I haven't even been here for a week and there is already a strange familiarity to this place and the people. But as Noah said in his introduction during the teacher training course (TTC), Mysore is "India-lite" in the sense that it is very middle-class (Indian) and very much infused by westerners (at least Gokulam). As such you have the best of both worlds and don't have to struggle very much with language difficulties or finding things because there is always some westerner yogi at the coconut stand who you can ask.
So, the TTC has started which is for me now the "NOW" (and according to the book that my friend Becc lend me from Eckhard Tolle - living in the NOW is one of the most fundamental ways of freeing ourselves from the mind that is locking us into the past or the future - either being confronted by the ghosts of past experiences and reliving them like ground-hog day or worrying about the future or thinking "I'll be happy when I am like this or have that or,....").
But in essence the 'past' days prior to the TTC were very much a lead up to the present and a way to take advantage of having time, no commitments, no schedules and no deadlines (yes, I could have study the Coulter book of the Anatomy of Hatha Yoga, but for some reason my brain refused to engage in anything more basic than how do I get from A to B, where can I buy this or that and when it is time for another chai or coconut again). So, instead I explored Singing Bowl Therapy (quite intense and unfortunately the unblocking of chakras and nadis didn't go well with my dinner - so something had to give, and in this case, it was my dinner a few hours later), Shiatsu massage (total bliss! Kerstin saw me immediately afterwards and essentially said "I want to have what she's having!" She even said that my voice sounded different and relaxed) and treatment with Noah (mainly to see if and how my asymmetries have changed since I last had an assessment when he was in Adelaide in May and also to get some insights into how to modify or accentuate asanas.
And then there it was : day 1 of TTC (and my birthday - again, thanks Becc and Kerstin for the wonderful surprises and gifts - you are great!!!).
Each day for the next 7 days (first day off is next Sunday) will start at 6am with hatha yoga (practicing the sukashanti method that Noah developed - more on that later), followed by pranayam and meditation, then breakfast break for 1,5 hours. From 10:30 to 12:30 theory (philosophy, anatomy, ethics, etc.) and then lunch, study, nap or whatever-you-want-to-do break til 3pm. Then the most interesting part of the course starts: teaching asanas to my fellow course members: for a start, we are broken up into groups of 3 or 4 and each of us has to teach the others a sequence of poses - this is challenging in itself but given that only very few in the course are familiar with Noah's sequence, you not only have to remember a completely new sequence but intelligently (and without loosing your breadth) communicating that to the other people - and not forgetting anything. It is really fun though because everybody is so supportive and Noah is a great teacher.
His Sukashanti method that we are starting with is (supposedly) very basic and will get more challenging as we go along. However, I find lots of challenges (in a good sense) in it and find that my body responds very well to it in the sense that I feel less twinges and more openings without feeling I'm straining every muscle in my body to get there.
5pm is the official end of the day and so far, I've been hitting the wall at around 8:30pm because there is so much information to take in and also being around people for most of the time, I feel a bit exhausted and its nice to just be able to have a quiet night at home (and having Kerstin as a flat-mate is great as we seem to have similar body-clocks and mind-sets).
I don't think I have lived in the NOW as much as I am doing at the moment - because you are surrounded by new people, there is no (or very little) past baggage and because I am removed from my routine and work environment, there are very few thoughts about the future. The NOW is very much restricted to living and breathing where I am and what I'm doing and not only DOING but also LIVING and understanding at a deeper level the essence of Yoga - this may sound very dramatic and I'm not saying I've come even close to mastering this, but this is what consumes most of my mind and energy at the moment. Will see how it all develops :-) Namaste, my friends!
So, the TTC has started which is for me now the "NOW" (and according to the book that my friend Becc lend me from Eckhard Tolle - living in the NOW is one of the most fundamental ways of freeing ourselves from the mind that is locking us into the past or the future - either being confronted by the ghosts of past experiences and reliving them like ground-hog day or worrying about the future or thinking "I'll be happy when I am like this or have that or,....").
But in essence the 'past' days prior to the TTC were very much a lead up to the present and a way to take advantage of having time, no commitments, no schedules and no deadlines (yes, I could have study the Coulter book of the Anatomy of Hatha Yoga, but for some reason my brain refused to engage in anything more basic than how do I get from A to B, where can I buy this or that and when it is time for another chai or coconut again). So, instead I explored Singing Bowl Therapy (quite intense and unfortunately the unblocking of chakras and nadis didn't go well with my dinner - so something had to give, and in this case, it was my dinner a few hours later), Shiatsu massage (total bliss! Kerstin saw me immediately afterwards and essentially said "I want to have what she's having!" She even said that my voice sounded different and relaxed) and treatment with Noah (mainly to see if and how my asymmetries have changed since I last had an assessment when he was in Adelaide in May and also to get some insights into how to modify or accentuate asanas.
And then there it was : day 1 of TTC (and my birthday - again, thanks Becc and Kerstin for the wonderful surprises and gifts - you are great!!!).
Each day for the next 7 days (first day off is next Sunday) will start at 6am with hatha yoga (practicing the sukashanti method that Noah developed - more on that later), followed by pranayam and meditation, then breakfast break for 1,5 hours. From 10:30 to 12:30 theory (philosophy, anatomy, ethics, etc.) and then lunch, study, nap or whatever-you-want-to-do break til 3pm. Then the most interesting part of the course starts: teaching asanas to my fellow course members: for a start, we are broken up into groups of 3 or 4 and each of us has to teach the others a sequence of poses - this is challenging in itself but given that only very few in the course are familiar with Noah's sequence, you not only have to remember a completely new sequence but intelligently (and without loosing your breadth) communicating that to the other people - and not forgetting anything. It is really fun though because everybody is so supportive and Noah is a great teacher.
His Sukashanti method that we are starting with is (supposedly) very basic and will get more challenging as we go along. However, I find lots of challenges (in a good sense) in it and find that my body responds very well to it in the sense that I feel less twinges and more openings without feeling I'm straining every muscle in my body to get there.
5pm is the official end of the day and so far, I've been hitting the wall at around 8:30pm because there is so much information to take in and also being around people for most of the time, I feel a bit exhausted and its nice to just be able to have a quiet night at home (and having Kerstin as a flat-mate is great as we seem to have similar body-clocks and mind-sets).
I don't think I have lived in the NOW as much as I am doing at the moment - because you are surrounded by new people, there is no (or very little) past baggage and because I am removed from my routine and work environment, there are very few thoughts about the future. The NOW is very much restricted to living and breathing where I am and what I'm doing and not only DOING but also LIVING and understanding at a deeper level the essence of Yoga - this may sound very dramatic and I'm not saying I've come even close to mastering this, but this is what consumes most of my mind and energy at the moment. Will see how it all develops :-) Namaste, my friends!
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