Thursday, April 5, 2012

Accepted (and a question)

This has been a crazy busy--and, if I may say so, a rather stressful--week at work; I don't want to go into the details here, as I try to keep a distance between my blogging and work life. Suffice to say that it is busy (and stressful) enough to keep me from doing much blogging. But not busy or stressful enough to stop me from doing my daily practice. At any rate, I have always believed that the more busy/stressful one's life is, the more one needs to practice.

But I am also writing to share an exciting piece of news here. This morning, I received an email from KPJAYI telling me that I am now confirmed to study with Sharath from July 1st to August 1st in Mysore. Now all I need to do is to do whatever it takes on my end to get my a%% (along with a print out of the confirmation email, a photocopy of my passport & visa (1 each) and 1 passport size photo...) to KPJAYI by July 1st.

Actually, I have a question here for those of  you who have been to Mysore. I get the sense that it is probably a good idea to get there at least a few days before, to acclimatize oneself to the environment, right? Right now, I tentatively plan to get there on the 28th or 29th (I am planning to go to Singapore for a couple of weeks before that to visit with my family), but something tells me that a couple of days may not be enough to get settled down enough for Sharath's gruelling instruction. What do you think? Any suggestions/advice will be greatly appreciated. 

36 comments:

  1. July to August, wow that's really early, wonder how quiet it will be..... and how hot. Almost tempting,

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    1. I heard from somebody that July-August is the hottest period. Why? You thinking of going too? ;-)

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  2. No not really but heard this was the first time it was opening so early, curious how quiet it'll be, the heat will be horrendous but then it can't be worse than Kyoto in July. If practice is early enough it'll probably be fine....maybe I am tempted hmmmm.

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    1. Actually, I just went to the KPJAYI website. It says that July is the monsoon season, which means there will be lots of rain. I think that should cool things down quite a bit. Well, I hope you will be tempted enough to go there :-)

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    2. Half filled out the form then checked the cost of flights, more than I expected so probably won't bother, have a great time.

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    3. I wouldn't give up if I were you; as they say, there is never a better time to go than now...

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  3. Oh gosh no, you'll be fine. You'll register the day you arrive, assuming you're there before the afternoon, and then practice the next morning (depending on day of the week, of course). But it's not like they look you up and say "oh you were supposed to come on the 18th, not the 19th!" so if you really felt like you needed to rest for a day, you could-- just register the day before you want to start practicing. You'll pay for the full month when you register. I think it works best to get on the schedule of morning practice right away. Have fun!

    (If this comment shows up twice, my apologies, it's not accepting my wordpress login)

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    1. Thanks Ellie. I think that jet lag shouldn't be a problem, since I will probably be flying in from Singapore. And yes, it does seem that jumping right in is the way to go.

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  4. Congrats, Nobel! Excited for you.

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  5. Well, July is when they open. I think if I got there and I knew the shala was open there would be no way I could "take my time and acclimatize" I would be WANTING to register. I would totally just jump in which is what I have always done and it has worked out fine...

    HOWEVER, if the shala is closed -as it will be if you get there a few days before July 1st-, that would be like a treat. Yes a few days to take things in, get over jet lag etc. In your case it seems there will be no jet lag since you might be coming from Singapore so... it is one of those "why nots"? :-)



    Really happy for you Nobel, it will be interesting to read your perspective.

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    1. Yes, Claudia, I'm beginning to think that jumping right in is the way to go. Thanks. I will be most happy to share my views of Mysore once I'm there :-)

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  6. Congrats! I got to India three days before I made it to Mysore, and even though by then I wasn't jetlagged anymore, I'd say that my first week was still strange, practice-wise, perhaps due to the intensity and surreal-ness of the shala, my nerves, etc. So... I don't think it matters when you get there. To echo Ellie, I think most people arrive in the morning, register that afternoon (unless it's Saturday) and practice the next morning. And if you're starting on a M-Th, it's Mysore style anyway and you're doing Primary, so you won't have to worry about Sharath's pacing or your hardest postures or anything. I look forward to reading about your experiences!

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    1. Thanks MM. I actually look forward to surrendering to the process and doing primary only. I think it's going to be a "great reset", in more ways than one :-)

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  7. OMG, if you and Grimmly went and blogged about it I would have so much fun reading all the posts. Woohoo!

    Not that you should go, Grimmly, just so that I can read your posts. But it would be fascinating.

