Yesterday there was a knock at our apartment door and a guy was selling yoga bloomers and t-shirts. He had a backpack of samples and said he had more at his house. Since the sizes he had white him were too small, we made an appointment to view more the next day. Right on time he showed up at our
Practice hours are set along with our class times. There are two floors and my classes and practices are held on the first floor and upstairs other classes take place before, during, and after our classes/practice. At the start of every class we chant the invocation to Patanjali. While practicing one of my first days here, I heard the class
Today’s class was in the evening, a 6 pm pranayama class. After chanting the invocation we were instructed to come up to the stage to watch a demonstration of savasana. The demo took between five and ten minutes and was done, purposefully, by another teacher, with just a blanket under the head. Once back on the mat Navaz (I am
My ear is tuning in more and more to Prashant’s accent, which fit one of his themes today. He kept asking “how far have you come?” Encouraging us to not focus on the future or how far we have to go but to be here and use our senses and perception like the instrument panel of a car to tell
The first person in line for the women’s class this morning was a man. There were a half a dozen or so men in the class, most in the very back center row. Sunita, one of Mr. Iyengar’s daughters, taught the class. She is a large woman with a commanding voice and sharp eye (and tongue). The theme of the
Yesterday we met the woman who will come in and cook for us. Her name is Anita and for 1,000 rupes each for the month she will come to our flat and cook whatever vegetables we buy. She’ll also make bread and chai and more. Tonight will be our first meal cooked by her. Anita took stock of what we
Our flat is opposite the Institute. I have always had very short commutes but this is the absolute shortest. I haven’t counted the steps yet. By the time I think of it, I am already at the gate of the Institute. It’s three bedrooms. Two of the rooms have two single beds with attached baths and the smaller bedroom, one
There were more people in class today. I took a mat closer to the center but after chanting the invocation, I was never on it again. Immediately Prashant broke us into groups, all the men on a mat in downward facing dog, a group of women at the rope wall hanging on with arms behind, and another group in rope
My two roommates and I walked across the street to RIMYI, otherwise known as the Institute, for our first class of the month. Although I have seen many photos, this is my first time at the Institute. My initial impression was that it is smaller than I imagined. I had that same feeling I have when I go back to
Saturday morning, January 4, 2014 I had the opportunity to take in the special exhibit of yogic art at the Freer Gallery, one of the Smithsonian buildings on the National Mall, in our nation’s great capital. Just as we finished, the docent started the guided tour and so we tagged along and saw it again, hearing more detail about some