Day 5 - Final Week Complete!

"Steadiness and ease are themselves opposites, and yet when in balance, each supports and allows the other to express itself fully". - Gregor Maehle

I woke this morning feeling very sore and tired and asking myself, "however will I get through this mornings 2-hour Primary Series?"  I got to my mat and sipped my hot ginger tea and prepared my mind for the work ahead telling myself, "Remember how you feel on your mat in Shavasana at the end of your practice each and every time . . . you will feel incredible, strong and satiated in that moment".  That's exactly how I felt!

I however had something even more exciting happen for me in today's practice.  I was able to get into Supta Kanasana AND point my toes (a balancing pose resting on your sit bones) AND I was able to roll out of Supta Kanasana Phase 1 right into Phase 2 (balancing on my sit bones).  That was such an exciting surprise.

My second surprise of the morning's practice was getting into full lotus pose and discovering that yes, yes I can lift myself into raised seated lotus - the adjustment I made was rolling my shoulders forward as opposed to trying to lift with my shoulders back, chest out . . . that doesn't work, you need to roll your shoulders forward.  Also, I don't know that I could ever do it just in a cross legged position . . . it's too difficult to lift your legs off the floor, but from lotus it just happens.  YAY!  Yes I know we should not get attached to the end result of our practice, but it's impossible not to celebrate an achievement.  I was very pleased!

We then had our final Pranayama class of the week with Upendra and did nasal breathing eexercises with breath holds.  I'm really improving with sitting with my breath and getting less distracted by noises around me . . . I hear them but I acknowledge them only rather than feel interrupted by them.  Maybe being a mother helps with that lol.  There are a lot of rules with a genuine, traditional pranayama practice, and Upendra is a very knowledgeable, intelligent man.  He has his PhD amongst many other forms of education - has taught here and in Korea.  He did his PhD on the effects of yoga on youth suffering from OCD and bipolar disorder.  He is such an interesting human being and a lovely spirit.

Upendra has an expression of bliss on his face at all times

This photo captures the true essence of this beautiful spirit . . . right along with the giggle that comes with this smile

We had our last anatomy class for the week and finished the class with Virabhadrasana A, B (Warrior 1 and 2).  This class is really going to be helpful with learning how to lead and align students in their postures.  It's certainly helping me with my own alignment, which was one of my goals of coming here.

We then had lunch and we were done for the day.  Some of the group went to a spice farm which was a 1.5 hour drive away and had dinner in that area.

Bex and Anand

Playing cricket on the street

Others of us decided to relax and give our bodies what they needed after this first, very intensive week, and swim in the ocean, relax in the sun and then we took TukTuks into Palolem to watch the sunset (I promise I will post pictures when I figure out how to get this blogger working properly).  We did a bit of shopping and then had dinner on the beach.  It was a lovely way to wind down the day.  I bought the most beautiful hand embroidered bedspread . . . I feel it's robbery to pay what I pay for things here . . .beautiful things.

Shanti girl

Alicia trying out the tube

Kurmasana Rose

Emma the headstand ninja goddess

Chillin in my hammock

Beach Road where we get our tuktuks

On the way to Palolem

Jill and Cheska

Jill, Elaine, Niki, Me and Cheska

Niki, Me, Cheska and Brooke

Tomorrow will be our first full day off.  I have booked an ayurvedic massage at the end of the beach. I'm very excited!  I NEED it desperately for my neck and back.

Love and light to each of you.

Namaste

J

Day 3 - Hip Openers ... The gate to our emotions

I will start with a quote: "If you want to change something in life, just change your mind" - Bhagavad Gita.

It is said that we carry a lot of emotions in our hips; issues of the day, repressed emotions.  So when you do a hip opening class often times you can feel a slight or intense release of emotion during or after class.  I've experienced this to be true.  I remember being in a class led by Keith at Moksha and he sang to us at the end of class and it actually moved me to tears.  

This morning was a hip opening class, which was a really nice change from the Ashtanga Primary Series of the last two days - for body and mind.  It had been a bit of a rough start to the morning and I thought perhaps I might have a difficult time given how emotional I had been on Monday.  However, I managed to get through class just fine and it was a very enjoyable class.

Julia always said how FOCUSED we were during hip opening classes . . . my response was we were in pain.

