Of teachers, shalas and Mysore..

So..my teacher has left. Too bad. I feel a little better knowing that D is taking over the class. I have tried D's adjustment's before and they are quite good. I like a firm adjustment from my teachers, especially mysore class. I've had some teacher's adjust me with a feather touch or a poke here and there, and they don't really work for me. I'm the type that likes to be wrestled into a pose..if I need it;)

Anyhow, I do feel a little sad knowing that my first real mysore teacher will no longer be around. I wish him the best from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for introducing me to the authentic practice of Ashtanga, your adjustments, tips and advice. And on your advice, I've taken it up 6 days a week..hahaha..more than the 4 days that you recommend! Too bad I did not manage to thank you properly before you left, but who knows..maybe one day you will come back to teach again! (My teacher probably would not read this..but anyhow I hope he gets the vibe;))

On to the practice..very so so practice. Like I said, for some unfortunate reason, B didn't manage to teach, so we had a substitute teacher. I guess since she didn't know my practice too well, she didn't adjust me in the poses I usually get adjusted in. So supta K..feet not pulled over the head, but more or less touching in front of head. Also I didn't get helped to stand up..so chicken me..didn't do it..shucks.

Handstands..jumped up and balanced for maybe 1 second before toppling over. Pincha was much better, I held it for a few breaths..yippee!

Overall...rather strange to be taught by someone else. I'm hoping D will be a good mysore teacher. I've been looking around for some workshops and teachers to go to. Like I said in my country, we don't get mysore classes. Its a real treat if some guest teachers like Mark Yeo comes along (although I didn't go for his classes while he was here..I'd just started mysore back then.) Hmm..by the way I noticed that his name is no longer on the Ashtanga teacher's directory..Whats up with that?

The nearest place would of course be Singapore or Thailand. Since I have accomodation in Singapore, and have worked there before, I may just take a few days to go down there to see what a real shala is like..

Am a long way off from actually making a trip to Mysore. I don't think it would be much very beneficial at the moment considering I'm still such a beginner in a way. But yes that thought has been on my mind..I think when I'm at least through to second series or so..I may start planning my trip.

Some other stuff to comment on...my Gym X classes have been doing very well. attendance is very good especially my hatha class. The Ashtanga class (very crim class) that I teach on Saturdays are alright, but the attendance defintely doesn't rival the hatha class. The thing with gym ashtanga is that there is just no way I can keep to the sequence in any authentic fashion. People drop in to class and get lost when I ask then to do Surya Namaskaras. So its turned into a flow class of sorts using the posture of primary series (and some second series backbends thrown in). I feel like asking management to let me teach a flow class instead..My hatha class is really a flow class too..but I like it very much cos I can get creative and do all sorts of flows of my own. Someone asked me to teach her private. I felt compelled to turn her down because of my inexperience with privates. Also I got offered 3 classes by a dance school, which I am still contemplating.

I did send the person who asked me to teach her Ashtanga (lets call her A) some notes from the ashtangainfo website. Thank god to Arjuna for being such a valuable resource. I also got notes from this site from my teacher when I started practicing. Actually my first taste of Ashtanga was at Gym X itself, when R from India taught there. Rare to have an Ashtangi from India, but he followed the sequence pretty closely. My next "teacher" of sorts was Richard Freeman (ok kidding..his VCDs I mean). And that was all I knew of Ashtanga before I started practicing at my current studio. I hope A picks up the practice. There really are too few people practicing this beautiful style here in my country..