Work-Sleep. Work-Sleep. Work-Sleep.

It's been early mornings and late nights at work on this end... maybe I'll be able to squeeze in a full Primary practice tomorrow morning? I'm still trying to figure out how/ when to squeeze my practice sessions in now, especially now that things are heating up proper at work. Considering that maybe it'll have to be late night sessions sometimes?

Trying to find myself a new routine! (Ashtangis and their routines...)

I've just been doing 3 Sun A's this week since going to that Bikram class. Sometimes adding Sirsasana in at the end of the sun salutations. Tomorrow, I might be able to breathe a little easier and have 1.5hrs of ME time before work. I'm telling myself - it's OK, it's just life. It happens.

I've just seen that this new book will be coming out in July this year. Yay!

I Went to Bikram™ Yoga

I didn't make it to that Bikram class in the morning, but coz I finished early today, I thought I'd take their evening class. It was cold and raining all afternoon... just the perfect kind of weather to get toasted.

Man, did I get toasted.

The last Bikram class I took was probably oh say... about 2 years ago. The first time I did it, I probably had to stop about 10,000 times coz the heat and humidity were making me so light-headed I felt like I was gonna throw up, then pass out. Tonight, I did a little better and stopped about... oh say, 5,000 times instead? I still felt like I was gonna throw up, then pass out.

A Bikram class is thus a very good lesson in humility. HAHAHA.

I'm not in my top physical state coz my asana sessions have been patchy in the past few weeks (you know this)... and even though his copyrighted 26-pose sequence is a really easy Hatha yoga sequence, that bloody humidity just nails you. I was floored sooooo many times. But I figured stopping every single time I needed to would be much more elegant than keeling over and passing out if I just pushed on.

The first thing that struck me about this place were the 3 HUGE photos on top of the wall. So any time you had to look up for drishti, you got distracted by:


And there was a third picture flanking Bikram's right of a chubby dude... whom I thought was Bishnu Gosh at first (Bikram's teacher), but now that I've googled it, it seems like the picture on his left is actually of Bishnu Gosh. So... sorry folks, all I can say is the chubby dude had long flowing locks, sat in an almost lady-like sideways pose and was the only one who wasn't sitting on a tiger.

So... what do you do when you've already decided you want to go to this yoga class, paid the money for the yoga class and brought all your gear into the studio to set yourself up for said yoga class only to be confronted with such DISTURBING IMAGES?!? ...I guess it's supposed to come across as "fierce" but all I could think of was "What about Ahimsa?" (I mean... HELLO McFLY? Those dudes are sitting on SKINNED TIGERS?!?!???)

I did the only yogic thing I could think of doing in such an ironic situation: PASS NO JUDGMENT.

And then the next thing I thought: Liz would piss herself laughing if I could get a picture of this. HAHAHAHA. Sadly, no cameras in class of course. Thank goodness the internet raked up 2 of those 3 pictures.

Here's where I feel I need to interject with my personal opinion of Bikram. He's not exactly the most "yogic" of teachers... everything from his flashy lifestyle (100 Bentleys. Or is that Rolls Royces. OK, I'm hyping up the figure too, but you get the idea.), to his use of language ("Because I have balls like atom bombs, two of them, 100 megatons each. Nobody fucks with me.") SERIOUSLY. ...to his copyrighting of his asana sequence and suing any unlicensed studio for using the name Bikram™... Yeah, it's all kind of vulgar and un-yogic.

BUT... is it? On the other hand, kudos to him for telling it like it is. He is honest and unapologetic for who he is, what he does and how he lives. I mean, who said yoga teachers were GOD, right? (By "GOD", I mean: Perfect.)

Crazy as anyone is for practicing yoga in what is pretty much a steam room-sauna, there is some benefit to it. I like to call it "gateway yoga". I know lots of people who've come to know yoga precisely coz of a hot yoga class, and from there delve into other aspects of it. So I'm not gonna knock this style of yoga coz god forbid people get into a "My guru is better than your guru" debate. Which would be completely WRONG and beside the point (Thanks Marinus, for that quote. I will forever remember it was you who reminded me of this!).

