DG Kovalam 2015 - Dip the Toes or Jump In?

I’ve always been the person who gets into the pool slowly.  Dipping in my toes, then sitting on the side with legs in the water, and eventually sliding into the cool water slowly, so as to avoid the cold shock, which is always refreshing and wonderful...so what was I hesitating for?

This is Week Three of David Garrigues’ month-long program in Kovalam, India.  I’ve settled in to some routines, and let go of some of the fears I had coming here - around food, bugs and just generally being on the other side of the world, away from anything familiar.  I have a practice schedule and an apprenticeship schedule.  I have found a few favorite places for meals and snacks that I’ve deemed “safe” and quite tasty.  And developing friendships with my fellow DG compatriots as well as some of the locals is very comforting.  Beach time, shopping, and massages also help pass the time :-)

At the Open Market in Trivandrum

I don’t feel so alone, but I do still miss home.  I’ve been dreaming and daydreaming about the silliest, most mundane things about home...Target, Harris Teeter, Mellow Mushroom, and my favorite cozy purple chair in my kitchen.  

Oddly, I don’t mind so much that I have to brush my teeth with bottled water, and that the toilets and showers are a little weird.  I’ve become accustomed to the sights, sounds and smells, like burning trash alongside the road, the constant honking of horns in traffic, and the frenetic pace of traffic here, with four lanes carved out of the two-lane roads, and very often oncoming traffic swerving out of the way just in time (or my driver swerving out of oncoming traffic just in time!).  

At the Open Market in Trivandrum

But then again, I feel like such a lame duck being so happy with myself for making this trip and adjusting to this place, when I meet so many people here who are travelling all over the world on a very regular basis.  This is just one stop on their tour of the world.  Some are seeing the world before settling to get married, have babies, etc...and some are finally getting around to this kind of trip like me, others do this kind of thing all the time, either for work or vacation.  

An impromptu Cricket game

It strikes me that many people here with me are at (or coming to) some sort of crossroads or transition in their lives.  And what better way to make that transition than taking some time (some real time, not just a few days), immersing in a study of the self and practicing being in uncomfortable or fearful places in a little safer place...with a teacher who understands that growth and knowledge of the self only happens when we purposely put ourselves in fear, and is willing to take us to these places...regularly :-)

We chant and discuss the Yoga Sutras on Wednesdays, and last Wednesday David had something to get off his chest.

By way of setting the stage, we reviewed the idea that meditation is the experience of yoga, a stopping of the mind, and also a technique, and what we are going for with this nirodhah (stopping of the mind activity) is equanimity, clarity, centeredness so that anything that comes up will not throw us into reaction.  The vrrti (mind activity) we are trying to stop is constantly pushing and pulling us, churning, and the more we identify and attach to that churning, the deeper the samskaras (patterns, grooves, attachments) become.  When we are able to separate from these attachments, we can have equanimity...samadhi.

Chapter 2 of the Yoga Sutras gives us 3 practices from the Niyamas: Tapas (intensity in spiritual practice), Swadyaya (personal study), and Ishwara Pranidhana (surrender to practice/study) which are tools to help bring about Samadhi, and for attenuating the effects of the 5 Kleshas (afflictions).

Kleshas:

Avidya = Sanyoga = no distinction between Purusa (self) and Prakrti (material world)

Asmita = “I-Ness”, Ego, an affliction of Ahamkara (Ego)

Raga = attachment to pleasure

Dvesa = Aversion to pain

Abhinivesah = Clinging to life

When we operate in our lives and in the world from a base of these kleshas, a cycle is created and patterns are formed (Samskara).  Then we identify with these patterns, cling to them, and kleshas are formed.  When we are able to stop this identification/association, we can, over time, clear those patterns and stop the cycles.

David told us about what he calls the “Fortress of Sameness”.  We tend to build ourselves a wall with these Samskara (patterns).  There is so much fear involved in needing to repeat these patterns we’ve created.  We LIKE this material world we’ve created.  We naturally develop associations from our daily experiences -- “Cake tastes good, I like cake, I must try to have cake again, what if I can’t ever have cake again (Oh NO!)”...OR “I didn’t like how it felt to be yelled at, I must try to avoid that, I won’t do anything that might bring that about again!”...OR “I like living in this world, I’d like to live as long as possible, I’ll do anything I can to preserve this life/body”  But the fear involved in falling into these patterns is STRONG, PERVASIVE, UNCONSCIOUS.  And the “Fortress of Sameness” is our hideout from this fear.

David’s job is to PURPOSELY PLACES US IN FEAR...so that we may enter into a relationship with this fear, striving to turn it around.  

“TAKE A GAMBLE” David says.  Our practice is about churning, stirring up the strong energy of these patterns and afflictions, entering into relationship with them and TAKING A RISK.  

“NOT RISKING IS RISKIER THAN RISKING.”

