Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Aw, what'd I do without yoga..and pincha mayurasana

Last week has been a lot of stress -- had  a  personal crisis ( a huge row with my best and only friend) --  my kitten was very very sick, I started wearing contact lens(lost one, found it and lost it again), scrapped my dhabha, then   had some  tantrums in class. Plus, resumed singing after a few weeks and my throat felt woolly and I could not catch the tones and pitch, even some basic raags and alankaars:(  This was really really terrible. The straw on the camel's back -- am pmsing, my blood pressure drops, I wake up at two am and am thoroughly sleep deprived, plus I am hyperventilating.  I mean, how do autodrivers know that,  they must:) Because that is when they will argue with me  and since I feel like a messiah changing the world when pmsing I have to tick them off and the only language they understand is a loud protest . Yeeks, can u imagine, a yoga teacher who admits she loses her temper. I do this deliberately u know.. I have seen a lot of people who do not lose their temper, they are pretty nasty.. they do more harm, in a soft, gentle, evil  and calculated fashion!! And I rather not be that way..    klklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklkl (this mess u see here, btw, was typed by my kitten, who thinks the cursor is a fly and tries to catch it:) !!

What would u say if someone paid u money just to be allowed to sit in front of you and keep indicating that "you are a piece of shit".  This happens to me sometimes, with some students ..:)  They don't like me,or what I stand for, and want me to know that:)

Anyways, not all things went sour.. this week, my voice was back. I got a wonderful synchronicity with the harmonium and Jayshriji's voice which I never had before. I could catch what she wanted mostly on first attempt and without the anxiety I normally have. And thinking seems to step back, and I finally feel the beauty of flowing, never mind how terrible my voice:)  Kitten is better, touch wood, though looking thoroughly messy, stuck with all the medicine he spat out:)

My contact lens experience is more settled now, I manage it neatly. I have cut some more karmic chords, finally. I am having more of the `bright mind' moments, between the evil glint of the  world that is actually a fake one (or so yoga says, calling it Maya). I am more tuned to the idea of my soul choosing everything that happens to me, including nasty autorickshawallahs and tantrums:) I am not joking.. I truly believe that..

I believe yoga changes lives. I believe I teach that sort of a yoga:) That is why I kickbutt. That is because yoga has changed my life. And something of its powerful philosophy wordlessly gets transmitted to a reluctant and wobbly mind,  through the body and the poses. So, after a long gap  I tried to see what message  my mind was getting, from my lower back, which is what pincha  mayurasana is all about:)



I like holding it long. But even I, who love it completely, most days treat it as a transition pose towards a scorpion. But these days I am trying to increase my stay there. It is not a transition pose. It is a complete and elegant pose in itself. In fact, I believe most of the variations in the scorpion -- the lotus, the ones with the legs folded -- will come easily once u can stay afloat in the peacock feather pose  for long. Already two of my students who can do scorpion are working on it. And finding it tough.

One thing I have learnt as I teach is that no pose may be taken as a transition pose (which is a disrespect to the pose, which I also believe is a live thing.. it demands so much from you, in terms of attitudinal shift); that the basic or intermediary poses become tough when you hold them longer and therefore u must respect all the poses; and that you cannot stake claim to any pose unless u can hold it  longer and within a demanding class (I mean, what if u did crow for a minute by itself, but when u do an hour or more of yoga, suddenly become tired? Consistency is god, in yoga..

What u need for pincha mayurasana?

  • A good scorpion (scorpion, for me, is easier than pincha mayurasana, when u try to hold it longer)
  • And no fear of falling over..
  • Rest of it, just as in scorpion..
Happy sadhana! .
















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