My Own Accord.

Another day, another yoga lesson. I've been appreciating the lifestyle that I've adopted here in Mysore. I don't know if it will last but while it does let me enjoy it. I wake up around 5:30 in the morning. It is still dark out; not even the tint of blue pervades the sky. Of course I lay in bed because I still can't find a legit reason to get up until 5:55 when I need to brush my teeth and put on some borrowed yoga pants amidst the darkness, all the while making sure that I do not wake up Todd.



The walk up the hill is never too bad. It is just the correct length where you need to contemplate if you want to do it at such a time and at just the right incline that you feel nervous about the strain that it will put on your legs that sustain the consequence of yesterday's yoga session.



The class is geared for beginners. Our teacher is an middle aged Indian woman with just enough English to describe how to alter our bodies from position to position with us understanding. She is always wearing a salawar and rides a moped. The class begins with a deep breathing/meditation session that for some reason always brings up such random and trivial thoughts into my mind. It is not until she begins to recite a yogic prayer that ends in "Shanti" do I begin to feel myself preparing for the intensive session ahead.



Its interesting how yoga is so focused on the breath. Coming from a background in Eastern and Brazilian martial arts, yoga is difficult. Eastern martial arts tend to allow the practitioner to position themselves in relatively comfortable positions so that chi can pervade freely throughout. Yoga also believes in the cultivation of chi and the chakras but has a completely different approach to the technique. Rather than a comfortable position, yoga forces the practitioner to be in highly uncomfortable positions and one must still learn to breathe!

Notice: I am writing this portion a lot later when I am actually in Mungod.

Mysore and Hubli were very difficult for me. I really cannot explain why but I think I suffered a type of mental breakdown. Maybe it was because of my living situation and that nothing was there for me to do and that I had to reside within my own mind. I don't know. Nonetheless, my mind was plagued with irrationalities of all types that kept me in the dumps for a good two weeks. I remember going through a similar situation once before many years ago. The only difference there is that I didn't recover from that slump for over a year while this time it only took me a matter of two weeks to recover. I hope this is a sign of how much more mature I've become in the last few years. I might not feel it, per se, but I can see the progress when these types of situations arise in my mind.

I do not want to be an irrational person at all. I have always tried to be viewed as a mentally stable person (at least to people that don't really know me) and only now do I see that persistence coming true. Who knew that the most difficult portion of Pac-Rim thus far would have been something more mental than physical. How naive I was to think that this experience was too easy. Nevertheless, I have been put back into my place and thus have been exploring my opportunities for the future. I need a job and if anyone that reads this(if anyone actually reads this; I really don't think anyone does and this is why I don't write in it much) feels that I might be a decent hire, PLEASE HIRE ME.

There are less than three months left in this program. I am taking a very assertive perspective towards this trip. I am not going to try and extend this trip. Extending it means that I think that this trip is so great that I don't want to let go of it or that I might never be able to do this again. Untrue. I have plans to come back and I do not believe that this is the best time of my life. This experience has only showed and provided me with the lessons that I will employ to continue making my life better and better. With that, I will end this trip on my own accord. I refuse to let myself extend this experience until I do not have the means to extend it anymore. With what I have, I will begin making carving my path so that I can return again. I have my flights booked to get back home. Hopefully, I won't let any of what's left go to waste.

Hopefully I don't ramble too much in my constipated haste of a blog. Leave me comments on what you think. Thanks.