*f.y.o./**b.b.b./and other ***t.b.s

*f.y.o.-for yogis only
**b.b.b.-bindi's blog break
***t.b.-tit bits
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well bindi took a blog break, not because she's lazy, but because she has nothing interesting to share at the moment, till today i guess. i've been concentrating on my health and well being, being very dilligent with building back my strength and getting my old bod back. takes time, but i am beginning to see that dim light at the end of my tunnel.

fyi
"next week we finish." these were lino's parting words to me this morning, after 5 weeks of intense yoga just trying to get back to where i was a year ago, pre injury. these words comfort me because i've been doing astanga for 6 or 7 years and after next week, i get to finish intermediate series, which means i can finally split my practice. lino believes in teaching stamina, the old fashioned way, by insisting you do full primary and intermediate until you reach the end. nowadays in mysore the practice is split earlier, like after supta vaj or karandavasana. i have 4 poses and 7 headstands to learn next week, than 2 weeks of intermediate only 5 days, friday full primary always. are my hips open enough? are my hamstrings ready? does the shoulder feel ok? what about that permanent crooked ring finger from the sprain? well i trust my teacher and if he thinks i am ready, it's showtime. i hate to admit to being goal oriented EVER in this practice, and i had let go of the fact that maybe this wouldn't happen cause of all the injuries, but i have before whined about the long practice. this shortens it to a reasonable time-instead of 2-3 hours, it becomes 90 minutes. much easier to handle in chicago. however, i have no teacher in chicago who can assist me, only friends who also do these poses. that's the way it goes, that's why i spend so much time over here. the method of working your body hard creates strength and stamina very much required for "nadi shodana," nerve cleansing, intermediate series, aka second series.
as i said before, lino has been doing lead primary on fridays, which is a super treat. these days in mysore, they have lead classes sundays and fridays and you have to be invited into the intermediate leads on sundays, which means you are very fluent in the series. only a handful are. intermediate is the flip side of primary, and both series used to be taught simultaneously in mysore. each series compliments the other. and it is quite dangerous to "take" postures from second series. i know of many people who do this, have done this, and are seriously asking for trouble. not only trouble in the body, but trouble in the mind. you don't just do what you want, you have to be given the postures by someone who really knows what they're doing, and for me, in the beginning, i would only take from teachers who have been to mysore, nowadays, only certified instructors-lino and dena. don't screw with this system. it's bite is very sharp.
SO what is lino concentrating on in his lead classes? sarvangasana sequence! that's shoulderstand, folks. he counts 25 in S.S., but it's so slow, it's more like 50 count, 50 count halasana, 25 count karnapindasana, 25 in urdva padmasana, 25 pindasana, 15 matsayasana, 15 uttana padasana. brutal! couldn't do it first couple of times out, but strong now. actually looking forward to it. in mysore, their thing is torturning you in uth pluthi. it's actually sadistic.
i love the lead classes cause it really sets the vinyasa, the movement. there are only so many breaths you are supposed to take, and each breath has a very specific movement. this is what we call "vinyassa." most people are quite ignorant of this specific thing, which is why i believe guruji is doing it, sharath is doing it, lino is doing it. very important.
my injuries have crept back, now i just have to deal with them. somehow you move beyond them, even though it's painful. painful not in a bad way, but in a balancing way. i'm not saying you should push, but injuries can be overcome over time with CORRECT METHOD, bandhas and proper breath. i do remember bragging that my injuries were gone for good, but they were just on vacation. it's ok. this is what we learn.
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tbs
a plumber came to my room to fix a water problem with his tools and toolbox. you know what an indian uses for a toolbox? yesterday's newspaper!

"i'd rather play the lead in a bollywood movie than play second fiddle to meryl streep."-kareena kapoor speaking of ashwarya rai and her taking a roll in a hollywood movie. gee, kareena, don't ya think if ya had ash's looks you would also be asked to play "second fiddle?"

i took scott and arnold to "swades" yesterday, it being my second time for this filum. "we the people" is the subtitle, and it's dedicated to mahatma gandhi. it's about a small town in uttar pradesh working together with the help of shah rukh khan, of course. he helps them get water, helps get the kids in school, teaches them how to build their own electrical system, brings the brahmins and the untouchables together in a very touching scene where the town sits outside to watch a famous movie, "yadon ki bharat." the movie quits on them, and mohan takes down the screen that seperates the castes. he teaches them about the stars in the sky, bringing togethre all people. all these themes are very gandhi. SRK is mohan, a nasa indian about to receive his US citizenship, who longs to visit his homeland. it's a tear jerker/feel good movie directed by the same director as lagaan. if you liked lagaan or/and love india, this one IS for you. bindi will be buying this one on dvd, she will have another bollywood party and show it with the subtitles. and the cd awaits my chicago arrival. the music is fabulous.

my friends sharaf, nass, mahin and sudek went to the beach tuesday, collected 12,000 rupees and took it and food and supplies to tamil nadu, the hardest tsunami hit state in india. such good boys. sharaf seemed so distracted taking us to the movie, i was wondering what was up. "you should see it, people everywhere crying, bodies everywhere, and the smell...." this is what he said to me. there have been many groups of people doing this here. we are only a few miles away from the destruction. that baby hit everywhere to our west, south and east, but decided to just skip over little old kovalam and trivandrum. who knows why, something about the position in the sea, something about blessings, something about luck. when is it bindi's turn? it takes a huge heart and huge cahones (balls) to put yourself in these places. there's nothing that can prepare you for it and it obviously affected sharaf, who is more used to such things than i am. i'm so close, it almost seems stupid not to go there, but i just don't know if i'm strong enough to see it. sending money is the easy way, but the temptation to go there is very strong. i think if sharaf does it again, it may be good for my soul.

bindifry