller was having none of it, of course. So we settled on a night viewing instead where the seller's agent patiently waited 45 minutes for me at 9pm on a Friday night where I sat in silence in the master bedroom and meditated.

Uh huh. Like, seriously. That's what I did. I am laughing at my own anal retardedness and that someone was patient enough and willing to put up with my nonsense in the next room! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Apart from the occasional scooter VROOMING past loudly, the rest of the traffic is a dull hum of city noise. I reckon I love everything else about the house to let this one go. So... Ask me again a couple weeks after I've moved in, I might be kicking myself then. Hehe.

In considering all the future possibilities of this place (as one does when making this sort of "big commitment"), I got kinda carried away with worry and anxiety especially with the rent-control regulations here. Y'know... If I decided to leave and didn't want to sell it yet and had to rent it out then what happens if this, and what happens if that, and blah blah blah. I was running around in circles. My very kind housing agent answered all my neurotic questions patiently, giving advice that was one-part life coach and one-part motherly advice.

She reminded me to bring my yoga off the mat and live in the present. She's no yogi (or at least I have no idea if she is), but she pretty much told me something along the lines of "Look, you've been pretty smart about this place - checking this and checking that and thinking of things in the long term, more than what most of my other clients would've thought of. It's good that you're aware of all of these things. But at some point, no one can guarantee what's coming in the future or what your situation will be like then. Why are you buying a place? To live in now. Don't forget that you're living in the present. It's good that you've got your eye on the future possibilities and issues with the house, but down the road your situation might change, the regulations might change and you'll have to deal with it then when it happens anyway. So remember about being in the present too."

Ha! Well said, lady. I was gobsmacked. She was right. I had done enough worrying and contingency-planning. Occupational hazard of being a Producer, I suppose... I just wanted to ensure my arse was definitely covered. Two times over. But at some point when the numbers check out OK and all the other things on my things-to-worry-about checklist check out OK, let alone the fact that I'd actually found a house I'd fallen in love with... Then at some point I'd have to let go and surrender to the process and trust in the decision I've made.

So... I guess I'm buying a house then! :)

Even though it's been renovated on the inside, they left out the floor, kitchen and bathroom sink/ cabinets. I'm quite pleased with this since this means I'll get to customize what I want done with the place anyway. And you know this means a gazilion remodelling photos coming your way. (I've already started hunting. If you've been following my tweets, you'll know Ikea does my head in.)

Oh yeah, in the midst of all this, I'm also in pre-production on my next work project and we're in Prague at the end of the week for a shoot. Umm... With all this going on, I have no idea how I got here today. No wonder my face is breaking out, my sinuses are inflamed and my yoga practice in the past couple weeks has been non-existent except for some Pranayama (which hasn't helped the sinusitis either. I haven't been able to breathe through my nostrils in 5 days now). I still haven't gotten the hang of finding the balance between work, life and asana practice... Sigh.

BUT.

I am still ever so grateful for the little reminders to stay in the present. Like that reminder from my angel of a housing agent.

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Parsva Drishti

skippetty@gmail.com (Skippetty) — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 10:34:33 PDT

If there's one drishti, or gazing point, in the Ashtanga series that evokes a strong reaction from me, it's gotta be Parsva Drishti. Also known as "side" drishti, or sideways gazing point.

I mean... SIDEWAYS?! OK, so you're either looking to the right side or to the left side. But even then this is ambiguous. All the other drishti gazing points are so SPECIFIC, like the nose drishti (Nasagrai), hand drishti (Hastagrai), foot drishti (Padayoragrai), etc. Even the fluffiest-sounding one, the third-eye drishti (Ajna chakra or Broomadhya), which isn't even based on a physical body part, more like an energetic point, is so much easier to define than the ambiguous Parsva Drishti.

I mean... OK, if you're talking about Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana where you swing your leg out to either side in Utthita Parshvasahita... I'm thinking: "so I'm looking to the right, but right WHERE?! Up? Down? Eye level?"

I usually tend to just gaze a little bit higher than eyeline - somehow it just helps me from an energetic point, to keep the leg lifted, to keep the whole asana lifted together and upwards. So for me at least, this "Parsva Drishti" has always been a little bit more "sideways and UP"!

But then in Mysore, I remember in led classes noticing how most people's heads were dipped down. As in: They were looking to the side, but their focus was down on the floor!! (What great Parsva Drishti I have, that I can also spot other people's eyelines. HAHA!) I suppose in a crowded led class, there's no way you're gonna look sideways and at eye level, coz this means you'll be staring at your neighbour and if they wobble, you're gonna wobble and crash too.

So then I tried this out the next time: I looked down to the floor. SIDEWAYS, but gazing down at the floor. Wow, this really F'd up my balance. Maybe it just felt different and I wasn't used to it. But NO WAY. Never again. It felt like energetically I wasn't doing anything to keep myself in the pose either.

The other Parsva Drishti that makes me laugh is in Supta Padangusthasana. Usually by this time in the Primary series, I'm happy to be laying on my back and sometimes cheat a bit by not working so hard here. Heh. Also, with the sideways drishti here, sometimes my gaze wanders around the room to check out what other people are doing at this point. So I guess this particular Parsva Drishti is a "sideways and all over the room" drishti for me. Haha.

(I dunno why Arjuna is looking away in every Parsva Drishti picture. Maybe he's in on the conspiracy that you can't tell where the eyeline is supposed to be in Sideways Drishti.)

And then what really got my back up in yesterday's practice was Parsva Drishta in Pasasana. I was doing an evening practice at the MWF shala (no morning practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so it's evening practice there instead), and in fact I've been enjoying evening practices again so much that I'm thinking of switching over to evenings all the time now. It's only when work gets busy that it's hard to do so.

But anyways, so I digress.

Yesterday's practice was very laboured and water-retentive (that time of the month is creeping up!), and maybe it was also the big lunch I'd had, but getting the bind in Pasasana was a bit of a struggle. I got there eventually on my own, but I couldn't crane my head around fully in Parsva Drishti. I ended up looking kind of sideways to the left wall (and right wall) on either side, but usually in Pasasana I'm able to crane my head around so I'm looking more towards the back. So I suppose my usual Parsva Drishti in this is "sideways and to the back", whereas yesterday's Parsva Drishti was "sideways and... er... to the side".

