Last Yoga Class at RIMYI and Last Day in Pune

April 26th-27th, 2008

I did the final class this morning. Since Abhi is out of the country we expected a replacement to come. Well, it was past 7 am and no one to conduct the class yet. The students decided to start the prayers themselves and we were just about to jump into Adho Mukha Svanasana, when Raya showed up. There was confusion who was to teach the class, so he was late. We started with Adho Mukha Svanasa, and with an intermediate pose of Uttansana, he asked us to do Sirsasana. Ah, not today - I can't hand the blood gushing into my head first thing in the morning as I was uncertain how it would impact my blood pressure. My doctor had told me logic would dictate that inversions could cause increase in it. I mentioned it to him. I was asked to do Viparita Dandasana with support. From there it was Chair Sarvangasana and then supported Bada Konasa. We performed more time in two variations Bada Konasana and then the pranayam was inserted, eventually to Shavasana. They all have different styles - I preferred Abhi's style more. Raya also ranted quotes on yoga philosophy and how to properly get into Shavasana, while he is instructing a junior youngster who is being shamed into doing 100 halasanas. He challenges us to bring our attention to the breath and away from this distraction. To bring our thoughts inward. Then someone's cell phone ring in a typical Indian musical tone. He is obviously annoyed. My mind wanders - why be bothered about cell phone rings, when there is so much noise pollution outside. There is constant influx of sounds into the yoga hall - the buzzing, the thumping, the rumblings come right into our minds in the middle of shavasana. If we can accept that, why not accept a cell phone ring. Just a thought as I try to focus my mind back into myself.

He also quotes the Iyengar family members - what they say about yoga, about understanding the asanas and their purpose without sounding too philosophical. I get some, but I feel he will have a deeper impact once he develops his own style as he growns and learns from his own practice. The inner yogi inside him needs to slowly come out and shine in his own unique style and I believe he will. He is a good teacher. All in all it was a relaxing conclusion to the week as it was my last class. I will be taking off this weekend for home. I asked him about poses for my recently discovered Spondolysis. "Go to the library and read materials and speak to your US teachers"! I will do that for sure.

This last week here was less about asana practice and more about what it meant to be here - in this little oasis of spirituality, yoga and holistic life. The house I am staying in, the Hanuman Mandir (temple) accross the street, the yoga center, the park next door, the people around this one street -- they paint a very holistic picture with a brush of "faith". I have discovered that in the midst of tremendous heat, unbearable sometimes, the buzzing of cars and scooters, the honking of horns, there is peace, tranquility and calmness. The heart warming music of the temple, the morning and evening patanjali chants at RIMYI, the chirping and singing of the birds, this little oasis called Hanuman Mandir Road is simply abundant in faith.

I told my hosts, the Shahanis, that there was something holistic about the 3rd floor of their house where I was staying. Neena said that the floor was built specifically for devotees of the Hare Krishna Temple by her father in law and now of course its primarily used for Iyengar Yoga Students from abroad. There is something very spritual about this place which gave me much needed comfort and peace and time to reflect, write and read most of the wonderful books left by many yogis from their past trips. I will write a separate blog about some of these wonderful books I read that inspired and enlightened my intellect.

Neena Shahani so eloquently put it "there is simply faith all around you". I realize as I am ready to go home, that it is the faith that brings the peace to the inner mind. It doesn't just exist around Hanuman Mandir Road, but its abundant all over India. This is probably why I am so drawn back to India. In this trip I discovered despite all the noise, the pollution, the dirt and filth in India, there is faith is everywhere you look . This is what makes India unique - despite all the contradictions and extremes that exist here. India is open to such a diversity of faiths. There are so many pathways to inner peace because there are so many pathways of faith that exist here. People see faith in trees, in stones, in animals, in people, in many animate and inanimate objects. The statues, the idols all these objects identify and exemplify these pathways. You eat, sleep, and breathe faith here and all forms of it are just accepted. I walk every morning by a tree on the sidewalk decorated with colors - I know someone worships this tree. There is faith in the trunk of a tree by the roadside and its accepted and respected by all.

You choose what you want to believe in and it is accepted. Someone posted a comment on one of my previous posts, asking about the meaning of a yogi and does he or she have leave their home and family to become a yogi. I posted a simple reply inform of a definition. I realize now, that this is such a complex question to answer. There are so many answers. The Iyengars so rightfully say, "just because you know the meaning or definition of something doesn't mean you fully understand it".

I agree , you cannot learn something by memorizing a definition. But, I have realized that having faith does bring you closer to understanding of many things, including yoga. Faith allows you to practice and practice brings an intuitive understanding of the subject you practice. It was a eureka moment! Its faith that brought me to Pune in 2001 and I had no idea then about Iyengar Yoga. Its faith that keeps bringing me back to this oasis of spritual upliftment and its this faith that keeps me on this spiral process to continually seek peace of my inner mind. This revelation made my trip worthwhile.

I must thank the Shahani's for their hospitality and kindness. I want to really thank their long time cook, who herself shows such faith despite her old age, by cooking these wonderful meals every day for me. She would call me Sahibji (sir) and I told her please call me son. She is probably my grandmother's age. She was so taken aback! She said how could she, as I was a man of stature. I told her no, she was of a higher stature both in age and experience, so she deserves higher respect. Here was another example of the dichotomy and contradiction that exists in India. People of money and stature are presumed to deserve respect. Well not in my world, not in the culture of my adopted country and I felt to be proud to be American when I told her that. Her cooking is the best I have tasted ever!

