Sharath said "new asana new pain" last week in the conference here in Mysore. Anyone who practises Ashatanga yoga can probably relate to this.   I think practising some "old" asanas with a new approach can also create pain (both physical and emotional)... In my experience, if we stick with it and trust in the process, we can overcome some of of this pain (both real and imagined). He also said he took two years with one pose. I would love to know what pose that was, but I am not quite brave enough to ask. :-)

Some of  my favourite photos of life in Mysore, India

I survived a 4.30 am led classes here in Mysore. Thats it! :-) I missed last Sundays led class because I was still awake at 2am and due to get up at 3am (it didn't happen). So when my alarm went off at 3.15am and I had had at least 6 hours sleep, I was on it! By the time I reached the shala at 3.45am-ish, there were lots of people sitting outside the gates in the road (yes, in the road). I had been told there would be the "gate keepers", those who sit facing out into the crowd as though to keep a watchful eye on proceedings and the rest of us facing them as though expecting a sermon. It is a very surreal sight. The calm friendly group sat peacefully together turns into something quite different as the shala lights come on and the gates are opened  (imagine the Harrods sales but with yoga mats instead of posh handbags). I decided to put my mat in the lobby and not run the gauntlet of the shala. This turned out to be a great spot for me and was, in fact, the fir...

I have been here in Mysore at KPJAYI for 9 days now. This is my 3rd trip to Mysore and thus far my most introspective. The shala is VERY busy but the energy is quite calm. There are lots of students waiting in the lobby area to be called to practise in the morning, again a very calm and civil bunch of yoga students (or perhaps I am more calm and civil :-)). Time is a funny thing here. No-one seems to stick to it. The cleaner said "I will come at 11am on Friday" she came at 1pm on Saturday. The man who fixed the internet problem said "Madam, I will come at 7.15pm on Friday"; he showed up at 10.15 on Saturday (at least the quarter past the hour was consistent in his case). Time goes really fast or incredibly slow; it can sometimes feel like a twilight zone. Sharath is on excellent form; smiley and happy and moving around the shala in his usual nimble way. His mother Saraswarti no longer assists him in the main shala (although she still teaches in her own shala). ...

Great clip of Sharath in the shala in Mysore-amazing how he is able to stay really focused whilst his son plays around a few feet away from him. I also thought it interesting how high he stays on his toes when he jumps back & rolls forward-thoughts on that anyone? Thank you to  Madeleine Warwick  for sharing

Interesting to see Sharath count into the pose, but not in the pose its self-same as Manju Jois did in a resent led class I attended. This is exactly how I was taught this sequence by my teacher Nancy Gilgoff-I notice some teachers ( and students) go into a really deep Utkatasana. Lovely to see the shala in Mysore, sweated it out in that spot a few times myself :-)

My daughter has been practising yoga on and off for a number of years. She and my son grew up in a household where yoga is a way of life for me. I have never imposed yoga on my family, but I have to say I love having my daughter in my classes. She has started to have a much deeper understanding of yoga and this understanding is helping her through a very difficult and stressful period of time as she prepares for her degree show at Central Saint Martins in London. I am currently her only yoga teacher but I am hoping she will be able to practice with my own teachers, Nancy Gilgoff and with Sharath Jois when they are in London over the summer. I remember discussing with Nancy many years ago how it felt to see her daughter practising with her. She had said she always loved looking through her legs and seeing Vanessa on a mat beside her. Vanessa now assists her quite often when she is teaching around the world. My daughter and I discuss yoga. All limbs. Not too much because, in a way...