For my yoga friends

It goes without saying that both Jim and I miss being in Mt Beauty.  I especially miss my yoga friends, even though I no longer attend yoga classes and haven’t for over twelve months now but I am still there in spirit.

I try to do my own practice most days but since arriving in Kovalam (10 days now) I have been doing a 7am practice with Prem on the roof of our hotel.  Prem is a young man of mid twenties, he did his teacher training at the local Sivananda ashram which has a huge following here in Kerala.  Even at 7am in the morning I feel like I could be attending a Bikram class.  The sweat runs off me, mind you the class is quite rigorous.  A typical Sivananda practice starts with pranayama, sun salutations and head and shoulder stands with variations (which I find challenging).  Prem has had me doing scorpion pose from headstand for the past few days.  As Donna Farhi says “all bells and whistle” poses.  Followed by the old favourites: twists, backbends, standing poses and balancing poses.  Many are variations, which I have not done before so it can be difficult when you start doing a pose but Prem comes along and totally changes it. 

The resting poses are mini savasana and child pose in between the vinyasa and during these poses Prem chants Om, which is lovely.

Check out the Sivanada website

https://www.sivananda.org/teachings/fivepoints.html

I am enjoying the class but had I known what I was in for I might not have agreed, a more gentle class is more to my liking (most of the time).

We all know Mary-lou is a fantastic and well rounded yoga teacher who over the years has evolved and developed her own practice, which in turn her students (us) reap the benefits.  Her teaching suits our needs as westerners without forsaking the tradition of yoga – the whole 8 limbs of the yoga tree not just the asana practice.  We have so much to thank her.  I always felt extremely lucky to have such a caring teacher in a small town but this was reinforced when I moved to Sydney (and here in Kovalam) where I attended many different teachers and styles, which was a good experience, one I couldn’t have done without Mary-lou’s years of devotion.  I would not have been comfortable and wise enough (in regards to my ability and having the confidence to say please no more) to attend new classes. 

These past few days I have been reading a book called “Yoga school dropout” by Lucy Edge.  If you get a chance to read it, you should.  It is a very entertaining account of her 5 months in India of attending various yoga schools – to find one that will turn her into a yoga diva.  You don’t have to have travelled in India to get a laugh out of it, all you have to do is have a good imagination because it is all true.

In her final chapter she says:

“I was finally getting in touch with my inner guru.  The one that says be content with what you have. The one that says happiness is always available to us, we just have to look inside ourselves.  The one that says there is perfection in imperfection.  The one that says be blissful.  The one that says possess only what is necessary – and necessary may include pretty dresses, though they don’t always need to be labeled Joseph.   The one that says life is a delicate balancing act: one- part mugs of Maharishi Ayur-Ved Claiming Vata Tea and standing on one-leg yogic tree poses; one-part bottles of Pinot Grigio and falling over.”

I totally agree!

So, Namaste to all my yoga friends (and all my other friends who maybe thinking what is Happy going on about – has she had too much Kovalam sun).