Michael taught his best class while sick. Two days without food. Medication nausea. Spent the day before in bed. Then he walked into the room and somehow looked… light.
He opened with: “I’m in a fantastic mood and I can fuck.” Not stoic. Not brave. Just weirdly present. He watched bodies move. He gave a student a “ten out of ten” for improved form. The work was clean.
Then he dropped the question: “Is it better to be in a good mood and feel shitty, or is it better to feel shitty and feel like that mood?” It lands because it splits the axis. The body can be a mess. The mind doesn’t have to copy it.
Post-pandemic, “listen to your body” got stretched into “never be uncomfortable.” That’s not listening. That’s negotiating. This isn’t a pep talk to “push through.” It’s more precise: can you tell the difference between sensation and story?
A Mysore room trains this uncoupling. You show up. You do what’s appropriate today. You keep the thread. Some days the practice is strength. Some days it’s restraint. Either way, you’re learning that a bad feeling doesn’t automatically get to be a bad day.
Michael didn’t answer his own question. He just kept teaching. Which is also an answer. You don’t win by feeling good. You win by staying honest, and staying kind, even when your stomach is doing parkour.
