Weekend Vibes
Saturday morning with Sunita was such a delightful experience. Of course she reminds me of Geeta to a certain extent in voice and humor, but her style has become more inquisitive, questioning, and exploring. It seems that many of the students in these Advanced classes are up and coming teachers and this socratic method of teaching has become more infused in RIMYI classes and culture. Geeta would demand “YOU FIND OUT” over and over, but the questions she asked did not warrant any immediate answer. Prashant absolutely teaches for you to explore and experiment for yourself – no answers in class, but a depth of study to take home and dig into for yourself. Sunita wanted answers, then and there, and she guided those answers to simplify and clarify for ourselves and any future students. It was lovely to observe.
The group of foreigners is small this month, but there is a nice contingency of Australians, a couple more Americans from Seattle and New Orleans, and a couple very young and bright eyed Argentinians. Sunday is a rest day at RIMYI, but it is the day many foreigners have been introduced to Gulnaaz Dashti as a teacher, not just an assistant and demonstrator for Geeta and Guruji. Many of you know I have been taking online with her now since COVID and traveled to Mexico 2x for her intensives. The small Sunday class at her studio down the road is a great time for interactive help and adjustment, clarifying for issues, and also getting to know the other foreign students better.
Last afternoon we did get a small procession of Ganesha down our street, making their way to join the larger Ganapati Mirvanuk festivities going to the river for the immersion. We want to make a point of going down to see the river now that who knows how many idols of varying sizes have all been immersed for the holiday. There evidently have been efforts to make this a more “environmentally sound” process, but I can’t imagine that all of those murtis are made of dissolvable and non-toxic materials. There is street clean-up now, so we are enjoying one more day of less traffic in the streets … Monday will be a whole new day.
All in all, the first week has been a nice immersive time – always going faster than I would like. This week I will do a bit more observation of other special classes, and it seems we also might have opportunity for more classes with Prashant. Only time will tell…the drum beat of parades will become quiet, but the drum beat of my heart still so strong here in India and in yoga!
GRATITUDE!
