Wrapping Up

Hello friends, my trip is coming to a close. Let me be cliche and say, "what a long, strange trip it's been."
I had a good last led class today. My back is feeling much better.
There's a lawyer that opened an outsourced entertainment and intellectual property law office here in Mysore. Apparently, they are Borat's lawyers. I got his email from one of the ladies that serves breakfast to yoga students. I emailed him yesterday to tell him I'm here studying yoga, going to law school, examining some options for internships next summer and to ask if they take summer interns. He emailed me back right away and told me he thought it could be good for both of us and to let him know if I'm serious about it. I'm excited that I may be able to grow professionally and spiritually all in Mysore! We'll see. I'm just glad to know it's an option. A lot could change between now and then.
I decided to make my blog today interactive! How, you ask???
I compiled a list of bests and worsts from my trip. I invite you to email/comment on your own categories.
Oh, and by the way, I'll probably continue to blog even when I'm home. So, George, don't think you're off the hook as my "blog pal."
On to the main event:
-Countries Visited: Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Laos, Nepal, India (Airports: Hong Kong on the way here, London on the way home) My passport is nearly full.
-Nastiest Hotel Room: Kuala Lipis, Malaysia--reeked of smoke, bathroom was unusable
-Craziest Travel Companion: Vasec, hailing from the Czech Republic--one wild and crazy guy
-Least Favorite Country: Vietnam
-Best Outdoor Experience: Too many to name!
-Vietnam: Kayaking Ha Long Bay
-Cambodia: Scaling temples overgrown with jungle
-Malaysia: Sleeping in a cave, while covered in bat poo and leeches
-Singapore: None of Singapore is outdoors. It's just one big shopping mall.
-Thailand: Diving, of course!
-Laos: Zip-lining through the jungle and sleeping in tree houses
-Nepal: Pretty much all of it
-India: too polluted/hot to enjoy the outdoors
-Coolest Building: Taj Mahal and Angkor Wat (I couldn't decide between the two!)
-Best Museum: Museum of Islamic Art, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
-Favorite Previously Untried Fruit: Tamarind
-Favorite Cuisine: Thai (duh)
-Least Favorite Cuisine: Nepali--not sure if even qualifies as "cuisine"
-Food I miss: good cheese
-Favorite National Dish: Nasi Lemak, Malaysia
-Most shocking moment: In Vietnam, when I realized the bathroom and the kitchen were essentially the same
-Favorite City: Georgetown
-Biggest splurge that was worth the $: Live aboard dive trip
-Best last-minute impulse purchase before leaving home: tiny travel hairbrush
-Grossest Toilet: 5,000 meters (about 15.400 feet) at Thorong Phedi High Camp in Nepal--imagine no running water, people missing the hole in the ground and then all of that freezing in the cold
-Country I most love to hate: India
-Dirtiest Moment: Every moment of my 4 days in Taman Negara, Malaysia
-Best Travel Companion in India: earplugs
-Max Height Reached: 5500 meters --Thorong La Pass, Nepal
-Max Depth Reached: 28.3 meters (about 79 feet)under the sea, Thailand
-Best advice from an astrologer: I must wear a 6-carat rose-colored diamond
-Lowest moment: Uncontrollable, lonely weeping in a hotel room in Da Lat, Vietnam ("What am I doing here? What was I thinking? Etc...")
-Biggest "it's a small world" moment: running into a friend from high school on the streets of Chiang Mai
-Travel Lust fueled for: Brazil and Africa
-Best Lessons Learned:
-Don't have expectations. Period.
-It's not me, it's you.
-I met people from: England, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Taiwan, Canada, Czech Republic, Estonia, Spain, France, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Turkmenistan, Israel, Germany, Portugal, Italy, Scotland, Poland, Russia, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Colombia, Denmark, Hong Kong, and people from the countries I visited, obviously.
Books read since I quit my job:
-Vanity Fair, William Mackpeace Thackery (the novel, not the magazine)
-Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
-Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
-In Cold Blood, Truman Capote
-A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess
-Persuasion, Jane Austen
-The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
-American Psycho, Bret Easton Ellis
-First They Killed My Father, Loung Ung
-The Inscrutable Americans, Anurag Mathur
-In Retrospect, Robert McNamara
-Les Miserables, Victor Hugo
-The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen
-Bangkok 8, John Burdett
-The Beach, Alex Garland
-War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
-Me Talk Pretty One Day, David Sedaris
-The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
-Into Thin Air, John Krakauer
-Middlemarch, George Eliot
-Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
-Living with the Himilayan Masters, Swami Rama
-The Alcehmist, Paolo Coelho
-Middlesex, Jefferey Eugenides
-Kim, Rudyard Kipling
-Journey to Ithaca, Anita Desai
-The Mapmaker's Opera, Bea Gonzalez
-The Namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri
-So Long, See You Tomorrow, William Maxwell
-The Death of Vishnu, Manil Suri
-Holy Cow!, Sara MacDonald
-Naked, David Sedaris
-Barney's Version, Moredechai Richler
-The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood
-East, West, Salman Rushdie
-Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert
-Life and Times of Michael K, JM Coetzee
-Plainsong, Kent Haruf
-The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini
-The Angry Tide, Amitav Ghosh
-Paradise, Toni Morrison
-The Bookseller of Kabul, Asne Seierstad
-Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
-Journey to the Center of the Earth, Jules Verne
-Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell
-It's a Long Way to the Floor, David Byck
-The Russian Debutante's Handbook, Gary Shteyngart
Now it's your turn to come up with categories! I will blog in response tomorrow. Remember, the quality of the response depends on the quality of your participation!
Enjoy your day, friends!
Hugs,
Lauren

