As I sit in my flat typing away I can hear the remnants of the never ending Ganesha festival...It was supposed to last two days - and started two Fridays ago...But it is yet to be over...Not that I am complaining, just intrigued is all. It was actually quite nice to walk home this evening and see another procession of dancers, jugglers, and other interesting characters parade along the streets of Gokulam - the main event being a rather large Ganesha on a throne carried by several Indian men. That's one of the things I really love about this place - the culture - the heritage - the community. Nothing like that ever really happens back home - at least not like it does here - quite beautiful to watch really...

This day in general has been good, but I've had a bit of a gloomy undertone in my own mind...Lots and lots in zee brain - moved from one mode of thought to the next today - feel the need to sort and compartmentalize my thoughts and emotions - then the urge to let it go and surrender knowing that all will work out as it should when it should - and then back to sorting....Been a consistent trend today....What you may ask - well - well a lot of things...Things I don't care to talk about - but things that need to be sorted nonetheless... Time right? Time is the healer of all hurts, the bearer of all truths, the decipherer of all that is indecipherable... Finally at 9pm I've decided to surrender to father time...At least until tomorrow...

On a brighter note, I had a truly phenomenal practice today - very needed indeed. As I walked to the shala at 4:40am I was listening to Hootie and the Blowfish, Time - funny eh! My mind had already begun its non-stop blah blah blah that has remained constant all day long...When I arrived though Maureen was walking up - and moments later the shala gate opened...Went inside and set up my mat, Maureen set up beside me...After getting settled I stood at the top of zee mat and took several minutes really trying to center myself as I knew I could 1) have a really crappy practice if I allowed my inner dialogue to consume me, or 2) I could have a glorious practice focusing intently on my bandhas, breath, drishti, and working to find a pure centeredness...I selected option two, but that required quite a bit of pre-asana dedication...I dedicated my practice to my mama and daddy; gave thanks for the practice I was about to receive, asked for additional inner focus today to help maintain stillness in my mind, and then I silently chanted my opening mantra...Did the trick ;) I had a really wonderful moving meditation today - far better than it's been in quite a while. I wonder sometimes if it is better to have many scattered thoughts before practice - in order to force you to really center yourself...Hmmm

I physically worked myself so hard - by the time in got to Karandavasana I was exhausted...My arms felt weak and my determination had waned. But I did it over and over and over...And seemed the more I attempted the asana the easier it became to do it again. On my third or fourth attempt Saraswati came over to help me - felt badly as I wondered if she was like "come on - get the posture already - I am soooo tired of lifting your bum everyday" - but I doubt it...I tried several times more after she assisted me - and always have more umph then as I seem to get the 'feeling' of how to do the asana...When I didn't think I could do another forearm balance, I laid down to begin backbends...After Saraswati squashed me in forward bend I looked up to her and asked if I could finish where I was today as the shala was sooo empty - she said that was fine - and I must admit it was quite lovely to finish where I'd started!

The rest of my day was a bit of a blur - busy and among good company...Met Maureen and Erin for breakfast at Tina's around 9am - and had the pleasure to sit with Neal and Dominique as well - they arrived a few days ago - first time I've really gotten to meet Dominique - she is quite lovely! Haven't seen Neal since last year in Mysore so it was a treat to chat with him and catch up on the last year.

After breakfast Girish picked Maureen and me up from the coconut stand and took us to the Rashinkar's - finally a successful trip - yoga bags are finished, skirts are finished, and now just waiting for them to make some smaller ladies bags...Also getting a few personal items of clothing made - which I am really excited about ;)

From there we made way to Barti's shop to check on the progress of bags there - and also to grab my dishes (stored some stuff there last year and now that I have a kitchen of my very own I needed to get me dishes to eat from ;) Bags were supposed to be done late Saturday, but totally knew that wasn't gonna happen - hoping they will be completed in a few days - then Girish and I can go to DHL and ship them home - will be really nice once all products are completed and I don't have to think about them anymore the rest of my trip.......

When Maureen and I got back to my flat we both did a bit of emails and what not - then we both took an hour nap ;) We woke up about 3:30pm and Maureen headed home - I got ready to head to my Odissi lesson - Which, by the way, was wonderful today! I am so glad that we've moved my lessons to the afternoon as opposed to 11am in the morning...I feel so much more energetic and focused in the afternoon - have all day to sort of wind down from my practice, and occasional trip to the gym. I felt great, and had a blast with Sindhu.

After class she insisted on feeding me a dosa before I left to meet with Jake to have dinner! She ALWAYS tries to feed me, which I think is really sweet - but I don't ever want food right after my dance lesson....She's really sweet though and I truly appreciate her generosity. I indulged her today and ate one dosa - she tried to give me another one and I explained that I was about to meet a friend for dinner! Before I said goodbye we organized our plans for dinner this week....She has been on me about having Erin and I over for dinner one night - had originally planned to do it tomorrow evening (Tuesday) but that is Jake's Birthday - so we arranged to move it to Wednesday evening instead - which means I've got to bump my Kannada lesson up on Wednesday before dance and dinner...Oh sometimes making plans is so complicated....

Met up with Jake and we made way to Green Leaf for some grub. Total Indian dinner tonight - had some paneer rice with veggie curd...Some of Jake's fried onion appetizer (which I must admit didn't agree with my tummy), and finished off with somph (fennel seed) with the hopes that the fennel would help me digest dinner - I've really gotten a nice taste for Indian food, but my digestive system still doesn't care for it one bit...Still try every now and then, but always feel yucky afterwards - oh well I guess it's the price you pay for such a sensitive GI system....

On my way home I stopped by Joyce's to get the photos from Thursday nights outing to High Octane, and our 24 hour trip to Bangalore...Posted some up on the blog for your enjoyment!