Cold Calling

The door bell rang. As I look out towards the gate, I noticed a group of well dressed people walking past, leaving one behind. I asked if I could help. He turned out to be an evangelist, of what I did not have the chance to find out. I did smile and pointed to the cross on the wall to say I'm good and thanked him for his time. Somehow the message failed to get across. It probably did but was ignored - how rude, and I was trying to be polite.

So, I was less polite after that and said I am already a committed Catholic and I am not interested to hear about it. To which, he pointed that his group has a different approach in interpreting the Bible that would give a more meaningful life. What is that suppose to mean? I shouldn't have given him the time of the day, but I replied that there are many different paths, and many will lead to the same destination. But I have chosen my path and I respect his decision in his choice but I don't want to explore any more alternative approach. Of course, his persistence is admirably unwavering, which left me the only thing that came to my mind at the time - turning my back and just closing the door.

What irked me was :

1. He did not seem to respect my choice and my commitment to it,
2. Why was he wasting his time on someone who has found his faith, when there are other lost souls in the streets, such as the homeless and the drug addicts,
3. How judgmental they are to other religion other than theirs, without really knowing what the other relligion is,
4. They just do not listen to a polite brush off, these encounters often end on an angry note.

Maybe I should learn another way of brushing them off. I did lose a bit of my temper and raised my voice in frustration. Next time, I shall incorporate some ujjayi breathing if I feel the anger rising. Maybe the sound of the breathing, or the mere spectacle of me doing ujjayi will scare them off!

Sun Salutation A

Note that this is not how I normally do my sun salutations. If I did, I'll be knackered by the time I reach Sun Salutation B! Anyway, just a little fun for the camera.

Pictures Taken At Unfortunate Times

After Mysore

So, it's been a month and ten days since I got back from Mysore. The trip has certainly done wonders for my practice. My practice is quite regular now - helped a little by the presence of a new teacher, who teaches Mysore style classes at the Westin hotel on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. So, now I have the choice of classes at ss2, morning Mysore classes at the Westin or self practice at home. Once, I even set the alarm at 4.30am to practice. How dedicated is that?! But, just the once. Ok, not so dedicated after all.

Practice has been great. Two days ago, I practiced at home and managed to get my fingers to touch (ET style) on the first side of Marichyasana D. That is huge for me. The teacher at the Westin have been giving me new poses almost each time I go! Yesterday morning, I've got Supta Padangusthasana. I'm not quite sure I'm ready for so many new poses - but she is a great teacher, so I surrender to her instructions. We are working on getting my chin on the mat in Bhujapidasana. Not easy! I've squashed my nose quite a few times and I still haven't got my chin to the mat.

So, that's the yoga front. On other matters, I've got a new iPhone and I've open a Twitter account. I'm very thrilled with my iPhone - it's so different and much cooler than my old phone. I'm still don't get the fuss about Twitter. I can see it's a great tool for those in the retail and news industries. But what do ordinary joes like me do with it besides tweeting about the food we eat, the weather or the mood we're in? Still, no harm giving it a go. Maybe I'll start spamming up the net with random tweets and see if I get some irate responses!

Well, new blog, new phone and regular practice - I feel like a new person ...