"Karma is the eternal assertion of human freedom . . . Our thoughts, our words, our deeds are threads of the net we throw around ourselves"- Swami Vivekananda
I suppose because of all the wonderful music and dancing I gifted myself today I had no emotions to be released. It was another great workshop - I'm learning so much.
After getting to bed rather late last night (just after midnight) and after a long day spent in the sun I woke up this morning feeling particularly tired and low energy. Off I toddled to our 2-hour yoga class and once again, like each and every day, I finished feeling completely satiated in my being in shavasana on my mat. I got into my headstand on my own (with Faye behind to catch me as a mini security blanket in case I fell). That was awesome.
I'm finding that postures are getting easier, I'm feeling stronger overall but my upper back and hips are still so tight that there are just certain backbends I'm struggling to create space for, and forward bends for that matter.
We had pranayama meditation again this morning after class and it was great that we had to mindfully count with our breaths because it helped keep me focused and awake, most importantly.
After breakfast I went for a little walk on the beach . . . fast paced though . . . I thought if nothing else back home I take Amos for a 1.5 hour walk each day, plus a run most days and salsa dancing at least 2 times per week. The month before coming here I challenged myself to 30 days of yoga to prepare my body for this journey. So just doing yoga, even though it's more than I'm used to in a day, my body requires a different type of movement to stay loose and pliable. Also, we do an awful lot of sitting and that's just horrid for my back. So on my headphones went, and I went across the rocks and blasted my salsa music, and danced my way across the 2nd beach. It was sooooo invigorating. Ellie asked me where I had gone and I told her about the salsa and she said, "I want to salsa", so we're going to have a salsa dance/learning party this week. I look forward to that.
After lunch we had our Kriya class. Kriya are cleansing techniques that are done before pranayama - some I will do, some I will NEVER do! Tomorrow we are to be attempting a different Neti which involves a catheter, your nose and your mouth. Use your imagination. I don't think I'll be attempting that one. I don't ever plan on being a Hindi pranayama master.
Afterwards we had a hip opening workshop with Kranti. As usual it was super intense but comical all at the same time - he is quite the character. Tonight we did a flow sequence involving all hip opening postures. Kranti said, "No one phone your boyfriends after this class because you never know which emotions will come up". He's probably right. He tried to get me to get more curvature in my back and lift my chest more in a posture meant to stretch your psoas muscle and I said, "Please don't hurt me" as he's quite matter of fact with his alignments and adjustments. And inevitable I tapped him hard on the shoulder after letting out a huge groan, "I'm tapping out, tapping out".
We did some group work getting each other into hip opening stretches - holding down the opposite side of the pelvis so it stays touching the floor, and then using extend and release motions against another person's shin with your leg out to the side with the goal to essentially be doing the splits sideways with one leg. We also did downward facing dog against a wall and paced one foot/leg behind us and put it up the wall in an attempt to do the splits against the wall. This stretch is meant to prepare you for the splits on the floor.
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| Bex |
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| Alicia |
I went to Palolem for dinner and browsing tonight with Becks and her mom and we had the most wonderful evening. I bought a gift for my mom, a female buddha statue, and a turquoise and silver ring that was meant for my hand.
Once again, I'm getting to bed way to late. I'll try nap tomorrow.
Namaste lovelies.
J
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