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Look, for Arjuna, it looks like it's "sideways and UP!"

See what I mean by how Parsva Drishti is just a bit of a pain the ass?!

HOW DO YOU DEFINE IT?

How "sideways" is "sideways" enough?

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Call Me "Urban Herbologist"!

skippetty@gmail.com (Skippetty) — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 14:25:08 PDT

It was an AWESOME Spring weekend in Amsterdam this weekend. The sun was shining in full force and everyone came out to play. It was still chilly, of course, but WHO CARES?!? Without a grey sky, everything is manageable. And everyone is in a good mood. :)

I went to a meetup.com group of Urban Herbologists, who were meeting in the Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam's Botanical Gardens. Let me just clarify that I don't have green thumbs, dunno jack about herbs and plants, but I am extremely curious in finding out more. Especially since I've got a keen interest in food, health, healing (natural ways of healing), and also dabbling a bit in Ayurveda (it's more like armchair-Ayurveda, based on a hodge-podge of bits and pieces I've read up here and there.)

My friends all laughed at me when I told them I was keen to check this group out. They were like "OH MY GAWWWWWWD! That's SOOOOOO dorky!!"

HAHAHA!!! Of course it is! But... Who the hell cares?!?

As expected, I was probably the youngest in the group there (heehee), but I had the most AMAZING time. The group is led by an English lady, and there was another American dude there and two other local Dutch people. Including me, it was quite a motley crew of random people joined together by the same interest: Plants!! (Wow. I never thought the day would come when I'd ever have said that.)

Anyways, Lynn, our group leader, is the most warm and friendly lady, and was explaining how by tapping into the natural healing properties of plants, we could be witches. And then she went and explained the whole etymology of the word "Witch" and how it's NOTHING to do with wicken/ wicca or broomsticks and cauldrons. It's simply someone with vast knowledge and wisdom. (The only two men in the group looked at us three ladies in the group with a raised eyebrow. Haha).

I liked her immediately!

We walked around the herb garden for a bit where I learned to stroke the leaves of the plants and sniff their scent off my fingers. We also saw some patches of herbs with bell jars turned over on them, creating a mini-greenhouse effect. These bell jars have been here since the start of the Gardens, so they're of historic value!

The wormwood plant. Great for killing parasites in the body. I remember my Kinesiologist putting me on a detox that had wormwood to flush out parasites. And er... It's also the main ingredient in Absinthe (it's genus-species name even has "absinth" in it.) Someone explained how you can mix crushed wormwood with vodka, ferment it for 40 days, and you get a crude sort of Absinthe. Um... OK.

Then we moved onto another section where we saw SUPER OLD plants. This one had a sign on it that said "critically endangered" and is even "put in jail" for its protection coz it's worth a lot of money and is extremely rare. It's the Wollimi Pine. Once thought to be extinct and only seen fossilized in rocks... Until some explorer chanced upon it in the bottom of a cave. And now there's a whole industry set up to cultivate and sell the (very expensive) Wollimi Pine.

A redwood tree! Not quite the super ginormous ones you get in California, this one looked just like a regular tree until someone pointed it out and got us to touch it. Its bark is super soft, like flannel or felt. I've never felt anything like this on a TREE!

Then someone else pointed out these little green leaves growing on the ground. They looked like... um... regular green weed type of leaves, really. I forget the name now, but it's something-something garlic. It's NOTHING to do with the garlic plant, but picking up the leaves and sniffing it, it totally has the pungent smell of garlic. (!!!) Someone else mentioned it's currently the season for these leaves to grow and she goes to her neighbourhood park to "harvest" them. It only takes about 6 leaves per person to cook a pasta dish, and is a great garlic substitute. Imagine that!

Then came my favourite part of the day: We walked into the GIANT greenhouse in the Botanic Gardens, they have different sections for different climates: hot and dry for all the cactii, and hot and humid for all the lush tropical plants.

Here's a ginger plant.

There are a number of pools of water in this tropical section, and a lady who volunteers here at the Gardens told us a funny story about how the Hortus didn't put fish in the water at all. The water is there to be decorative and also aid the humidity levels. But over time, fish started appearing, and then terrapins started appearing... People had been dumping their old pets in the ponds! HAHAHA!

In fact, apparently that morning she had witnessed a family releasing their pet goldfish, Roy, into the pond. When she asked why, the parents said "Roy's grown too big for his goldfish bowl at home". (Super lame excuse!) But then, the huge drama of the day was when after the two little boys released Roy into the water, another HUGE white fish darted out of the corner and started chasing Roy around the pond!! As you can imagine, the two little boys were hysterical and in tears as they were witnessing Mother Nature's fight-for-survival in action. "MAKE HIM STOP!! MAKE HIM STOP CHASING ROY!! Is he gonna EAT ROY?!?" And the parents had to pick up the boys and take them outside.

BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I wished I'd been there to witness the scene. (Evil, I know. But it's so cute!) Fortunately, when we got to the pond, we saw an orange goldfish swimming around. The lady who volunteers there was pretty sure that was Roy, so drama averted. :)

A staircase leads to a little gangplank where you can walk amongst the tree canopies. Super awesome.

And then we saw this cactus plant, which apparently only flowers in its 100th year, and after that ONE time it flowers, it dies. We caught this flowering in action. There was gooey sap dripping from the ends of the flowers. It's latin name had "Agave" in it. Is this the same plant that produces Agave nectar?

The next meet up they're organizing might be... BIRCH TAPPING!!! Someone had suggested that the time to do it is NOW, when all the trees' energies are moving upwards and waking up at the start of Spring. I was like... Um... Birch tapping? What the hell is THAT?! ...You basically tap the tree for its sap. It's kinda sweet, like maple syrup. You need to cure it first or put it through some process first before you can eat it, but HOLY HELL!! How cool would THAT be?! I'm signed up and raring to go.

I must've spent about 1.5 hours waltzing around the gardens with my new-found super knowledgeable Herbologist friends, and when I left the place I almost felt kinda high! My confession of the day: I skipped today's led class to attend this meet up, but I'm so glad I did. Communing with Nature is just a whole other experience altogether.

After this trip, I had brunch with 4 ladies and a Daschund and told them all about my experience. They weren't laughing at my dorkiness anymore and all of them now wanna come tapping Birch trees with me when it happens. HAHAHA!

