getting ready, round three

With Nataraja's blessing, hoping to dance my way
to Mysore this season!

Application received. Registration confirmed. Tickets bought. Currently, in hot pursuit, for a place to hang my mat. But with the nature of accommodation in Mysore and with two and a half months to go, there's time (Though I would appreciate any leads!).

There's time to prepare, to check in with my yogasana practice that has suffered greatly over the months of travel in the cool European climate--so unlike the tropical heat I am used to.

There's time to examine the 11 months between visits, where life inevitably happens, each factor--whether it's work, love, relationships, self-doubt, doubts about practice itself, etc, etc, etc...--pulls you away from the mat but at the same time posits the areas that need working on.

There's time to make new goals.

Yet, I am hesitant to define clear objectives, which may give rise to desire, ambition, attachment, and eventually disappointment. Plus, the plain truth is that part of the magic of Mysore is that you can hardly ever even begin to imagine what stuff will come up, what new physical pains, what old emotional baggage, what deeply-buried but long forgotten desire will boil up to the surface. Because we all know the practice, the people, the energy of the place, the abandon that we sometimes surrender with will stir things up. Cuz' Mysore can sometimes have a different plan for you, whether you like it or not!

So I guess if I were to make a new goal for this third season in Mysore it would be this: that I stay open to whatever lessons come, that I might have the grace to accept the unknown, that I might be open to change while maintaining my center, remembering always who I am and what is important to me.