Of Moving House and Visiting Teachers

Between work and dealing with the builder and figuring out what to get and what goes where in the new house and oh yeah, I moved in this weekend finally... I haven't actually had time to post updates! I don't think I've even shared a single photo of the new place here yet. I might just start posting random photo updates just coz that's faster and time isn't what I've got much of these days... (I actually started writing this post a week ago and haven't been able to finish it!!)

Oh yeah, and did I tell you Clayton Horton was also in town? He was here the last 2 weeks actually, and it's been great FINALLY having daily Mysore sessions at the shala. I'm totally lapping this up.

An observation I've made: I cannot function on 6 hours sleep, followed by a 2-hour practice, followed by a full-on 8 to 10-hour day at work. I used to make the joke that my yoga practice was the hardest thing I had to do of the day and since I'd be done with it by 8am, the world would seem all good after that. Unfortunately, I've realized that with what my job entails, I'm no longer sure if my practice is the hardest thing I do of the day. So you can imagine after Week #2 of Clayton in town, it's starting to kick my ass. I'm exhausted and miss the little afternoon naps I could take in Mysore to recover!

The first week Clayton was here, he also did a 3-day teachers' intensive. It counts for Yoga Alliance's 30hr continuing education credit. So glad I took some time off my day job just to reconnect with yoga and other yogis too! The first half of each day was spent discussing philosophy, and the second half of the day was spent on breaking down the Primary series and going through the various adjustments for it. It's been AGES since I've taught, and my adjustments are completely rusty now, I might need to start a little yoga-playgroup going to refresh my adjustments! Or maybe ask to assist my teacher at the shala... Too many things I want to do, so little time! Guess it'll have to happen AFTER the move and doing up the house. ;)

In the first couple days of Mysore classes, I was still getting back into my body and only doing Primary series. Like all teachers trained in the traditional Pattabhi Jois way, Clayton wanted to see me stand up from backbends, then dropback and stand up again 3 times before moving me onto Intermediate. I was totally crap the first few days - wobbly and crashing and hurling onto my knees... And then after a couple days, suddenly my body remembered what it had to do and everything clicked into place and it happened. WEIRD. I can't explain it except... er, muscle memory?

And since then he's been watching me do each pose at a time in Intermediate. He asked where I was up to, then said "Let's start with Pasasana". The next day after Pasasana, I lay down to do backbends then he told me to continue through to Bhekasana. And the day after that to go to Parsva Dhanurasana. And we're now up to Laghuvajrasana. I'm pretty happy hanging out here at this pose and working my way through it (my regular teacher M gave me Kapotasana about a week before Clayton arrived, but I am so totally not ready for it at all!) I've been so completely exhausted the past couple days of practice, I've been coasting my way through it, ie., not really putting in 100% effort. Conserving energy! I have my whole life to figure this out, I'm not gonna kill myself to try and impress a visiting teacher... ;)

There's something about this teacher-student relationship in Ashtanga that I find compelling. The student learning to submit to teacher - I totally get the humility and respect it takes to do this. Interestingly, I used to be of the theory that "you are your best teacher"... But I'm now going through the phase where I feel you can't really say you're your best teacher until you've had enough time and training with a GOOD teacher, who can spot your weaknesses and imbalances and guide you to where you need to be/ what you need to work on. Only when you've been shown the way and can feel it from within can you tap into that again when you're on your own.

A good teacher doesn't just help you physically on an asana level either...a good teacher can tell from the way you breathe how this can affect you energetically, or how it can affect your Vata/ Pitta/ Kapha doshas... (just from the quality of the breath, length of the breath, inhales versus exhales, at what point in the vinyasa you breathe and how this affects you, etc.) I realized this just from being in the same room as Clayton, seeing what he picks up on in different people's practices, including mine. Such wisdom comes from years of experience and a depth of study on various subjects.

