THE YOGA CLASS – My timing was such that I was able to start in the afternoon
of the third day of a 24 day intensive yoga class. So, we have a yoga class
from about 8:15 (depending on when the instructor gets there) to 10:15 or so.
Then, we have sun salutes from 4:30 to 5 pm (this is a yoga series of
movements) followed by about a 2 hour afternoon class. Then around 7 or so
(or 10 minutes after the afternoon exercises are done), we have a lecture
about aspects of yoga which lasts from 1 to 2.5 hours. They then give a
short dinner break before they put on an optional movie. I’m impressed with
the integrated curriculum and the knowledge of the young instructors – two
Israeli guys and one English woman who take turns although the small parts of
the lectures can get a bit way too “out there” even for me. Anyway, I can’t
be too picky if I’m only paying US$4 a day for all that.
We learn one new posture (a pose) a day and do the same warm up exercises.
This school is a BIG believer in holding the posture for LONG minutes while
you are supposed to be focusing on your chakras or how energy is “flowing
into your body.” I emphasize LONG because the yoga hall can become a big hot
box where temperatures must be at least 10 to 20 degrees higher than the 100
F (38 celcius or so) outside when the two swamp coolers (a fan with water in
it) and ceiling fans stop due to all to frequent power outages. Even when the
power is on, I have found it very hard to focus on anything other than the
sweat pouring down on my face and drenching my shirt. I know I’m supposed to
“rise above it” but instead I just worry about “drowning in it!” Because the
Swami (the head of the school) just left and the heat, there are only about 6
to 8 regulars in our course. There’s an American guy (from Kent/Auburn no
less), an Indian woman, two English women, and two Israeli women. The Indian
woman, a Parsi (a very small religious sect in India) from Bombay, has been a
gold mine of information for me about India culture and very helpful with my
as yet dismal attempts to learn basic Hindi. She and one of the Israeli
women and I usually eat lunch and dinner together as we are starving after
classes.
Due to the heat and some big yoga championships in Europe, the course isn’t
even giving the traditional Sundays off so we will be done on June 24 and the
school will close for the summer. Most of the other yoga schools here go on
to limited scheduling or close down for the summer.
