Mysore: Here in Gokulam

So waking up to the news of terror yesterday was disturbing. I've been staying in an Indian household while I've been here, and one of my housemates is from Bombay: back at home, her husband had to stay in his office overnight. This morning, after a 4:45 led class (after four weeks my practice time had edged up to the 4:45 bracket for Friday and Sundays. Yes, I got up at 3:30 a.m. today!), Sharath encouraged us to pray for the situation to ease and for the Westerners of the bunch to be extra careful. A bit sobering, yes, and I couldn't help remembering practicing with he and Guruji in NYC on 9/11 in 2001. Once again, the lesson that you do your practice — a central tenant which is, of course, ahimsa or nonviolence—whatever the circumstance. As such, the yoga bunch has been carrying on at ease (save for our personal dramas!). This morning was my last class of this visit, so of course bittersweet. Today, long-time resident Joseph is hosting a 'Thanksgiving Lunch" at the Southern Star with ingredients sourced from local farms. Tonight, I'm playing with "The Chocolate Stand Band" at the Operation Shanti benefit for which I'm baking a bunch of ...yes, apple pie (what it takes to bake a pie in India is a blog post in and of itself)!). We managed to record a 3-song demo yesterday in the kitchen. I'm sad that I'm leaving after this fly-by of a month...and so glad I came.