My Friend Liz

skippetty@gmail.com (Skippetty) — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 06:08:26 PDT

I have been meaning to write this post for... Oh say... Four months now? If I don''t knuckle down to do this NOW, life will just run away from me and I will never tell the world about this special lady.

Let me just clarify that I have never met her in real life, we've only ever been in touch through emails and er... various "social media". In fact, we met through the Cybershala. If we were living in the same town, I have the feeling that we would probably get along like a house on fire.

Anyways.

My friend Liz makes awesome bags. Bolsa Bonita bags. Like seriously... she HAND-MAKES them from scratch and sells them on her own website. Last year, I ordered a Mr. T handbag from her, and it still makes me giggle. Where his mowhawk is, is a little tuft of "touch me please" fuzzy softness.

She makes other bags of a similar style but with fuzzy patches of softness elsewhere too... Like Burt Reynold's moustache... And Tom Selleck's moustache... And Chuck Norris' moustache... And if you can't handle Macho Men Moustaches, she has softer fuzzy subjects like bunny tails and squirrel tails. She makes them as pillow cushions too!

Her stuff is so cute and awesome. And so well made. My Mr. T bag came with a little fortune cookie type fortune sewn on the back:

"A wonderful adventure awaits you, fool."

:) :) :)

And because I'm a little special, I got a matching purse with another fortune on the inside that says: "No time for jibber jabber." HA! That's what my old yoga teacher in Singapore used to say when people faffed on their mats or asked too many questions before attempting a pose. Mr. T and Yoga. Who'd have thunk?

To top it all off, when I returned from Mysore and was going through a bit of post-Mysore blues, guess what I found waiting for me in the mail one day?! ...Liz had decided to screenprint the picture of me and my Cosmic-Connection Swamiji from the cave on a new wallet design she's testing out!!

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!

I can't begin to tell you how awesome it is. It's so awesome I can't bear to use it. In fact, I think I'm gonna keep it until my next trip to Mysore... Where I'll bring it along to show it off to Swamiji himself. :)

I loved that she wrote "C.C. From Austin to Amsterdam" on the back of my package. :)

There ain't nothing like this one of a kind! She's planning on offering these on her site soon (I think?) so go on and ask her all about her stuff.

PS. She has no idea I've dedicated a post to her and I might get into trouble for it, so this is really a plug for a product/ person-with-mad-crafting-skills I believe in!

Speak My Truth

skippetty@gmail.com (Skippetty) — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 08:33:35 PST

I've been going through a period where I haven't felt like saying much. Hence the silence on the blog. Initially, a large part of that was just processing being back from Mysore... It really hit home when they say "there are more distractions in the West".

It's not just the TV and Internet either (Ashtangis in Mysore are invariably glued to Facebook post-practice. Haha.) But it's all the other "life stuff"... Social events, dinner parties, birthday drinks, boy problems, oh and then there's that thing called work too... I suppose when your day only revolves around doing your practice in the morning and then foraging for food later (pretty much THE biggest decision of the day in Mysore is "Where shall we eat"), getting back to regular life again suddenly seems so complicated and so full of other STUFF you need to do. (It didn't help that I'd been away for practically all of December for work too, which meant I also had 2 months worth of other personal admin backlog to get through. Ugh.)

My life last year was mostly about work, work, work. With a little yoga squeezed in between. I am trying to balance that out now by trying to be a tad more social, but then also not at the expense of my yoga practice the next morning. Damn, it's hard.

I pretty much whizzed into 2011 without giving it too much thought since I crash-landed straight into Mysore in the new year. I had no time to sit back and reflect what this year's intention will be. Since I turned a year older yesterday, which is kinda sorta almost like a new year for me, with new beginnings and possibilities... I had another chance to think about what this intention will be.

Last year, I had a very apt intention of Joyful Surrender, which served me well through the mayhem of last year (you can do a search for "Joyful Surrender" on this site and see all the events that pop up).

Yesterday, at the (ripe old) age of 34, I've decided it's the year to Speak My Truth.

Y'know... Honesty. To work through that throat chakra and speak up. And speak up honestly about my intentions and my feelings. Sometimes, it's easier just not to say or admit the truth (not just to others but to myself too). So speaking up can be a difficult thing... But that's the only way to live an authentic life, innit.

I hope I won't bore you in the process, as I just have telling you about it. HAHAHA!

In other news, my workmates are AWESOME. Yesterday, they Happy Birthday'd my desk. It was so lovely coming back from the boring-est client meeting first thing in the morning to be greeted by this sight:

And, I had 3 slices of different cakes yesterday, chocolate tart for elevenses, peach, rhubarb and prune tart for dessert, and vegan apple tart for tea. And another chocolate cake for breakfast this morning. I think I'm gonna have another apple tart for tea now. Happy Birthday to me. *BURP*

Re-Entry To Regular Life

skippetty@gmail.com (Skippetty) — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 08:42:46 PST

Erm... Has it really been ONE WEEK since I've been back from Mysore? I'm not really sure what to make of it. I've settled back into life in Amsterdam quite nicely and Mysore feels like a distant dream already. Practising in my cold living room in the mornings is ALREADY a freaking mission. I had the good intention of cycling out to Prinseneiland to do P+R's Mysore workshop this week, but the COLD WINTER has made me go into hibernation mode already and I can't seem to roll myself out of my warm bed. WTF?!?

I've got some lovely pictures from those last few days in Mysore, but I suppose I was delaying downloading them from my camera coz... Well... Maybe that would make my being back in the Dam a reality. And reality bites. Kinda sorta, not really.

Here are pictures from those last days of all the beautiful people (and animals) that I met along the way.

1. DOGS OF MYSORE
Juanita of Anokhi Garden.

Baghee of Ganesh's (named after the character in Jungle Book)
PS. Alice: Jungle Book is by Rudyard Kipling. It's NOT a story from India! ;p

Spotty stray puppy who hangs out at the top of Shala street. He's sleeping in the dirt on the side of the road here, then Mama-Dog came to check out what I was doing!

2. GURU FROM THE COCONUT STAND

3. LUNCH WITH ADIL & FRIENDS
Adil sells incense and essential oils at the Devaraj Market. He's the dude I met in my first week in Mysore, and he invited my friend Nass and I to a lunch he cooked. We brought a whole party to his shop to buy some oils before heading to his house.

