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<p>Woke up feeling buoyant and launched a revenge attack on Mr. Next Door who treats me to full technicolour renditions of his hawking up repertoire every morning and night without fail, so today I treated him to full volume&#8221;Let it Go&#8221; as I took my pre- practice shower. Unfortunately our bathroom windows back on to [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Once again the women&#8217;s class was taken by Raya. The numbers in the great practice hall are beginning to dwindle as a steady trickle of students depart for home. Today the class was pranayama preparation and again Raya&#8217;s main theme was to teach us to refine the postures so that we are not grossly overdoing. [&hellip;]</p>

<p>I felt it was just a tiny bit cooler today &#8211; a bit more manageable, or perhaps we are acclimatising to Pune&#8217;s early summer. I enjoyed the warmth in the air as I had my morning cuppa and of course the flexibility improves when the heat gets into your bones. Jenny is heading straight back [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Hot, hot and hotter. The water coming out of our &#8216;cold&#8217; tap here is hotter than the water coming out of my hot tap back home. It&#8217;s not tepid, it&#8217;s actually hot! Woke late after staying up till 1am putting together information pack for holiday I am teaching in the Maldives this November. I just [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Woke late and sat on the balcony enjoying a sunny cup of lemon grass tea and watched a large group of boys playing in the road, whooping and catcalling and laughing &#8211; having an absolute whale of a time playing some game with a wire mesh and a ball. Had a shortened practice and headed [&hellip;]</p>

<p>What an absolutely outstanding class – backbends with Abhijata. Her teaching is completely focussed; she gets through the poses, gives clear and relevant teaching points, paces herself perfectly so that there is time for all the inversions but still gives plenty of reference to yoga sutra and philosophy. She pushes you hard but is not [&hellip;]</p>

<p>We had scariest ever rickshaw ride today en route to the Incense shop in Phadke Haud. Over the weeks we’ve been here we’ve hardened ourselves to the twists and turns of an average rickshaw ride – but this was something else. First off he careened out onto the wrong side of the dual carriageway – [&hellip;]</p>

<p>It’s getting hot in here. Very, very hot. Even at the start of Raya’s class, before a single word had been spoken, I was drenched with sweat. Trying to keep the fluid level up to cope with the fluid loss is a challenge. Backbend week – I made it! I seem to have spent an [&hellip;]</p>

<p>I was surprised how good my body felt waking up this morning – we didn&#8217;t do much in Rajalaxmi’s class last night, but what we did do was deceptively powerful. We headed off for Women’s class on a very warm and close morning – I think the temperature is beginning to creep up as we [&hellip;]</p>

<p>I enjoyed planting up my pot this morning to brighten up our balcony – the white rose smells exquisite and the scent wafts around in the heat. Lovely. I still need a bit more earth though &#8211; one of my blog reading local indian friends has offered to help with that! Every time I’ve come [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Awoke in the deep dark to a knock on our door – it was pre-yoga tea being delivered. Opened the curtains and sipped lemon balm tea as the sun came up and the lake gradually brightened into its full glorious beauty. We skipped the yoga class and practiced on a sunny outdoor terrace overlooking the [&hellip;]</p>

<p>&nbsp; Sunday morning whizzing through the streets of Pune, what a visual feast! The KARE van came to collect me at 9.30am for just over an hour’s drive to the hills on the outskirts of Pune, overlooking Mulshi Lake. The streets were full of life, people going about their Sunday morning business; the coffee shops [&hellip;]</p>

<p>I felt a curious resistance going into the institute today – I wasn’t really sure I was up for it, having worked hard all week both in standing poses and the parivrrta seated poses, as well as in my own practice. I felt still more apprehension as Sunita walked in, remembering Wednesday’s tough class. I [&hellip;]</p>

<p>As I was contemplating writing today’s blog and feeling perhaps that I could do with a few more adventures to report on – I remembered a chuckle my friend Frances and I often have &#8211; about how, as long as we have the space to practice yoga, life for us is good. So even the [&hellip;]</p>

<p>&nbsp; Had a looong practice this morning and a restful afternoon (by ‘restful’ read ‘long snooze’ – I feel guilty mentioning this as I know just how hard my partner at home is having to work while I’m away). Headed into Raya’s class knowing it would be busy, as Prasant’s normal class this morning was [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Stayed up stupidly late last night for no particular reason so was tired and a bit droopy this morning. Headed over to Women’s class and as always there was a slight frission of expectation in the air – who would we get? The men’s enclave needed room for expansion so we were asked to move [&hellip;]</p>

<p>As I went into the institute I bumped into Zoe who I hadn’t seen for a few days, she explained she’d been having terrible problems with her knee and had an MRI scan on it, giving her the good news that it was an injury that could heal, rather than arthritis. As I took my [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Indulged in a very long practice this morning – what a luxury to have our time freed up like this for yoga. No cooking, no cleaning, no children to attend to, homework to help, no lessons to plan or classes to teach. Just lots and lots of yoga! I am so happy to be finally [&hellip;]</p>

<p>&nbsp; A blissful day &#8211; I love waking up in my room here with yesterday’s yoga radiating around my body – there are a remarkable array of birds and they are very vocal! Also we have had an incredibly long bout of wet and windy weather back in the UK so it’s just so uplifting [&hellip;]</p>

<p>&nbsp; A blissful day &#8211; I love waking up in my room here with yesterday’s yoga radiating around my body – there are a remarkable array of birds and they are very vocal! Also we have had an incredibly long bout of wet and windy weather back in the UK so it’s just so uplifting [&hellip;]</p>