Homework

You'd think that with all the time I have to study and do yoga here, I'd come home with some solid new understanding. It feels like the exact opposite. My month is nearly over, and what I have mostly is a stack of notes to review and rethink and remind me of what I want to look up and study. Like this video of Mr. Iyengar demonstrating Pranayama. Geeta mentioned it in the talk she gave tonight, and though I'd seen it before, I had to come home and rewatch. Her description was just like my experience: you watch him take these eternally long breaths and somehow you forget to breathe yourself.

Geeta's talk (delivered from this seat in the practice hall) was about Pranayama and all that we should know about it from three main sources (lots more homework!). She also discussed one of my favorite sutras, II.18, that says, essentially, that everything exists to serve the "seer," either for enjoyment or emancipation. Maybe I have enjoyed this trip too much and not worked enough on emancipation. I guess I'll have to come back in a few years and try again.