All I want for Christmas…

is a Liberal majority. But more on that later.

For now though, consider the thought that life’s a lot like football; your ability to execute with quality waxes and wanes for reasons too subtle to understand. There are times when all you touch turns to gold; it doesn’t matter if you catch a cold, or if you have a hangover, or if you didn’t get enough sleep, or you’re eating crap – none of these things keep you from navigating through life (or a game) with aplomb. Then there are other times when it all goes pear-shaped for days on end with no apparent reason – inspite of you doing your level best to put in a top class performance.

Well, I can feel myself coming out of a trough right now. At work, the prospect of a downhill cruise to Christmas is a distant memory as I’ve picked up new responsibilities – the workload’s heavy but I’m enjoying the challenges of these new projects with their different applications and customers. I feel as though I’m oozing confidence and quality again.

In keeping with this, 0n the mat I came off a two-day hiatus (induced by hectic social agenda) to enjoy a fine 90 minutes of asanas this morning. We’ve enjoyed a warm break in the weather during the last day or so and this certainly helped.

I haven’t enjoyed any breakthroughs in my asanas for some time – except maybe one – my jump-throughs look good; my legs come cleanly through between my arms without touching the mat, and into a straight-legged sit. Sure, my legs are crossed going through and it’s all premised on a low profile (like a cat readying itself to pounce). I’m not sure if it’s legit and it’s certainly not the ‘crazy-ass’ jump through a la Swenson, but it’s still pretty good.

In other news we’re getting ready to vote in Canada as the opposition brought down the Government last night in a confidence vote. The first time it’s happened in 29 years. I used to be a political hack in my undergrad years – a Vice President of the University’s Liberal Party Club. I majored Political Science and History and was passionate about the issues. I once even debated Senate reform with the current Prime Minister – while we campaigned together on his first (and unsuccessful) run for the Party’s leadership in 1990. When the Grits crushed the Tories in the 1993 election he was the automatic choice for the Finance portfolio and the country’s enjoyed prosperity largely due to his leadership in the file.

Over time I’ve become cynical and disinterested. But the prospect of losing what we’ve gained over the decade has shaken me out of complacency. To me the choice is clear and obvious. The lowest unemployment in 30 years, 8 straight years of budget surpluses, 60 billion in debt paid down, a strong dollar, a strong economy and low interest rates. We are not in Iraq nor will we ever be. Instead we are now one of the handful of countries that allows people to live and love on their own terms. We’ve chosen a different path to that of our neighbour and long may it continue. I’m voting Liberal. I may even get out onto the hustings because Paul Martin deserves to lead this country.

See ya mate

The Best

1946-2005

Curing AIDS on your Herbal Tea Break

Yes. That’s right. You can help to cure AIDS on your herbal tea break – and the beauty of it is, the longer your break the more you will have helped. Check it out at World Community Grid where in a somewhat Yogic manner, many become one.

Today I am feeling fine. I feel only a bit of discomfort where the missing tooth once was (particularly when I swallow). On the serendipitous side, this whole tooth business has lead me to rediscover oatmeal – try this: combine 1/3 cup rolled oats, 2/3 cup water and a dash of salt. Microwave on ‘Medium’ for 4 minutes, stopping to stir halfway (make sure your bowl is big enough to keep the oatmeal from boiling over). When done, add a large dollop of apple sauce, a tablespoon of brown sugar (or artificial sweetener – but you’ve done 90 minutes of asanas so you actually deserve brown sugar), a couple of tablespoons of sliced almonds, and a small handful of raisins. It’s really good (particularly early on a November morning anywhere in Canada). And it’s sattvic to boot.

My condition, having improved overnight, did not get in the way of my asanas this morning at all. I was up at 6 and practicing at 6:30. I’ve been regular as ever in my asanas but it’s been a few days since I last got into some Yoga reading – maybe I’ll spend the evening reading Iyengar tonight – what a contribution he has made to bringing us the other 7 limbs of Ashtanga. Yes. Ashtanga Yoga – because all yoga is really Ashtanga Yoga.

Pain in the Mouth

Saturday I practiced on our hardwood floor and enjoyed a better practice for it. In particular I noticed how much easier it is to execute jump throughs on a hard floor (which seems obvious now). Today I was back on the carpet upstairs behind closed doors as I was starting practice later (6:30 am). But the jump throughs were still good.