While breaking down Laghuvajrasana with me one day, I had a moment of realization, that AHA! moment when I understood why some teachers put such a focus on learning to dropback and stand back up again before moving students onto the Intermediate series. It became totally apparent in Laghuvajrasana that day when Clayton was explaining how to use the inhale to come back up from the floor again (I still can't go all the way down to touch my head to the floor. If I do this, I get stuck and can't come back up). It's a totally similar movement/ action to standing up from a backbend!! It's using that inhale, pressing the hips up and forwards that's similar. Sounds easier than it is, of course.

A great thing that's spun off from his workshop series is there's a group of us who enjoy the regular morning practices so much to the point where we were bummed that the shala still only opens on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for morning Mysore classes. So we asked if the shala was STILL not gonna open on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, could we start a self-practice group on those mornings instead? And TA-DAH! We got a set of keys to share between us. :)

This morning, there were 5 of us in self-practice including Clayton (he flew off to Barcelona today and wasn't teaching; just practising). This little group feels really promising, hope we get to keep this up!

I have to say I've really enjoyed having a visiting teacher for a solid long stretch. 2 weeks is a luxury! Usually most workshops happen over a weekend or the teacher visits for a week... But having 2 solid weeks with the same teacher really helps expand one's practice just that little bit more. And the whole shala just feels a lot more inspired too.

So now maybe I need to start working on my next post - the before and after shots of the apartment!! Mind you, there's still sweet f**k all in the living room except for a TV. I'm thinking of having a ghetto-style housewarming party where everyone has a picnic on the floor (nope, the sofa hasn't arrived yet). And since the kitchen doesn't get installed until 2 weeks' time... People will just have to order takeaway pizzas or bring their own food. Hehe. Fun times!! :)


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Made It To MWF Shala

I had a crap night's sleep. The alarm rang at 6am, screaming out "TIME TO GO TO THE MONDAY-WEDNESDAY-FRIDAY SHALAAAAAAA!!!" (From henceforth known as the MWF shala).

I had absolutely ZERO/ NULL AND VOID/ ZILCH intention of going.

Y'know those mind games you play with yourself...
"I haven't had enough sleep."
"It's eff-ing FREEZING."
"I don't have a rain coat let alone rain-suit yet. What if it pisses down?"
"I'll re-set the alarm an hour later and practice in the living room."
"There won't be anyone there anyway, I'm better off practicing at home." (knowing full well that when the alarm goes an hour later, there'll be MORE excuses.)

Dudes. I used to wake up at 4.45am in Sydney to take the train and then the bus to go to practice. And I can't even do a leisurely 6am wake-up call in comparison?

I turned off the alarm.

BUT. I was wide-eyed and awake (I hadn't been sleeping properly before the alarm rang anyways). And this is when having a blog and being accountable comes in handy to kick your arse out of bed. I'd written yesterday that I *might* head there today. So I lay there bug-eyed, thinking: Fuck it. If all else fails, at least I'll have something to report.

I know. What a sad way of getting myself to practice, right?

FUCK IT! Sometimes it's a new pair of Lululemon pants, sometimes it's a rain-suit, but today my motivation was... er... Having a story to tell. *face palm*

I got all wrapped up in layers, thinking "It's gonna be eff-ing freezing, especially on the bike ride there, so just deal with it." (It was HAILING intermittently yesterday. So I wasn't being dramatic about the cold.) And you know what? Because I was expecting to freeze my ass off, the 10-minute bike ride there actually wasn't THAT bad. It's all about setting the expectation.

I got there at 6.45am (Mysore starts at 6.30am) and guess what?

*Sound of crickets*

Yes, quite literally the sound of crickets. The door was unlocked, the lights were on, but there was NO ONE around. I tiptoed inside and the teacher was there, behind a curtain, watering the orchids.

Which meant: Yes. I was practicing on my own. Of course at this point one part of my brain said "I KNEW IT! TOLD YOU SO!! SHOULDA STAYED IN BED!" ...the other part said "YO! It's a private one-on-one so QUIT BITCHING."

It's all about perspective, y'all.

By the time I got up to Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana, someone else walked in! FINALLY! And more people came in later. By the end of it, there were exactly 4 of us in the room. A nice size. :)

So how did it go today?

AWESOME!

