Weeks 3 & 4 – keeping the energy going....
It's week 4 already and most students' energy levels are sinking. I've seen tears, sulking, snapping, some weirdnesss and near breakdowns, but all in all, most people are in pretty good form. Hard times are inevitable on an intense course like this and you have to expect some strange behaviour.
With the challenges of the first few weeks behind me, I am keeping -more or less- sane and I think I'm ready to face new ones. I am now happily bouncing out of bed for the early morning wake up calls. So far, we have three 6 am pranayama sessions and three 7 am starts each week. This means my alarm is set for either 5 or 6 am most days. It's much easier than expected and I'm even starting to enjoy getting up at the crack of dawn, when the rest of Goa is still asleep – even the dogs seem to have their moment of rest and lay off the howling for a couple of hours before sunrise. After a shot of bee pollen and my dose of spirulina and chaiwanprash (my new ayurvedic superfood), I spring out of the room, ready to face another day of yoga practice and lessons.
I'm also now the proud owner (albeit temporarily) of a vintage 1950s Raleigh bicycle, which I've been pedaling around town and to class. Its a great way to get around flat-as-a-pancake Anjuna, but the hills of Parra, the nearby village where most of my classes are now shifting, aren't an easy ride. I struggle uphill and try to hop on classmates' scooters when I can. However, early morning starts bring me to discover a brand new world: the bicycle milk wallah, sleepy roadside dogs and homeless people emerging from the gutter. It also highlights Goa from a whole different perspective and puts me in a positive mood to start the day – most days.
So I've overcome my fears of getting up at 5 and having to sleep so early (with no tv or internet to distract me, early nights aren't that hard). The food is far better than I could have hoped - we're spoilt for choice here: I now have the options of healthy salad/tofu/soup joints, indian veg (with a few Tibetan momos thrown in), market snacks, supermarket shopping or market stalls for fresh fruit and veg, which could potentially be prepared the ayurvedic way (new cookbook allowing). So far, I've only explored options 1-3 and I'm amazed by the variety. But with all the morning practices, it's been mostly a 2 meal a day affair so far – brunch an early dinner – with lots of fruits/snacks/chai thrown in between. It's a fairly healthy lifestyle I reckon.
So week 3 started in a dynamic, upbeat fashion. Physically, I'm feeling energized, my flexibility has improved and my understanding of yoga as a whole is increasing. This could be the first few steps in a long journey of learning. The anatomy classes are fascinating- there's only so much you can cover in 9 hours a week, but knowing how the body works, from organs to the bones, muscles and systems, really does make a huge difference. Getting in and out of postures, knowing how it affects structure, alignment etc is a technique in itself and is just as important as the posture itself. Anatomy is such a wide subject but even the most basic bits of knowledge I've piked up from the classes feel so valuable. I need to keep reading, learning and putting all this into practice. It may seem obvious to many, but the spine is essentially the 'brain' of the body – yet we constantly forget to look after it: hence the importance of good posture, avoiding unnecessary pressure, tension and brutal movements, especially on the lower parts of the spine (lumbar and sacrum) as they are the least mobile parts of the back. Anatomy is also a key part of the adjustments process – or 'how to give good adjustments without putting pressure on the wrong area and sending students into the A&E'!
Finding time to write and reflect on the course isn't easy either, but as the weeks fly past, keeping an online record of all this really does feel therapeutic – it's a technology filled, materialistic escape from the spiritual and mental world of yoga!
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