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    1. Yes, it would be very interesting (surreal?) to be blogging from Mysore for the first time. Ha! Grimmly may even have to rename his blog "Ashtanga Vinyasa Krama Yoga in Mysore" :-)

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  8. I agree. The two of you blogging from Mysore would be kind of awesome.

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    1. [Spoken with a David Lo Pan voice] Indeed!

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  9. So cool!! Looking forward to your posts and tips ahead of my trip later in the year :) Good luck with juggling all the life and work stuff too, it will pass soon enough.

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    1. Thanks D :-) Will definitely try to keep up my blogging.

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  10. How wonderful Nobel:) I am so happy and excited for you! Thank you for wanting to share your experience with us:) Big hug for you:)

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  11. Congrats for realizing your dream Nobel! I can't offer advices because I'm the only Ashtangi I know who went to Mysore but only did sightseeing. Don't be surprised if Sharath stops you earlier than you wanted. I sneaked in and watched a led Second series practice and he stopped somebody from continuing after the standing postures :P

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    1. Thanks Yyogini :-) Good to see you're back. Well, I am totally assuming that I will only do primary series the whole time I'm there (I'll be very happy if he doesn't stop me, like, somewhere around half-primary...)

      Led second? I'm not even thinking about it. Maybe next trip? (or the one after?)

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    2. How odd. Yyogini, can you say more about this experience?

      The students in led intermediate have all been invited there personally by Sharath. So people don't get sent back. He totally wants them there, at least as far as eka pada sirsasana. Y, what you observed might have been a case of someone accidentally attending the wrong class?

      While I enjoy the lore of someone getting stopped in the standing postures in a led class, and part of me wants to leave that out there to make Sharath sound especially hardcore, he's not *that* hardcore... :-)

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    3. Glad to know that Sharath isn't *that* hardcore :-) Although I have never observed a led second class in Mysore, it also seems very implausible to me that Sharath would personally invite somebody there, only to stop them in standing.

      Well, I guess that's one more thing to look forward to when I'm in Mysore; spectating the led second class :-)

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    4. Usually if he is trenchant, it is in making light of things other people hold sacred. Authorization, yoga poses, advanced series. Most of the instruction I receive has to do with making my dharana less freaking seriously.

      This is what it was on the inside of the experience like last year. Totally sweet and lovey. This year was a little more crazy, since it was packed to the gills. But it's never the grueling mad house that it seemed like to the others who wrote it up from the outside. We like it. http://www.insideowl.com/article/sambhav-sirsasana

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  12. Congrats! So exciting! I can't wait to hear about it!@!

    Tara

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  13. I got there Monday at 4 AM, registered that afternoon, and started on Tuesday morning. Buzzed from nerves the first day, but didn't notice anything related to jet lag. There's plenty of time for napping between practices, so jet lag wasn't an issue at all.

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    1. Thanks for sharing, Karen. I think I will just go there and register the afternoon before, and start the following day, like you say :-)

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  14. What an adventure. Have fun, Nobel.

    I think this will be a very sweet time to be there. Many families are planning to take their kids in July, since school's out.

    I agree with Karen and Ellie and Claudia. Just go for it once you're on the ground.

    Exception is if you can arrive a few days before the shala opens. People do like to do this to get first choice of accommodation and wheels. If you are arriving a few days before the opening, you can probably just book a hotel for a night or two and move in to a nice place near the shala soon after. But the latter most likely needs to be arranged, at least on your first trip, once you arrive.

    No matter what you do, everything will fall in to place in a way just right for you. I look forward to reading about your discoveries.

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    1. Thanks (ovo) :-).

      "I think this will be a very sweet time to be there. Many families are planning to take their kids in July, since school's out."

      By "many families", are you referring to Ashtangis like David Robson, who bring their kids to Mysore? Or are you referring to people (non-yogis) in general? Is Mysore a popular summer vacation spot in India or something? Just curious...

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    2. Yes, ashtangis. David and Stan (missstan.com) do bring beautiful Mr. Owl. And many others do similarly, often with toddlers too.

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  15. Hi Nobel !
    How was your time in Mysore ? How long after sending the form did you get your acceptance letter ?
    Lovely post and lovely blog :)
    Thank you so much,
    Victoria

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  16. Hi Nobel
    Same question for me! How long did it take you to get your acceptance letter?
    Thanks for the posts!

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