Afterwards, I showered and dressed for an 8:30 Dental appointment – a routine checkup/cleaning followed by the not-so-routine extraction of a wisdom tooth. Dr Chan said it wouldn’t hurt nearly as much as I thought it would. The lying bastard. Worst of all was the ‘pulling’ sensation – I could hear it in my mouth; it sounded like the cracking, creaking sound of a falling tree.

There’s not much pain in my life. Physical or otherwise. I live a charmed existence. My life could be used as a story line in Bollywood movie because nobody would believe it. So when sharp pain comes, it feels unusual. Not so much unwanted or difficult (although obviously I like everyone else would sooner not have to deal with it) but more like out of place. It’s almost a novelty. A splash of ice water or a smack in the face to shake me temporarily out of my seemingly choreographed story and bring me back into the harsh realities of everybody else’s world.

Gamely I worked through the day and after waiting for my five-year old to get home from school, and my wife to come home from the grocery shopping (sometime around 6), I crashed until 10 or 11- I had a strange dream that, for once I recall, although somewhat patchily. I was pushing a car with two other people – strangers, a man and a woman – I suppose it had broken down. Anyway, we got to wherever it was we were supposed to get to and then I puked the soup I had for lunch (I had vegetable soup for lunch but the puking was only in the dream). I got up to find myself dropping bloody spit onto my pillow.

I was begin to hurt again and I felt hungry (the psychological effects of my dream-puke perhaps). I had a grilled cheese and a bowl of Heinz CoTS – trying to work it through the good side of my mouth. It’ll be interesting to see if I manage a practice tomorrow morning.

Practice and Theory

I am surprised that so many people take SKPJ so literally when he says that Yoga is 99% practice and 1% theory. And then it reaches the heights of absurdity when someone works out the arithmetic – and decides that they need to spend 54.54 seconds on theory.

All SKPJ was actually trying to convey is that, by and large, you don’t learn yoga by watching it or reading about it. No doubt you benefit by watching the masters, but learning yoga is a matter of doing it and living it.

And what is theory in the context of asanas? It is studying watching the adepts and learning from them; it is knowing the names of the asanas, understanding their benefits, their composite vinyasas etc. The theory of Yoga is not the other seven limbs. Yoga, despite the way it’s perceived in the public consciousness, is not just the esoteric sequence of contorted poses that we spend 90 minutes on every morning. In fact it is not even primarily this. Most practioners I suspect realise this to be true deep down, but how many Ashtangis actually take it to heart? It is so ironic that a system of asanas given the name (for better or worse) Ashtanga has so many practitioners who are as obsessed with asanas as they are oblivious of the other seven limbs. That needs changing.

Brew Moon

I took the day off work as I had to take Dhara, my 5 year-old daughter to Sick Kids Hospital downtown. It’s an annual ritual for us. Mine today as my wife was housebound with our baby girl. We made it a fun time in spite of the rain that has come lashing down all day. Doing crafts together at the Hospital’s excellent facilities, having a leisurely lunch in between her appointments – today was her special day and I wasn’t enforcing any rules; we had her favourites – French Fries, Ketchup (in my daughter’s hands it is no longer merely a condiment), Mango Juice and a Tim Horton’s Donut with Sprinkles on top.

When my wife was 27 weeks pregnant with Dhara, a routine ultrasound revealed that one kidney had ballooned – it wasn’t functioning (or at least draining). They had to operate on her in utero. One evening in November 1999 I saw something akin to a miracle at Mount Sinai Hospital downtown Toronto as a Doctor, using the ultrasound as his only guide drained that left kidney. I saw it shrink in grainy black and white as he pulled syringe upon syringe of fluid. All the time we knew that there was a chance that this would induce labour – obviously not something one cares for at 27 weeks. But we had no choice. We just bore witness and prayed. This is why we come to the hospital – to keep tabs on that left kidney.

Fast forward to November 2005. She’s five now. She has two kidneys – one works and the other does not (and happily, one is usually all you ever really need). She’s perfectly healthy and normal (normal that is apart from her precocity – yeah I know I’m her Dad but really she’s a spark). I give thanks every time I look into her big brown eyes.

