How Low Can You Go?

Bang.

That's the noise my head made when it crashed into the ground this week as I was doing the dropback sequence. 

Between the second series backbends, three urdhva dhanurasanas, three dropbacks (which I can't yet get up from on my own), three assisted backbends and one attempt at heel-catching per day my lower back is in shock mode. 

Strangely, it's not too sore or anything. And strangely, I don't feel nervous or psycho after practice every day, which is what usually happens when I OD on backbends back home. Either way, I feel that once my lower back and I get through this, a set of wings is going to sprout out of my ass and carry me deep into the terrifying jungle of second series. 

Well, this week, I was so tired of bending back, that my arms simply refused to extend faster than my head. 

Luckily, apart from letting out a deep, maniacal howl,  I survived the emergency landing. 

In fact, it served a magnificent purpose.

See, a miracle had happened a few minutes earlier. The Mysore Magic kicked in and somehow, with a facial expression that probably looked like I was giving birth, I pushed with all the power in my being and managed to spring up from laghu vajrasana all on my own. It resulted in another uncontrolled landing, this time on my face, but I cared very little for the lack of grace, inside of me there was a party going on. Oh yea, I got up, oh yea, here we go, oh oh oh yea.

The rappers in my head were still going at it by the time I hit backbending. 

And then came the big bang. 

I immediately understood that it must've been Providence, begging my ego to wrap up its little party. It worked wonderfully. Nothing like falling on your head for your ego to zip it. 

And that was that. If I hadn't landed on my head, instead of "Bang" I would've surely started this post with "OMG, guess what? I got up from laghu... It was SO awesome." 

So, tomorrow I'm taking my remains to the 3 Sisters in Laxmipuram, to see if they can patch me back together again with their ungodly castor oil bath. And to prepare for Kapotasana. May 26th, Saraswathi said. Oh lordy. 

Tomorrow is May 18th, the date when Guruji left his body, and I'd like to do something special, so I hope the castor oil doesn't leave me terminally exhausted. I'm not exactly sure what it'll be yet, or who will want to join, but thanks to two friends here, I already have a little secret surprise planned for Ashtanga Magazine, this magazine that I started this year with my teacher back home and a friend. It's online, www.ashtangamagazine.com but hopefully one day we'll make some money and take it to print too. 

I was going to write about something completely different but I got distracted. My friend Marcos back home, who's really sweet and plays the guitar like a fiend, he'd like to come to Mysore too and practice and the other day he asked me if it's a good idea to come here in low season, and I actually wanted to discuss that. 

I've never been here during high season, so I can't really compare, but I can comment on low season. 

For starters, Sharath isn't teaching now, so unless you're willing to practice with Saraswathi and miss out on weekly conferences, you shouldn't come now. 

Low season is hot. HOT. HOT. So...if you can't stand the heat...

Also, a lot of popular places in Gokulam that asthangis go to during the year close as soon as Sharath stops teaching. Mostly restaurants like Anu's, Anokhi, Vivian's, and Kushi, which was open before, just closed for a month this week. But a few places are still open: Tina's and Chakra House, Sandhya's in Laxmipuram, the 3 sisters (they cook too, and it's yum), Anima, Café Pascucci, and of course all the hotels, like the super nice Metropole and the Green Hotel. Personally, I find it kind of nice that many of these restaurants that cater to westerners are closed now, in that sense it feels like the low season experience is a bit more authentic. Maybe just a tiny bit more like it was back in the day. 

A major advantage is that you can pick and choose where you want to live. Usually, all the places closest to the main shala are booked solid. But now, you can actually arrive here, look around and have your pick, everything's available. Three friends are actually staying right across the street from the shala at Saraswathi's old house, which means they roll out of bed and roll into the shala. It's awesome to go to their place and look at all the old photos of Guruji and his family hanging on the walls.  

Next, the shala is not overflowing with people. There's actually enough space in there for everyone.

I also feel like our gurus are more accessible. As in, if you feel like having a chat with Saraswathi, you can just drop by in the afternoon and chances are you'll find her there. Sharath walks up and down the street all the time and cracks a smile whenever you see him. Little Sambhav often plays outside or hangs out at the shala too. 

Oh yea, and not to forget, because Sharath isn't teaching, Saraswathi's students get to practice at the main shala, which is pretty awesome. 

At first, when I arrived it seemed like there was no one around. I can be a lone wolf anyway, so I didn't mind this at all, and was gearing up to have more of a spiritual experience. 

However, you will start to meet people and realize how awesome everyone is, and how amazing it is that you all have yoga in common and can pretty much talk Ashtanga 24/7, and then your social agenda can get a little packed. I have to work on freelance stuff so I'm not on full vacation mode like most of my friends, but still, we're having a blast. In fact, we're eating a bit too much. I got a little worried today when I  had to clutch my rolls and move them out of the way so I could bind in the Marichyasanas. So, my goal next week, is to exercise more self control (that can be a hard one for me, I love food).

Oh, and my final observation will be an advantage to some and a disadvantage to others: we're all beginners. I know the very humble advanced students say we're all beginners, but I really mean it. We're in Ashtanga diapers. What I mean is, there are no Kino MacGregors around this time of year. I think the most advanced student at the shala right now does half intermediate. A few people are starting from scratch and a lot of people are not hardcore ashtangis or devoted to the lineage, they're just trying it out or in the middle of traveling. So, I don't know how advanced practitioners might feel about this. But I suspect it's beginners' heaven. At least it is to me. 

Anyway, if you have any low season questions, feel free to drop me a line.

My heels to my hands in Kapotasana: "You can't touch this!"