It’s the time of day when the sounds of the birds returning to the park to settle down for the evening drown out the sounds of horns and construction from the street below. There was a brief resurgence of the monsoon yesterday and today but the clouds have left and a cool breeze fills the apartment.
My health has been fluctuating the last few days but my strength has returned and I survived most of this morning’s backbend class. Abijata (B.K.S.’s granddaughter) who usually leads the Wednesday class is out of town and class today was mostly instructed by Guruji through at least five assistants. Much of the focus in class over the past 2 weeks has been on the various parts of the foot and the actions that take place there. A good deal of class is done without the use of any props at all likely due to logistics and the size of the class. Even sitting for invocation we have only a sticky mat.
We began with Adho Mukha Svanasana to Uttanasana several times to learn the basis of our feet and establish the legs that would carry us through backward extensions. Next in Sirsasana a similar part of the hand was explored and revisited towards the end of class. Urdvha Mukha Svanasana was the first in the series of backward extensions. I felt like I was part of a human puzzle in the prone backbends since several bodies were longer than the mats – tall people had to swap with shorter people to allow for space. Dhanurasana followed U.M.Sv. and we worked on bringing the big toe and the skull closer together. Next came Ustrasana with the knees and feet together- the classical pose and quite intense. After several rounds of Ustrasana we repeated Dhanurasana like Ustrasana with the legs together and taking the metatarsals up to the ceiling. We finished with Urdvha Dhanurasana and pressed up into the backbend eight times. Around the sixth one my legs began to shake, I could feel I was rapidly approaching the end of my energy. Ten minutes before class was to end the thick mats came out. This is often the most frustrating part of the class and it often more chaotic than the streets outside. We use the thick mats in Sarvangasana and have been using them in Sirsasana as well. Three people fit on one mat: one goes to get the thick mats, another holds the spot with the sticky mat, and the third gets any other props needed. Kathy got the thick mats and no sooner did I place my sticky mat on top was it pushed to the side. I tried to retrieve my spot and I shoved sideways. I wasn’t going to stand there and argue – that would be fruitless. I picked up my mat and found an empty spot for Sarvangasana and Savasana to finish the class in peace.
During afternoon practice the hall was visited by a couple dozen young Indian men outfitted in blue and yellow tracksuits with YOGA written on the back. They looked around at the room, the pictures of Guruji that cover the walls and they watched us practice. Some took pictures with their cell phones.
Post-practice I decided to finally do a little shopping and headed to the Maharashta Store and the fruit kiosk across the street where I could get most of the items I needed for the next few days. Traffic was thick and endless and it took about ten minutes to cross to the other side of the road but it was well worth it for the papayas. I then had to cross back to get home. I guess 6:00 is peak commute time just about anywhere you are!
The "somewhat orchestrated" conclusion to class-
ReplyDelete:O speechless!
I'm having trouble imagining what it must be like, but the fact that it takes the coordinated efforts of three people just have have a space to practice says a lot!
Your description of the "human puzzle" gave me an idea for a tessellation --- of yogis!