No Asanas today as it’s moonday and I’ve carried a migraine with me since I woke up. I got fed up with these headaches and started to keep a log to suss out the cause; I’ve had two since I started keeping it. Both on a full moon. The only other commonality was the beer I had the night before – just one bottle of Upper Canada Lager – it’s a quality premium beer (now) made by Sleemans. I tried it at a neighbour’s a couple of months ago for the first time in years and enjoyed it so much I bought some the next time I was at the LCBO (I don’t recall if I suffered a headache that time). So, something in the brew? Or something in the moon? Or maybe both – a case of Brew Moon if you will.

Back to the home practice

Last weekend was perfect – my best time in ages. Apart from the workshops, we had family visiting from New Jersey and for the whole weekend the house felt like a bustling B&B – there were 12 of us altogether and plenty of energy, fun, food and drink.

The football was grand as well. Arsenal looked classy beating Sunderland on Saturday – it looks as though they’re finally back in form. And then on Sunday, Manchester United beat Chelsea in one of the best games that I’ve watched as a neutral in many years. Chelsea’s loss 0pens up the race a little. Just as importantly, They were 40 games unbeaten – getting close to Arsenal’s record of 49 games which is now safe again. Nor, obviously, will they go undefeated the entire 38 game season this year – as Arsenal did in 2003/2004 and in the process earning themselves the sobriquet ‘Invincibles’ – the only team to have ever achieved the feat.

As for the week that followed. It’s a time of transition at work. My latest project is ending with the application seemingly stable in Production. The hard work is done and it’s cruise control until Christmas. I spent much of the week completing ‘End of Job’ evaluations for my architect, BAs and developers. I plan to take some time off and squeeze in some education.

Back at home on the mat, with all the rooms taken up with our guests, I didn’t get back to practice until Wednesday. When I did get onto the mat, it was strange – almost as though I had never been to the workshops at all. Gone was the sweat and the intensity. Out of habit, I suppose, I practiced in my usual spot – the ‘bonus room’ and I realise now the soft carpet under my mat and rug soaks up too much of the energy. It’s the ‘bounce’ of a wooden surface reacting to and resisting my vinyasas that I’m hypothesizing makes it the harder practice. Starting tomorrow I’m going to practice on the hard maple flooring of our living room – which for now is bare and perfect to practice on (providing I get up early enough to avoid the household bustle).

My planned Mysore trip came a step nearer this month as I broached the subject with my manager. In truth she was quite taken with the idea and seemed genuinely fascinated and encouraging about it. We considered my options; probably I’ll tack my vacations for 2006 and 2007 together and take another 2 or 3 weeks off unpaid. That will give me the two-three months I’m looking for. At this point I can’t afford to take the 6 month unpaid leave of absence that my company allows – one day I will though.

On the subject of going to India, I’m driving my Mum and Dad to YYZ in about 5 hours. Alitalia takes them to Mumbai and beyond via Milan for a 5-month odyssey.

Lino’s Workshop – Day 3…or how I got Mari D!

Last night I remarked that I wouldn’t get Mari D in two lifetimes. It wasn’t a throwaway comment either. I believed it. But I feel daft now because I bound it on both sides this morning at the workshop – it took some firm but gentle adjustment from Tina …but still, I thought it was beyond me forever…with or without adjustment. I was just gobsmacked when it happened – and I’m still a bit taken a back it. There was one other improvement that I’d normally be screaming about but in comparison to ‘getting Mari D’ it barely merits a mention – I lifted my legs off the ground in Kurmasana; the hard floor probably gave me the leverage to do it. I’m definitely practicing on a hard surface from now on.

Today was day 3 of the workshops with Lino. I have to say that the whole thing has woken me up – it’s changed my notion of what my practice ought to be and could be. Friday was great and each subsequent workshop yielded new things that have improved my practice enormously. I understand now that supplementing my home practice with shala time is no longer just an option.

It was a Mysore practice today – my first with a certified teacher. But even though I was moving at my own pace, it was just as intense as the previous two workshops; I was just as soaked and fatigued afterwards – so there’s no apparent reason why I shouldn’t be able to carry this intensity home with me. I just need to be vigilant of the creeping sloth.

Before the practice began, I bought the book I had Lino lay away for me yesterday. I told him he ‘must’ to sign it and he kindly obliged – but his inscription is doubly unreadable since, firstly it’s in Italian…and secondly, I’m guessing even an italian might have trouble reading his penmanship – but it looks cool and elegant nonetheless. The book itself is a beautiful addition to my yoga library – in both form and substance. After practice I thank Lino and Tina and told Lino that he had to come back to Toronto soon. He replied with mock seriousness ‘No you must move [to Rome]!’

