Sunday morning I walked to my Shala to participate in Led Primary. For those of you unfamiliar with the Ashtanga system these the led style classes involve the teacher calling out the breath count and the posture in Sanskrit but demonstration in the front of the room. Having moved recently I am living much closer to my Shala now. About 2 minutes into my walk with my mat and tote bag slung on my shoulder I was breaking a sweat. My Keens were flipflopping on the cement as I carried on. Fifteen minutes later I arrived, unlocked the door and entered the building.
Led that day was especially brutal, it was so sweaty in the Shala that I slipped out of my Bhujapidasana asana twice. I about faceplanted with my third jump as I slipped on the back of my arms, managed to catch on my elbows and fold in a mess of hair and skin. This was only the beginning.
Sunday and Monday the heat index was 100+ with high humidity levels and hot sun. Monday in Mysore, which is self-practice but in a room with a teacher and other students doing their own practice, I had to use a towel on my heels to even manage to grab them in Kapotasana. Monday is my full practice day where I do all of Primary and then up to however far I am in Intermediate, backbends, dropback, handstand drop-overs and closing. I tried several times to work on my new posture, Bakasana A & B but mostly managed to slide down my arms while my face carried on the work of grimacing in an attempt to maintain the pose.
This is my long way of saying it’s hot outside, similar I imagine to India but with less exoticism and fresh coconuts. Here in Illinois I drink my coconut water from a can, attempt to dry my forehead with my towel and carry on, jump back, jump through, next asana and continue to dream of India.
