mysore, san francisco

After a very long hiatus, I’ve started back at mysore-style morning practice.  During my multi-year break from regular practice, I’d try out a studio randomly or return to an old, much less-favored led approach to ashtanga.  Led courses have never really been to my liking as much as mysore, self-practice just at the break of dawn.

Amazingly, I’ve been incredibly patient with the change of flexibility within in my body. It is very much like being a beginner again, but in a very refreshing way.   This time around I  get to enjoy each micro-movement thoroughly and appreciate each time my body opens up and extends just a little bit more than before.

What is especially sweet is the ritual and how it’s tied into my work day.  Oddly enough, I don’t really wake up any earlier than before — for the past year, I’ve been up at 6a daily, or 5:30, or even a bit earlier.  It can be difficult to manage sometimes because I like to get up early for practice, but I naturally stay up late.

The evening before practice, I lay out my clothes for cycling to the studio and work, the practice itself, and finally work clothes.  I wake at 5:30 have a small cup of oatmeal, half a cup of coffee, and pack up.

The studio only allows mysore students to bring their bike in and shower following class.  To be clear, the shower is completely makeshift and has only recently been rigged. It’s outside, in the back, simply a shower head attached to some exposed hot and cold pipes. 

The great outdoors here is not even a ‘backyard’ in the classical sense, but more of a small open space sequestered by other residential buildings. The outdoor shower has two curtains to draw for some semblance of privacy, a rubber mat on top of concrete for flooring and of course, it’s gender-neutral.  The only protocol is that if you hear the water running, do not disturb, someone is taking a shower and will be done shortly. At first I was a little hesitant when I learned about the outdoor shower. Now it’s a highlight of my day.

This morning as I waited for the shower, I caught up with an old yoga  acquaintance from years ago. He was packing up his bike and  also commuted to work on it directly from the studio. We laughed at the detail involved in the planning and packing of clothes, towels, toiletries, etc.  My friend nicely concluded by saying:
   
"It’s like camping everyday;  it never feels like a work day"

That’s it, pretty simple stuff.    Nothing better than practicing for an hour and a half  and  following  up in the fresh, cool air and hot water outside. Then to round it off, a nice mellow bike ride into work.

Incredible how limitations can be purely self-inflicted and how things which are often strongly desired are also quite often within reach.