More fire for practice today. I’ve decided that Mondays are going to be a fiery practice, because over the last few months I’ve noticed that for me, they tend to be the absolute opposite.
Maybe it's the come-down from a heated, vigorous Sunday practice. Maybe it's because it's the start of the week. Maybe it's knowing I've a full week of work and practice ahead of me. But on Mondays I’ve been pretty sluggish.
Also of importance this week: I’ve been off the coffee for a total of five days now. I wanted to see if I could have an energetic practice without the aid of caffeine, because since November I’ve been drinking a lot of espresso.
I'm glad to report the drive is still there—that I worried that the juice for my practice would be gone without caffeine says something about my relationship.
Caffeine Withdrawal Journal
Thursday, Day 1: Sluggish, tired. Head stuffed full of cotton. No headache to report. (I was rather sick, though, which precipitated my decision to go cold turkey. Sickness was the perfect springboard for dealing with withdrawal.
Friday, Day 2: I’m still sick, so I call in to work. I’m drinking loads of water. Minimal headache, but it’s lurking. Later that afternoon, I go to the gym and sit in the steam room, chugging bottled water. That afternoon, I go to practice before assisting in a Mysore-style class. I can barely do forward bends, as the blood rush hurts too much. I cut practice short—opening sequence right into closing sequence.
Saturday, Day 3: Headache has receded to the periphery. It still lies in wait, but has greatly diminished.
Sunday, Day 4: No withdrawal symptoms to report. Practice Sunday morning is heat-filled, fast, intense.
Monday, Day 5: Today. I took some aspirin just in case, but I seem to be fine. Is this it? Seems like it.
Mysore Update:
Tickets bought. Next step: visa.
Also, I’m trying to save for the yoga. Three-month total: $1,250. That's more than the plane ticket!
My biggest concern of late is that I won’t have enough money for rent, food and spending money once I’m there. I worry that I’ll get there and be budgeted too thinly to be flexible—what happens if it takes me a week to find a place to live? I don’t want to be stuck in a hotel for an entire week. I have to budget for train ride from Bangalore, hotel room for a week, etc, etc.
But I’ve been reassured that I should just relax—once I’m in Mysore, and can pay for the yoga, everything else will sort itself out. I’ll find an inexpensive room in which to live. Friends who have been to Mysore for years tell me it’s generally no problem to find a place to stay for under $5 a night, rooms in houses are always opening up, and in the worst case, Saraswati knows loads of Indian families who are willing to take in Westerners for money.
The other difficulty has now become doing the time at work to make it to April. I’m so excited I’m beside myself, and I want to jettison this job (with its great pay) as soon as possible.
As of Monday: seven weeks and two days. And counting.