Ode to Mom and Dad

Hello friends, I've been ruminating on my trip and think it's appropriate to mention how much I appreciate my parents.
I know they really miss me (and I miss them). Despite how much they knew they'd miss me they still encouraged me to leave home. They put what's best for me ahead of their own desires. Their support helps give me the confidence to do things that may seem unconventional. I appreciate that. I'm lucky to have parents that really and truly want me to do what makes me happy and who take joy in helping me figure out what that is and how to go about doing it.
Dad says: "As I have said repeatedly, God love you for taking the time, as a gift to yourself, of the seven months traveling."
Thanks Mom and Dad.

YouTube Fun

Hello friends, I'm still feeling excited about my jump throughs. My friend was getting adjusted by Sharath next to me this morning. She said they both looked at me when I jumped and I had a look of total shock and surprise on my face. She said she and Sharath both busted out laughing. I didn't notice. I can only imagine that the look on my face expresses exactly how I feel every time I do it--it's a sort of holy-crap-did-I-just-do-that incredulity.
The weather here is so screwy--it's cold and rainy when I leave the house so I go back inside to get my raincoat. By the time I walk out the door it's sunny and hot. It keeps bouncing back and forth all day. It's not hot enough to dry my clothes very well. Someone told me the shala will start to smell, because no one's yoga clothes dry completely so they get all moldy. Eeew.
I saw Guruji sitting on his balcony yesterday. I said hello to him and he waved and smiled at me. It makes me happy just to see him. He seems to be feeling better.
Posting a video was so fun yesterday, I thought I'd do it again. Pictures speak a thousand words, right??? Here's a video of Guruji's teacher in 1938. Enjoy!

