So sad for me when it’s not a yoga day! Never on Saturday! No yoga! Don’t ask me why. What do I do with myself? Yoga! Odd that all week I felt great, getting up and today, without the fun of the whole scene, my back was hurting, my arthritis was kicking in; I was feeling like an old lady. So I did some gentle yoga, to soothe my aching body and mind. And push-ups and squats and jumping jacks and eye exercises and vocal exercises. Then I had peanut butter on bread, a tangerine, Allynn’s wonderful coffee, and then we went for a good walk with picture taking. I ran into a beauty parlor and made an appointment for Monday at 10:30 am. Color and a trim- risky, I know- but so what.
I adore walking around streets where we have never been before. I feel like I am seeing India with new eyes; for the first time – which is very exciting.
We have a wonderful friend who asked me ” isn’t yoga supposed to be done in a calm atmosphere? ” After reading my story about the circus of yoga here- which has led me to consider her point! Yes- this is not a peaceful atmosphere. It has it’s own magic
which is hard to define . I would say, first , if one is not familiar with Ashtanga, it would be helpful to watch a video on You Tube to see how challenging it is. At the Yoga Shala there is an electric atmosphere in the room. You can really feel the enormous passion that everyone has .People are concentrating so hard on the poses, and dealing with the sweat and the crowding, that there is an exhilarating high to it all. Of course, the fact that they made it to India to do this adds to the magic!
Tomorrow , Sunday, we have the led class at 6:30 am- which after my experience last week- I will arrive early- by 6:00. Led means the teacher calls out all the poses. The other days of the week, we do the same thing, from memory, each on our own. We try our best to duplicate the timing and remember what pose is next! That is a challenge for me!
We found a great new restaurant right around the corner from our hotel. It is in someone’s home. They just decided to offer lunch to the yoga community and it is all healthy vegetarian food. 
It is so much food we don’t need dinner- so that simplifies everything, very nicely and tomorrow they are offering a cooking class- I am hoping Allynn will go and I can sleep or draw. Namaste to all! Love Annie