4. SUNNY, MY HEALER
She's a Korean lady living in Pennsylvania who practices an ancient form of healing called Pavanamukhasana (I hope I got the name right), and I can only describe it as a mash-up of Indian-style Osteopathy mixed with Rolfing mixed with Thai massage mixed with energetic realignment mixed with physical realignment. I call her my "healer" coz she combines all the above with her intuitive gift of sussing out where your problems are. I've had some woo-woo moments with her and meeting her is definitely one of the highlights of this Mysore trip.

5. WALK AROUND THE LAKE
Believe it or not, there is a BEAUTIFUL lake in Mysore. Some say it's a bit dangerous to go walking around it by yourself since it can be quite desolate depending on the time of day you go. Nass goes with our rickshaw driver, Maney, and Alice and I tagged along on my last day in Mysore. Yes, I went for a 45-minute walk around the lake after a 1.5hr led Primary class at 4.30am.

(Good old Maney, my rickshaw driver!)

6. BYE BYE, SHALA!
No photos allowed in the shala. I DID NOT TAKE THESE SHOTS!! I took my camera back from my friend and was surprised to find these shots. There are more, but I am respectfully NOT posting them. ;)

7. BYE BYE, TO ALL MY TEACHERS!
Lakshmish, my Chanting and Sanskrit teacher. Good old Lakshmish, I'm very fond of him!

He also gave me back my last round of homework. I was surprised to get them all correct. I think he helped me with one stroke on the last word but counted that as all right. Hehe.

Saraswati. I will remember the day when she only seemed interested in assisting people with dropbacks. She was whizzing around to everyone who were finished with backbends just so she could drop them back. Which Grandma's gonna be doing THAT?!

Sharath, my teacher. I dunno why I'm in a mid-squat against the wall. My nervousness around him makes me do ridiculously un-normal things.

PS. You can see "Sharath is a Mac". Haha.

PPS. While we were all waiting to see him outside his office, here is Miss Tova with her little gift for his kids. Very cute!

8. BYE BYE, TO ALL MY BEAUTIFUL FRIENDS!
For some reason, Facebook seems to have taken over the Ashtangis lives in Mysore. So I created a Facebook event as a Farewell lunch for a bunch of us who were leaving Mysore that week. I called it "B'Bye KPJAYI Class of January 2011!" HAHAHA!

The Ashtanga world is sooooo small, I am so sure I'll be meeting up with everyone in these pictures again soon enough, at some point down the road. There have already been so many instances of TWO degrees of separation (yes two, not six), it's still mind-boggling to me.

Also - Ashtangis are a truly special breed of people. I am thankful for having met so many of these gorgeous peeps. Yes, I said "peeps". So shoot me.

9. DRIVE TO BANGALORE AIRPORT
Yes, even though there is now ONE flight a day between Bangalore and Mysore airports, there's nothing quite like that 4-hour car ride to and from Bangalore Airport. We started at around 7pm and arrived around 11pm. Waaaaaaaaay past my bedtime. It's a tad freaky to be riding in a strange man's car in the middle of the night in India as a solo female, so I made sure to keep my eyes open. With the amount of tooting going on, that wasn't difficult at all.

Also, my driver was blasting Bangra versions of Indian chants, I had a blast bopping along to them. Except when they came on repeat for the FIFTH TIME. Yes, the lyrics are really "Hare Om, Hare Om, Hare Krishna Krishna Om". Turn up the sound on your computer to listen to this. :)

Phew... I hope this super long post with shitloads of photos and a video has made up for my radio silence in the past week. I still have more Mysore stories and memories to share but I suppose I'm also readjusting back to life in the "real world" at the moment (where winter exists).

Right now, it's just nice to be able to do my laundry (WITH SOFTENER!), throw my toilet paper down the toilet (not in a bin next to the loo) and eat Thai food (non-existent in Mysore). But since it's Friday tonight, I'm going out to dinner (my first Indian meal since being back!) and the movies (I think it's gonna be Black Swan).

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Wrapping Up + Rickshaw Ride

skippetty@gmail.com (Skippetty) — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 06:45:34 PST

Too many goodbye lunches. Too many photos and videos to go through. And there'll be more farewells tomorrow too. I have a little over 24 hours left in Mysore. ARRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

I'll just have to post all of the updates later, when I'm back in Amsterdam.

In the meantime, here's some video taken while riding in a rickshaw. I was sitting up front with Maney, coz the back seat was completely full already. While the area around Gokulam is relatively "calm" and quiet, the ride into Mysore city and the city itself is pretty... um... Lively.

Watching the video again, it still doesn't quite do the sights and sounds of Mysore justice (you need a 360 degree camera for that). But it kinda gives you a good snippet of what it's like to ride through town in a rickshaw. :)

Will try to post a blog again before I leave... But um... I still haven't packed and I've suddenly accumulated SO MUCH STUFF and I'm freaking out I'm gonna be massively overweight and be hit with a massive bill at the airport... So after led Primary tomorrow, it's packing-like-there's-no-tomorrow (where's a Butler when you need one?), walk by the lake with Nass, final Chanting class, farewell lunch at Green Hotel, say Bye to Sharath (FUUUUUCK! WHY DID I LEAVE THIS TILL THE LAST MINUTE?!? WHAT IF HE'S NOT THERE?!?)... Then final packing bits and my last shower in India before my 4-hour car ride to Bangalore Airport in the middle of the night, then an 11-hour flight to Paris, transiting there before the final 1-hour flight from Charles de Gaulle to Amsterdam. BLERGGHHHHHHHH. It's not as bad as some of the 24-hour journeys the Americans have to make, BUT STILL!!!

Dear Lord, I feel like I'm in a blur already. I haven't had this much stress in the last 5 weeks!!!

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The Impending Departure Is Looming... +Food Porn (AGAIN)

skippetty@gmail.com (Skippetty) — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 08:09:42 PST

I can't believe I'm leaving Mysore in like... TWO DAYS!?! Five weeks sure passed quickly. I leave here late on Friday night. While I'll be happy to be back in Amsterdam, I'm really sad I'll be leaving the shala and all the lovely new friends I've met. The practice at KPJAYI is really vibrating on a whole other level. Tomorrow will be my last self-practice, and Friday morning will be my last led Primary class. ACK!!!