And the fact is, it is nice to finally be in a warm room in the dead of winter and be able to feel your muscles expand and open up, just like they should. (OK, maybe 40 degrees Celsius is kinda pushing the warm-factor, but hey... I'll take what I can get).

Oh, and the teacher-chatter I was so afraid of? ...It helped that the class was half in Dutch, half in English. HAHAHA. Each pose is repeated twice during the 1.5hr class, so the first round of asanas were taught in Dutch, and the second round were explained in English. This worked very well for me coz I didn't understand half the chatter that was going on, anyway! It was like having BBC World radio on in the background when the foreign correspondent is blabbering on. You just kinda zone out. And coz I was watching what other people were doing to figure out which pose came next, I was glad for his English translation by the time he got to it.

Impressions of Bikram as a form of yoga, after coming back to it 2 years later? (and after practicing Ashtanga Mysore style monogamously during this period). They're such different forms of yoga, like on opposite ends of the scale... the most obvious is the decibel-level of course. There's barely a sound made except for Ujjayi breathing in a Mysore class... this, versus the Bikram script.

The other thing that really struck me was how externalized a Bikram class is. I never noticed this before, only this time round. I mean... you're staring into a mirror in front of you, watching to pull this up, push that down. As opposed to internalizing the process in a Mysore environment - feeling where in the body you ought to be working. Also, with Mysore it's so internalized that everyone's doing their own thing, at their own pace... no one really cares where in the series you're at.

With Bikram, because everyone's looking into the same mirror, it also felt like there's a bit of competition going on (he's bending more than I am, she's getting her leg higher in Nataraja, etc.) I caught myself comparing at times, only because you're all staring into the same bloody mirror so it's right there in front of you! (OK, here's where you say "Then engage Pratyahara to the max!") I can so totally understand why he of all people is pushing for yoga competitions and for it to be part of the Olympics (Sorry folks, this is where I draw the line. Yoga is NOT competition). I don't agree with it, but now I understand a bit better WHY he's all for competition. The use of mirrors in class encourages this.

And finally, while I got to crack my back open in that delicious heat and with all those lovely backbends, I have to say that only practising those 26-postures is extremely limiting (if this the only asana practice one does). No arm-strengtheners! Not much core-building! Listen to me, I'm such an Ashtangi!

Dammit, at least with Ashtanga there's a progression to the practice... you keep adding on more poses that will help you strengthen/ open this-and-that part. So even within the "fixed" series, you're still adding on and growing stronger and more flexible. There's a progression. I'm not sure how this would work within Bikram's series... but I'm also unsure if there are "advanced variations" to the poses. Any Bikramites care to share? I mean - I'd think you'd hit a plateau at some point, no? Or am I missing something?

I'm glad I went. I was craving heat, but by the end of it my head was bursting with "WHAT WAS I THINKING?" as I stopped for the 5,000th time before I threw up or passed out... It would probably be a while before my next Bikram class, I think I've had my fill for a while. It's just nice to shake things up a bit, once in a New Moon. (Haha, bad Ashtanga moon day joke) (Which is today, by the way. Which is why I went for the Bikram class in the first place. The joke is so bad I had to explain it in such detail).

Those 3 photos are still burned into my memory. Arghhh!

Of Museums, Canals & The Flower Market

Had another touristy weekend this weekend.

But before I get into that, some of you (read: Liz) probably want a report on the Bikram class. This is what happened: since their website said Sunday's class is at 8am, I woke up bright and early (by Amsterdam standards) and headed over to the studio. I remember thinking on the walk there "Whoa. This place is DEAD, and it's already 7.30am."

You mustn't forget I've moved here from Sydney. By 7.30am, Bondi Beach is filled with surfer boys and there's already a 15-minute wait to get coffee at Gusto's on Hall Road. People are walking their dogs; families are feeding their babies breakfast by the beach. It's an early-morning kinda vibe in Sydney.