I got some nice assists - some on only one side. Usually this really irritates me coz I feel lopsided afterwards (this is yoga-teacher-training 101 stuff, people!) BUT. After KM (pretty famous teacher... go on, think harder) adjusted me only on one side as well at that last Mysore workshop, I kinda got thinking "OK, maybe not everyone's as highly skilled as my beloved E in Sydney." ;p (E in Sydney can be assisting you on one side, move onto someone else a few mats away while you're in vinyasa and then remember to come back to you just as you're moving into the next side; Adjusting you right as you're exhaling into the first count, not messing up your timing. That's pretty mad teaching skills.)

But after practicing in my living room for about a month now, today I felt EXTREMELY self-conscious. I guess I was the ONLY person for a while, so my breathing seemed pretty LOUD. I had to be very conscious of keeping the inhales and exhales consistent, so that's not a bad thing.

And then halfway into it, I thought: "Why the hell did I put half an onion in last night's curry? I STINK!!" ...Yeah, seriously. I could smell ONION coming... OUT OF MY PORES! I promise you it wasn't my breath, it was pouring out of my sweat.

G.R.O.S.S.

Even more grounds for feeling self-conscious.

In Supta Kurmasana, she bound my legs first before binding my arms... I was immediately all like "WOAHHHHHHH! I'm gonna call the Ashtanga Police!! It's the wrong way around!!"

Then I calmed down and thought "OK, so it's not the traditional way of binding but so what? I'M BOUND IN THE POSE, RIGHT?" And I even got a nice lift up to Dwi Pada on my own, bum-lift and everything before exiting through a sloppy Tittibhasana.

To be honest, I've been quite an Ashtanga-Snob. As in... Viewing any teacher who isn't authorized or certified from the source with a bit of suspicion. WAIT! HEAR ME OUT! ...Basically - you don't know where this teacher has trained, who has trained him or her, whether or not he or she has a daily practice and follows the traditional route as taught by P.Jois. Basically - I'm talking about LINEAGE.

That damn L word.

BUT... In the same breath, let me just say that I would definitely go to teachers who are not authorized or certified if I KNOW that they follow the Ashtanga method as taught by Jois, keep a regular practice or if they've been taught by teachers who have been authorized or certified, precisely because I know they'll be teaching from this lineage (just like Susan and Helen and my very first teacher in Singapore - I'd definitely go to their classes coz I know they're DOWNRIGHT LEGIT!) ...And seriously, I can tell you with conviction having been an Ashtanga tourist in various countries now - you can tell the difference in adjustments between teachers who come through this lineage of teaching (doesn't matter whether or not they themselves are authorized) and those who don't come through this lineage.

So I guess I took a while to kinda come to terms with this new place (no, the teachers aren't authorized nor certified)... I'd gone to ONE class there in the summer but it was a substitute teacher and I guess I didn't really click with her. Today, the regular teacher was back. But I still had no idea what I was getting myself into. Y'know?

BUT... After today, I'm eating humble pie. The adjustments I got were fabulous. And sure, I got yanked into Supta K the "wrong" way around first, but screw it... it's been a while since I've had a nice bind in that asana anyway. And who's to say what's "right" and "wrong" anyway? It worked. Period.

I'm definitely going back there again, even if they're only running MWF classes. I asked if they'll have Tuesday and Thursday mornings too and she said "Maybe, but not yet." Good enough for me. :)

Oh... And I think it was also a cosmic joke on me today. This morning when I left the house, everything outside was SOAKING WET, like it had just rained. But my cycle to the shala was dry as a bone. Upon leaving the shala, my snow-white bike was also soaking wet (Oh! Her very first rained-upon!)... But again, my cycle back home was bone dry. So much for *needing* that rain-suit to get to a shala practice. At least not for today.

PS. Sorry for the ultra-long post. Guess I'm excited about this new place!
PPS. Yes, she's also part of the International Laghuvajrasana Conspiracy, making me do encores of it. Won't bore you with the details since you know all about me + Laghu. Boy, I must *REALLY* suck at it.

