Day 11

It was such a different experience waking up in the new apartment – cool, leafy and quiet. The sun was just up when I went out onto the terrace to take some photos.

My only ‘normal’ class today and it was a cracker! Hall was busy but not unbearable. It’s a wonderful sound to hear the invocation with so many voices filling and lifting the space – quite moving the first time you hear it. Geeta taught a challenging padmasana based sequence. Baddha padmasana bending forwards, matsyasana and plenty of simhasana where we had to ‘pump’ the back thigh crease to prepare us for padmasana in sirsasana. She was in great form, teaching beautifully and making us laugh. Not without the odd telling off too, there is that slight dread that next time it’s going to be you “Hey you Blue t-shirt” everyone in blue t-shirt develops an instant anxiety that the eagle eye has spotted their mistakes. I floated out of there with a brand new pair of buttocks and had to have two coconuts from the barrow outside to recover. One of the many things I love about being here is it seems that just the right thing is available when you need it – on practically every street, refreshing coconut water, fruit stall ,veg stall … (though Gerry tells me Tesco has arrived in India 

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Later realised I was utterly exhausted – it had been a tough class, so I used the practice session to indulge in the most wonderful restorative sequence. I set myself up right in the corner for chair sarvangasana rolling over into a supported halasana and hands in san mukhi mudra. When I finally came down I discovered that I had been so completely absorbed that the practice session had finished, everyone had packed up and gone and the next class had started!!

Fresh Chickpeas

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