I feel like an Ashtangi

Hello friends, here's some big news that will mean nothing to most of you. I jumped through with my legs crossed during my vinyasas today!!! We do a little series of movements between each yoga posture--oh, poo, I'm going to look for a video to post here, so you can see it, because I can't describe it. I say "nuts to Marichiasana D!" Being able to do the jump throughs is way WAY more exciting. One million times more exciting. I did it for the first time yesterday and it startled me, because I didn't expect it. Then I didn't try to do it again...I was afraid I'd lose it.
I kept doing it this morning over and over and looking around at people wanting to ask "did you see that??? Did anyone else just see that???" No one noticed.
I was practicing next to my friend during the led class and she told me she noticed I was getting my knees through, but my feet were getting stuck. True enough. She told me to concentrate on my feet--somehow this did the trick.
I feel like last week and this week are extra bonus yoga weeks. I felt satisfied with what I've learned last week, so any more stuff I learn is extra special fun. Oh, and Guruji led our class yesterday. It's such a treat to have him! His voice has a very special quality. I like stopping at Mari D, because then I can watch him for the rest of the class.
My back bends are getting a lot better.
In short, I have no complaints.
Yesterday I went with some other people to a Tibetan refugee community. More giant gold buddhas! The temple was really beautiful--especially the paintings. It was a fun day, except I got really car sick. I don't know if it's because I haven't been riding in cars much, or if it's the fact that the roads here are either: awful, non-existent or full of obstacles (like cows...), but I felt like puking. Bleh.
I leave Mysore one week from today and will be back in the US of A one week from tomorrow. Time sure flies!!!
Now, lets all thank YouTube for explaining through video what I can't explain with words. Please realize my jump throughs do not look as nice as this guy's. I'm still working on the jump back.

Rainy goodness

Hello friends, it's been raining off and on for the past few days. It's nice because it's cooled down a lot. I actually needed a blanket to sleep comfortably last night! I love being snug as a bug in a rug for sleeping.
I had a friend go home yesterday and it made my imminent journey seem a lot more real to me.
My practice was good yesterday. I went to the chiropractor in the afternoon. She worked on my psoas again and it left me more shell-shocked than the previous time. It was so painful. I'm sure I'm holding emotional stuff there. Then, when I feel emotionally vulnerable, I start to worry about things that don't occur to me at other times.
The main thing I'm worrying about: forcing myself into a situation where I'm not happy or things start to seem important that really aren't. I think I'm really going to like the academics of law school, but I'm not interested in all the hype--grades, salary, prestige, bla bla bla.
I keep telling myself that I have to trust that I won't get wrapped up in all the bs. I don't know if this makes sense.
In other news, we didn't celebrate the solstice in any way here. In fact, I'm so disconnected from the passage of time I didn't realize it was the solstice! The days here seem to just float on by.
George, thanks for your update! I'm looking forward to some "cabin time" (my friends and I refer to it as "CFT," or, "Cabin Fun Time"--maybe this abbreviation will catch on) when I get home!
Internet is spotty here with the rain. I don't know why it knocks out the power and internet, but it does.
I've been realizing more and more lately that talk is cheap, especially where yoga/meditation is concerned. We can talk about it all we like, but to really get it you have to just do it. In the words of Guruji: "Practice and all is coming."
I don't have much else to share.
Hugsies,
Lauren

Enough with the Marichiasana D

Hello friends, Sharath and I had another short talk about Mari D after practice today. I'm really touched that he's so attentive to me. He said "one more week...", I told him I'm leaving in 2, so the pressure's on.
But, honestly, I'm getting really tired of thinking and talking about Marichiasana D. Boring. It'll be nice to have some other stuff going on in my life.
My back's feeling much better. Jump for joy.
Not much else to report--oh, I got my roommates to talk in Portuguese, but slowly, and I do understand the gist of what they're saying. Now I have to make myself try to talk.
TTFN,
Lauren

Mysore Madness

Hello friends, I had another Brazilian woman move in to my apartment here. The apartment is now at capacity. She lives in Barcelona, so I have someone to speak Spanish with for the next few weeks. And I get to listen to she and Rose speak Portuguese. I thought I understood a lot of Portuguese, but I must be honest. I really don't know what they're saying to each other most of the time.
My back is starting to feel better. I've been focusing on keeping my abs engaged during the practice and it seems to be helping. Yesterday and today I felt really exhausted after practice. I feel my body changing. I'm using new muscles as I get more flexible.
Sharath helped me in Mari D today--still not quite there, but it's close. He said, "every day a little closer." True enough.
I finished applying for my student loans yesterday. I think most of my pre-law school administrative duties are taken care of. Hooray.
I went online to try and get an idea of class times. It looks like most classes start after 9:00am, so I won't have to get up at 4:00 to keep up my morning yoga practice. This is good news. I think it'll be easier to ease into a 6-day practice at home if I can get up at 6:00 rather than 4:00.
Right now I'm just enjoying being here. I'm glad my back isn't bothering me quite so much. I don't have that much to do here, so when my practice goes poorly, it colors my whole day.
2 weeks from today I leave Mysore for Bangalore and then London and then Chicago and THEN Minneapolis. I'm excited to go home. I did all the things on my trip I wanted to do. There were some low moments and some high moments, but overall I'm satisfied with the entire experience. I hit my stride somewhere in Laos and things have been great since then (except for a few incidents in Northern India...).
It's funny that I'm thinking so much about going home and that it feels like I have such a short time left. Two weeks is longer than some people get for a vacation!
Oh, and just because I'm coming home soon doesn't mean I don't still appreciate hearing from you....
Hugs,
Lauren

