New Year...

Oddly enough this year I'm not seeing too many end of the year posts or lists, by this time I've usually been saturated by them on Facebook and other social media and tv shows and such, but maybe since I'm in India I'm not seeing so much of that.

To me its not the end of the year, its just another day transforming into yet another day.

Here in Mysore it is the end of the month which means many of my friends are leaving to go home and many will be coming for January, already some have arrived. That transition seems odd but then in a week you forget about it and are used to the new schedule and the new energy around town. This year there is also someone here who just arrived from home who doesn't speak to me for reasons I don't know but I reached out before she arrived to open the avenue of communication and got a response, so we'll see. Hopefully that can be a healing that happens here as well. But other than that, it doesn't seem like the end of anything.

In yoga, especially maybe in the Ashtanga method, we are trained to really bring awareness, strong and deep awareness, to our practice. Which eventually then translates over into our lives. Once you start living with such awareness each moment can be a moment to let things go, to reapply your focus in a direction that is more helpful and to move forward in a direction that better serves you.

Here in Mysore especially it can be this way because the pressures of home are not here. You don't have to go to work, you can and some do, but its still not like having to drive in traffic and live under a heavy schedule like there. You don't have to teach and hold space for others, so your focus is almost solely on yourself. You have more of community because we're all here doing this strong practice and are having emotions come up, changes abound from within and we are constantly questioning the status quo and making changes to support the new findings we are gleaning as we work deeper and deeper each day. Many bring their family so may have kids or spouses to deal with just as at home, but again the pressures from daily life there don't seem to bring the same amount of pressure here as they do there. All in all, life here supports the deep inner work we're here to do, even if we are starting with the gross body, much more is going on than just learning new shapes to move yourself into.

So thinking of tomorrow being New Years Day doesn't really seem to have much effect. We still have to wake up well before dawn to get to the shala for our practice, so no late night activity, or not much anyway, happens for most of us. But the idea symbolically can be a good one. I just choose to not wait until a new year to make resolutions, but each day as I discover something that is no longer working for me, or something that could work better or something that will work for now while I wait for more guidance as to what direction to go, I make sankalpas. A sankalpa is an intention. An intention in which to move your life spiritually. To me spirit and energy form the grossness of matter, so your intention can begin that process with more integrity than without it.

Not to say this always happens, sometimes the same mistake is made for a while before I realize the old adage you can't expect new results from doing the same action is actually true. But as I age and my practice matures, mostly especially when I'm in Mysore and have the extra time to give to my awareness for the full day, it becomes a bit easier and eventually hopefully will come more and more naturally to catch the thing that needs to be changed much sooner than otherwise would have happened.

So my sankalpa for this time frame is to keep moving forward in life, bringing more and more awareness to each and every word I say, action I take and to each thought that pops up. Even more importantly my larger intention is to not be as judgmental to myself when I don't catch things or behaviors that are less than desirable but to use that as a reinforcement to bring more awareness there the next time, until it becomes habitual. Also my hope is that being less judgmental with myself will lead me to being less judgmental of others. Each of us is on our own path and has to learn how to navigate things in our own way, and that way may not be super desirable to me, but to them it may be the best choice they can make at that time and so will be the best thing for them.

I've grown up being judgmental about everything, I'm not going to get into where that came from but just from this moment forward work on not judging others and when I do in my mind, not judge myself for doing so, just hoping to be less so the next time.

This is for today, tomorrow I may need to work on something else, and the day after something else. But to be present with the changes and aware when my focus needs to shift is my bigger intention.

Maybe easier to say go with the flow? I need to learn to go with the flow more. Water is the most powerful force on the planet, it nurtured whole environments but can also destroy them. It flows down the stream, it may get stuck in an eddy from time to time but then it moves on past that. When there is a rock it can find the tiniest hole to make its way through, or it finds a path around the rock eventually wearing parts of the rock away to make a new route. But it always finds its way to flow downstream.

So maybe I should just say I want to be more and more like water...

Trust...

Trust, surrender, let go... These are all things you hear all the time here in Mysore and concepts we are constantly talking about while we're having our meals. They are also the scariest things on the planet especially when you were raised to grab a hold of something and not ever let go of it.

Saturday during led class, which I'm notorious for not liking because they move too fast for my back and it can get locked up, my back found a new glitch. Not really new I guess, its been there but when I'm practicing at my own pace I can work with it and through it and it will be gone by the time I'm finished and if not I have a couple stretches I can do that will help work it out. So because of this I was contemplating not going to led this morning so that it could get worked through, I did however set my alarm to get up early for led class just in case, then when it went off and I rolled over and felt the catch I decided to sleep a bit longer and then practice at home.