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What Do You Make of Workshops?

It's 2.55pm on Sunday afternoon, and I'm sitting in an audio studio at work. Last night we finished at midnight. I'm not gonna whine about it. Instead, I figured while I've got some down time when the client and creative team figure out this audio mix now, I'm gonna get some "me" time and bang out a post. :)

I've been thinking about yoga workshops. As in: taking yoga workshops. As in: to take or not to take. There are different schools of thought for or against it... and I've always been all for them coz it's a chance to step out of the regular format of a class and break down the physicality/ dynamics/ techniques of the poses or learn more about the philosophy of the lineage.

This morning, I went for KM's workshop. Well, not quite a workshop, more like a Mysore-style class. (She's one of the rockstar ashtanga teachers... Go on, think a little harder and you'll get it). She's been giving workshops the whole of this weekend in London, but by the time I decided to stay on this weekend coz of work, the Mysore class was pretty much the only opening available. So... Granted, my one little class this morning is probably not a good indication of the rest of the workshops she's giving here (like a real proper "breaking it down" workshop). (For those, go check out Kevin, Mel, Helen, Susan or Ashtanga Brighton's blogs - they've been going to some of her other sessions so you may get a report from them soon!)

ANYWAY... I was a little hesitant to go this morning coz a part of me was thinking that in the past few weeks, I've had so many teachers keeping an eye on me - P for the first week, J when P went away, and A on Sunday at AYL... and now yet ANOTHER teacher this morning? The thing is, especially with a Mysore-style practice, you get a lot more out of it when it's the same person looking out for you. Your day-to-day teacher knows your practice, knows YOU, knows what you're struggling with, knows the odd quirks about your body and how to help you out.

In a workshop format, it probably helps if you go to the entire series of workshops that particular teacher is giving for the same reason: over a few sessions, the teacher gets to see you practice and is more familiar with what you or your body requires.

So... to be honest, my ONE little measly Mysore class today probably isn't that great an indication of my experience of that teacher.

Umm... Can you tell you I'm feeling a little bit "meh" about it today?

It also probably didn't help that I was clock-watching, coz I had to be back at work at 10am this morning.

I dunno... I just found the whole experience a little... strange. Maybe it's coz it wasn't part of my usual routine - y'know, even though it was taking place in the same studio space I've been going to every morning, it was a completely different context, with new faces, new teacher... there was a bit of an air of uncertainty. I was thinking "Hurry up and say the opening chant so I can start and get on with it..."

And when I got my first adjustment in Paschimottanasa, I remember thinking "WOW! Too strong!" I think I just wasn't prepared for it. Same reaction in Marichyasana A when I was being assisted deeper into it (and no adjustment on the other side, which I found a bit odd. But the room was starting to fill up quite a bit by then so how can you fault that).

And then I picked up on the weirdest thing... Like when she came to help me with Chakrabandasana after dropbacks - I distinctly remember thinking "Oh, she's wearing make-up". Not like that was weird, it was just weird that I noticed that. Coz... Not like it matters AT ALL, but I just notice the most inane details (I guess none of the other female teachers I've had have worn make-up while teaching?) I dunno why I'm even bringing this up, I'm a weirdo! HAHAHA!

But the Chakrabandasana assist was AWESOME! So 3 half-dropbacks with arms crossed to chest, arms on the floor on the 4th dropback, then she made me drop my head to floor, walk the hands in as far as I could... I couldn't see my feet but they felt close (they probably weren't AT ALL, they just FELT close coz I was gonna explode already). And then she said "try and lift yourself up again".

The first couple of seconds I was like "Say whaaaaaaat?" Coz it felt like I could die here already. But as I pressed up, it felt like I was going up into the pose! Couldn't quite extend my arms or legs fully coz I would've just exploded completely, but I got a lift up!

But... I digress. My whole point from the beginning was... Once upon a time, I was quite the workshop junkie. Now, more and more I'm not really feeling the workshop vibe. Another ashtanga rockstar teacher, DS, will be giving a series of workshops in London later this year, and while I'm dying to do some classes with him, I looked at the workshop line-up and was completely "meh" about all of them. The only thing I'd be interested in is... er... a Mysore-style class with him! (But I wouldn't fly all the way back here just to do that ONE class with him).