Amsterdam's quite the opposite. It's probably just too cold to get outta bed at this time of year (let's see if it's different come Summer!). And to make that point completely so I couldn't be mistaken about Amsterdammers (is that even a word?)... The studio door was locked when I got there and the brochures with an updated schedule outside said Sunday's first class is now at 9am.

Pfffffffffffft! (Now I'm beginning to understand why early morning Mysore classes probably don't work here).

So that was it. I made the trek all the way back to my Beige Heaven again. And practiced a hodge-podge mix of Primary & Intermediate. If you really must know, I got up to Janu A, then decided it was time for more backbends so I, er... skipped ahead to Intermediate. Come to think of it, I actually even skipped Pasasana and Krounchasana and went straight to Salabhasana. Probably coz I was looking forward to all those glorious heart openers in the heated Bikram room and now that I was stuck with Ashtanga, I didn't have the patience to get through ALL of Primary first. Uh-oh. See how practicing without a teacher's eagle-eye can easily derail me?

Anyways, tomorrow being an Ashtanga moon day, I think I'll try their Bikram 6.30am class before work (YES! They actually have early morning classes on weekdays!)

OK, enough with the yogayogayoga... Now for more fun sightseeing pictures.

On my way to the Rijksmuseum, I spotted this AWFUL, AWFUL, AWFUL idea of a fast-food joint. It's like a vending machine with all kinds of deep fried hotdogs and burgers of the mystery meat variety. Seriously. (The kitchen is behind the cubby holes of food).


On the other hand, while queuing up to get into the Rijksmuseum (as advised by my Timeout book, I went later, around 11.30am so the queue wasn't THAT long. Only a 20-minute wait to get in)... Here's this enterprising guy serving cappucinos in the back of his truck by the queue. I like that he's even got a chandelier hanging to try and make the back of his truck a little... er... classier.


The majority of the Rijks is STILL undergoing renovation, and they've only got a small section of the place open. It's really cleverly curated around the history of The Netherlands through its art. So, this ranged from subject matter of the painting (eg. Portraits of the important people who had helped shape Dutch history during its Golden Age), to culture of the people at the time (eg. through doll-houses made to scale that actually existed from the 1600s, you could see what their interiors looked like, how people lived and dressed, etc.)

I dunno about you, but history BORES me. With the way the Rijksmuseum used artworks from paintings to sculptures to doll houses to porcelain (all actual artifacts) to recount Dutch history, I was pretty fascinated. Plus, it helps to spend that extra 5 Euros on the Self-service guided tour to get more info too. HAHA.

I really went there to check out the Rembrandt pieces.


I'm more of a contemporary art "appreciater", I really don't get any of these Renaissance/ Baroque artworks. I don't "get" the aesthetics of it, and maybe also coz in terms of subject matter they're either boring portraits (er... exhibit A & B above), or are really heavy on the religious symbolisms and massive guilt tripping. I certainly appreciate the skill and level of artistry it takes to craft a piece like that, but seriously... Gimme Banksy any day. Witty, clever and current.

BUT... there's something about Rembrandt's "Syndics of the Clothmakers' Guild" that draws me in. It could just simply be that I had to study this damn piece so long and hard for Art History class in years gone by. HAHA.


They had some of Vermeer's work too. (They didn't have "Girl with the Pearl Earring" on display though, maybe some other museum has it)


By now, I was starting to feel a bit of "museum fatigue", but since the Van Gogh Museum is around the corner and he has been one of my all-time favourite Impressionists, I felt I just HAD to go.

Bad idea. By this time, I'd been looking at so many bleak, oppressive and dark paintings at the Rijks already... so when I got to Van Gogh, and you know of his bleak and depressing life story (that ended in suicide)... My head was just about ready to explode and I was ready to yell out "WHY DID LIFE HAVE TO BE SO DREARY AND DEPRESSING FOR THESE PEOPLE?!" ...I mean, look at Vermeer's Milk maid above! Why did these people feel compelled to paint about how hard life was for peasants?!?