Which did not happen, so I decided to surrender and not worry about it, I have 5 more days of practicing after this anyway for the week so I'll work it out. But that mind set of pushing and doing is a hard one to overcome. So then folks say just surrender to it, it'll be okay.

Well, what does that mean? I know what it means I think but why is some days its so hard to do and others its the easiest thing?!?

I've really worked this trip to just allow and surrender to the fact that this practice is very physical and not concern myself with the physical part of it, but to move through it with devotion, following my breath and lifting my bandhas and for the most part it has been working. Then I miss a day and judge myself and am not observing ahimsa in my thoughts, so then I think let go, its okay, everything is the way its meant to be and many days that works, then others it does not.

Not that I'm saying I'm having a judgmental day today, but that I'm having a day of questioning I guess. Why is it so hard some days and some days so easy?

That's life right? We never know and the skills we're learning by studying the sutras and practicing the asanas and vinyasa are meant to be used in those days its not so easy and on the days it is pretty easy, to just ride that wave. Both are okay, even though they don't seem to be at the time. In afterthought we realize this. Maybe. Some days... LOL.

So I'm here, I'm trusting that this system works and that its okay when I have days that I find it not so easy to trust, I'm still trusting. Surrendering to the process, letting go and not concerning myself with it. Much easier to do here than at home. But maybe I need to quit thinking that way. I'm feeling this place is my home, at least for right now it is, so I'll say that it is easy here at home and when I get to my next place I'll feel at home there and it will also be easy as well, even if that place is still in India.

Yes, that means that I'm thinking about living here for a bit of time. Not sure when but I am sure that I want it to happen...

This goes back to my last post I think, this is like Jedi training. It can't be easy, but then when it has its moments of ease you can appreciate it all the more and eventually, maybe, it will feel like there's ease more often. Just maybe, I hope...

May The Force Be With You...

Okay, I'm in India and have just now seen the newest installment of the Star Wars franchise, The Force Awakens, for my third time.

I began looking for a spiritual path, even though I didn't know that term yet, back in 1980 after Yoda talked about the force so much and so convincingly in the Empire Strikes Back. So Star Wars made me realize there was more to life than just following what I was told in the Baptist church I was raised in.

A few years later Shirley MacLaine's book "Out on a Limb" was made into a tv miniseries and having seen her and been moved by her performance in Terms of Endearment (yes, I was only 13 when I saw it but I am gay, so the appreciation for good drama has always been there lol) I wanted to watch it, knowing nothing about its content. It moved me even more and I realized at this point that there were many paths from the east that talked about the force, or what they called prank, or chi, depending on which path you were on. So I read a few more of her books and they started my process. I quickly forgot that process to a degree when I moved out of my house at 18 in 1988 and began partying and socializing after having gotten a real job making real money.

When a friend had me reread a couple of Shirley's books in 1997 we decided to go on a journey looking for some spiritual work to be done and ended up just drinking a lot but had a lot of great discussions, so this is probably when the process really started of me trying to really find a spiritual path that rang my bells. The year following that trip Madonna's Ray of Light album came out with all these ideas she'd been exposed to from her study of Kabbalah and Ashtanga Yoga, and as a young gay man, when Madonna talks people listen! lol, I listened anyway.

It wasn't until I started a yoga class that I found a copy of Yoga Journal at a local "hippie" grocery store and there was an article about Madonna and her practice in it that I actually started looking for and found an intro to Ashtanga class and knew I'd found my home. At that time I felt like it was probably the closest thing to Jedi training in its intensity and the power of moving prank that it has.

There have been many posts about my journey so I'm not going to get into detail about it all over again, but after seeing the newest Star Wars for the third time and finally being in Mysore, now for my third time, I'm realizing that this is much like Jedi training. Probably as close as we as humans will ever get.

There are trials an tribulations, learning to control and move our own energy, learning to control our minds and body at the most subtle levels. The classes here are more intense than at home, although at home has its own intensity for me since I practice on my own daily before I teach. They also bring out emotions more quickly, and changes in our bodies more quickly. And if I remember correctly I believe Matthew Sweeney compares it to the Jedi path in his book as well, so I'm not alone in feeling this way.