We had our first anatomy and physiology class led by Julia today.  We worked on breaking down some of the postures starting at the beginning of the Primary Series.  We are learning each of the 66 postures in the series with regards to how to transition into and out of them, proper count, the muscles that we use, where we should be gazing (drishte), engaging our bandhas (muscles in the abdominal and pelvis region that protect, lift and allow to move more deeply into postures), proper alignment and modifications.  It's going to be a hefty class.  We do it in groups so it makes it very enjoyable and we position and reposition each other.  We are also learning the Sanskrit words for all the postures, which we will need to know for our exam and our assessments

We start where we are

Brooke getting Lindsay into a deeper Prasarita Padottanasana A

Julia assisting Rose into full expression of Supta Kurmasana

Helen, Ellie, Faye (and I think Shanti the dog)

Line adjusting Elaine more deeply into Paschimottanasana A

Me in Bhujapidasana

A typical anatomy of alignment and asanas class - how we learned each posture and proper alignment

Satara in Kurmasana

Later in the early evening we did partner yoga with Kranti at the ocean side shala.  It was a class that was based on learning to trust your partner while they pull you in intense stretches so that you can learn to trust them in certain postures.  The stretches were intense but felt amazing.  Kranti is quite puzzled by more locked upper/mid back and how tight my lungs are.  More massage is necessary.  At the end of class we worked in a group of five and took turns stretching each other from all four corners, then lifting each other up and swinging.  It was a really fun class and a great way to end our day.

Lindsay and Satara who is incredibly bendy

Anand and Victoria

The snack after was samosas with cashews . . . I dug out the innards and left the crust since it's gluten/wheat . . . it was so deliciious.  I sooooo wanted to eat the whole thing but I'm finding I'm getting a TON of gluten contamination here, which I expected because I'm experiencing all my "gluteny" symptoms  Oh well, nothing I can do but embrace it and hope I adjust.  

Spent my evening chatting with some of the girls.  It was lovely.

Until tomorrow.

Namaste

J

Bollywood Bollywood bverry bverry Jollywood . . .

Started the day with the Primary Ashtanga Series . . . took my Advil at 5:30 just hoping that it would kick in by 5 m.  The hamstrings have been starting out very tight each morning, but after the 5th vinyasa they start to ease up.  And I was quite tired this morning.

Today I was very cognizant to ensure I went into upward dog with proper alignment; collar bone up, chest up, slight microbend in the elbows but ended up spending a lot of time doing it . . . one of the girls said she tried just keeping her pelvis on the floor and not lifting her legs off the floor and was able to find the posture and get more familiar with it that way, so I think I will try that tomorrow and then by Monday I will have it correct and down pat.  

After our 2 hour Ashtanga class my group had free time as the 2nd group yesterday had free time while we did the neti pot pranayama class.  Had an amazing breakfast with crepes made of lentils and chocolate sauce . . . perhaps they know how many women are on the "moon time" based on the number of women doing modified shoulder stands and thought . . . "they really need some chocolate".  It was heavenly.

Yum

Myself and a couple other girls went and took a look at the shops on our beach way and then we had another anatomy and physiology class and did more group work, which has been fun.  

Today was our first Yoga Nidra class.  Yoga, according to Patanjali means "removal of the fluctuations of the mind" and nidra means "sleep" . . . so essentially it was a led meditation class.  So we were at Mantra Shala which is our ocean side practice shala, and we all got our mats and a bolster and a sheet, laid down heads pointing toward a circle, covered with a sheet to keep any insects off so as not to be distracted, closed our eyes and Upendra led us into our meditation.  It was an INCREDIBLE experience.  I could hear his voice and was aware of my presence, but it was as though I was in a deep sleep state.  After we were done he asked us if anyone fell asleep, and some did and some felt like they weren't sure because it felt like we were, but we were aware.  After he instructed us to spend the next half hour in silence alone and keep our moments sacred.  So I sat on the beach on my sheet and watched one of the most amazing sunsets I've ever seen.  I wanted to go back to my room and get my camera but I didn't want to break my moment or miss the sunset.  So I will have to describe it to you.  The sky was slightly grey in tone, and the sun was this beautiful, perfectly round ball of orange, and it cast an orange hue into the ocean and on the sand ahead of it right towards where I was sitting.  It was incredible.  When I first sat down, watching and listening to the waves crashing and gazing at this glorious miracle of nature I felt overwhelmed with emotion but I didn't want to cry, so I allowed what I was feeling, accepted it, and let is pass over me.  It was an amazing moment.