I suppose we all have to leave the Mysore-bubble at some point. Just go on and rip the plaster off quickly. Or something like that.

I've been thinking a lot about this practice (I mean... Hello?! Who here in Mysore isn't, I suppose?) And I guess I've been trying to figure out "What next after this?" Y'know... How do I get back to life as it was before, while infusing it with the Mysore experience I've had?

Sharath has always said something along the lines of "2 gurus, dead student". Meaning... The student gets confused if he has more than 1 teacher. And it seems like most people here have at least 2 teachers: Sharath in Mysore, and their teacher back home in wherever it is that they live. And it also seems like people seem to have 2 different practices: the one Sharath has them practising up to in Mysore, and the one their teachers back home have them practicing up to. Most of the time, people here are waaaaaaaay further in the series back home than they are given in Mysore (eg. someone could have been given the full Intermediate series back home, but Sharath only has them practising up until Kapotasana in Mysore).

So... How does one reconcile this? Just accept that this is the way it is and go home and continue practising all those additional poses your "home teacher" has given you? And return here every year to do your "Mysore redux" practice with Sharath?

In my case, it gets a little complicated. HAHAHA! Since I've pretty much spent half my time away from Amsterdam in the last year because of work, my practice has pretty much been on-the-road or done in my living room. When I've had longer spurts back in the Dam, I've continued practising the Intermediate series up until where my last teacher in Sydney had me practising till (I won't mention that pose I hate so much). So... Now what?! Go back and practice the way I was taught by my Sydney teacher? Or just practice the full Primary as I've been doing here in Mysore (and just NAIL them damn backbends again and again) until my next trip back here again?

I feel like this is where a regular "home teacher's" guidance will come in handy for me. Someone else who has been following this same tradition, who has gone through the same drill of going to Mysore then returning back to "regular life"... Someone who can offer some kind of advice or share in his or her similar kind of experiences of "what now from here"?

Two of my friends I've met on this trip were recently authorized in the last 2 weeks. YAY FOR THEM!!! And I draw such inspiration from them coz both of them have maintained a self-practice at home, without a "home teacher", for an extended period of time (for something crazy like 5 years). I was having such an issue with maintaining a home practice over the past year, let alone going at it for FIVE WHOLE YEARS?!?!??? (although one did say something along the lines of "Coming to Mysore every year is my reward for slogging it out in my living room for the year".)

My breakfast buddy, Jill, newly authourized teacher. :)

I suppose I'm trying to figure out what the hell I'm gonna do with my practice from now on. I know my work situation will involve lots more travel in the coming year. But... I'm not satisfied with how that affected my practice last year. It took a hit. I mean... Hello? I've been stuck on the same pose for a year coz of the numerous practice starts and stops I've had (I guess also coz I haven't had a regular teacher the past year). I know it's not about attaining the next pose, and I certainly have learned lots from struggling through the starts and stops, and coming to learn "old" poses all over again when I've "lost" them along the way because crazy work schedules led to zero time for practice.

So... Now what.

Baby steps.

I am grateful for the time I have to practice. Like now.

And also... While I've got time in the first month back at work in the Dam, I'm gonna take every available opportunity to practice (it's like a feast or famine situation with my yoga practice! HA!) Umm... I've already sniffed out a Mysore workshop being given by P+R (teachers from Crete who are oldskool students of Guruji) who will be in Amsterdam that first week I'm back from Mysore.

HAHAHA!

Well... That would be a nice transition back to "regular life", right? Daily Mysore for a week with some great experienced teachers. And then after that, I'm gonna check out the Monday-Wednesday-Friday shala in the Dam again and give that a whizz. I am secretly hoping they'll also start introducing Tuesday and Thursday morning classes, so I'll at least be able to get a proper routine going. I found it really difficult to maintain a shala and home practice on alternative days initially, but maybe while I'm on a Mysore-high, this might give me more motivation. :)

This whole plan might just blow up in my face, but we'll see. Not everyone is blessed enough to have daily morning Mysore classes in a shala with an experienced teacher AND a local Ashtanga community to share in the sangha. So I consider myself lucky that even though Ashtanga's not quite as widespread and common in Amsterdam as it is in... Oh say... Helsinki (have you seen the list of authourized teachers from there?!) ...At least there is the beginnings of some kind of Ashtanga scene here. I just need to get more involved.

Food Porn for today: Home-cooked meals! Here's a sample of what Anu has at her home-restaurant.

And then Maney invited us to his house for lunch yesterday. Him and his wife cooked a FEAST for us!

The day before, Tova organized a Masala Spice Cake Party. I finally got a shot of the elusive miss.

And this is her Masala Spice Cake. DEEEEEEEE-LISH! (we are lucky that baking keeps her happy!)

Today for lunch, I had my SECOND non-Indian meal of my entire 5-week trip. Pasta from Pascucci. :)

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LH, AliBaba Pants, Bylakkupe, First-Time Neti

skippetty@gmail.com (Skippetty) — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 07:03:09 PST

Well of course it had to happen. A month in Mysore and at some point that "ladies holiday" has to make an appearance. Gentlemen, you may excuse yourselves at this point if you like and pick up on this post once I'm done with talking about our "feminine occurrence". I will mark when you can pick up reading this post again with a row of asterisks like this:

*********** Girl Talk: START *****************

Interesting conversations abound whenever the topic of whether menstruating ladies should practice or not. It is strict shala RULE that you shouldn't step foot into the shala during the first 3 days of your period. And this not only means that you shouldn't practice... It also means you don't come for any of the chanting nor Sanskrit nor Sutras classes. Like... Literally... Don't STEP FOOT into the shala.

Hmm... You can see why interesting conversations arise around this.

I've always gone with the theory that women should follow that downward Apana energy that our monthly flows bring. I mean - engaging the Uddiyana and Mula Bandhas pull your internal energy upwards, going against that downward Apana flow. Besides, an Ashtanga practice just wipes me out even more during the time of the month so why would I fight that?! I usually just take the first couple days off.

Another theory has been that the above energetic theory is probably how the Western sensibility has tried to make sense of this Indian cultural point-of-view. Coz if you think about it - if its *ONLY* because of the energetic flow, then granted, it's fine if you don't do asana practice... But then why shouldn't you be allowed to come to the other classes like chanting and Sanskrit?

