I Accidentally Impressed a Yoga Guru
I met a yoga legend in Kolkata
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I went to India this year for the third time in my life.
I’ve never gone to India to study yoga or even practice yoga.
My fiancé is from Kolkata and we always go to travel and see family
This time, we stayed at her family’s ancestral home for a week in the plywood district of Kolkata.
Four of us got in the car to visit a relative’s pre school to see holiday decorations that the children had made for Saraswati Puja.
We got out of the car and I saw a very old looking “yoga gym” next door.
I immediately walked up to it and peeked inside. It was almost like something out of a fitness museum. The equipment was old and nobody was working out in the gym.
Somehow we went upstairs to the yoga studio to take a look around.
Moments later, the yoga guru appeared.
The man in question is none other than Dr. Tushar Sil, who won Mr. India 5 times.
In addition he is also Mr. Asia runners, International Body Building Judge (WBPF), trained several bodybuilders all around the nation and World Gold Medalist, Asian Gold Medalist. He is currently the President of West Bengal Council of Yoga and Naturopathy, has demonstrated yoga in Several international countries also.
He was quickly informed that I was a yoga teacher visiting from the US.
We are introduced and have the chance to talk for a few minutes.
The next thing I know, two yoga mats are brought out and laid onto the floor.
It is clear that there is going to be a yoga demonstration and that it would mostly involve me.
I didn’t plan on anything remotely close to this happening, as I am wearing a dress shirt and slacks. But that absolutely wouldn’t stop this impromptu yoga session from happening.
I had basically just arrived in Kolkata, all the way from the US and barely had a chance to stretch or decompress from the long journey and somehow this is happening.
We do some basic sun salutations for the small crowd that had gathered in this upstairs yoga studio.
Once I felt sufficiently warmed up, I had to try a handstand.
I kicked up and held the handstand as Mr. India watched, clapped his hands and shouted, “HANDSTAND!”
This absolute legend was somehow impressed.
I was just relieved I was able to hold my handstand and come down into a vinyasa.
He gave me this “yoga award” called a rudraksha mala and said this is a very good thing for yogis as he put the beads around my neck.
He went on to say that nobody in Bengal is doing this and that he has been trying to spread this heritage and tradition of India across the world.
Tushar was sincerely elated that I was continuing the legacy of yoga in the United States. He was proud of me, as if he had been my teacher for years.
When it comes to doing a handstand, wrist strength and flexibility is paramount. I can’t imagine even attempting a handstand without warming up my wrists.
My new eBook, The BASED Handstand Method is now available to purchase here:
