Narasimhan, Diksha, Rolfing, Death Pujas and a Magical Night at the Palace, October 5, 2008

It’s been so long since I’ve updated my blog. I made myself take a week off from doing anything constructive. Narasimhan (more on he and his sister Jayashree later) has stopped teaching for a few months and I consciously decided to stop going to chanting with Jayashree who is only doing one more week before she quits to get ready for their trip. I start an introductory Ayurveda class with Dr. Kumar next week so this week was perfect for a “vacation”.

I wanted to see what doing nothing for a week felt like. No studying, no reading anything heavy or deep, no blogging, no planning for my future. Just being, no doing. Wow! What an experience.

I’ve had a lot of time at the pool and more time in my head. I’ve had a lot of great conversations with people I care about and have made some amazing friends. I’ve been rolfed, I’ve been diksha’d and I’ve watched a man bury a loved one. I’ve touched and been touched by some amazing souls.

I also feel like I’m almost ready to leave the cocoon that is Gokulam. My cocoon. It’s protected me and given me opportunity to transform from my old form to what I’m about to become. A friend told me last night that he saw an inner strength in me that I’m just now realising and that inner strength is the secret to my beauty, my sexuality and the core of the woman I’m about to become. I thought that was an incredible thing to see and more of one to say.

I’m surprisingly lost for words more than that so I’ll let my pictures from the week speak for themselves.


I took Narasimhan’s last philosophy course a week ago Thursday. One of the greatest things about this experience (Mysore) is my philosophy teacher Narasimhan. He's a real yogi. He shared with me that his family really kind of pushed him into it when he came of age because they thought he had the disposition for it and it's believed that one true yogi in the family will attain liberation for past and future generations of the family for 5,000 years!!!He's had some amazing experiences. He lived with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi for 12 years (after the Beatles and before he got famous). He learned Transcendental Meditation and now teaches that (which is what I'm doing). He's also spent time with some of the holy men in the Himalayas and has some freaking weird stories about that!

I've learned so much from him and gained so much from him. Sharath is my teacher for Asana practice, but Narasimhan is my guru.


He's one of the gentlest souls I've ever met and a true delight. He also knows a tonne! Not only about Eastern philosophy but about Western as well.

His sister Jayashree is a sandskrit scholar and a wonderful woman herself. She's gifted with an amazing voice and I truly enjoyed chanting the Gita with her.


And Jayashree recently had a grandson. Her daughter and grandson are living with the extended family (16 under one roof) for 3 months. They have this incredible cradle set up in the main room of the house.



Sunday night (before moon day) gave us the best Kirtan of my stay here. The crowd was smallish but such powerful voices!!!!






On Wednesday I went to my first Diksha or blessing from the Oneness movement. One of the recent arrivals to town is Ken, a rolfer. He’s been here quite a bit and I’ve really enjoyed getting to know him. He asked me along with several others to go with him to the diksha. What’s wierd about this is that it’s the same as Tony’s new “Oneness University”. Sergio and Marina did it years ago and were trained to give the blessing. I’ve never trusted the blessing givers in the TR environment but I totally trusted them and it felt right to have my first blessing in it’s natural environment of Mother India. I will do Oneness now. I looked into doing it here before I leave but there are no English courses before my visa expires.

Wednesday was also the day that we went to Sri Rangapatnam. See entire photoset. It’s an area by the river I’ve been going to with a number of different temples where they do pujas to their dead. It’s an amazing thing to watch. There is a Brahmin priest and usually another loved one that holds the person “burying” their dead while they totally submerge in the water. Then they do the puja and throw the clay pot containing their loved one’s ashes and bones over the back of their heads. It’s totally moving and a bit surreal since this is the same river that people bathe and wash their clothes in. It was quite a procession. We ended up with 12 (it started with Matt, Christian and myself).








I was rolfed by Ken on Thursday. Someone described rolfing as restringing a guitar. It’s deep tissue work that concentrates on the soft tissue of the body. I’ve had a couple of weeks of very difficult practices where I’ve been stiff and sore. I’ve actually felt like I’ve been practicing with someone else’s body. My practice on Friday after the rolfing session was almost back to normal. It felt great!

Last night I had one of those magical nights that come along oh so rarely. I went with a friend to the Mysore Palace to see the lights and some of the entertainment. It's Dasara, a 10 day festival celebrating the triumph of good over evil. It was a beautiful night. The air was warm, the palace exquisite, the entertainment stunning and the conversation grand. We talked on such a heartfelt (really soul felt) level. It was real, honest and breathtakingly refreshing. He saw parts of me that I’ve only really started to see myself and opened up the door to restored confidence that I so badly need.






So, my week over I begin preparing for the last few weeks of my stay. I have 4 weeks left but it still doesn’t seem enough. I get weepy when I think about it, but I want to leave wanting more. I’ll be back that much is certain. There’s a lot I want to do in these last 4 weeks, but more importantly there’s more I want to be.

Take me to the River, September 26, 2008

What an amazing day! First day I've had to relax in a long time with no agendas and no place to be. And the weather has just been amazing! Monsoon season seems to have ended with the days sunny and bright and in the high 80's F Low 30's C. Perfect, perfect weather.

After a leisurely breakfast at Alias I did some work on the computer, had a quick lunch at Anu's and then Christian and I headed to the river. I was keen to see if I could follow Caron's directions since we ended up going with Stuart the last time and he knew a different way. Sure enough, a left on the main road out of Gokulam, follow that until it dead ends, then another left and a right at the pink temple. The river was at the end of a long dirt road. The scenery was beautiful! See full photoset.

It may have just been the quietest place in India. We ran across a couple of groups of men who were napping after having a picnic. The place was also teaming with birds. Herons and others that I know I should know the names of. A bright teil Kingfisher flew right in front of me as I was riding back, dipped into the water and past me again. Very cool.

After the long ride in the sun we were ready for some ice cream and went to the gelato place. Yes, believe it or not, there's a great gelato place in Gokulam. My first time there but apparently Christian is a regular. Yummy!

Tonight it's popcorn and chick flicks! No practice tomorrow and I plan to have a lie in...until 6 or 7 at least! :)

Why driving a motorbike is a pre-requisite to a mid life crisis. Sunday August 31, 2008

Ever wonder why so many people (usually men) in their 50’s and 60’s suddenly get the desire to drive motorbikes? I used to think that they were trying to recapture their lost youth, and that certainly may be the case for some. But I never drove a motorbike in my youth, never thought that I would drive a motorbike. I’ve heard too many stories of too many horrific accidents. And I’m a sensible person, right?

I was until I was introduced to my lovely Scooty Pep (Indian brand) with the big, pink Ganesha sticker on her front. Okay, so she’s not technically a motorbike. You don’t straddle her like some male conquest. You rider her in a civilised manner with your legs together, making wearing a skirt infinitely more doable. She can’t get up to the high speeds the big boys can attain, but I’m more than satisfied, thrilled really, with dizzying 55KPH (34MPH) I’ve rocketed her up to.

I must have spent a previous incarnation in India or some other equally whacky traffic haven riding one of these because it turns out that I’m infinitely comfortable dodging traffic, vying for a clear path on the local roundabouts, or blazing a trail down a country road rife with potholes. And big trucks and busses don’t scare me no matter how loud their horns are. They can just wait for me to go where I need to go. I have as much right to the road as they do.

Now anyone who knows me well knows that I’m not the most coordinated person in the world and not the best driver. But somehow that works to my advantage here.

Yoga teaches you to go with the flow and I’ve seen no better example of that then driving here. Traffic driving down the wrong side of the road; no problem. People doing crazy crisscrosses around traffic circles; nothing to worry about. It’s all in your non verbal communication; a nod of the head, meeting someone’s eyes, even your posture. Anything that says, “I’ve got this one” or “You go, I’ll wait”.

It’s just so much damn fun! It’s almost as good as being given a new posture at the shala.

So, why is riding a motorbike a pre-requisite to a mid-life crisis? For me it’s the exhilaration of the wind on my face and having nothing between me and the view. It’s also the shear challenge of it!

So what have I done with Scooty?



On Saturday last week Stuart led Christian and I through some really pretty scenery in back country “old India”. Our ultimate destination was the Cauvery River. Several others had been the weekend before and I wanted to see it. Not getting the best directions before they left we relied on Stuart and he took us the way he knew...to a really good restaurant with the best Gobi Manchurian I’ve had yet. On the way back we stopped at a local village and had some chai with the locals.

The boys alloted me exactly three picture taking opportunities on the ride back: two rice paddies, one cane field and a goat. I never saw the goat but got a pic of a woman carrying an enormous bale of hay on her head. While I was taking pictures of one of the rice paddies I saw a family eating a picnic. I asked if I could take their picture and they invited us to eat with them. Here are all of the results.





Then on Sunday several of us carravanned out about 30 kilometres to a big Shiva temple. The temple was nice, but the ride was great. Not as pretty as the day before but fun to drive that long way. See pics here.

One of the girls ran out of petrol so I volunteered to drive to get some more. We asked where the nearest petrol station was and several hands waved us in one direction and said, “two kilometers, madam.” I drove those two kilometers and asked a rickshaw driver, “petrol station?” he pointed down the road in the direction I was going already and said, “two kilometers madam.” When I got two kilometers further I came to a dead end at a major highway, but no petrol station in sight. Guess what? The guys at the bus stop assured me it was a further 2 kilometers. Much to my surprise I ran into one in about 750 meters. Of course I didn’t have a gas can so I carried a litre of petrol back to the bikes in an empty water bottle, praying the entire way I didn’t blow up!

This week I also graduated to taking passengers as well. I’ve been driving someone back and forth to philosophy class downtown and even went through KR Circle, the busiest area in Mysore. I’ve now taken several passengers several different places and am feeling quite confident.

If the weather is nice tomorrow I may head back out to the river. To feel the wind on my face I’ll happily play the part of the stereotype. My new motto is: if the mid-life crisis fits, wear it.

Scooter Update, August 23, 2008

I've now taken two trips to and from the Southern Star by myself. Well, I followed Joseph on his bike yesterday (I went so slow he commented that we could have parked the bikes and walked there faster). And today Christian drove with me on the back because I'm not ready to take passengers. But I came back by myself both days. Scary but exhilarating!

August 21, 2008

Feeling much better today. For the most part, this hasn't been the greatest of weeks. Bylakuppe (the Tibetan settlement) was so disappointing, followed by the Royal Walk. Two Indians came to speak with us at Alia's one day during breakfast last week and told us about this walk they have developed showing us "the unseen Mysore". They were so cute, software engineers, originally from Mysore, that now live in Bangalore. They wanted to create this walk to show off the city they are so proud of.

It was okay. The best part about it was seeing the Sanskrit College where Guruji taught and Jagn Mohan palace where he and Iyengar learned yoga from their guru, Krichnamacharia. The rest I could have lived without. I did learn some interesting things about Hinduism though. But after blylakuppe a morning in Mysore city dodging cows, their dung and listing to the noise did me in so much that I declared to everyone who would listen that, "I hate India!" The day really went downhill from there.

The other thing that's added to my malaise is the fact that the people that are here now are a very different vibe from the older students here around the birthday. The energy is very different. And, quite frankly most are pretty boring. I haven't had many interesting conversations since last week with either new or old people. Thank God for Christian and Eva, they are at least keeping me sane.

The bright spots of my week have been my practices...amazing to say the least. Like Christian said today, my base line practice exceeds my best practice ever at home! I'm going truly deep in forward bends and twists, back drops rock and my jump throughs and backs are even getting pretty good.

I also finished my TM class. I've kept up with my twice daily meditations even between the instruction days and I've really enjoyed them. I feel so peaceful and serene afterwards. It's the only meditation I've ever done that I've been able to stick to.

The other two things that have lifted my spirits include the fact that I remembered that I have a bunch of books on my iPod and have started to listen to them. Barbara Kinsolver, oh to write like her! That's made me feel more normal.

But, even more than that is the fact that I rented a scooter! I picked her up yesterday and rode here on roads without traffic for about 45 minutes. Traffic is chaos. There are no stop signs. You beep to signal that you are approaching a crossroad. You beep to signal that you are coming up behind someone, you generally beep to signal anything and everything. The only rule seems to be, if you see a gap go for it! It's like driving in Boston on steroids...except you don't have the luxury of a car around you...just a scooter. Luckily you can go faster than the rickshaws and there aren't that many cars on the road. The busses give me a bit of a fright though.

I didn't have a chance to ride today until late and by that time I'd almost talked myself into turning it back in...but I made myself get on it and ride. I felt confident enough to go down Contour Road along side of my neighborhood and then...up the main road, past the CRAZY traffic circle and up to the roadside helmet place. For $7 NZ I got a helmet that, according to Christian, makes me look like Schultz from Hogan's Hero's (EXACTLY the look I was going for!) I think I'll be confident enough to ride to town by Monday for chanting and philosophy class. It just gives me such a sense of freedom. It rocks!!!! It's also a real challenge to be able to ride in this craziness. It's chaos, but at least it's not aggressive chaos. Om Shanti.