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November 19, 2004
Indian Yoga
Today I took my daughter to her ballet class and there was a new little girl in the class. The mother was clearly Indian, I noticed her accent at the beginning of class. I was wearing a short sleeved shirt so I knew, at some point, she would notice my Sanskrit and she did. She asked after it. I find it interesting that most Indian people are interested that I have it, don't recognize it as a verse from the Gita (of course, it isn't like a popular one or anything and probably doesn't mean much to a lot of people) and love to interpret the words for me. She then said "Oh you go to that place..that place in Encinitas?" So, me, I assumed she meant AYC and was like "Yes, I go there when I can." So we have this conversation... but it turns out she was talking about SRF (Self-Realization Fellowship).. I figured this out when she started talking about "how long did I stay at that place?" I said "Oh what place?" She described it and it dawned on me. So I told her that, no, I thought she meant the Ashtanga Center, that no, I don't do SRF. I've tried SRF but SRF just doesn't work for me... She said "Yea, we went and looked at it but they just make up all kinds of things and take stuff from wherever." Then we got on the subject of yoga and she was saying that she tried a yoga class at PAC and couldn't believe it because everyone was jumping around and that's not how yoga is done in India. She said that in India, you take your time in the postures and it is very meditative. She described the teacher to me so I knew it was one of the ashtanga classes. We got to talking about it... she and another lady who did Svaroopa yoga, apparently, were saying they don't understand the aerobic style of yoga... So, I chimed in that, for me, I need the power of ashtanga for meditation... that the practice of the series helps my mind remove itself from the situation and allows me to be with my breath and with my body. The Indian lady started talking about how, yes, that is how it would be in India. I said that it really discombobulates me when I have to stop and look to see what the teacher is going to do next and it is more mental than meditative in those types of classes. I explained that in Mysore classes you go at your own speed and so that slows things down, that led classes always go faster. By the end of the conversation, the Indian lady and myself were speaking on the same page about yoga... it was really nice. I wanted to talk to her more about how, for me, it IS very spiritual but I didn't get a chance to. She did write the Sanskrit word stri for me... which I've been having a hard time finding and now I know why... you drop a letter from it. Now to find someone who can write it for my tattoo. She also told me that matr is not how you say mother, that mother is an English word so you just transliterate it... but I could swear that matr is the Sanskrit word -- of course, I'm sure she knows better than I. I always worry when I meet an Indian person and they read my tattoo that it is offensive to them somehow. For me, its like this burning ring on my arm that reminds me to be conscious and mindful during all the moments of my days. If I focus my attention on it, I can feel a completely different type of energy in that band than anywhere else on my body... I find that fascinating.
My friend is having surgery about right now. Though I cannot be with her, I am right there in spirit.... As soon as I hit post, I'm going to chant to Tara and send as much white love light to her, right this moment. I hope you all will send all of your beautiful energy to a wonderful, amazing, beautiful ashtangi here in California...
Posted by ashtangagirl at 2:10 PM | Comments (1)