I remember reading in the Guruji book that whenever Amma was on her LH, she would basically keep to herself in her room and not do anything. Guruji would then take over all the female duties in the house, down to the cooking and cleaning (I'm pretty sure I remember reading this. Correct me if I'm mistaken?) ...So clearly there is some cultural difference here where this aspect of femininity is acknowledged in India (I wouldn't go so far as to say it's "celebrated", but it's definitely "acknowledged"). Whereas in the West, the view is more like "All is well, nothing to see here. I'm having my period and so what? That ain't gonna stop me". (Just look at all the feminine hygiene ads on TV for a start.)

I hardly think it's misogynistic AT ALL to get a chick to slow down during her time of the month. Show me any Western dude who's gonna take over ALL the female duties in your house when you're having your period and he has my R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

ANYWAYS... I digress. Since I was only gonna be here for a month, I had every intention of being a rebel Ashtangi and just practicing through my LH (and why don't they add 3 days extra to every girl's class pass in lieu of this, anyways?!) I suppose the Universe was probably not having any of my rebel plan coz... um... the floodgates opened Friday morning after led Primary, and thankfully this gave me an excuse to skip the next day's led class (Saturday was a practice day, the 7th day of practice last week, in lieu of Sunday's rest day coz the Dalai Lama was giving his talk in Bangalore).

I was secretly overjoyed I didn't have to do that 7th day of practice, and dunno about you, but um... there ain't NO WAY I'm practising a led class on my LH coz um... There ain't no way I'm doing inversions and screwing up my flow even more... But then this would also mean that (1) the WHOLE ROOM can see this and then work out I'm having my period, and (2) I don't wanna be yelled at for being in the shala coz I'm not doing inversions hence I must be on my LH and so WHY THE HELL ARE YOU HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE?! (This happened to a friend of mine last week, so I wasn't about to get caught out too. She was sent to the changing room to do Savasana when everyone else was in inversions and given a talking-to by one of the female assistants).

Also - I dunno why it seems OK to tell the whole internet about my LH, but not the practice room of oh say about 100 people.

OK. Enough with the Girl Talk.

*********** Girl Talk: OVER **********************

*********** GUYS CAN JOIN IN THE POST FROM HERE NOW **********************

For Evelyn, who wanted pictures of my Ali Baba, I mean, MC Hammer pants. The first pair is made of soft black cotton material, with an elastic waistband at the top, with a whole row of elastic smocking. The top most elastic waistband was waaaaaaay too tight (it could fit my thigh comfortably, which meant it gave me a serious muffin-top around the waist), so I got Rashinkar to measure my hips and make the top elastic band looser. They made it 3 inches looser and it's STILL way too tight. I give up.

The other one is a similar Ali Baba style, but with a dropped waist too and a drawstring top. I made this with a thicker dark grey, textured fabric and really like this one. It's a little too short but screw it, I can always tie it lower down my hips.

I have a feeling they might be pants I'll never wear outside of India again... But HEY! I have my wardrobe for my next Mysore trip sorted. Heh.

On Sunday's official rest day, 4 of us decided to go to Bylakkupe, an area 2 hours' drive away from Mysore that is a Tibetan refugee settlement. The drivers here have some pretty crazy hanging ornaments on their mirrors, but I haven't seen anything as crazy as this:

We made it to the Golden Temple - a Tibetan Buddhist temple, and its surrounding grounds look like dormitories for the monks. Because this was the day of the Dalai Lama's big talk in Bangalore, we were hoping for it to be rather quiet here. Even though it definitely had a different, non-Indian feel to the place, the noise level of all the visitors definitely reminded you that Yup... You're still definitely in India!

The "Shoe Keeper" asked me something in a language I didn't understand. I said "HUH?" Again he rattled off something then said "You speak Hindi?" ...Erm... I haven't even mastered Sanskrit and he's asking if I speak Hindi?! ...I'm wondering if he thought I was Tibetan or something. That would be pretty cool. Heh.

It was pretty stunning, and I felt like I was on a movie set. I like how those boy-monks were also taking photos in there.

I love these random signs.

Everywhere we went, local guys kept asking Alice and Sonya if they could take pictures with them (as in: they wanted photos with the white people!! HAHAHA!) It got to the point where Alice was fed up and turned to one group and said "Picture? 10 rupees". HAHAHA! ...She never followed up though.

I was looking forward to the Tibetan Momos all day. They're vegetarian dumplings. Sadly, they were a little disappointing. These pictures look better than they tasted. Guess I'm used to delicate dumplings with thinner skin. These had really thick skin and were a pretty tasteless mix of cabbage and um... some mystery green veggie.

I'm not sure if it was worth the 2-hour drive there and another 2-hour drive back just for the half-hour wander around the grounds, though.

I forgot to mention that earlier that morning, I had gone over to my healer-friend's house for my very first neti-potting session. She has been giving me therapy sessions and it's hard to explain what she does except it can only be described as a mash-up of Indian-style Osteopathy mixed with Rolfing mixed with energy realignment mixed with Thai massage. It is AWESOME. But whenever she's had me laying down on my belly and my sinuses act up, she keeps saying I need to do neti. So she finally kicked my ass out of bed at 6am on our only rest day of the week, to do Neti with me at sunrise.

Neti is nothing like the waterboarding experience I imagined it would be. I had a SNOT-FEST of GROSS YUCKINESS that flowed out both sides. And I had NO IDEA my right nostril was completely blocked until I'd done this, along with the Kapalabhati breathing exercises you do before and after.

ANYWAYS... I felt great all of yesterday - my head felt light and clear, but halfway through at Bylakkupe, I had a gush of salt water exit my nose. Randomly, just like that. Oops. Guess I didn't Kapalabhati it out enough earlier that day. And then I started having cold symptoms that evening and went to bed at 7.30pm, the earliest I've slept since being here.

All of this morning, through the sun salutations, my nose was a dribble-fest on my mat, it was SO EMBARRASSING!! But... by the end of practice, I'd stopped blowing my nose and things felt clear again. I'm not sure what to make of this. Feel scared to do it again! It's supposed to clear your sinuses out! Why am I dribbling like there's no tomorrow?! I seriously felt like this chick on my mat this morning... like it was a continuation of my Neti experience. Minus her silly big smile.

