Behind the lavender door

I am beginning to understand why people practice at Mysore for months at a time. This first month is where you are just getting used to the new environment and while the practice is good, you are still adjusting. My first 2 weeks here was spent dealing with an extremely snotty nose (sorry if that's TMI, but what can I say, it's true!) from dusty India so my main goal was just to get through practice. The allergies got better the second two weeks and I was enjoying getting deeper into my poses.

Starting this week, I realized I am over half-way through with my trip here so if I want to IMPROVE on my practice I better concentrate and work, which is what I have done. I wouldn't be doing drop-backs on my own if I had left after 1 month. And I am definitely sad that I only have 9 practices left. You bet I am going to do my best to make the most out of them!


As a reward for my hard work this week, I treated myself to a castor oil massage at Three Sisters. The castor oil is believed to have a cooling effect to help counteract the heat we produce during our intense practice.

Harini and her sister perform the entire massage with their feet. Their place is under construction so is definitely not where you would imagine an incredible massage could be (i.e. no candles or mood lighting or music). This is an India-style massage that feels wonderful but, like most things in India, is not for the faint of heart.

It is 5 AM Saturday morning for me right now, and I am not sure if I am sore from the yoga or the massage. It's probably a combination of both. So glad we have the day off from practice today!