Maybe I'm just going through a phase now where I'm pretty happy just figuring out the poses I'm struggling with on my own. Er... And then going to check out if there are specific tutorials on Youtube (from other rockstar ashtangis) when I feel like it. It's like having a workshop in your own time! And for FREE! HAHAHA!

I'm still all for workshops. It's just at this point in time, I'm not really feeling it. It feels more like a distraction now - too much information from too many people (I know I'm contradicting myself, coz shouldn't the same thing apply to those Youtube videos I'm watching too?)

What's your take on it?

Greetings from London (again!)

Greetings from Londontown!

It has been a whirlwind from the start of the week, but things are starting to slow down a little bit. I think this is the calm before the next storm.

Kelly and his family were here from Monday till Wednesday, so it was really good catching up with him and the rest of them as well. His dad's memorial was a little bit sad for me, but it was great to see what an inspiring person he was... from the calibre of people in the room, to the things they all had to say about him. He lived a truly remarkable life.

Can you believe I didn't take pictures of Kelly and myself? I guess we were so busy talking that everything else was forgotten. It was good to connect with each other again. Even though we've been together for 5 years, and even with the likes of Skype video... a long distance relationship is tough.

Now, I'm onto the second leg of this trip: editing our commercial.

But first - I must tell you about this hotel we're staying at. Can I please just preface that this is the only place our company has a corporate rate with, and all other hotels in Soho worked out to be DOUBLE the price of this place? So we are staying here relatively "cheaply" ("Cheap" is relative. Especially when you're in London).

This is one of those designer WANK places. Designed by Phillip Stark or some such... there are Papparazzi hanging out in the streets outside for the celebs that come through these doors, and for the past 2 days there have been lots of models hanging out in the lobby, filling up casting forms. I think they're either holding a casting session in one of the board rooms, or a wardrobe fitting for an upcoming shoot. Or something.

Last night, someone from my team ended up having drinks with the band, The Killers, in the hotel bar coz they were the last ones left in the bar together (we spotted the band checking in yesterday. Oops, should I have said that? Here come more paps!) And the night before, I got into the elevator with a little old lady who excitedly turned to me and said "Did you see Boy George? He just walked into the bar!"

Er... No, I hadn't seen him. Because I was too distracted by the ridiculous elevator. It still cracks me up. It is PITCH BLACK inside, except for 3D hologram images of the universe on the walls. Seriously, you could pop magic mushrooms and ride the elevators up and down all day. Actually, you don't even need any hallucinogenics coz being in the lift itself is a trip. It's a bit hard to photograph coz there's no frame of reference when everything in there's so dark. I still get spooked walking into the lift and suddenly realizing there's someone else standing in the corner. I feel like I'm about to get mugged in the hotel elevator! HAHAHA!


And the room itself is more of a laugh... all these modern, contemporary designers and their clean lines. It drives me insane! The bathroom walls are all glass - so there lots of different kinds of curtains and shades for privacy. What ends up happening is the bloody curtains get EVERYWHERE - sucked into the shower, caught in the draft of the doors. It's just so impractical.


Look at what's hanging on the ceiling directly above my bed?

(I am paranoid it's going to drop down on me in the middle of the night). It's a pastoral landscape, so I imagine it's supposed to calm me down before bedtime? It's got the opposite effect!

The piece de resistance must be this contraption that's stuck to the wall.


Yes, ladies and gents... they're designer barbells. Can't you see the graphics showing you which muscles you can work out with these barbells? The weights are HEAVY. Oh, and of course they're also signed "Stark. xo" One of my colleagues says she has stayed in a room here before where there has been a TREADMILL in the room.

I mean... Seriously?

There's an entire gym downstairs in the building. Why bother with these random exercise equipment in the rooms? It almost makes you feel guilty for wanting to order room service!

