I woke up a little late this morning....Late for me - 4:15am as opposed to my usual 3:30am...I remember my alarm going off and thought I had pressed snooze....But I apparently turned the damn thing off....Luckily my internal alarm clock sounded at 4:15am - "GET UP!" I'm not one of those people who can just get dressed and go practice - I have to shower man! With Herculian speed, I showered, dressed and was out the door and in the shala by 4:45am shala time - that's like 20 minutes ;) Yeah!!! Not that it really matters one bit as the shala is so empty now and I know it wouldn't have mattered if I even arrived after 5am - but I didn't want to start my day all off kilter...

When I got to the top of my mat, I began my practice with a few moments of thanks...Todays practice really belonged to the earth - I wanted some grounding and felt very connected to the earth beneath my feet - wanted to take a moment and resonate with it.

When Saraswati came out into the shala we did our usual opening mantra together. Then she announced that Sharath is the proud papa of a healthy baby boy born on Monday! Everyone in the shala must have been smiling ear to ear - what a special moment to share - I love Saraswati!

Practice was good today - happy to be able to say that it was yet another wonderful asana practice, with all the bells and whistles. Backbending was a bit intense today - but well worth a little discomfort.

After practice I spent about three hours writing - writing all types of things...It was very relaxing, stimulating, and soothing...

Maureen and I met and ran some errands in the city - first we had lunch at Green Hotel which really hit the spot as we were both starving...Then we made way to my favorite Bata shoe shop in town so Maureen could get some shoes. It seems I had much better luck than she did - for I somehow ended up leaving the store with three pairs of shoes to her one - but I didn't have such intense pangs of guilt b/c it only cost me about $25.00 for all my precious finds ;) We hit a clothing shop too so she could find a top or two - I was along for the ride....By the time we got back to Gokulam I had just enough time to run home and grab my clothes before heading to my dance lesson with Sindhu. Great as usual - but also pretty darn hard today - she is really pumping up the intensity in our lessons and today it was all I could do to keep up...

Erin and Maureen picked me up from Sindhu's house after practice so we could head to Metropole for Jake's birthday celebration. Was a really lovely evening with many people I knew and some I didn't. Jake is so funny - he is in complete and total bliss with his new camera - I had warned him he'd fall in love with a piece of electronic equipement - he didn't quite believe me til now ;)

After Metropole many of us met up at another yogis' house for a bit as tomorrow is moon day so everyone can sleep in tomorrow and stay up past their bedtime tonight. Not long after arrivng though, my gas tank reached an all time low - I couldn't stay long b/c I desperately needed to get myself to bed. Erin left with me as she was pretty pooped herself - we walked back to my flat and she just crashed with me for the evening....

Another busy day in Mysore...Tomorrow should prove to be much more mellow and relaxing....