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More Orphanage Pix, Laundry in Action, Sanskrit vs Kannada Fonts

skippetty@gmail.com (Skippetty) — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 07:55:04 PST

More awesome pictures of Wednesday's Dental Day at the orphanage, photos courtesy of my friend Roberto. :)

I love how at the end of every session, we all sit in a circle and sing the chant, umm... I think it's part of the Shanti mantra, taken from the Upanishads. The kids all know this by heart, and I love how whenever I walk past schools, I can hear them start a class by singing this. It seems everyone here knows this chant from memory!

Asato Ma Sat Gamaya | Tamaso Ma Jyotir Gamaya | Mrityor Ma Amritam Gamaya
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti

Today, I went into town to the Rashinkar tailor AGAIN. Umm... I'm getting a bit fed up of this process. It seems like if you've got an existing piece of clothing, they can make a copy of it really well. HOWEVER... if you're making something from scratch, or even using a piece for reference and deviating from the design just a little bit, that's where problems start to happen. OK, so it's cheap and good to make clothes here, BUT... Just be prepared that it'll take you a few trips to finally get it to a place you want it. Or maybe you might just get fed up and accept the item as it is (and never wear it again!)

On our way back to town, I decided to video the outdoor laundromat. I posted photos of it in my first week here, but it's really quite a sight to see it happening in action as you're driving past! It's like the Valley of Laundry. Here goes:

And finally, the last of my Sanskrit Level 1 homework from last week. I got 7 out of 10 correct only. BOOOO!

I came across this menu in a restaurant, and really liked this Kannada font. See how it's totally different from Sanskrit? ...Oh, and I'm being a total juvenile here but it gives me a giggle coz the way they've written this script makes it look like boobs and bums on the menu. HAHAHAHA!

OK, today's post is totally random and disjointed. But I'm only posting a smidgen of everything that's been going on here, so take this as my Masala Blog Post of today (Masala = a mix of different spices). :)

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Orphanage Trip & Cooking Class

skippetty@gmail.com (Skippetty) — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 05:57:41 PST

I'm done with Sanskrit classes! Whoop! Whoop! I could probably move onto the Level 2 Sanskrit class now, but since I've only got 1 week and 1 day left in Mysore (?!?!???), I figured I wasn't going to kill myself doing more (and harder) homework. I'd much rather take it a bit easier and let the last few weeks soak in a bit and run around town doing other stuff too. Other stuff like... Hanging out with the orphans again!

I think it was a holiday yesterday (Republic Day? ...I have no idea. I am really living in a bubble right now!) so all the orphans were dressed up to the nines in fancy outfits. One of the yoga students is an Oral Hygienist and she wanted to check all the kids' teeth, so the plan was to stay in the orphanage and play with the kids on the roof while the dental check went on downstairs.

Here's the line of boys waiting their turn:

The rest of us had fun playing with the kids again. It was a little more contained than running around in a park.

Someone brought a guitar and was singing. One of the kids started dancing along. Too cute!

Some of the other kids were drawing or playing with Barbie (she's universal).

My friend Rob has much cooler pictures posted on his FB page. Will post them once I get his permission to use his pix.

Today, Alice, Sonya and I decided to do a cooking class at Anu's. On the menu: Palak Paneer (including how to make your own paneer), and a variety of eggplant dishes. I had no intention of learning how to make paneer since I don't eat that stuff, but I sure as hell LOVE Palak! (spinach)

Anu's is a little home kitchen that usually serves home-cooked food to the yoga students, buffet-style. It's much lighter, less greasy and spicy than all the other restaurants in town. On her days off, she gives these cooking classes.

Excuse the green tint in some of the shots. Where the spice talk was given was under a green perspex roof and I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to change the colour temperature correctly.

What she calls her "masala spice box" - a box with all the spices she uses frequently, including Cardamom, Fennel, Black Pepper, Tumeric, Ajwain, Mustard seeds and Fenugreek. She also showed us other good stuff like curry leaves, coriander (aka cilantro) and coriander seeds.

If you're looking to elimnate onions and garlic from your diet... Y'know... following an Ayurvedically Saatvic diet, then a good substitute is something called Asafoetida. I have NEVER, EVER heard of this. Anu says explicitly that this is NOT MSG, as some people believe. It's some kind of resin taken from a plant. Google it. We saw it in small, blocky form and also as a powder. Just a sniff of this is enough to pack a punch up your nostrils (apparently you can cook this with onion if you want, just not with garlic coz it'll be too pungent a combo).

The Making of Paneer.
Step 1: Bring milk to a boil.

Step 2: Add lemon juice. As much as you need to separate the... er... milk from the whey. Basically the milk should separate into a white solid block and a clear liquid.

Like this:

Step 3:
Strain it so only the milk solids are left.

When it's in the strainer, you can run more water through it to take away the lemon juice.

Step 4:
Put the solids in a cheese cloth and SQUEEEEEEEEEZE the hell out of it. To get a solid block, you should really put this cheese cloth between 2 towels and put something heavy on top of it and leave it overnight.

Step 5:
Ta dah! That's IT. Done.

Anu says they only buy their milk from a local farmer's co-op. :) So I figured it'd be OK to try a tiny bit of the paneer. It um... tasted like solid milk. HAHAHA.

Then came the aubergine dishes. Grilling the aubergine first always add a bit more flavour to the dish, even if you're cooking it in something else later. If you don't have an oven or a barbeque, here's a tip: You can grill the aubergine over the stove. Fer reals. It gets EXTREMELY messy towards the end when it gets juicy, but it works if you want char-grilled eggplant. Check out the process of grilling over the stove:

Because the outside's kinda charred, here's Anu's assistant scraping away the charred bits (while she's talking about something else).

Into the wok it goes, with the rest of the spices.

Anu was also explaining to us how you would fry the mustard seeds in oil first - and showed us how the seeds pop up when they're cooking (you can see her flipping the aubergine on the other stove towards the end).

More eggplant dishes. And cooking the Palak. Actual spinach isn't as green as the stuff you see in supermarkets. Anu says if the spinach is too green, she won't buy it as it means the farmer has added too much fertilizer. (!)

I take way too many pictures. I need to learn how to cull them down even more!!

