I'm leaving Mysore in a week to take Mum to Bangalore. After that I'm gonna take a little trip down to Tamil Nadu, the neighbouring state, for a little look see. A couple of weeks there will be good, up in the hills, cool, peaceful and rural(ish). Still planning on Goa but I really felt that 5 whole weeks in Israeli raver central (even if still doing yoga) might take the shine off things a little.

Quiet here at the moment, just going to a cooking class this afternoon. Still going to the hospital evey 2 days to get the dressing changed on the cut, which is slowly healing up. Big (ok, not that big, don't get too excited) juicy scar likely. Hopefully it will be in place before the travelling next week.

This weekend mum and I are going on a (very small) excursion to Srirangapatnam, just outside Mysore, where we will explore the local bird reserve and a colourful fountain ceremony on the Saturday night.

For those interested in such things - yogawise this has been an eventful trip, mainly because of the crash which has affected my practice in many ways. I've had the best part of 2 weeks off in total and at the moment I'm off jumps because of the risk of opening up 'the cut'....nonetheless physically I have certainly opened up in the shoulders and am sweating lots less than ever before. Not really lathered up until prasarita pad. Now that is a result. Those chilly NZ mornings could be interesting. Mari D is still a way off but mainly now because my left medial collateral ligament is getting sore and protesting that I'm rushing too fast. So much for Sharath's prediction that it would take me a week. It has got closer though. And he told me to go on and do Navasana and Buja pidasana anyway just to mix it up a bit ( I suppose). I'm still easily the first to finish. On the non-physical side of things I have watched some impatience with things come and go though it has never been predominant. My concentration is a lot better, more focused, less easily broken and the practice seems to whip by now which is a huge contrast to, say, the start of last year when it all seemed quite lengthy.

The comment on rhe previous entry relating to injuries rings true to me. Ashtanga people are more aware of (and obsessed by) the state of their bodies. They do get lots of injuries though, and practice when it might not be the absolute best option for them physically. Attachement to the practice of yoga can be a big issue for the individual and those that know them, but is it any bigger than the other attachments we have - to foodstuffs, diet, drinking, relationships, work, status, possesions and so on.

All of which can provide variously excuses, distractions and rationales for not paying attention to the real issues we all must confront sooner or later - of living well, loving well and understanding our own pain and that of others as well as celebrating the joys of life and trying to see things for what they perhaps really are in this world......