'Ashtanga is crazy inside crazy!' & Poo!

Quoting David Swenson: “People from outside yoga think yogis are crazy, but people inside yoga think ashtangis are crazy! So, basically, Ashtanga is crazy inside crazy!”

I have been away from London for 2 ½ months now.and I’ve immersed myself in Ashtanga. My life here has been so far removed from anything back home. A comparison of myself 2 years ago to today - I’m surprised my friends and family haven’t disowned me as a ‘raving nutter’.

Sandra and I were talking over lunch last week; yes one of those organic, vegan, raw food places – and I love it! We were talking about what people must think when they look in from the outside...

Well, in Gokulam, a suburb in Mysore, West of Bangalore, India, there is every nationality you could think of. My friends so far have been from Thailand, Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Chile, Australia, India, Russia, South Korea, Norway...the list goes on.

We are all here for a sole purpose, one intention, to wake up before sunrise and practice the age old practice of Ashtanga. Our whole day is focused on these 2 hours; right from our sleep pattern, our eating habits and our toilet routines. I have never spoken about poop so much in my life – the colour, texture, frequency, what foods help a bowel movements, what foods inhibit my trips to the bathroom, special teas to drink...you get the picture.

Because of course we all want to be ‘empty’ - that little bit lighter when we’re folding forward, backward bending, twisting. Basically when our digestive organs are being rung out like a wet dish cloth!

We set our alarms at a time that is not even considered as ‘morning’ by some people back home, wait out in the cold (yes India is cold in the morning) until our names are called and we pack ourselves into a shala. Thankfully, I’m with Saraswathi so things are a more relaxed and at a pace more suited to the ‘Primary Ashtangi’ in me. Saraswathi has an understanding of female Ashtangis and how a women’s body and needs change at various points of her life - A maternal vibe I'm warming too. I have however heard stories of waiting out in the cold for hours in order to get a space for ‘one small one’ in the main shala and then having to practice in either a closet or the bathroom :(

I won’t go into the  whole etiquette of shala practice but just to give you an idea of the sound inside a shala here is a brief clip of Mr Vader; giving you a comical idea of the breathing.

I am weird, but I love it J

Thank you to all those who have stuck by me, loved and supported me throughout this journey - 'Baby I was born this way.'