My back still hurts

Sorry to be all whiny today, friends, but I'm feeling a bit ornery this morning.
The shala is really packed full with people on Sundays and Fridays--we have a led class, so everyone's there at the same time, whereas people have different start times when we do a self practice the rest of the week. This girl looked at me like I asked if I could kick her dog in the stomach or something when I asked her to move her mat over this morning. It's really irritating. People won't move over and then Sharath has to come out and start telling people to move. We're supposed to be doing yoga. Shouldn't that involve moving over a bit to let someone else practice too????????
I thought my back would feel better this morning after all the rest, but it doesn't. I've decided my body doesn't want Mari D, since the muscle that hurts is directly involved in the twist. I know I have to let it go. I just dislike practicing at less than full intensity.
I went to the office after class to tell Sharath about my pulled muscle. He told me he saw me walking back from town this weekend (it's about 2.5 miles) and that I shouldn't walk so much because it's tightening me up. Okeedokee. I'm flattered he recognized me.
I'm trying to dig myself out of my mood. There's no reason to feel annoyed at the world today.
TTFN,
Lauren

Earplugs=good

Hello friends, I wore my earplugs to sleep and I slept like a tiny, sleepy baby. Who knew sleep was just 2 little earplugs away? Maybe they're the solution to all my sleep problems.
I decided to stay in Mysore, even though we had a moon day today and tomorrow is our normal day off. I've been sleeping and yesterday I did some whirlwind souvenir shopping. I'm glad I'm getting that taken care of before I head home.
This morning I went up to the top of a hill here where there's a temple. I'm still feeling entirely unenthused about temples.
I had a cockroach crawl on me again last night. I turned on the light and he just sat on the end of my bed acting all satisfied with himself. I hope he's satisfied now that I flushed him!
Sidewalk watering: this guy comes every morning and hoses down the sidewalk and driveway and then sweeps it. It makes no sense to me in a country that's A. plagued by water problems and B. where the monsoon drops more water in an hour than I've seen it rain in my life.
George, you're the bearer of bad news! I have to miss the State Fair for yet another year. I like feeling Minnesotan while I look at the seed art, the state's biggest pig and the likenesses of young ladies carved in giant blocks of butter. Sigh, I doubt if they carve young ladies' likenesses out of giant blocks of butter in Tennessee.

Rat!

Hello friends, we got our first serious monsoon rain yesterday afternoon. It rained and thundered like it was going out of style for about an hour and a half. Luckily I was inside when it hit.
I got home and my roommate, Rose, was upset. Why you ask?
First, I should explain that we don't have showers here. Just a tap and a bucket. You fill the bucket with water and then use a little pitcher to pour water over your head. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to a shower when I get home. At least the water is warm.
Anyhoo, Rose, was bathing during the rain when she heard a little noise coming from the drain. The drain covers are not sealed in our house. Much to her dismay, a rat crawled up through the drain and into the bathroom! We thought the rat left the way it came, but it made a reappearance this morning. I was meditating and hear her start to scream. She got the maintenance guy who waters the sidewalks and driveway around the house every morning (I don't get it either...) to come in and kill it. The rat was hiding behind the fridge. He hit it with a stick, Rose screamed and ran out of the house and I couldn't help but laugh. Then the guy picked it up by the tail and kept bopping the rat on the head to make sure it was dead. Then he threw it in a ditch.
Rose kept apologizing for interrupting my meditation. I assured her it was fine. Why would I want to meditate through such a hilarious episode???
I also had an ant caravan invade my bedroom. I think they were trying to get out of the rain. They were moving into a hole in my wall. I sprayed them with some poison and then slept in another room. They bite. No more ants this morning.
Practice today was not so great, but my back feels better. I really took it easy. My backbends are getting much better. I don't hate them anymore.
Stay well friends and delight in your rat-free (and cockroach-free) homes!
TTFN,
Lauren