Thanks again to Mrs. Sunita Parthasarthy for helping me sign up for classes. Najeeeb for bringing the halasana bench. My staff in Pune who have such respect and regard for me and work so hard 24X7. And last but not the least Mr. Pandu at RIMYI who was very kind and will let me attend classes in future trips and found my badly needed sunglasses. I may not have perfected my asana's in this trip, but I have certainly taken babysteps to perfect my understanding of how to reach my inner mind. I left this morning for Mumbai with a hug from Manu and a comforting hand shake from Neena inviting me to come back. I told them I had a strong feeling I would be back but wasn't sure if they would have room, considering the fact that they are booked in advance. She replied, "You never know, there may be a cancellation". Well only faith will create a cancellation and only faith will bring me back to this little heaven on earth!

So as I fly out of India tonight, I promised myself to hold myself to this faith that I need to continue in my strive to do my karma and my yoga, inorder to get closer to my inner mind. I need to leave the rest - the outcome to the universe, the universal god and almighty. That is what makes a true yogi.

Namaste

The Yogi

Day 8 Don't Jerk but transition and flow into correction -- A short conversation with Prashant Iyengar

Today was a 7 am intermediate class by Abhi, guruji's grand-daughter. I can tell she is very pranayam inclined as it began in her discourse at the onset before the patanjali prayer. Focusing on breath awareness right from the onset. I fore-warned her about my high blood pressure - she nodded. I was concerned about inversions. We started the dog pose on the rope. Now if you have never done this 0n a rope, best to put a blanket. These ropes can cut into your thighs until you really get used to them.

She instructs to extend from the sides of the torso and with every exhalation you can walk out further despite the resistance of the rope which is carrying all your weight. Then onto Uttanasana, the pressure is building in my head and fear of an imminent collapse is overcoming me. Should I just go ahead and do a half uttanasana instead. Would she find it offensive? Before the thought even completely processed in my mind we instructed to do a Shirsasana with a belt around the upper thighs. My heart sinks. "Be Indifferent" echoes in my head. " The blankets need to be on top of the sticky mat, not the other way around". I shall make a mental note of this instruction. Couldn't stay long on this one.

Then we were off to Viparita Dandasana. Wham-bam chairs are out fast and off we go. Now my head is really pounding. I get her attention and tell her softly "my head is pounding". "Get three bolsters" she says. So out I get and bring back three bolsters. She adjusts them so my head and neck are more flat and rested. The thighs are tightly strapped, I can still feel a slight back bend. Its relaxing. Off to Chair Sarvangasana. This pose has been repeated throughout the week consistently. She talks about the "throat" and how most thought come from the throat and how important it is to relax the throat. All these poses are designed to cool the mind and quieten the metabolism. If the throat is not relaxed then neither is the thyroid gland, which increases the bodies metabolic function. She called it "yogic science". I am just absorbing this like a sponge. I can't put it all in words but this all makes sense, and yogic or not what I heard is science for me. All these poses are being done for at least 10-15 minutes, so they are long poses.

We move to Viparita Karani - Long pose. Nearly 20 minutes. While in this pose she instructs us to do Viloma Pranayama. This was most relaxing. Finally my head felt completely relaxed and it had a cooling effect. I could hear loud noises from downstairs. Prashantji giving instructions at the top of his voice - like a football coach. I can't wait to sit and hear his next dissertation. We end in a shavasana. I ask Abhi about poses for high blood pressure. "Forward Bends" - sounds great!

Prashantji's class is in full swing. I spot a familiar face Zubin Zarthostimanesh, Nuvana's cousin. I hand signal but he is too absorbed in the class. Prashantji talks about how many Iyengar teachers are too focused on correction. He compares a person in a pose to a moving train. He says you cannot simply correct them with a jerk. Then the teacher is simply a jerk to force such a correction. The body while doing a pose is in motion, and correction can only happen in the flow. You cannot catch the moving train without being in sync with its motion and velocity. How true! Prashantji is a modern day genius yogi.

He claims that the best way to correct is to give instructions and let the practitioner correct himself in the flow and motion of the asana. Hearing this I realized I need to lower my expectations of teachers who simply give instructions. His words simply cannot get out of my head. I spend all of the remaining 30 minutes watching the dance of the students switching from one pose to another while he ranted out his amazing philosophical discourses on yogic science. He talked about how the sun is revolving around the galaxy at 550,000 miles per hour while the earth at 65,000 miles per hour around the sun and how where the sun and earth were last year is probably not where they are today in the orbit and that these are spirals. How true. I can completely relate to spiral processes coming from the computer field. Our mind and body are bound by such spiral processes as well. I can't fully comprehend all this in words, but I get it intuitively. I got what he was saying and it was very uplifting and powerful.

Later in the afternoon after a nice lunch and a nice kerala massage, I went back to the center to visit the library. I saw Prashantji at his desk. I approached him and asked to talk to him for a few minutes. He was very receptive. I told him how I have been drawn to his discourses for the past few days. I tell him how much sense they make and how much impact he has had made on me in just a few days. He talked about how such analogies with science are important in the understanding of the mind-body connection and yoga. He is an enlightened soul and he sits at a simple desk writing by hand with a pen and paper, while the world moves on to electronic text. I was nervous talking to him, very emotional, but I did blurb out that I wrote this blog and I was going to write about him today.

I feel vibrations inside me as I type this blog. I have termed it the "Prashant effect". His discourse has been running in my head all day today. Especially the process part. Here is my humble interpretation of it. We are all in a process called life and everything around us, whether cosmic, real or abstract is really a process. In order to effect the process in anyway we need to get in sync with it first - with its motion and velocity. Only then can we understand it, impact or change it. This was my take away from his discourse today. I know somewhere and some place this brilliance from Prashantji is going to impact my life. I don't yet know when and how. But I can feel the cosmic connection already with this process.

Namaste

The Yogi