Usha in Rishikesh

When I first researched Usha Devi online to determine if I wanted to sign up for her 9 day intensive course, I was a bit apprehensive about her style of teaching even though my primary teacher in San Francisco, Darren Main, had recommended her. Actually I was quite turned off by the idea of Rishikesh all together (even though yoga was the primary reason for my trip to India) when every tourist I'd spoken to upon landing in New Delhi seemed to be heading to the supposed "Yoga Capital of the World" -- I envisioned a scene akin to a Las Vegas of yogis. So, I got sideswiped into going to Kashmir instead. After that first week's fiasco, I learned about Yog-Ganga while waiting in the New Delhi hospital and signed up with a leap of faith. How did I end up at Usha's in the end anyway? Well, the more I researched and asked around, the more it seems credible yoga teachers come from Iyengar style, and there are far and few between. It could be that serious yoga student-teachers are typically from the Iyengar lineage...unless of course one is of the high energy super octane fueled followers of Patabhi Jois' ashtanga yoga. Perhaps the primarily Iyengar student-teachers at Yog-Ganga could've been a bit biased in their opinions. But all arrows pointed me back to Usha. One can certainly find all kinds of yoga in Rishikesh and whatever one fancies as well, I imagine. There certainly is no "flow" nor encouragements of "feeling good" at the Chanchani's nor at Usha's, unlike most of what I've found around yoga studios in San Francisco, New York and London!

I didn't realize I was in for a shock my first day of class with Usha. Was it from the frustration of being dropped to #19 on the waiting list from #3 when I'd originally signed up a month before? And the anticipation and anxiety of not knowing if I would actually get into the intensive course, the very one I'd been avoiding the past few months. Or, it could've been because for the last 2 months at Yog-Ganga, Rajiv, our teacher had been hammering into our heads that yoga is sooooooooo not about shin-shank-shoulder-left-foot-in-right foot-out and what have you...aka, asanas. But at the end of that first class with Usha, I was hurting quite a bit. Quite a bit. I can almost still feel the pain. It's been almost 3 weeks since the last class I had with her. And not from the "whackings" she dished out lavishly. I was holding basic poses to the max intensity like I've never done before.

Usha's intensive course is...well, what can I say? INTENSIVE. And all about asanas. We had 2 standalone lectures on the Bhagavad Gita, which was lovely, and also 2 evening classes of pranayams and self-practice. Otherwise, it was 8 days (thank God and Shiva for the one day break in between!) of asanas twice a day to the extreme. And I don't mean extreme like what you'd find in power yoga classes where it's all about adrenaline pumping, sweating yoga junkies (yes, admittedly me sometimes.) There were days we only worked through maybe 5 different poses, but I was stretched/straightened/bent to points I never thought possible. Even in just adho mukha svanasana, sweat was seeping through my pores. I think I finally learned to straightened my legs. Almost. I wasn't getting whacked on the back of my thighs anymore by the end of the general class.

Usha's style of teaching is certainly classical Iyengar method I'd heard of, perhaps feared, and most certainly been avoiding. It's like the traditional style of strict, stoic teaching I'd been accustomed to in Malaysia, even with the mild whackings. I found her dry, somewhat sarcastic humour quite entertaining however. She especially liked to pick on the "trouble" students. I ended up taking the general class for another 5 days, which I have to admit is more manageable. It was great to have self-practise time every day coupled with Usha's teachings. I don't know how this 70 year old lady made a class of 60 students from all around the world extend their limbs to the max while holding poses for seemingly torturous length of time but she somehow does, with finesse and quite a few laughs.

TriYoga on Primrose Hill, London

I arrived at Triyoga 5 minutes late, trying to locate the studio from the main street and having passed it several times. It's not quite the scene like at YogaTree in the Castro! The neighborhood is quite serene with quaint shops and eateries. I was trying to look out for Marina like looking chicks toting their yoga mats, but perhaps because I was late, had barely seen any. No...even after class ended, they either dispersed very quickly or had some secret hiding places for their mats. I must've looked like quite a dork carrying my black travel yoga mat on the tube!

Anyhow, Nadia's class was quite nice. A big one, about 40 students or so...and just like the neighborhood, it was serene. No loud music, no real loud panting or calling out of asanas. I believe it was a hatha level 2. There was a sense of seriousness...perhaps much to the likeness of the English traditions, but Nadia did break out a few laughs here and there. I'm looking forward to going back for the rest of my 5 class pass!