I am up again in the wee hours. I arise about 3:30am and go into the men’s room to practice. I begin with several exercises for breathing, the neck and shoulders, followed by warming up the torso, hips, legs and feet. Only then do I proceed to do some postures. 

There is a separation here between “therapeutic exercises” and “asanas (yoga postures)”. Most of what we have learned so far in our training has been the therapeutic exercises, designed for very specific benefit to the physical body and the systems of the body. We began to discuss yoga postures yesterday, but they have a slightly different intention as far as I can tell. I have yet to tease that out.

During my practice this morning I am struck by the conflict between intuition and discipline. It is one thing to begin practice and follow the urging of the body and mind, doing exercises and postures that are calling out to be done next. My practice this morning is like that. It is very different from having a plan for practice or a set series of exercises to do regardless of how you feel or what your body may be asking for that day. I think there is value in both. The trick as always is to find the balance and get the most benefit from both sides.

We begin our training today with discussion of diseases, causes and symptoms. The second session covers several seated postures and mudras, and we begin to cover pranayama (breathing) exercises. 

At lunch Jeff tells us about a study they sponsored that found some evidence that pranayama and chanting increase the production of nerve growth hormone. Amazing.

I take a nap between the afternoon and evening training sessions. It is the middle of the night in Wisconsin and I sleep very deeply. I wake up to go to class and am not sure what day it is. Is it morning already?

We discuss more diseases and the chakras related to several postures. Muktamala rattles off posture names in Sanskrit or Bengali, and it is good for my mind to keep up. She may call a pose any of several different names in 3 different languages, and we have to know what she’s talking about.

It is 2am in Calcutta. I have been up for the last two hours because my body is still on Wisconsin time, halfway around the world. Once I realized that sleep would evade me, I arose and bathed. I went into the large practice room where the women practice (it is full of pictures of advanced yoga postures) and practiced pranayama (breath control). How wonderful to practice in the middle of the night when the whole house is still. There is no rush, no pressure. Just patience, peace and stillness. Now I have moved to the men’s room, where the walls are covered in pictures of bodybuilders, extreme acts (pressing a spear with the eye, eating a cobra) and contortionism. The men will arrive at 6am sharp.

The 9 of us meet on the rooftop terrace of the Ghosh school at 6am to practice together. We do the 26, Jeff leads. It is hot and humid, so we all sweat significantly. A wonderful way to begin the day.

Jerome, Ida and I set out on foot toward the college district in search of a very specific juice stand. We realize too late that most shops in Calcutta don’t open until 10 or 11am, and it is only 8:30. So no juice for us this morning. We go to a coffee shop for sweet coffee and buttered toast, but even the coffee shop doesn’t open until 9am. How strange.

Our practical training this morning begins with asanas. Up to this point we have only learned therapeutic exercises. Asanas are something different. We cover several standing postures and several done lying on the floor. I especially love the many variations of Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana) and Wind Removing Pose (Pavanamuktasana). So many different ways to do these positions, all with slightly different purpose. This is why I am here!

The evening session is a lengthy discussion of the benefits, contraindications and muscular usage of many asanas. I have already filled an entire notebook, and we’ve only been here for 3 days.

This evening we go to Nilmoni Das’s place to visit his son Swampan. We met him months ago when we were here - a sweet and generous man. We take him a copy of Bose’s 84 Yoga Asanas and a poster of the asanas. He is kind and complimentary. We don’t stay long.

Tomorrow will be a big day. Three training sessions.