my house, my house.

changing your body is a painful thing

so i have been studying with dinesh for over a week now, and over two weeks in total.  my body is changing, and the process is a bit painful, like those pains you got as you were growing as a child.  the shifting of muscles to new places, the loss of fat and the working of the muscles on the bones and posture.  my chest is now more open, and i have definitely gotten more flexible.

but the pains occur daily, as my body shifts.  i hope that i remember this, and keep up with my practice so that i only have to go through this process once.  maybe the pain will serve as a moment to remember, and keep me on the path.

i do hope that by the end of the two-three months of study that i will have a healthy habit under my belt, and of course my ass doesn't hurt.

mysore: day trip to chamundi hill

lovely day, the other day.

a bunch of folks from the yoga shala decided to get together and rent motorbikes and make the trip to chamundi hill.  we parked at the bottom and walked up the 1000 steps to the chamundeshwari temple, one of the holiest temples of the area.  even at such a place, the bustle of india pervades.  hawkers selling various wares, souvenirs, drinks and offerings to bring to the interior of the temple.

 two entrances to see the god; one free and long, the other 20 rupee.  so the rich don't have to wait, to meet the god.  as this was my second time here, i volunteered to watch the shoes with natalie, while the others ventured in.  you pass through the entrance, get blessed by a priest with tikka on the forehead, and proceed onward and get a glimpse of a statue representing the god. 


after visiting the temple, we backtracked down th path and visited the temple of nandi and of shiva.  shiva, bad boy god and nandi, his transport.  the statue of nandi was impressive, carved out of a single piece of rock.  shiva's temple was in a cave, a temple priest administering tikkas and holy water.

we then sat on an outcrop of rocks, and enjoyed a lovely cooling sunset and a lovely dinner.

nandi, the bull

chamundeshwari temple

selling temple offerings

temple detail 1

priest with blessings

temple entrance

temple detail2

videos:

oh! kolkata!

i lost this post!  where it went, i don't know. 

and i feel too far from it at the moment to try and recreate it, so i am just going to add the pictures and come back when i feel like rewriting...damn.