It has been a golden week as Geeta Iyengar is well enough to teach for the month of June. So far we've had three classes with her. Two of them were in standing poses and one was on Pranayama.
Just observed the kids class ages 7-9 yrs. They do not except children younger then 7 because their joimts are not fully developed. They chant the prayer to patanjali as well as other chants both at the beginning of class and again at the end. Most of the class is done as a Surya namaskar, one pose flowing after another, so the teacher needs to be very energetic. They don't use mats much like a gym setting. They spend time repeating the names of poses call and response. At this age they work on the basic poses and alignment. Tadasana feet together and shoulders back is what is expected. Teaching the difference between trikonasana and parsvakonasaa one has a straight leg the other is bent at a 90 angle. The arm is thrown over the ear like throwing a ball. Vrkasana is broken down anatomically the f
oot is the root the leg is the branch and the arms are the leaves. If there is time at the end of class Indian mythological stories are read and improvised based on Guruju and Geetaji's books, Yoga Shastra.
The weekly newspaper The Speaking Tree is an amazing publication. Many of the articles are written from a spiritual environmental stance. But it also includes stories from around the world that contain articles showing equality and non violence. You can find it online as well.
On Sunday Marianne and I ventured out to Laskmi road and found some interesting stalls and had a rickshaw ride. In the evening we went to a Grand Carnatic Vocal concert with a classical Indian singer accompanied by a classical violinist and a tabla player. The singers name is Dr Padma Sugavanam. She was born in Canada however at the age of 4 her parents noticed that she was always at the microphone and moved back to India so she could begin her training. She tours around the world. She sang for three hours straight. Finally she was abrubtly stopped by the lighting of candles and then smudged so as to bring all of us back to the present. Her singing was mesmerizing.
Until next week Namaste
