What made my day :) cats and abs

Ohh what a wonderful day I had. It was always kind of scary how much work they will give me as a volunteer. Well to just play with a few cats, would it be worth it, may be I will come back sobbing regretting that signature, may be I will feel cheated. Nothing of that sort happened. On my way to shelter practising conversations imagining cats dogs in shabby area  around old wrinkled homeless volunteers, as I stepped in to meet my coordinator, 3 beautiful kittens called me in. Are they up for adoption, are you serious these cuties are going to belong to someone lucky. Its super overwhelming on your first day, you want to feel so happy meeting cats dogs but you do sense their pain their loneliness. Lets keep the post positive, she took me to a room where intakes are kept, one cat wouldn't stop putting her paws out haha holding on to your sweater jeans anything. Another one looked like a big friendly chubby guy. How can someone abandon their pets? They must have bigger issues, trust me no one would just surrender their loved ones like this. Every observation is recorded like what they like to play with how they behave around people, every small detail.

All cats looked healthy lazying around and there were so many of them. Dogs on the other hand were a little more restless, they wanted attention you can see in their eyes how much love they can give you. When the day comes when I own a farm, all dogs cats will come to my farm. I hope so.

My job is to socialize with pets so my first assignment was the one who was left by her owner of 5 years. Imagine cat's sorrow, she wouldn't trust anyone and keep to herself with her side of cage. On offering treat, she took it but then hissed me away. I got so much to learn gosh. Its not like I have never been around cats, raised a few but they were all stray so food or a little massage when they wanted. This is a huge opportunity for me to empathize with cats in shelter, know the behavior, bond with them. When she asked me to hold a cat, I couldn't because I never held one. Then she told me cats can sense it when you are scared, never approach a cat in scared tense mode, she will be the boss of you. Hmm also I have no idea how to make conversations here. All of them are dead end with me. Life is long and we are all constantly evolving. If you do love cats or dogs and you have time, try volunteering. I can't keep dogs or cats because of my frequent visits to india so this is the only way to keep in touch with animals.

So heading back with mixed feelings, cooked, headed for my yoga class. Finally, finally a charming exotic guy with abs lays your mat next to you and the best part he is new. So he is looking around a lot, he is kind of confused which makes him cute. Haha when yoga instructor said stretch keep your gaze up I was like you do that, I am gonna look at this marvelous piece of candy on my right. Ohhh not just that its motivating, you want to perform. I was sick of all the floppy bellies doing yoga perfectly. What a refreshing change. Aha made my day. Ohh how come we indians got the worst genes of the bucket. Or may be with arrange marriage we multiplied all the faulty genes like big nose, short height, balding heads. Think about it. They got everything hot we got left overs.

In my life, this was a perfect day which ended with idli sambhar.

For yoga, some new indians have joined in, they all act like assholes, like straight up no smiles no hi nothing. Hehe what is wrong with us, why are we frowning at our own . Ohh my practice is getting in flow with more poses more calmness more smiling resting face. I even did perfect backbend pushing from chest etc blah blah. Yeah perfecttoo....


NAMASTE

What have I been upto hmmm

Seeing tremendous response to my boring stories( 5 views ;P), I kind of stopped for a while since there was nothing to write about. There has been kind of a balance show in our house too, we were both a little shaken by the new roles we acquired which was a little on the edge rough. A few tears were shed, apologies gulped and now we are happiest at the peak again. You got to talk it out, if you feel neglected or overwhelmed, have a conversation. The only single solution to this is to forcibly sit , pour your feelings out, be clear with your goals your problems. Only way out is getting through. Couple is a team of two moving in same direction choosing same options, don't wander off and sulk.

My yoga has improved, at least my body says so. There are moments when you miss the heat too. Heat helps with elongation of your muscles, strengthens your core by giving you the focussed support. After a long time, to do something easier, I went for bikram yoga. Yeah, easy haha. With bikram yoga, the trick is you are on your feet more than power yoga. So novice can't just walk in adjust to heat do all the poses in flow.

What I would advice is if you have the option, try switching classes. One day, go for power yoga, another day try bikram yoga, on a hungover day try yin yoga. Every yoga practice is different. The flow varies which in turn challenges our system to evolve, practice better.

I added one more thing to my hot yoga routine, chill pal towel, its awesome. It cools you down quickly, you feel more calmer and in control. Try it. My water bottle is normally unused in class. When your guide says smile, smile. This is all in line with the body, as long as you are doing it right, you wouldn't feel a thing or you might. If there is no challenge, go learn higher forms.

He got eggos, instant waffles this time hmm delicious quick treats for high people, add peach melon banana berries and some whipped cream to go with hot choclate. We made our punjabi khichdi with spicy fried egg bhurji. Try it. I don't know if there are people out there who feel they eat too much when they are high but I do, so to counter it have yogurt, dry fruits, probiotics and indian churan or some laxative to keep your colon clean. We got nice led lights to go on our pillar in the center of the hall, it looks ravishing in sunset.

