The journey to 108

The little one celebrated his 1st birthday last week. He isn’t much of a little one now, so have to rack my brains to come up with a new pseudonym. Until then there is something else to share and talk about.

A couple of weeks before the International Yoga Day (21st June 2020), I decided to try my hand at Suryanamaskar (SNM). The last I ever performed a SNM was way back in school. If I remember correctly it was in the summer camp when I was 10-12 years old. So after a gap of little more than 20 years I decided to give it a go again. By the time Yoga Day came around, I had the technique down and was comfortable doing 12-14 rounds of SNM and that is when it struck me. I could build my SNM practice to perform 108 SNMs by 21st July 2020 which would also coincide with the 1st birthday of my kid (the aforementioned ‘little one’).

I was surprised with the way my mind worked to not only decide this but the determination I felt when I set out doing this was something which I have seldom experienced in my life. Fatherly instinct anybody? Though the Mrs had her reservations as to how me doing 108 rounds of SNMs had to do with me being a father. However I digress from the topic.

Some research on the internet yielded a schedule which if followed would help me reach the goal in 4 weeks and so began my journey to 108. It was exhilarating to say the least. The first week where the schedule demanded that I increase the rounds daily was grueling considering my body was not used to the level of physical activity demanded. Soreness was a constant companion for the better part of 2 weeks. From the third week onward my body, now used to the daily rigor, was up for the task. Towards the end of that week, for the first time, I enjoyed the practice from start to finish. The 4th week was all about mind over body, where I just had to be present on the mat long enough to ultimately get through the 108 rounds. I achieved the feat on the morning of 18th July, 3 days before the deadline. There after I repeated the 108 rounds daily till the 21st July.

Every day through those 4 weeks I felt myself progressing both in the mind and the body. As I had read in the articles during my research about planning to do 108 SNMs, I could understand what was meant by peeling of layers from oneself as the practitioner progresses and reaches the said goal. However hard I try to express the precise feeling, I fail and only wish that you too undertake this journey and experience it firsthand.

Thanks are in order to Aditya Gund – a good friend who is a source of inspiration and dare I say peer pressure rolled in one; Priyanka Gadekar – whom I have not met in person yet, but is only an Insta chat away for anything yoga. Last but not the least; the Mrs – for the patience she showed when I complained non- stop about my sore body and how I would be able to do only so much with regards to helping out with the little one.