This was a different day - we're not covered in a sheet, but you get the idea

Lindsay, Laura and Satara

Beatrix, Danielle and Naomi

Afterwards a bunch of us sat around by the beach and chatted about our experiences sharing hot ginger tea and a snack.  And then we headed back to the Tantra Shala for dinner.  During dinner Kranti was playing a Bollywood movie and the music was just moving us as we were finishing eating and watching.  We were dancing in our seats and trying to copy some of the moves -  we were laughing so hard imitating the man's moves.  When the movie was over Kranti started it again because he got a kick out of our enjoyment.  So a bunch of us just couldn't contain ourselves anymore and we got up on the stage and started dancing and coping the moves and laughing and laughing.  The cooks, and some of the instructors were laughing and getting a lot of enjoyment out of watching us.  One of the instructors, Helen, finally came over and joined us.  At the end we were all drenched and in need of a shower.  Our favorite song contained the lyrics, "Bollywood Bollywood bverry bverry Jollywood" . . . LOVE IT!!!!

SIDE NOTE: Bex and I would later get tank tops embroidered with those words.  They are awesome!

One of the questions Upendra asked us all before leading us into our meditation was what we could think of that made us feel positivity, release of fear . . . a few people said dance . . . nothing could be further from the truth.  Dance just lets you feel free . . . free from yourself, free from your mind, free from society and problems and fears and judgements . . . and I cannot think of a better way to bond with amazing women than to share a moment like that.  What a great way to end the day.  

I will close with a passage from Meditations from the Mat:

"The Posture Never Ends . . . The lesson remains, however, that it is our tendency to pay attention to the postures themselves, but not to the spaces in between.  So it is in life.  We leave one relationship or job and set our sights on the next.  We cross one item off the to-do list and dive into the next chore.  The illusion is that the posture ends.  The reality is that the posture never ends, it just shifts from one form to the next, one lesson to the next, on opportunity to the next.  We remain life's student whether we are inhaling or exhaling, in a relationship or out of one, saving the world or looking for a temp job.  The posture never ends.  I am in the posture when I look into my wife's eyes, and I am in the posture when I look into my waiter's eyes.  Both are holy interactions.  The illusion is that there is separation, levels of importance, beginnings and endings.  Yoga brings us to the understanding that the posture never ends".  

Do something today that brings you fearless joy . . . something that keeps you in the posture of your life.  

Namaste

J

Day 4 - Padangushtasana & Pada Hastasana

Day 4 - Padangushtasana & Pada Hastasana

This morning we were back to Primary Series part of Ashtanga yoga, which includes the likes of 66 postures.  It was a hot, humid one.  

In our Pranayama meditation class I got to experience using a neti pot for the first time.  That was interesting.  It's used with salt water to clean out your nasal passages to assist with breathing in pranayama.

Bex demonstrating how to clear water from the passages

Then in our Anatomy & Physiology class we learned about  Padangushtasana & Pada Hastasana ... And all the anatomy that goes with it.

The beautiful Yoko

Anatomy George (we'll call him because I can't remember what we named him) in the corner

Cheskaaaaa!!! What have you done to "George"???

I'm enjoying learning the Sanskrit because it helps you remember the names based in what the posture looks like.

Spent some time studying on the beach this afternoon.  

Had our first teaching methodology class which is exciting ... We will have 4 assessments to complete the course including developing the warm up, sequences, cool down and final rest period for a one hour class.  

Finished our day with a back bending workshop with Kranti.  Saw and felt exactly how locked my upper back truly is.  It puzzles Kranti to some degree ... I've always been that way with my chiropractor having not had success adjusting my upper back many times.  Just goes to show, I think what happened with training for physique competitions for 4 years, building a tonne of muscle, and not going for regular massage or stretching.  You can actually feel how fibrosed some of my muscle tissue is in my intercostals.  It was amazing to see the flexibility of Satara.

A stretching technique we did beforehand - notice very little curvature between my middle and low back

Kranti assisting Line into a deeper bridge pose

Lindsay going into Urdhva Danurasana (Wheel Pose) with the assistance of blocks

Me not quite so flexible

Ohhhhh Satara - AMAZING

Backbends with a partner (Lindsay and Satara)

WOWZA Satara

Partner assist with fast back bend and stand

Satara

Elaine and Kranti

Finished off the night with a sunset swim and crash about the waves in the ocean.

The sunsets on our Patnem Beach are SPECtacular!

Had dinner and then a couple of the girls and I went to hunt down Indian ice cream, Kulfi infused with cardamom and other Indian spices. OMG!!! I'm so making that with coconut ice cream when I get home.  

Off to bed.  Still not early like I wanted but tomorrow's another day.

Namaste 

J