More aubergine overload... She sliced some others to dip in a chilli/ tumeric paste to pan-fry. Her tip to get stuff to stick to the eggplant? Making little cut marks in them like this.

Of course, we all got to sit down and feast over Anu's hard work (apologies for the greenness, we were under the green roof again!)
P.S. Spot Alice & Sonya!

The cooking class was an AMAZING experience. Anu is like a tour guide to Indian culture, giving us information from medicinal properties of each spice, to cows and their importance/ significance to Indian culture, to the "typical" Indian way of living outside of the major cities (since as she says, the majority of Indians still live in poor villages and have a very different way of life to what we are exposed to here in Mysore).

She has written a book but hasn't published it yet - still waiting for the food photographs to be done up. All of us would have bought her book on the spot since her food is delicious and she was such a charming host! A+!

PS. Backbend update: Stood up again from the last backbend from the floor today. Take that, you backbend-sucker! ;p

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Backbends+Angry Birds, Safety First, More Food!

skippetty@gmail.com (Skippetty) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 21:09:00 PST

I. DID. IT!!!!

Stood up from a backbend from the floor. Yes, You Sucker! FINALLY!

Did 2 sets of 3 backbends walking hands in closer every time, and on the next backbend when I finally walked the hands closer still, suddenly something clicked in my legs in a "OH! I kinda remember this now!" sort of way and I was able to hurl myself up to standing on the inhale. I don't think Sharath or Saraswati saw me, but who cares?! I probably had an idiotic grin on my face anyway.

Every body is built differently and what works for me is probably different from anyone else, but definitely walking the hands in as close to the feet as possible was what made it click for me today. DUH. My thighs tend to push upwards more whenever I walk the hands in, automatically activating them more, giving the grounding I need. And then it happened. And immediately after that, guess what my next thought was? ..."Crap. Now I'm gonna have to 'rinse and repeat' and make sure I do it again tomorrow." HAHAHAHA! :)

After this I went straight into dropbacks without hanging back halfway like I usually do to "open up" the back first. I guess doing lots of backbends on the floor is the equivalent of this and I felt open enough to dropback today without faffing. And dropbacks and standing back up from them were great again today! Nobody was standing around watching and pressuring me again, so that definitely helped too.

Other things that helped me finally stand up from that blasted backbend from the floor:

1. Angry Birds. Yes, Angry Birds the game.
I'm a little obsessed with this game where you have to catapult the angry birds onto pigs that have stolen the birds' eggs (yes, seriously. I play this game). Yesterday, when my friend Nass told me I had to think of moving UPWARDS rather than only FORWARDS, I thought of the catapulting action in Angry Birds. HAHAHA! I'm a nerd. Watching other people practice while sitting out in the foyer for my turn to start also helped me visualize this spring-coil action needed to move your centre of gravity to propel you up and over (hence for me, moving the hands in as tight and close as possible to the feet helped this).

2. Dreaming of it
Seriously. I woke up at 3am today and couldn't fall asleep again. So I started visualizing doing backbends from the floor and finally standing up from them. At some point I must have drifted off to sleep.

3. So embarrassed to admit this, but before practice today, I dedicated my practice to: the act of standing up from a backbend on the floor. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! I am a complete and utter nerd. I was very aware that I wasn't grasping and willing it to happen, I just dedicated it to the act of standing up itself. Didn't matter if I did it today or not nor ever.

So... I suppose I have been kinda sorta obsessing over this. HA. So then what happens now? ...Absolutely NOTHING. I wake up and do it all over again tomorrow. :)

A couple days ago, Karen, Jill and I went to Rashinkar's, the tailor, in town (this was my third trip there in the 4 weeks I've been here now. I end up buying or making something there every time I go. I need to STOP GOING THERE!!!) I tagged along with the girls coz they were looking for Mysore rugs, and I was just interested in going round the corner to Dasaprakash after that for lunch (it's always about the food. Heh.)

Rashinkar's is currently going through renovations and every time I've been there, something looks different about it, or it's in a different state of... er... disrepair. This trip was hands down the winner. They had pretty much removed part of the floor of the second floor, as well as the wall of the stairwell. So in order to reach the section where the Mysore rugs were kept, the poor girls had to walk via a shaky, loose wooden board. I think this was actually a little board holding the lighting electricals. It was never built as a gangplank to get from one side to the other!

Someone remarked... "Er... Is it safe?" To which came the reply "It is safe, Madam".

I had no need for a Mysore rug, so no way in hell was I gonna risk life and limb to get over to the side! I climbed up the stairwell (the one with no wall around it anymore), and it had poky wire-mesh and crumbling construction bits sticking out of it. Here are more photos taken from Karen's FB page, used with permission:

View from the other side where the rugs are. I was pretty much standing where this lady is, giving them my opinion on which rug colours were prettier. HAHAHA!

The big stash of Mysore rugs:

Later, we had another round of Thali at Dasaprakash. :)

Other food porn shots from dinner last night... Coconut Dosa at Greenleaf (only on Tuesdays!) This baby is laced with coconut and other good stuff and is greasy-HEAVY. (For the first time, I couldn't finish my dinner!)

Alice is the Queen of Vanilla Ice-cream. This is probably the prettiest sundae I've seen so far.

I'm done with all my Sanskrit classes! So this afternoon I can make another trip out with the group to see the orphans. It's nice not to have anything heavy to do today (like HOMEWORK). HAHA!

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Different Perspectives on Sunday Conference 23 Jan

skippetty@gmail.com (Skippetty) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 03:55:04 PST

Better late than never. An amalgamation of Sunday Conference reports taken from a bunch of different sources. And.. My second post in one day!

I always find it fascinating how different people take away such different things in every single Conference we have. I suppose there are so many different aspects talked about every week, and different things resonate with different people.

Here are some I've come across. Please feel free to add more links to other blogs I may have missed out!

1. From David Garrigues

Sharath's Conference January 23, 2011 from David Garrigues on Vimeo.

2. From Claudia

3. From The Unruly Ascetic

4. From Kino Macgregor (also on Elephant Journal)

5. From Jill Manning (my breakfast buddy in the mornings!) ...And what she says is true. Practically everyone I've spoken to had a flying practice on Monday. Me included.

Do you know of other links? Post them in the comments below!

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