NAMASTE

Yay long weekend is gone :)

The long labor day weekend is finally done and we can all move on to our routines. For me, there are two different variations of the same day, if he is home it all circles around him, if its just me nothing goes on except the serious yoga class and dinner prep. After years of staying alone as a homemaker, the peace of easy passing days haunts me when it is not there. The thought of people staying over for span of months is suicidal hostile situation. On one of our trails, he pointed out how much guarded I am. Holding my peace as a sacred untouched phenomenon, it gets swayed as soon as circumstances vary around me. Its not peace, its convenience of avoiding sun, people, job, cooking, restaurants  blah blah. So it should be a constant in the equation of life not a variable like mine. What to do, find your inner peace don't look for it in the perfect lifestyle perfect routine perfect company. Its must be in you always, how do we preserve it? I got no clue. The one that I held so dearly was an illusion of comfort.

The struggle of finding a good book in a public library is only known to frequenters. I love the library but going in the section to find the right author's perfect food for brain is time consuming. Also, homeless people snoring around are not the required motivation for a non reader. Hmm got to get the job, its the moment where he's realized I might be having too much fun in exploring spirituality by being at home. I got all the time in the world to chill. If you see it from his angle, it is kind of unfair to him. If only lottery tickets worked, there would not be any pressure to work ;)

Finally the weekend is over, we had way too much fun watching psychedelic videos, kapil sharma show ( I know desi jokes are the best ) and all our google searches ended on ozora festival. Are we using our high for nothing? Should we may be try to focus, cultivate some art form practice? There are a few bands in ozora festival lineup that are awesome. They are classical, they are modern, they got so many instruments to play with. Pure bliss. Do check beat antique music. 

After his yummy  pancake breakfast offering on tuesday morning, he set out for office, red fairy is finally here and diva cup is the best. Hehe and it turned into one of those women's well being ads.  I gave my yoga class a try and it worked. Your flexibility your strength is maximum at a certain time of the moon cycle so use it. Now that the  yoga flow is coming, I yearn for more poses more flexibility challenges, more balance ways. Power yoga should advance the steps as you go through classes. Every instructor is different, some ask to pull towards legs in downward dog others say spread wide. Hmm consult ramdev baba. Actually on a serious note, try reading books on yoga so you know which parts of body you are going for when you do certain poses. Every time there is a bit of unpleasantness or you lose your calm, rest for a bit and join back. Don't ever suffer in name of yoga fitness. There is no such thing as yoga fitness. Enjoy the moments of stillness, there is no need to focus, just be in it, think about a beautiful trail when you do plane pose. Life's awesome. 

NAMASTE

Day Monday strikes again :)

Weekend was a blast, weather was pure junkie, a little cold with no signs of sun till late in the noon. Fall is almost here. Finally a friend of ours got us out on fri eve to dry dim sum. It was heavenly, so simple and light. As we sat there gulping it in, both of us realized we were obviously missing out a part of life. The food destinations must be explored now to find our kind of healthy simple tasty meal. We took a little drink to go with it. After months, we dined out, sort of a new found once in a month hobby. I am not going to hit burger sandwich joints. Asian cuisines will rule our palate. Dessert bowled us over, it was red bean paste in steamed rice dumpling.

Next day again weather treated us so we walked to our favorite trail looking at trees losing leaves, different colors patterns shapes textures. If you pay attention to nature, nature rewards you with more depth and understanding of its life. Huge trees that stand tall have seen so many seasons, surpassed all the heat, cold phases and survived. The little ones so firmly hold on to their roots even the ones with two budding leaves. There is something about being on trail, walking alongside different trees, shrubs, flowers is purely refreshing. My husband had this random thought that if somehow without warning earthquake hits, he would still be happy and content leaving right then and there with me and him flying to other world from earth heaven.

We came back home, I sat up my yoga mat while he kind of napped for a while. For folks like me, company is important, we don't push enough on our own unless someone does it in front of us. On the other hand, he keeps doing tabata and crossing levels on his own. So yeah the high weekend begins with sativa day. It was perfect to step out, take walks adore plants dogs. He cooked shahi paneer which is easy but a little time consuming if you want to finish quickly. Guess what, instead of cream you can add almond soy milk.  Perfect curry, we got garlic naan from indian store so all set for the weekend.

Yay indica day came, we played business, shot bottles with our nerf guns. Never take sativa or indica if you are already tired. What I would recommend is take a nap if you woke up early. A couple told us they take hybrid choclate, guy feels too much buzz and has to sleep off. Well, he's already tired, his brain can't handle it on a physically tired structure. You don't waste your day too so better take less quantity around 5 in the evening , have fun till 10 and hit bed.