Lino’s Workshop – Day 2

Driving through Toronto’s a lot easier at 8:00 am on a Saturday morning. Yesterday I worked from home and driving into town (on a Friday at 4:00 pm) for the workshop was an effing pain. I took a couple of wrong turns but somehow I still managed to get there 15 minutes early. Even so I had to settle for rolling my gear out in a corner, quite far from Lino. Tina – Lino’s partner was walking around making adjustments.

Today I got a spot right in front of Lino. Practice felt easier today and I was glad that yesterday’s exertions hadn’t left me too sore – some ’sweet pain’ in the back and hips. Any more than that and I would have been seriously disappointed after some seven months of daily practice.

Lino’s himself, is a pretty hilarious. Every so often, he stop us after an asana and tested us; ‘How many vinyasas in that Asana?’; or ‘Which is the vinyasa of the asana?’ Sometimes we understood the question but didn’t know the answer…and sometimes we just didn’t understand the question. He has brought a few copy of the book he wrote under Guruji’s guidance – there were only two left today and I asked him if he’d save me a copy since I didn’t have enough cash on me (and I figured he wasn’t taking Mastercard). He obliged.

Guruji, he laughed, called the book an Ashtanga ‘dictionary’ because it catalogues the asanas systematically and breaks them down by vinyasas. Lino was proud that Guruji thought enough of the book to offer it in the AYRI bookstore. He joked that people ‘accused’ him of being the author, but he doesn’t take credit; according to him he just took notes while Guruji spoke. He said that at the time, he didn’t really understand what Guruji was telling him, he just listened, nodded and wrote.

Somebody cheekily asked him whether Guruji spoke in Italian or whether He spoke in English when they were doing the book. He replied that they understood each other fine because they spoke the same language – ‘broken English’.

As for the practice, Lino adjusted me just once – Salamba Sarvangasana (Shoulderstand); pressing my elbows in with his feet and straightening my trunk and legs – I guess I must’ve been getting a bit lazy. Tina came by a bit later and sorted me out in Karnapidasana as well – interlocking my fingers (all I knew about that pose I got from Swenson’s book – and I did as he apparently instructs and keep my hand palms down flat).

Tomorrow’s the last day – I’ve got a Mysore practice…believe it or not, it’s my first ever with a certified instructor.

Lino’s Workshop – Day 1

I have been badly out of form the last couple of weeks – on and off the mat. I feel tired and jaded. On the mat that has expressed itself in a practice that’s stiff, lazy and distracted. So this workshop with Lino has come at a good time.

When I signed for it, I failed to realise that doing both the Friday and Saturday workshops would mean two practices barely 13 hours apart, but they’ve been booked and paid for therefore doing them both.

I’m about to set off for the workshop in 20 minutes or so. Here is my encapsulated thought on last night though: “WTF have I been doing all these months?!”. I was absolutely exhausted at the end, my shirt was soaked in sweat which also poured incessantly in stinging streams into my eyes. It’s not news to me that there is a difference between my practice at home versus in a studio. I last practiced in a group about a year ago with Darby and noticed it then, but it still came as a rude shock last night. And we weren’t even going through non-stop! We only did 3 Surya As and B, we only did 3 Navasanas and he kept stopping to provide us guidance and correction – yet I was so completely spent at the end that I had to rest for half an hour before driving home.

That said, it was phenomenal. My apathetic asanas of the past fortnight were forgotten and I had a excellent, enlightening time on the mat. It was my first evening practice in months, and with a certified teacher I was bound to take it up a notch or two, still I surprised myself – for example, by binding Mari C part 2 effortlessly, by interlocking my fingers behind my feet in seated poses, by finding my nose tucked in neatly between my knees in forward bends, by thrice executing fine chakrasanas

I noticed more mundane things as well. It never ceases to amaze me that asanas I can do easily are so much trouble for people who can do other asanas than I find impossible. It’s odd that we are so different in our strengths and limitations after so much practice. How is it that people who can do Mari D perfectly struggle with the seemingly easy Baddha Konasana or Pindasana or Sirsana?

The wood floor was tough as well. Usually my mat/rug combo are there to provide firmness under me, but last night they were provided a cushion against that unforgivingly hard surface.

As for Lino, he was typically Roman – expressive and funny but still, paradoxically, very serious.