I am here, I made it! The homeland of Iyengar Yoga. Yesterday was my first day here, arriving at 2 in the morning and not much sleep until time for a 9:30 am women’s class with Sunita. When I first came out to the street from my apt. I saw groups of women walking to class on Shivajinagar Rd. I was excited, glad I was making this class and mostly tired but knew the best thing for me was taking a class to rehab the jet lag. 

The first week of classes the emphasis is on standing poses, the basics and yet as Sunita reminded us “You hear what you know.” In other words she was observing us  doing our poses as we know instead of taking in her instruction. She was right. I was thinking about my clothes, how tired I was, how I hadn’t washed my face, who did I see and know etc. And also, I know this pose. That certainly was not internalizing the instruction and adjusting and feeling from a new place. Yes, I was tired, but a reminder to stay awake to the present and what she was teaching. 

I like my apartment mates. Two sisters, one from London and the other lives in Australia. I love their accents and they laugh at mine. It is a nice apt. as of today. My arrival was mid night and another person was still in my room so my perspective was different than now. The first week is always difficult to sleep because of the time difference which is 10 and half hours. So sleep is the biggest issue of survival the first week of being here. I was told my room backed up to a slum and that it was noisy. I had no idea! The wall between my room and the so called slum is very close—-front door of the yoga studio to the street. I heard the sounds before seeing them. Through the night there are dogs barking, music, motorcycles, horns going off and starting at 3:30 to 4 roosters. There must be more than one because they are a stream of cockle doodle do’s for 30 minutes. The area is waking up. 

The second night my remedy for noise, which worked fairly well, is adding to my ear plug use, closing and bolting the bath room door since there is a permanently open window, turn on the fan, and use the two small pillows on either side of my head as backup to the earplugs. I think this combo is going to work fairly well. My first experience of the goings on outside my window was upsetting and I thought I may not sleep on this trip. Yet today, while practicing, I couldn’t help looking  out and onto the life past the wall. It is more The Marigold Hotel set than Slumdog Millionaire and totally absorbing and actually beautiful. The animals range from pigs, to goats and their babies, cows or water buffalo they are called here, roosters and chickens, and a wide range of birds. At different times I saw goats on top of a roof eating the clothes hanging on a clothes line. Adorable to me. Later I saw a goat standing on the seat of a motor cycle and a large black bird sitting on the back of the goat. I am becoming quite the voyeur! Trying to stay with my practice with so much going outside my window was challenging and I kept having to walk away! Back to that Trikonasana! 

There is a meeting at 4 with Abijata and Riya with Q&A which is fairly new but I heard good. After that a class at 6 with Riya. Yoga Land is in full swing and its February attendees are all here eager and ready!!