A Disturbance in the Force

Hello friends, I've been feeling a little off today. Halfway through my practice I started to feel really sad. I felt like crying when Sharath didn't adjust me in Mari D. That was my cue to move on to finishing sequence. Crying about this stuff is totally unnecessary. I am really close to getting the pose--my elbow is at my knee. Just a couple inches and I'll be able to bind my arm.
I went home and avoided people for a couple hours. I felt not sad exactly, but like something was off--a disturbance in the force. .
There are some really annoying birds here. I like birds, but there's one here that sounds like an alarm clock. It sounded sick this morning. I was listening to that and the kid upstairs having a serious temper tantrum when I got home. It was a little more than I could handle.
My body's opening up and I think I'm moving into parts of my muscles that have gone undisturbed for a long time. We carry emotions and memories in different parts of our bodies and when you open stuff up, those emotions come out. Incidentally, I keep tripping on stuff and falling over in balance poses, which is unusual for me. Someone told me it's because I'm getting more flexible--your balance changes.
I went to the chiropractor today and my back is better but it's still spasming. My left psoas is really tight and I can feel it spasm, which is a weird sensation since it's buried deep in your torso. Here's an image of the psoas for your edification: The chiropractor dug into it today and it was all knotted up. She found one of the knots and when she pushed on it I started to cry--it hurt, but not that bad. I think I'm carrying something emotional there that's trying to get out. I'm not sure what it is yet.
We have a moon day on Friday, which means Friday and Saturday off. Some people are going out of town. I feel like I should go, but I'm not super motivated. I only really want to go if someone arranges it for me...The 2 days off will be good for my back to heal. I think I just have to stop trying to stretch it for a while.
TTFN,
Lauren

Musings

Hello friends, I haven't written for a few days.
I'm feeling really relaxed and comfortable here. I feel really calm. It's nice.
Friday Guruji led our class! It was so nice. I think he was only 'supposed' to lead the opening chant, but then he just kept counting. Sharath looked surprised. I'm really happy to have had the chance to be in a class with him. Sharath adjusted me in Mari D and said "Monday we bind." Well, we didn't bind today, but he was busy adjusting other people. It feels so close. I definitely feel like he'll be able to get me into it on one side. Or, maybe he'll be so busy that I'll eventually just get myself in.
I'm feeling stronger. I think when I was doing the whole series I was getting stronger, but my flexibility wasn't getting better. Now, I feel like they're both progressing in tandem.
My back is sore, which makes forward folding difficult. I see the chiropractor tomorrow. Even though the muscle hurts, it doesn't feel nearly as bad as it has in the past. I definitely feel like it's getting better.
I was talking to someone this morning about interacting with people you don't really like or get along with. I feel like my attitude towards those people is changing. I can be judgmental. I don't want to be anymore. I've felt myself move from judging someone else to just distancing myself from that person and acknowledging that I don't want to be around that person's energy.
The guy I talked to today described it as being a window, rather than a door. Let the negative stuff other people are giving off pass through you, but don't attach to it. Shutting yourself off from it pits your ego against the other person's, and I think this is where the judgment happens. I'm not sure if I'm making sense, but I'm definitely feeling a shift in the way I'm reacting to people.
I was feeling really nervous about coming home and integrating all this stuff into my life on top of all the changes. I don't feel that way anymore. I'm confident that I will keep up my morning practice. It's a privilege to be here and practice, but the practice is a privilege and a gift anywhere. The beauty of it is that I can take it with me and feel joy and gratitude for it no matter where I am. I also feel confident this is not my last trip to Mysore. I didn't feel that way a month ago.
It's weird to think of weeks left of my trip rather than months! I've got 3 weeks till I get home on July 3. I go to Nashville around August 19, so I have some time to enjoy the Minnesota summer and hopefully the State Fair! Although, the Awesome Blossom holds less appeal for me now that it once did.
Books I've been reading:
The Kite Runner
Paradise by Toni Morrison
Madame Bovary by Gustave Somebody
Other books I can't remember right now. I'm finishing a book almost every other day. I write them down in my journal, otherwise I'd forget. When I sum up my trip, I'll write a detailed list of books read.
Hugs, etc.
Lauren
p.s. who thought mixing yoga and politics could be so fun? Check out the new link on my blog to bushyoga.com.