All of the things that come up for us here are tested daily in that we are very social here with one another, so you are almost always being tested in your resolve around many issues and interactions with others. So there is more of a barometer here than there probably is at home, especially if you're a home practitioner and are the only teacher in your area.

Bringing this awareness to me this trip is also another level of understanding as I move forward on this path that I am grateful for. My friend I just saw the movie with made a Facebook post reminiscent of this one so I owe him props as well since his post inspired me to write this. I don't necessarily have a lot to say right now, just wanted to put that connection out there and see how many also find this is true for them.

Two spoons..

So I'm supposed to be on a call talking to a doctor about teaching an Intro to Ashtanga course at a university here in India, but the line is busy and has been now for a bit. So I decided to write a bit.

Conference this last Saturday was really good. At first I was trying to write but couldn't really formulate what I wanted to say, but I knew there was something in there to say. It never did come to the surface so I just left it alone. Now I still don't know that there are words that will come out, but I'm going to write anyway.

One thing I did find out that I'll tell you about, often when you go to the local Indian restaurants for idly or vada they will give you two spoons, and someone posted asking why in the Facebook community. So I thought maybe it was because they used one for one thing and one for the other, but I finally asked and found out it is to cut of the food and you use one to spoon it into your mouth then. So they use them much like we use a fork and knife in the West. I personally don't use utensils this way, I just use a fork to cut through whatever I'm eating and then to place it in my mouth, but we're taught this with the knife and fork as the "proper" way to eat things...

So, now we know, big mystery solved.

Another thing, the new installment of the Star Wars franchise came out last week at home. And I've been seeing post after post about how good it is, people seeing it multiple times. Here in India it doesn't come out until Friday, which is Christmas. I checked last night and the tickets for the Thursday night early shows were already on sale so a good friend offered to scooter me up there and boom, got the tickets. I'm excited to see the film realized visually, but I've already read all the information and know all that happens in the movie, well, maybe not all. But the big plots and twists I know. I also know that it looks and feels much like the original movie and is an homage of sorts to it. Still, I'm excited to see it.

This week I made my debut back into the led classes here after three weeks(?) maybe? Not sure exactly when I stopped going but its been a while and I followed some good advice and it worked. I had a nice spot and didn't have to deal with the pushing and shoving to get into the class. That was yesterday and today was a Mysore class. I was tired. The full moon this Friday has already got me waking up at odd times of the night, the non moon day weeks I've been sleeping like a baby. So I went to class very sleepy this morning but due to that fact my mind wasn't there to distract me from my focus, so my breath was good and my practice was quick and smooth. Very nice.

These are the kind of practices we all want to have all the time I think. This being already an intense form of yoga, having a bit of ease here and there is very welcome!

Well, not much to say so I'll go try to call once more and then take a nap if there's no answer again.

Have a great week and if I don't get to write again before Friday and say so, have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays in general, whatever might be the ones you celebrate!

New moon in Mysore...

Thank you all for the comments on my last post, I appreciate them and your insight and support. I have been with this practice, well for 8 years and then when I came back to it for 4 again, so I know its an ebb and flow and I have grown pretty good at riding the waves of it. I also find that writing about my thought processes I'm currently going through helps me to work through the issues coming up, so that's what you're seeing here. Doesn't mean I'm giving up, just means I'm moving through the cracks, finding my way to the other side. Again, thank you, love you all.

Today was a new moon, which in this tradition means a day off the asana aspect of practice. Which also very often to me means a day other aspects of the practice come up. Sharath in conference this morning, yes we had conference on our day off, talked about working with yourself first instead of reading texts. Paying attention where you're working with the yamas or niyamas throughout your day and how you can work with them more clearly, which one is needed and in what dose in a certain situation, where to pull back, where to move forward. These of course are my words and how I'd say them, but I got the point. I'm sure that I have them in my mind at different times, but what I took away from what he talked about this morning was a new level of awareness that's needed.

I'm aware of how I carry my body in space, I'm aware of every aspect of myself physically, I'm also very often aware of how I'm feeling in my mind, but I may not be aware of if my thinking takes me down a path that isn't so ahimsic, or where I'm allowing my contentment to wane in a certain situation or other.

I also know that awareness only deepens. When I was younger I drank a lot and did a lot of drugs in order to dull my awareness, because it seemed I only noticed when I was in a negative situation or thought pattern and never took the time to appreciate when I was feeling great and milking that experience for all it was worth. I think if we can get to the point that we do that, then we're living the example for others that we need to be.

