Musings ...

In the Ashtanga Yoga System,   pranayama  is placed after  asana .  Through an asana practice, the body develops a strong base/ foundation, strength, & steadiness to support the extension of  prana  i.e.  pranayama . It is only after 10 years of slow, steady asana practice, that I have finally embarked upon understanding the concept of  prana  through the practice of  pranyama . B.K.S. Iyengar's book,  Light on Life , has been supporting my asana practice; I had not got beyond the chapter on a sana.  It is now, as my pranayama practice begins in Mysore, that I move forward to read the next chapter on  pranayama .  In this chapter, he writes, "the word inspiration, means both to breath in and to grasp a feeling in the form of an idea". It is this sentence that inspired me to write this blog on "Inspiration" My friend, Shriram Ramdas, would say to me, "Radhika, in life, you hav...

The food I choose to eat makes me  "me". For a large part of my life, I have been non-vegetarian. I switched to being a " hybrid vegetarian"  over the last 5 years. By hybrid, I mean, I eat chicken-eggs and occasionally fish. I am not extreme in my views - I believe each person must make food choices that is reflective of his/ her energy requirement (input vs. expenditure). My reasons for selecting a primarily plant based diet is simply, "it makes me feel much lighter" than a non-plant based one. And I am all for "lightness" ...... of body, mind & spirit. Mysore is a traditional city and being a vegetarian here is easy - loads of places serving fresh, delicious and nourishing veg food. And as there are many vegetarian yoga practitioners, there is ample variety too. However, I try and eat home most often, as there is greater control of what goes into my food.   Here, I follow a 3-meal plan. This is quite different from my diet in Ba...

Practicing yoga off the mat is challenging. While in Asana (physical posture) or Pranayama (Breathwork) or Dhayana (Meditation), to a certain extent, you are in the driver's seat;  practicing yoga of life, of relationships, of duty is a whole different experience. My yoga training & practice of 10 years is put to test and ... I feel like I am a baby taking her first steps. I'd like to share more on this, but, its a story for  a different day....in a different blog. In the meantime, I am back in Mysore (after 14 days) and back on the mat! I return to a much warmer Mysore and today's practice was felt on my body. I first came to Mysore to practice the Ashtanga Vinyasa two years back. I feel in love with the practice and Mysore. Since then, there has been the intention to return and "return" I did. For me, there is something "special" about living and practicing in Mysore. Yoga here is "serious" stuff and majority of the practitioners hav...