Not feeling a lot of indica buzz or the energy, in  a robotic way I entered yoga class after 2litres of water in. The trainer was doing poses with us which trust me helps so much. Still she wasn't pushing it much. If you have a bunch of mixed level students, you can't take too much balance or flexibility because there will be half of the things they couldn't follow. I have to take my practice to a more serious flowy focussed one. Enough time has passed, we need fire now to core up to challenge boundaries . Today another cool lady came, ohh god I swear she looked and talked exactly like a chinese friend of mine from chennai. For a while, she left me speechless. Watching her do yoga was so calming. Now that I see similar faces, I am getting smiles which boosts the experience. Who wants to straighten up tighten up all time. Its deliberate self torture.

My yoga needs more concentration now. Time to go up. Balance poses hmmm......

NAMASTE

Day chakrasana

As I sat outside my class waiting, trees were dancing with wind, almost telling me that you can be rooted strongly while in flow. Even the thinnest trunks hold great weights while leaves move with the air. Great lesson, another almost successful yoga class, as each class passes I am gaining more footing on ground, more confidence to at least try balance poses. Fear is the biggest obstacle and then there is heat and dizziness and sweat dripping from every inch of your body. Thank god Emergen C. What actually kind of surprised me was no one including teachers, proud proud students told me to drink up something before class. I see this couple sweating like crazy, for sure they are on it. Yoga teaches you to be kind too you know not just gaze focused strong. If americans or adapted version of them had any idea, their god would be shiva, the god of strength gaze focus. Yeah and thats a good thing. Jesus doesn't even fit the part.

So finally someone who couldn't handle heat joined who wasn't a fan of summer. Saw that poor thing gasping for water smiling innocently and still trying. She kind of looked like me just a little more stronger. Why would I put anyone in my category so people can either put me down or her or say I was trying to bring her down to my level. After 2 hours of mantras in the morning, all that went in my brain was om om hari ashtakam hehe instructor told me like 7 times to get back to normal poses. Lost in my own paradise. Hmm as new girl came out, patient me waited and told her she's flexible, she said of course I did yoga I knew she did practice before hmm yoga instinct no no yogi instinct. So yeah I chatted her up all to bring her to the conversation point where electrolyte suggestion came up. No one told me so really don't care if its not for her, just wanted to help her. People should know options so they don't struggle in first few classes. Look a week completion has made me so much more kinder.

And my biggest accomplishment I did backbend in its 60% form. It was great, she said it wasn't the right way but then the strength does come from within. Haha also when instructors say keep pushing this is 80% mental don't think anything, hmm yeah we are not thinking you know  we are just laying dying.

Jokes aside it was a wonderful day for me. Opened doors for people, got smiles people holding doors, you gain so much composure stability in your life.Its more than confidence, its self realization. You are not thinking too much of yourself or judging others, just existing in a plain happy state.  Appreciating the ground as you walk, thanks to the the walking meditation book, its lively, nature interacts with you, its almost a surreal high state.

After cooking pahadi dal ( do look it up, super healthy and yummy ), finally library got another chance. In my recent interview videos of Simon Borg Oliver, he mentioned some authors and books, unfortunately they were not in library so picked up a dalai lama book. My father has been asking me to read vivekananda or paramhansa books. He used to be an osho follower, we even had his photo in our house. But then we had asaram too, all the scandalous sex artists. I am not against them having sex, its just the lengths asaram went to, illegally raping girls and shutting off their parents.

We did a little pooja in front of tv, that is where videos of aartis are and its the best way. You see lyrics, you sing along enjoy it fully. Imagine when moms and dads would sing in non melodious methodical way. It was great but still this works better for me to concentrate. Whenever we celebrate diwali with others, they try to teach me the whole process of preparing for pooja, frankly I don't understand, there is no peace in there for me if we care too much about external factors like flowers and prasad. Instead for me just sitting in one corner left alone is way more spiritual. While we were singing in front of tv like modern know it alls ( self righteousness is a bitch ) he would stop singing in pauses, at the end he's like ohh I like listening to your voice more than hers. Hmmmmmmm love love, thanks krishna for giving me this fulfilling moment with him.

When people text us to meet, its scary, they are going to share work stories restaurant stories and the worst of them loud concert fun. So we take at least a day to answer, by that time they make other plans and we are off :)

Hmm another day another class going to start in an hour. Today two people called up, my sister and a friend of mine. Both of them are so stressed with relatives, my sister keeps complaining how much hers don't respect boundaries, in some indian households its unfortunately considered rude to keep your privacy. My friend is getting divorced, she wants him to pay for 8 years of marriage. I don't agree with her, he could be an asshole he evicted her he insulted her but if he is such a scum why would you want his money, why are you stalking him on facebook. I asked her if she does yoga, same answer at home hmm it doesn't work unless you trained for years, breathing calmness spirit to do more is more in a class. What she is doing is living in her own vicious circle of pain. To come out, just sign the papers and let him loose. Revenge will waste your time money energy and most of all your peace. Ohhh most of the people call me to vent out which is never exhausting because most of the times I am not paying attention. Its like you know the practical solution and so decide to not honor their painful journey. They  must hate me.


NAMASTE
Quieter you become, more you can hear :)