At home I seem to be pretty good at noticing that, but here I feel the energy is much more intense and so it overwhelms me more often which leaves me reacting and staying in my room longer. But now its time for me to step back up to that place I can often hold myself at home. As of right now this place is my home for a mother few months and its time to treat it as such...

On the moon day's eve we often have a gathering or many different gatherings to choose from and last night was no exception. We had a kirtan hosted at a beloved breakfast place we all go to (great owners) that has been revamped and turned out to be a great place to have a big group of us together, I even almost danced, a little bit hahaha... But being around a large group all at once where you can socialize a bit if you want or not if you don't want is a great thing and rare in this world, it might only happen here.

Today and really this whole week, has been very relaxing and low energy so its been nice. But now I need to start figuring out what I'm going to do with myself. I am scheduled for three months with Sharath and then was planning on going north to travel around with a friend, who ended up having to go home unexpectedly. Which isn't a big deal, traveling alone doesn't scare me. But money is running a bit tight and I need to figure out if staying here and just practicing at home that extra month will be cheaper and more sustainable, then I can travel next time or just make a trip here to be in the north, hmmmm, there's a thought. Not whining just thinking out loud, or rather thinking through my fingers since I'm typing!

It will all work out the way its supposed to and I'm embracing that with open arms, it's surgery month after all. Things never stay still when they are being worked on and this month has definitely been bringing my stuff to the surface and requiring me to do the deeper work, which is why I'm here, right?

A Crisis of Faith...

Okay, a crisis of faith might be a bit dramatic for what I'm going through, but if you know me at all you know I can be a bit dramatic from time to time.

Also, why in the hell am I writing so much?!? A friend complimented that I keep up with my blog so well and I said well usually I'm very uninspired and only write once a month if that, but for whatever reason this trip is showing all of the things I need to work on and rather than holding them in (even though I am internally processing them) I'm writing about them and hopefully they help others going through similar emotional release.

I'm also tired of talking about how emotional I am this trip! Hopefully it all starts moving through and I can get some clarity and let go.

Saturday after I was moved to walk home and practice instead of push and shove my way into the shala to vie for a spot that was then going to be cramped and tight to move in. I had a great practice, but I also thought a lot about the fact that I'm not here to be practicing alone. I do that at home every day. I'm here to practice with my teacher in a group setting. So I resolved that I would be going to the led class Monday (Sunday is our day off here, in case you didn't know that). So when Monday came, I got good sleep and got up in time, got ready and walked out the door only to see from up the street that again there was an enormous amount of people already sitting and waiting at the gate to get in. So, very discouraged, I turned around and went home. I decided to wait a bit to practice so got online, chatted with a few people back home where it was afternoon for them, and then was planning to practice at about 5am. But instead I dozed off and fell asleep until 7am, and when I awoke I was starving, so I got up, washed my face and went to breakfast.

I'm feeling very unsure of things today. Why am I so willing to give up a practice when I've worked so hard to get here? The practice is harder here, more intense, yes. I know this, I've been here before and experienced it. Why then is it so hard for me to stay motivated to do the practice? Is it because I'm not as far along in the series as I think I should be? Possibly, but does that really matter? Not really and I know it, but sometimes the ego creeps its way in and doesn't let me have much peace. Is it because this practice doesn't work? Not so, I know and we all know when utilized it does make us feel better, physically and emotionally and mentally! Is it because I'm tired of everything being so hard? Yes, this might be it. I have found a level of ease in my life over the past couple years and it seems like why does this practice have to be so hard to be effective. Now we all know there are many other softer practices, or ones that are less physically intense that work. I myself used Kundalini yoga for many years and it gave me clarity and opened me up in many ways, so why do I need to do this much more physically demanding practice instead? I don't know.

Could it also be because I'm not competitive? Yes, for sure. Now the idea is that this practice is not competitive, even though its very physically demanding. I'm okay with that, the demanding part is good for my mind and body both and I get a lot out of that. But mostly I think its the getting into that room on the led class days that puts me off. Yes I want a spot in the main room, not to be stuck in the changing room or lobby to practice, would it kill me to be in there though? No, of course it wouldn't... But the pushing and shoving to get in there? Ridiculous, it makes me feel terrible and there is so much stress to that part of the day that it puts me off completely. Am I driven enough? I feel like I'm driven in wanting to build that deeper connection with source, but as far as getting on to practicing the further postures in the series that I'm not yet? No, I don't think I"m driven in that way at all.

