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Faculty Yoga Study in Pune, India
Received from Brian on February 25:
Hello all!
There is a rhythm here that absorbs one. Its not until "here" is looked upon from the "perspective of "there" that this is realized. With the time here waning, more becomes evident. There is the schedule and teaching at the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute (RIMYI) and around it, the natural and unnatural rhythms shape the experience.
In a day - 5:25 rising, pranayama, shower, tea, sutra - 7:00 asana class or study/practice - 9:00 practice or observe women's class - 12:00 lunch 1:00 tea, dark chocolate, morning recap - 3:00 library 4:00 practice or medical class 6:00 asana or pranayama or medical class - 8:30 light dinner, afternoon recap 10:00 unrising. Sunday - off schedule.
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gandha - the heavy, humid, background-smoky air emerging from the Mumbai airport; no smell during a sinus infection; puja incense drifting into the morning practice; mysore sandalwood soap; the crisper, cooler, cleaner air of morning pranayama; a fellow practitioner's mosquito repellent during pranayama class; the decades stored in the pages of the library's oldest texts; the smoke of burning street cleaning; the sweetness lingering upon the air telling of Guruji's recent presence;
rasa - the first tea stall chai (tea, sugar, milk... equal parts); homemade, ayurvedicly balanced lunch at Chitras; the numerous, differentiated tastes of thali at the Shreyas and Asha Dining Hall; the bitterness of grapefruit seed extract in water; the metalic aftertaste of a peach-flavored zinc tablet; cold melon in the middle of the day of the middle of the first week of the beginning of summer weather; the first taste of dark chocolate after the last dark chocolate; upma, the "oatmeal" of India'; cool water;
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Brian in Prvrtta Trikonasana |
rupa - Guruji's practice, light-years away, just yards away; the new 7 series BMW squeezing through the auto-rickshaws, scooters, motorcycles; a days work of firewood gathering carried upon the head; Prashantji's smile during one of his "headnotes"; exhaust particulate hanging in the air; the tiny, violet flowers emerging from the plant by the gate; the whine of the front gate as it closes; the depth of contentment upon Guruji's face when in (any) asana; the carefully tended garden surrounding the Institute; the darkness in the asana room when the power dropped, the light inside as Geetaji instructed us without the minutest hesitation; the deep smiles exchanged between mother and son in the medical class after his new asana;
sparsa - resonation/vibration of the "aum" in my lower abdomen, thorax, head as we begin 7am class with Prashantji; the smooooothness of Chitale yogurt; the synchronization of Geetaji's hand brushing my trapezius down with her class instruction; the sting of the bite of an undetected mosquito; the trickle of intelligence to an area in my body where it was previously not; the hotter, dryer air that has arrived to stay; the softening and releasing of the facial skin during post-pranayama-savasana; the potency of Guruji's guidance and sequencing;
sabda - a cricket's grinding chirp; a devoted voice chanting, circumabulating the Mandir at 5:30am; caucophony of birds from the adjacent park; swoosh of the street sweeping by hand; the trains passing; the doppler of early monring rickshaw and cargo carriers rumbling by; the faint, steady clang of the Mandir bell at 6:00am, the words of wisdom, skillful action, and interrogative wit of BKS Iyengar; horns, horns, horns of the traffic, organically weaving through the streets; the nectar voice of carnatic singer Sudha Raghunathan; the whine of the house front gate as it closes; the flash of Guruji's eye in medical class, "get a short stool...";
Looking forward to seeing and sharing with you,
practice! practice! ... practice!
peace to each and all,
brian |
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