Yo-GAGA

We were doing Surys A and B while listening to Lady Gaga. E imported her teenage grand daughter's playlist and blasted it away at hOMe. You gotta love practise at hOMe! Expect the unexpected, really. She wanted us to know that we shouldn't take ourselves too seriously and let our inner free spirit loose at times. So she gave us each wildly-coloured bandanas to wear and encouraged us to shake our booties when we felt like it, even if you are in Uthita Hasta Padangusthasana--which was when I got the sillies out as I heard, "Like A Virgin", the Glee version. If you want to be over-analytical about the whole exercise, it can also be viewed as a challenge to stay focused on your breathing and remain in equanimity even with crazy music playing.

It was great FUN, I have to admit. And I enjoyed semi-sychronised yoga with Saar who was beside me and who I lost somewhere in the seated poses. Hope we do this again, Art wants to play music from Feist next time, while Chinky brilliantly suggested some Black-Eyed Peas. Yeaaahhh!

A hOMe practise

Notice how slowly and quietly they walk? That’s because these monks worship the ground beneath their feet. They tread carefully with respect and reverence for the earth, ever mindful not to disturb, disrupt or dishevel even the finest grain of sand.

And that is what engaging your bandhas 24/7 should be like. Embrace this and maybe bandha control will come more naturally. Also call to mind YS 1.33 whereby every living creature is treated with love and respect or with restraint and equanimity.

Thanks Guru E for clearing that up. Teacher had us walking the length of our mats with both uddhiyana and mula bandhas activated, toes curling up, and just the 4 corners of the soles of our feet touching the floor. There is a big difference, I tell you. Our gait was lighter, for one. Try it and feel the difference.

Practise is changing somewhat in that I’ve begun to let go of my asana hang-ups already and really look forward to these pre and post practice discussions with E and my classmates. This is the hOMe practice I’ve come to love. Sometimes I wish I didn't have to rush back home but the children await.

Our mantra that night during Mysore practice was simple: “Inhale, exhale”. Guru E said that this was the solution to the “issues” we were struggling with. Mine is to remember when to do full-standing vinyasas. I forget when to go back to Samasthiti after E drops me back. For Lai, it’s remembering the asanas at the latter part of the primary series and when to do chakrasana. For some, it’s how to tame mind fluctuations. According to E, following that mantra would help keep us focused on  properly getting out of the asanas (which we often neglect).

Photo is taken by Hugh Sitton available at Getty Images.

hOMey

I want this. Supposedly made from old yoga mats, the Sanuk Yoga Mat sandal is as comfortable and grippy as a...yoga mat. Truth in advertising or plain marketing? I have a pair of Sanuk slippers that Angelina Jolie supposedly wears too. Below is Halle Berry in the Sanuk yoga mat sandals.

Snuck in some “me” time one Thursday evening as my son had no classes the following day. Got to hand it to Guru E for always making practice so enjoyable, so memorable at hOMe. As we settled on to our mats to come to Samasthiti she announced that night that we would be practicing to music softly playing in the background. Also this time she would be enforcing the “no talking during practice” rule (on cue, our gaze point shifts to Art).

Guru E knows astutely and is so attuned to the practice of each and every individual at hOMe. For me, the music was so calming and helped de-stress me as well. E’s playlist also set the pace for synchronised yoga with me, Art and Lai. And with Art muzzled from making any snide, I mean, side comments, we seemed to be fully concentrated on the asanas. “Practice with integrity,” E encouraged.

On Tuesday, during the onset of a recent typhoon (yes, we practiced even with alert levels raised), we practiced with our eyes closed which yielded the best yoga practice for me to date. Of course, I moved very tentatively at first but fear quickly dissipated as movement and breathing became one just like the time we did the “one breath per vinyasa” practice.

Since I only get to practice an average once every week I try to maximise, optimise my time at hOMe. So I felt very connected to the breath and in the end so convinced about keeping my eyes shut throughout except perhaps when jumping through for Bhujapidasana or going to Bakasana. With eyes closed, it was also wonderful to simply feel those micro-adjustments from E.

What else is new? I met newcomers, Arthur another Ashtanguy who I used to see at Yoga Manila, and Sabrina, a model, so tall she seemed much longer than her yoga mat. I am now also more at peace. As it turns out, spending more time with my son everyday and working together on his homework has produced very positive results in such a short time. I once thought that he would not take to reading books the way I did when I was a little girl. Or the way his 4-year old sister has already begun to read (note: she is learning ballet terminology which is French). But the other night he read the book, “You Can’t Catch Me” all by himself. *Sigh* Bliss!

Om.