I for years practiced intermediate series with adding on some of the advanced a series as well, almost daily, primary series a couple times a week, as taught to my by my first teacher. So maybe because I've already "achieved" those postures I'm in no hurry to do them again? Maybe, but I also remember feeling more amazing after an intermediate series practice than primary series, its actually more intense to me than any of the other parts that I've practiced before.

Am I tired of primary series? Maybe a bit, it is monotonous for sure, but last year after my back went out here, Sharath was adamant that it would heal my back problems if I stuck with it, I will say from my experience that yes, it has mostly healed them and I'm feeling pretty great.

So why am I missing so many practices here and why am I okay with it and what the fuck am I going to do about it? Well, I think part of it is that I'm seeing so much posting on Instagram and Facebook about the postures, but not the deeper aspects of yoga and so many people content to be good at that and not so worried about the behavioral parts of it. Now, is that for me to worry about? No, all I need to be concerned with is my practice and how I approach it, so when will I finally be able to let go of my concern with others and what they're doing? I don't know. Maybe never. Am I okay with that? No, I want to be able to let go of caring about that now.

It seems each trip has had the theme of letting go, or surrender, but each time it has been more deep and moving me to another level of letting go. This one is the deepest yet and I find my mind fighting back a bit and not being okay with that, I don't like fighting , especially when its internal. I like things to be easy and flowing.

So I'll figure it out I guess. I need to remind myself why I'm here. I'm here to do this work. I'm here to do this practice because I believe in it and know that it can help me move forward and through my emotions and mental states, even while at the same time being the thing that is bringing them to the surface. I'm here because I believe in something bigger than myself and through this practice I've discovered more and more connection to it and relativity with it and am learning how to maintain that throughout my day, even though I'm not feeling it right this moment, I still have two more months to be able to refine how to get back in touch with it when I'm feeling distanced from it, so, lets get on this shall we?

If you're reading this please feel free to give me shit if you don't see me waiting at the gate, its time for me to lift myself up by my balls and either do this or not!

Saturday...

As I've mentioned a few times in my blog since being back in Mysore, this trip I seem to be very emotional. I thought it was waning but alas, here I sit at home again today and it's crept its way back in. I'm not saying its a bad thing, its just there. I tend to be someone who feels his emotions but is not usually affected by them. And I've said many times, I think here in India everything is closer to the surface, whereas in America we tend to bury everything or build layers over our emotions so they aren't coming to the surface all the time, here it just isn't so. They are there and felt much more quickly and easily.

So this morning I got up to go to led class at 4:30am, as I was walking to the shala could see there was an exponentially larger number of people waiting at the gate and I had come a bit earlier than normal. It immediately put me off but still I went and sat at the gate and waited, but as the number increased again and again, I decided I might need to go home and practice. Not that I'm scared of a busy room, I've practiced in that packed room for three seasons in a row now but I was feeling, dare I say, delicate? So as everyone stood up to await the unlocking of the gate I made the decision to walk home and practice there. And I did, and it was a great practice, I also did the pranayama sequence and chanted the yoga sutras. Very nice.

Then had a great Indian breakfast with some good friends at Sri Durga. Then conference. Conference last week was lovely, brought up a lot of intention for me to focus on in my practice this week and inspired me as well.

Today it was fine too, and Sharath I think is actually enjoying them lately as well. He's laughing, cracking jokes and having fun with us. But today when asked a question about pratyahara, which is one of the 8 limbs lain out in the Ashtanga Yoga system he said some things that made me think a lot. He talked a lot about asana as his opening talk before taking questions, and then this question about how pratyahara fits into our practices comes up and he told that the first four limbs are the external practices and they only ones we can "do," whereas the last happen on their own, but from cultivating the first four. Pratyahara being one of them. Pratyahara is generally translated to mean withdrawal of the senses but he talked about it being seeing god, or rather divine (he's been rather averse to using the term god these past two seasons because, as he said last year, it has too many different meanings to too many people. So he's been using supreme or the supreme this season so far) in everything. Guruji, his grandfather, used to say "everywhere looking, God seeing. Looking wall, seeing God..."

When I first began my journey in yoga I read many times in many different scriptures and interpretations of philosophy that you should see everyone as divine. In India I know they look forward to serving others because they consider them divine, or as Ram Dass says "God in drag." RuPaul also always says "we're all born naked and the rest is drag" which to me means that how we choose to be seen in the world is our drag, it's basically all a big show and we are playing a part in it.

