Practice, practice, and all is coming!

The moon is still high in the sky although the sun is softly lighting the eastern horizon. I walk home from today's practice in the dark with hips that have that wet noodle sensation from all the twisting, flexing, and turning. Town is quiet save for the sounds of the straw brooms cleaning the pavement in front of the houses on my street.

The alarm went off at 3:00 a.m. I woke up easily, eye lids much lighter than I anticipated. It must have been the 8:00 p.m. bedtime combined with the fact that it is my first 4:30 practice. Not like first day of school excited, but more like not exhausted with a routine yet. I head toward the bathroom to draw the water for my bucket bath. I have to chase a gecko out of the shower before pulling the plastic bucket under the faucet. The first week I was here I had convinced myself that the shower was great, but the water pressure seems to have diminished a little each day. I now have come to appreciate the "bucket baths".
As the 30 liter bucket begins to fill, I start the coffee maker Thomas passed on to me two days ago. The coffee maker does not have the filter compartment so it actually is a water brewer. My first visit to Doctor Kumar's office to begin my Ayurvedic cleanse was yesterday (the cleanse will be blogged about soon- that is a promise, only day one of five has occurred and you definitely want to hear about it!) He told me to only drink hot water, it is better for digesting and releasing toxins. The warm water I ladle over my body gives my mind a sense of alertness and prepares my body for the morning practice. The body seems to creek at this hour of the morning. Two days since my last practice and I can feel my hips have tightened. I stretch and lengthen all my most tight places, and I try to forget how early it is in the day... or is it actually late at night?

At 4:00 a.m. I hear Thomas whistle twice but I let him walk alone to the shala as I roll up my mat, gather my keys and some tissue for if I need to use the shala's bathroom. I lock my room with the only necessary key of eight on my over sized chillies key chain that Ganesh handed to me over four weeks ago. I step down my stairs to unlock and re-lock the large front metal gate (okay so I use two of the eight keys.) The gate creeks loudly compared to the silence of the hour. Arriving at moments after 4:00, I am a half an hour early but not surprised to see over 20 students already waiting for the gates to open. I am used to arriving to open gates and sitting on the stairs to wait for the first class to end. At this hour we stay outside the large metal padlocked gates, pouring into the narrow street that no one is driving down.

Headphones on, I love this moment. Feeling the daybreak energy I am receiving from my new ipod stacked with music that I love. Audible vibrations combined with the power of the full moon gives me hope that I could do this everyday for the rest of my life. What a commitment! I have to find a comparable community where controlling my mind and having a healthy relationship with myself is easily attained. No problem!

The interior lights flicker on. You would have thought Willy Wonka himself was coming out to pick five lucky winners. It flashed me back to my past few winters- standing in line for the gondola after a fresh blanket of snow had covered the mountains. The "gondola push" happens around the time everyone is expecting the lift to open, on new movement or noise sounded everyone to wedge themselves closer toward their passion and excitement for the day. Same feeling here- no one wants to seem pushy, but if there is more than an inch in front of them they make their way in to that space.

The shala had more bodies than it could hold, people were practicing in the waiting room and in the two changing rooms. I had a nice place in the front corner. The two walls next to me seem to still my mind, I let my mind flow in and out of focus without judgment. Sharath came to adjust me into Supta Kurmasana. He gave me the pose four days ago, and then he left two led classes for his mother Sara Sooti while he went to BKS Iyengars birthday. He came back and out of the 70+ people in the room, he knew where I was and that I needed his help to attempt to bind. He aggressively shoved and pushed me around until my body was in a pose I never imagined I could do (even last week). This guy is amazing. It makes me sorrowful that I leave this week because I feel that I am just starting to really improve my practice. I guess it is merely a fantastic challenge I have been given!

One of Pattabhi Jois' lines is "Practice, practice, and all is coming!" I now see that he wasn't merely talking about the physical poses of yoga. To live life with determination and commitment is a gift we are given through practice. To flow gracefully in and out of situations, knowing that focusing on the breath will get us to wherever we need to go next. To accept where we are, drop the ego, and keep practicing with a smile on our face. I will practice everyday for the rest of my life.

namasfrickinste!