Ashtanga yoga Mysore style. The primary series was taught thoroughly by my Ashtanga teacher in Rishikesh, but he would guide us through. “Baba’s, samastithi. Breathe in! Arms up! Utanasana. One more round”. Mysore style is somewhat different. You are supposed to know the series by heart, or with a little cheat sheet in front of you. 15 bodies sweating through the series in their own pace, loud breathing, and firm adjustments by the teacher. I know the series up to the first half of the sitting sequence, then im a little messy. In the coming week this will definitely change. It feels great to flex, bend, and rotate my body again after all the travelling, partying, and chilling.

Two days have passed and I am no longer able to move properly. My muscles hurt. Everywhere in my body. On top of that, in the afternoon we have a movement meditation class. For a short while I was relieved as I took the meditation part heavier than the movement part. And as a matter of fact, movement was also not really included. This class consists of 2 asana’s in 1 hour. This means agony. Pure willpower, when muscles start to tremble and turn numb. “I don’t hear you breathing, if you stop breathing you will hurt more. You are all in pain, that is good. You will know where your body is weak”. I know I am doing this voluntarily, that im paying money to practice with Ajay Kumar, but at that particular moment I feel like shit.

Weekend. Saturday is a holiday. And I have to say me and my body are really happy with that. Taking some time to sleep in, chilling with the people from the hostel, having lunch at a healthy hotspot, swimming in the lake, seeing the Mysore palace by sunset and illuminated by a tacky light show.

Tuesday morning. My week of ashtanga yoga in Mysore has come to an end. Even though I have been in pain, silently cursing myself for doing this, in the end it was all worth it. It was an amazing experience and my love for the ashtanga practice has grown, as did my confidence with the primary series. Tonight im hopping on a sleeper bus to Gokarna. Beach time again. And although I am looking forward to the chilled beach vibe, I will definitely miss Mysore, the yoga, and the incredible hostel I have been living in.