But this time it stuck with me. Do I do this? Do I? How do I treat people? How would I treat the divine if it or he or she or whatever was standing there before me? Am I a nice person?

I like the stories of the sages or saints or apostles from the Hindu scriptures, or from the bible, that I've read of the men that argue with God. They take God for someone they can talk to like a best friend, someone that they would argue with about a subject until they understood their point of view, or until theirs was understood, or until they came to the point of agreeing that it's okay to agree to disagree. This is the view I've always had of myself i realized suddenly.

So yes, in my way I do my best to see God or the divine in everyone. I may not always be successful, nor may I always make the other feel as if I'm treating them like they are God in drag, but if you know me you'll know that if I care enough about you to debate with you, or to argue with you, or to even hang out with you then I do love you.

Sometimes I do feel bad that maybe I could have treated someone a bit more nicely but then I realize that I was being honest about who I was at that moment. Now, that doesn't mean I can't or won't be taking the time to cultivate a stronger awareness of when I'm not being as nice as I want to be, it just means that that may be all I have to give at that moment. So lately here I've been staying to myself more when I'm feeling this way so that I don't put that off on someone else.

All in all, I'm doing my best to be the best person I can be, that's all I can do. So sorry if I've stepped on your toes lately, but that probably means I care about you a great deal and am working on not stepping on your toes so much. And sorry if I've reneged on plans but that is probably because I wouldn't be the best company at that time. Not that these excuses are good to have, just that that's where I am at that time.

Stick with me and in the end hopefully you'll enjoy the results for it will all be okay in the end, and if its not, then its not yet the end (a favorite quote from a favorite movie of mine)...

Mysore daily...

Daily life here in Mysore can be quite hectic, but also can be quite boring, and yet again can be quite calm and relaxing. It can be just about anything you think it can be or want it to be.

Personally I'm one who likes free time in life normally, but here when I first started coming I signed up for this Sanskrit class, these chanting lessons, this trip into the city, that trip to a local landmark, etc. Then I realized, nope, this is not for me. I like to have something to do but not too much and, of course, the trip centers around your practice ideally.

We travel all the way here to study yoga at the source with our teacher and so that is the priority to me. For that I have to wake up well before dawn and shower, chant and brush my teeth before heading to sit at the shala gate for just a bit before they let us in the room to begin practice. So that means going to bed very early, not my favorite thing, but this is my first priority right? So I do it.

When finished with that, coconuts. We must have them. They are fresh, something not available where I live, and they are good and replenish lots of vitamins and minerals we lose in sweating so much in the shala. The practice, although the same one we do at home daily, is much more intense. Probably because of the amount of energy in the room all the people create and when you're used to practicing at home alone that can be overwhelming. But we do adjust to it.

After that a hot shower and breakfast. Which brings me to my second priority here, eating. Not meaning overindulging, just meaning knowing when and how much to eat to service priority number one. I eat a lot in the mornings, then a little less at lunch and then almost nothing around 4pm, 5pm at the latest. Then I feel great and mostly empty but still energized enough for practice in the morning, which begins at 4am by the way.

Then at the shala we have chanting class in the late morning usually, right now its at noon because there are so many people here, its short, just a half an hour, but I also take chanting lessons from a local lady and am joined by a few friends. I can now chant the first and second padas of the yoga sutras without any reference paper, but am learning the third currently with her.

Then of course, lunch. Lunch is usually 12-2, in there somewhere, then the afternoon can be me doing a Thai massage on someone, or like today a friend and I watched a movie on amazon prime, some days its a nap, often the nap comes in mid morning for me after breakfast (if I take one at all, not a biggie for me), some days its writing. Who knows, can be anything, then if still a bit of space I'll have a small something to eat.

All this time though we're feeling the effects of our practice, which is more intense as earlier referenced. Which can be emotional release, physical aches and pains in the body, mental stress and more. But it can also be peace, calm and quiet in the mind, which is quite nice in itself and this trip hasn't happened much for me until this week, so I'm enjoying it.

It can also be catching up on things at home with messages, email or other sources.

There's no one way to do Mysore, there are many ways and this one hasn't found one thing like the other trips, it seems to be different daily and I think I'm liking that. Keeps me on my toes.

Oh, and the biggest thing that often happens, socializing. Having great conversations with interesting people from all sorts of countries and cultures we may or may not know much about. This is my favorite when done in small doses and has helped me grow friends with more people than I can even count.

I love it here...