...I think I watch too much of "The Tudors", where everything's lush and guilded Although a large part of it is kinda dark and depressing too (OK OK, different century, different country, but similar for its olden days vibe)... But you get reminded that back in the day, the majority of people really got nailed badly. And no one in those paintings is as beautiful as Jonathan Rhys-Meyer, come to think of it.

(Take THAT, Rembrandt! See how he doesn't have a bulbous nose like all the people in your portraits?)

They had a Special Exhibition of Paul Gauguin's work as well (who was a close mate of Van Gogh's), but his work never really did anything for me. And still doesn't. But by now, I was severely museum-fatigue-ing.


I found it a really funny contrast that right outside these 2 museums, there's an entire wall of posters, of the "Only in Amsterdam" variety...


See why I was too spent to write about this yesterday? HAHA.

Today, I thought I'd take my day a little easier and hop on a Canal cruise. Brilliant idea.




You can also rent "Canal bikes", like these goons did. I dunno who in their right minds would do this and peddle around the canals at the tail-end of Winter. They must be drunk, or stoned. Or both.


Apparently all these Dutch houses are built with their facades slightly angled forward. This makes them appear bigger, and it also helped back in the day when people would hoist goods from the boats in the canals up to the top (a lot of them were used as warehouses). This explains why most of these houses have hooks right at the top - to act as pulleys. People still move house this way - moving furniture out through the window rather than using those tiny, steep little steps.


Apparently the entrance into the city's canals are guarded by a series of locks, like these ones. They're closed at night (!) and a few times a week, they use these gates to help flush fresh water from the ocean outside through all the canals. Very clever.


We passed by some of those house boats that I find so charming. Most of them look really ratty on the inside, but a few were done up really nicely (with chandeliers even!)



Check out these other pair of goons fishing... right in the middle of the Amstel River! (It's like, only one of the more major waterways here... I wonder what they caught)


And then I got lost somewhere and ended up at the Flower Market, by pure chance. (They'll ship tulip bulbs to anywhere in the world!)



Of course, since this is Amsterdam, what's a Flower Market without the... er... peripheral type of plants?


And now, it's way past my bedtime. Hope you had a good weekend too!

Culture Vulture

I have what they term "museum fatigue". Er... and I've only been to TWO museums today! BAHAHAHAHA! Call me Miss Culture. Not.

I'm too spent to tell you about my day at the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum, so will save that for tomorrow and instead share with you something on the other end of the culture scale.

This is just too funny (I keep rewinding to the part when he laughs around 01:40 and cracking myself up).

PS. Even though it's starting to warm up a little bit (high of about 6 degrees celsius), I'm getting a bit fed up of this cold so I'm toying with the idea of heading to a Bikram class tomorrow. Just not sure if I can handle the "teacher chatter" anymore... will let you know how I feel in the morning!

Space Invaded Again

No, I didn't buy another pair of Space Invaders leggings. I came across my very first Invaders' artwork today, in the flesh!

In a nutshell, this mysterious, anonymous street artist dubbed "Invader", goes around the world and places his mosaic-tiled artworks of Space Invaders characters in specially chosen locations. You can read more about him and where in the world he has "invaded" here.

There are supposedly a few in Amsterdam, and I found the first one!

My Home Practice Space

This is what it looks like in the living room, once I pull the coffee table away.


It works well while I'm "making do" without a shala/ daily teacher *WHINE, WHINE, WHINE*

BUT!!!

I was beginning to suspect that the floor is uneven. As in: this floor slopes off to the right.

A few times now in Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana, after I've swung the leg out to the side, I've tipped over to the right. And this happens on BOTH sides, whether I'm swinging the right or left leg out to their individual sides, I some how end up tipping over and losing balance to the right.

Now, my balance isn't exactly the greatest, but this definitely felt like something beyond my balance/ bandha control. But I thought maybe I was imagining things and making excuses.

Sure enough, when I bought an aromatherapy oil burner and poured water into it, the water level sloped off to the right side. It was very obvious with the water level.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Balancing problem solved. I will now experiment with facing either my front or back towards the sloping side in UHP and see how that feels. This Beige Heaven apartment cracks me up.