BUT...Take these gambles using SKILL IN ACTION. Use props so as to gamble with limits.  Find alignment and breath in asana.  This equanimity of alignment and breath is unbiasing. And this equanimity checks the cycle of Samskara...doesn’t make new patterns, and slowly erases old patterns.

JUMP IN THE WATER...maybe check for crocodiles first ;-)

DG Kovalam 2015 - One Week Down, Three to Go!

The first week was a little rough, but David has been kind, and the timing of last week's Moon Day on Tuesday was perfect.  

I'm settling in now, and getting used to the schedule, the heat, the food and the culture of this little beach town.  Foreign languages are all around - Russian, German, you name it (because I can't!  I don't recognize most of them!).  I'm completely amazed that the locals can understand and even speak at least a little bit of most of these languages - I feel like such a slacker only knowing ONE language!  

We've found several restaurants - many vegetarian, a few with ayurvedic options, and some with more western dishes, for a change of pace.

Alan Restaurant - a favorite

I'm here this month partly as a student, and partly as an apprentice, so I've had the privilege to watch David work with the students a bit.  Today it struck me that he is asking several students to figure some of this stuff out themselves.  To be creative in how they use their bodies and make these shapes.  To endeavor to solve these problems independently, and to have trust in themselves to do so.

Its a theme I've discovered over the past year apprenticing with David.  He's not into telling us what to do. He wants us to figure it out for ourselves to a certain extent, and he'll let us know if we are getting off track. This can of course be frustrating - ok, infuriating - sometimes, but for me it is just what I have needed - an antidote to complacency.

Our schedule for this month includes only a couple of times per week where David is talking to us - lecturing or instructing - so the content of these sessions is concise, valuable, and universal, meaning it applies to all (or most) students, whichever series or pose they are practicing, or how long they've been practicing.

So....

We heard about the Asana Allies - Drishti, Bandhas, Breath, Vinyasa, and Asana - specifically the Single Asana, Samastitih.  These techniques help us to arrive at a perceptual experience of the world and us in it. To percieve the patterns that connect out of random chaos - what is the pattern that connects the individual patterns?

Asana as Yantras - physical shapes to meditate on, made up of lines organized around the joints, and working to make sure these lines are unbroken.  Animation of the body around the unbroken line (as in Samastitih) illuminates the line, and illumination of the line frees the breath.

We broke down Surya Namaskar A, clarifying each of the 10 positions as a stopping place - stopping the body and stopping the mind (including a brief look at chaturanga!) And we received a mantra for those of us needing to build strength in the upper body through chaturanga - "Hips Down, Chest up!" :-)  

At the core of all this we are aiming to harness Prana, and the main ingredient in Prana? ---- DESIRE

Desire has two broad directions - 1) More of everything!  and 2) the opposite - liberation from everything

And we all have a constant struggle to balance these two...pushing and pulling, churning...

David told the story of the Demons and Gods battling over the magical elixir that gives eternal life, and churning the ocean with a great mountain (with Vishnu taking the form of Kurma, a tortoise, to keep the mountain afloat!).  The Demons pulling one way, the Gods pulling the other.  Before the elixir was released from the bottom of the ocean, there was poison, and then the elixir was released.  Don't worry, the Gods won out in the end...

After practice...#ashtangabitchslapped

DG Kovalam 2015...India!

So here I am in India, still a little shellshocked by the long travels and the unfamiliarity of everything here. Today is our second day here in Kovalam, and Dave and I are still getting our feet under us.  Below are a few photos of our journey and where we landed.  Right now I'm feeling so grateful to have landed softly. Thanks to some good recommendations we have a great home base from which to explore.

It's such a different place, but also very much the same.  We found a nice beach a little off the beaten path, and swam a bit, remarking how similar it is to our favorite beaches in North Carolina.  Same water temp, same type of beach and sand, and same kind of surf (not too big, not too little) - but on the other side of the world, and with the freshest coconuts and papaya and pineapple!  The people here are kind, friendly and helpful, and love to talk about themselves and their culture.

Beginning of our first flight...still quite chipper!

End of the line...slightly less chipper

At the Maharaju Palace - Nice place to land in India!

Lighthouse Beach, Kovalam

Lighthouse Beach - Evening

As for the yoga (oh yeah!  THAT'S why we're here!), we had a chance yesterday to gather and meet and chat a bit with David.  Lots of familiar faces and a few new ones.  As my dear friend Suzy (who recommended our hotel and shared her experience with me so generously) would say, "It's like camp!"

Today's practice was a little easier than I expected - definitely a lot warmer!  The space is quite nice, with plenty of room, and a nice breeze every once in a while (though I'm told it will be hotter before the month is over).  After practice we had Sunday Talk with David, with him answering a few questions and explaining the schedule for the weeks ahead.

I get to assist David in Mysore tomorrow...looking forward to all the teaching and learning!