The first few Yoga sessions

On Saturday night I joined some people to go the the night market in Arpora. You need to realise that Goa is not like the rest of India. It is real touristy here and most of the stalls and all the foodstalls seem to be run by westerners. But the market was really nice and it was huge. There are hammocks for sale, simple jewellery made coconut and wood as well as some very nice jewellery made from sea shells, silk, kashmir, wood and stone carvings, picture collages, woven handbags, t-shirts, towels, dresses, and lots of other things. Lots of the girls bought dresses, which were so nice that when they got home and showed off, other women quickly called taxis and headed off to the market.

Sunday morning was my first Yoga class. I went to the Shala at about 7:15 (half an hour early) and watched those that were busy doing their practice. Sally did some awesome back bend work, which she is able to do because of her 7 years of bikram yoga.
Finally it was our turn (the three newcomers) and Michael took us through Surya Namaskara A & B and then into the 6 fundamental standing asanas:
Padangusthasana
Padahastasana
Trikonasana A & B
Parsvakonasana A & B
Prasaritha Padothanasana A to D (breakthrough... actually got my head on the floor today)
Parsvothanasana
The session lasted for about 45 to 50 minutes and ended with Mudra, Padamasana, uttpluthi and savasana. Candice and I were a little disappointed that we did not go further in the primary series. She had been doing Ashtanga daily for the last 6 months and I have been doing it for 3 or 4 years but only once a week until recently. I guess we just have to be patient.
What was really nice is that I learnt exactly when to move, where to exhale and not to move. The most important thing I think is that Ashtanga is a Vinyasa yoga, meaning breath and movement. Never do you hold your breath. I noticed that Candice was holding here breath while jumping back and over breakfast or lunch I mentioned to here and she appreciated my comment. This morning (next day) I noticed that she had consciously changed that. It is nice practicing with her, as her breath is about as long as mine, so we move together nicely. And if I loose focus on my practice, the fact that she is there continuing, forces me to get my focus back.

In India, the ashtanga yoga primary series is not completed if you are not ready to continue past an asana. This is called a gateway pose and you stop at that pose and continue working on it until you have it right. Then you can move on in the series. This forces you to focus on the area that you need to work on.

From talking to others it seems that Pattabhi Jois is going to stop teaching either this year or next year. He is 91 years old and they say that sometimes he falls asleep on you while correcting your position... don't know how true that is :-)
In order to go to guruji, I had to write a letter telling the ashram when I am arriving. I have also heard that the ashram is full and that they are turning people away even if they have written a letter, so I am a little concerned about not doing my planned 4 weeks with guruji which would be a terrible blow to my plans.

I spent some time at the pool in the sun and soon it was time for lunch (already) which was raw food, like salads and fruit.

Yesterday afternoon, we had a session from 3 to 6 in the afternoon. (There is an afternoon session every second day on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday.) The session started with us having a Q&A session where we could ask him anything, like why he cut his beard to whether he thinks Ashtanga Yoga could be complimented by another yoga style or pilates (my question). Michael has a great sense of humour.
Then we went through Primary series up to Janushirashasana. We were all sweating like pigs because of the heat. I do not think I sweat here in India doing Ashtanga Yoga, any less than I sweat doing Bikram Yoga in a heated room at 38 to 42 degrees Celsius back home.
After that Michael took us through how to teach Mareechasana A & B and how to help people that are struggling with the posture. Then we took a partner and practiced on each other.

Supper was spicy tomato soup, lentils, beans, brown rice and fruit salad for dessert. After that some of us headed out to a concert, which was 4 guys playing on a sitar, drum, guitar and keyboard... It was a lot of fun, but I must say I was getting very tired.

This morning I woke up and my legs are stiff and my shoulders are a little stiff. I was quite nervous yesterday for the first session and took it very seriously (the way it should be done every day) and that made me have breakthrough... I think the stiffness might be from the stretching... Prasaritha Padothanasana is my weakness and during yesterday's Q&A session, Michael spoke about letting go of what we believe are our limitations (in our mind).

This morning the three of us went through to where we went yesterday by ourselves and then Michael took us through the balancing poses: Uthita Hasta Padangusthasana and Ardhabaddha Padmothasana, through the flowing sequence containing Utkatasana, Veerabhadrasana A & B and then we started with the first two postures in the seated sequence in which both legs are straight, namely Pashimatanasana and Purvatanasana. Then Candice and I did the whole standing sequence again up to the seated sequence where we ended and then finished up like yesterday... that was a hard workout that lasted 1,5 hours...