A few words..

After the last Asia trip, I came home okay. Then we ate at an Indian restaurant, which we have only visited once before more than a year ago and both me and MIL ended up with food poisoning. Wife and kids did not get hit although the little one complained of tummy pain, went into a fart spree and then declared herself okay. MIL and me were not that lucky. She was throwing up and I was feeling like an over pressurized cannister that did not know how and when it was going to explode for most of the weekend. 

So my yoga attendance in the last 5 days has been spotty at best. Finally made it back to class this evening. Walked in with low expectations but as usual there is the "now that I have made it past that door, better make the most of it" philosophy that kicked in and started doing the best I could.

It was almost the end of the class and we were doing the final stretching pose on the floor when the teacher mentions my name and says "pull your little thighs just above your knees up and towards each other and then stretch"!

Was trying to process that on the fly, given I have never heard anyone say that to me or another student before. 

The first question was "what are little thighs?" then my brain went "it is something between your real thighs and it is above your knees.. so even if we don't know what that is, just pull whatever muscle you can pull up and towards each other in that region!" 

So I tried to locally clench something in that area upwards and inwards and sure enough, like magic, my body went down a good six inches lower and towards my feet! It was MAGIC !

When we got a chance to do the second set, gave those "little thighs" a big inward curl and was able to repeat the stretch!

Have been doing this for 5 plus years. All it takes is a few words to click at the right time in the right way and there is a world of a difference in the result. 

Have come to the conclusion that teaching yoga cannot be an easy thing. Even if a person can do the poses and internalize how to use their anatomy to make changes, it is very difficult to communicate that cause and effect to another person using mere words. 

For all I know, what was moved may not be little thighs, but the learning continues. 

The Guru was back

Today was a mixed bag. Have almost recovered from the flu, except for the lingering cough and eye infection.

That said I dropped my MIL off at Bikram Yoga San Jose, earlier this morning. That was probably the hardest thing I have done. Get to the door and drive back!

The family had told me in simple terms "you can go to yoga class today but if you come back all exhausted and looking dead and sleep through the rest of the day like yesterday, then don't come back!" .  They know that there are times when I push myself to the limits, especially when it comes to trying things while still not being a 100%. Gave them the assurance that when I come home, they will see the same guy who left the house.

I was reminded of the off airport parking worker, who walks around my car and notes down the dings and blemishes before driving it into the parking lot. Kind of did that check in front of wife and kids and said "see this dude.. he is going to come back the same in 4 1/2 hours".

With that deal made, and with a lot of resolve, went to Jim Kallet's 4 hour special class. It is no secret that I respect this teacher immensely for his breadth and depth of knowledge and his abiilty to communicate what he has learned from personal experience to people in a way they can understand it. 

It was mostly teachers in the audience and he was like an irate VP of Technology, beating up guys in the technology transfer department on "following the specifications to the letter" (As a person who transfers technology, was able to relate to that personally!)

In between his "don't change the spec" topics, Jim was soft and mellow and addressed folks like me with very specific do's and don'ts.

One doesn't need to know how a CD player works on the inside to enjoy music, but knowing how to put the CD into the player the right way is a requirement!

Yoga is kind of like that. As long as you do the basic stuff right without hurting yourself, the results come. You don't need to actually know which body parts are being expanded or compressed in which pose for it to have the right result.

The class was like drinking from a fire hose. My brain could not grasp everything he showed or said in the last hour (notes or otherwise) but my usual goal of  "get at least 5 takeaways that you can remember from this class and put it in practice", was met! 

Over the next few days to months, will have to put those changes into the practice. He even gave us exercises to do while sitting on the couch and watching TV. That was interesting. Have already started doing "couch-a-yoga" as of this evening. In fact doing couchayoga while typing this post! 

There was a regular 90 minute class Jim taught, after the 4 hour class. One of the teachers told me "you can do it. stay for the class". Could have probably done it, but given what I would have had to face, if things didn't go as planned, decided to drive back home. 

One thing Jim said that resonated with me this time? 

"This Yoga helps you with your day job and with your family. That is what this is about. Does it matter if you can do everything the way everyone else can do it? No. The only thing that matters is that you try the right way."

When driving home the second time today from the BYSJ, had a smile on my face. Had given it everything I got, made the right calls w.r.t. family and myself and learned a lot. 

ps. I lost horribly on a game of Ticket to Ride with the MIL and kids after coming home, but I lost with a big smile on my face! That is Yoga in the works.. 

The adventures of Sundar, Episode 435: starring Pukelady and YogaYoda

The last two weeks have been interesting to say the least. Went to Asia for yet another business trip. Everything was same old same old. Yet another Uber driver who has fled the middle east gave me his story as we went to the airport on an early Sunday morning. Made it through the trip. Then San requested some urgent support back home. So I moved my confimed biz upgrade seat to an earlier flight in economy class. That was a mistake.

Just like in T20 cricket when you get someone out on a "no ball" and the guy comes back and hammers you for a six on the free hit, I got a double whammy. There was a lady on the flight who decided to throw up an hour after the flight started. Now, throw up may not be the right way to decribe it. She more like "sprayed up". The rest of the 10 hours was spent smelling puke and just taking sips of air to be able to breathe but not get too much into my lungs.  All that breath control from years of yoga practice, didn't work! 80/20 breathing vs. pukelady wasn't even a close contest. End result was that I was going through flu like symptoms within 24 hours after landing. 

Last weekend and the early part of this week were a blur. My wife decided to not say a single word throughout this. Usually she goes on a rant. This time she was all TLC. Someone must have taught her that this tactic might produce more guilt/hour than the lecture and sure enough, they were right. 

Stuff at home and work took a hit because my voice was gone. The last three four days have seen me steadily improve, spending more time at work and being more active at home. So it is natural to want to get back to the Yoga room as well to speed up the recovery. 

The plan was simple. Start in the last row and keep moving up as I feel better. Did start in the last row and moved up last two days. 

Went to yoga class this morning with the MIL. It was taught by the YogaYoda, Jim Kallet. Decided that this would be a good class to graduate from second row to the front row.. yes. why not pick the hottest spot in the room to check if you have fully recovered from the flu?!  Guess I did not think this one through.

While Jim did say the usual "you should know how much to push yourself. this is going to be a slightly longer class. so pace yourself. Sit down if you feel dizzy. Take a break and get back".. I took it the way my mother tells me "if that is what you want to do, please go ahead".. which usually translates to "if you want to call yourself my son, don't even think about it". 

Now, don't laugh. Every one of my Yoga teachers bears a close mental resemblence to my mother. They have eyes in the back of their head and can know if I am even thinking of giving up on some pose, even if they are in some other part of the room, much like how my mom can remotely control my emotions from the other side of the planet. So it was natural for me to take it that way.. 

It was a great class. Did struggle through the middle of the class, because I did not pace myself. 

Jim continued to amaze with his words of wisdom. When you are that experienced, it shows! 

My MIL has never met Jim and was telling one of the teachers before class "I am already past 60. getting old. so some of this is getting difficult" and the teacher told her "the guy who is going to teach this class is older than you!"

Wrote this about Jim's all day class from four five years ago.. he is doing another such class tomorrow. Not sure what shape I will be in to go. Right now, just happy that I got to take his regular class!

It is an experience not to be missed.