Guruji

Hello friends,
Guruji came to practice this morning and did the opening chant with us! I don't know that I felt a real connection to him before I came here, but feeling him in the room I got a little teary-eyed. He stayed for a little bit and then went back and sat in the office. I'm glad he's feeling better. I'm also glad to have had this brief opportunity to practice while he was in the room. Hopefully there'll be more opportunities!
I had some pants made at the tailor and they did not fit. I had to argue with the guy about it. He kind of just shrugged his shoulders. I got a little angry. I was surprised to feel myself get mad. His attitude really bothered me. He just didn't care at all. Eventually, I got him to fix them--now they're only slightly ill-fitting. Getting clothes made sounds like a great idea till you actually do it. Then it's not so fun.
It's been raining here. Now it's really hot and humid, rather than just really hot. Ick.
My back is sore.
Other than that I can't complain! Life is pretty good.
XO,
Lauren

New Roommate

Hello friends, I got a new roommate here last night. She's from Brazil. I will force her to speak to me in Portuguese! Maybe I can still realize my long held dream of being fluent in Portuguese...
I decided today that I want to get through Marichiasana D too much. I need to let it go and be ok with leaving here not having gotten any new postures.
I spent a lot of yesterday on a fruitless search for an A/V cable. I was with a friend and we are trying to hook her laptop up to the tv so we can watch movies at an audible volume. We found a cable, but it didn't work. It only cost a dollar, so I'm thinking maybe it was just of really crappy quality.
My backbends are getting better. I'm curious how they'll feel one day to the next, which is motivating me to actually do them with a some effort. They're a bit of a black hole in my practice. I just lay there on the mat for a long time trying to convince myself it's a good idea to attempt them. While I lay there, I become the victim of inertia. "Laying here feels so nice, maybe I'll just lay here a little bit longer...."
I feel good about life today.
I started drawing a little bit yesterday. One of my friends here paints and it seemed like a good idea to me. I bought some oil pastels and paper and have been playing around. It's fun. I like to draw, but can never think of subject matter.
Anyhoo, friends, it occurs to me that a month from today I will be at home! Time has flown. At the same time, Vietnam feels like a long time ago.
Hugs,
Lauren

Blah

Hello friends, I woke up this morning feeling very blah. I didn't sleep so great last night. I think I sleep better when I have more to do...
I was really tight at practice this morning and I took it all slowly. I think my backbends are getting better.
Today I have resolved to work on applying for financial aid. How exciting.
Meh,
Lauren

Mania

Hello friends,
I started week 5 of practice today and I feel great. Time is a-flyin'. I think Mari B is getting closer on my left. My right knee is starting to feel better and my right hip is loosening. Slowly, slowly.
I talked to my new roommate in Nashville yesterday and she seems really cool. I think we'll get along well. Arranging that was easier than I expected. Yay.
I've been a lot more social this past week than when I first got here. I think in my time traveling alone I forgot how to talk to people for longer than the prescribed "where you from?" "where you been/going?" "how long you traveling?", etc. It's nice to talk to people and hang out and laugh and stuff.
I've been feeling a bit manic--I have tons of energy and my mind is racing, but in a sort of creative, fun way. This kept me from sleeping. It's interesting. I realize the meditation, yoga, etc is supposed to make these high kinds of moods less intense, along with making the lows less intense.
I went through a period a couple years ago where I'd go work out/train capoeira in the evenings and then I had so much energy still that I would jog the mile or two home or else I knew I wouldn't sleep. I feel that way now. I kinda like it, to be honest. The world is very bright.
Love,
Lauren