Steeping in Pune
It is early Sunday morning here in Pune, India, the beginning of my second week studying at the Institute. The birds have begun their music-making, with the occasional addition of the buzz and squawk of the rickshaws. I am drinking masala tea, which I am finally becoming rather expert at making....steeping the tea and spices for just the right amount of time. After one week at RIMYI, I feel more grounded, especially after a week of standing poses! My feet are walking with more steadiness, shoulders are moving into the back, chest is more open and breathing seems to be reaching more cells! The daily classes and practices are steeping within my embodiment and mind and I feel more awake, aware, curious, present, and full of gratitude for all that is being offered here as learning opportunities.
Prashant's classes this week stressed that Yoga is an educative subject. He reminded us that postures are just the outside structure, necessary as a foundation, but inert unless we search for what is contained within. This searching and exploring the inner world is the subject of Yoga, and this is what he teaches. Each class is an off-shoot of this topic, endlessly fascinating and challenging to implement. I was able to experience the skillful teaching of many of the other teachers here, especially Abhijata, Raj Lakshmi, and Devki. Each of them are steeped in yoga and the lineage of Guruji and Geetaji and I hear notes of their voices within their classes.
Living right next door to the Institute makes it very easy to participate in as much of the yoga activities as we like and it has been a busy, non-stop week. Our only excursion during the week was to buy buy vegetables at the farmer's market for our cook to make her extraordinary daily lunches.
Finally, yesterday afternoon, Linda and I took a walk down Ferguson College Road toward Deccan Gymkhana. I was so delighted to see that sidewalks have now been built on that busy road and greenery has been planted to form a barrier between the cars and the pedestrians.