The one thing I'm enjoying are the portraits of dogs they've got hanging all over the lobby. Yeah. The dog portraits are human-like, and it's a great piss-take on the portrait genre. Like this one.


(That silly dude kept looking over and smiling coz he thought I was photographing him!)

I think we should do a gigantic painting of Hank and hang it up too. I suppose even though this place is HIGHLY PRETENTIOUS, it is fun being in an environment like this. Coz we are just making fun of all the people here who are taking themselves very seriously (like the Doormen, who keep asking us "Are you staying here?" as they open the doors for us... coz we look like the riff-raff!)

This place is a close enough walk to AYL, so yesterday I went to check it out. I LOVE IT! Hamish's adjustments are gorgeous, and the place has a similar vibe to the old YogaMoves in Bondi Junction. It was lovely being in a group environment again, and just that familiar sound of Ujjayi breathing and the air heavy with humidity made me realize how much I missed having a teacher and a shala to go to.

I'm surprised by how small the space is (it's slightly smaller than Eileen's old space above the health store), and there's literally 2 inches between mats. The edges of my mat on both sides were kissing the wall too... so getting used to being cramped into a small practice space was another thing to get my head around. I had shitty dropbacks - bonked my head on the first go, then on the second go I couldn't even stand back up again and ended up whacking the girl next to me as I was trying to stand up. I have no idea what happened!

It was all good though, I was BUZZING as I walked down the street, and ended up walking back when I realized I hadn't paid for my class! Hamish chuckled too coz he hadn't even thought to collect payment. Can't wait to get back there again. :)

Strange Encounters of the Stranger Kind

A weird thing happened to me today after practice.

As I was sat in the train, waiting for it to leave the station, a guy walks into the carriage and asks "You practice with E, right? Ashtanga yoga?"

*STRANGER DANGER ALERT!*

Mother taught me well... don't talk to strangers and all right? So I was immediately hesitant and a bit suspicious. (The first thing I thought of was "Oh no! Have I said too much on my blog now that stalkers can find me?" Haha, talk about EGO.)

But it was an interesting encounter, and we ended up chatting for the 10-minute ride into town. Apparently he practices at the shala occasionally and has seen me (but er... I've never seen him before) and he complimented me on my practice.

I feel uncomfortable when someone says this, especially a stranger at that. My practice just feels a little private and personal, almost sacred... and I was thinking "HOW DARE YOU WATCH ME PRACTICE?!" (ohhhh... Now I see why Sharath didn't want the rest of us watching the Intermediate workshop).

Anyway... He asked me if I teach yoga and why haven't I been teaching while I've been here, and blahblahblah, and we got to talking about teachers, teaching, how wonderful our teacher is and attachment to your teacher in general... and... how "you are your best teacher" at the end of the day.

Huh.

I just found it interesting, considering what we've been discussing in the last post about the student-teacher dynamic and doing as your teacher says (see the comments here).

Also, what I found interesting is I was dicussing pretty personal observations with a complete stranger. Maybe I'm on Twitter too much and I need to differentiate between the cyber & real worlds. HAHAHA! Or maybe it's true what they say about us Ashtangis being part of a greater tribe - that we feel an instant connection with a kindred spirit (of the Ashtanga kind).

OK, I'm getting into woowoo territory here. I just think that the other guy sitting across from us in the train carriage who was OBVIOUSLY eavesdropping must've thought we were smoking our socks and run off to join the fairies or something. It's funny innit, this thing we do called Ashtanga?

Here's another funny (bizarre) Youtube video of Willem Dafoe doing dropbacks/ walking around in backbends/ standing up in The Reckoning... (Huh?!) It's what Arturo mentioned in yesterday's post (And thanks Liz for the movie name!) I guess he's also a little bit cuckoo and takes his yoga practice to work. HAHAHA. (Oh my, what a deep backbend! ...but I guess if he can catch his ankles in Chakrabandhasana right...) It's at about 25sec into it.

Teacher Says So

Sundays are supposed to be my FULL primary till Parsva Dhanurasanas, remember?

But... I don't think my teacher is in with me on my plan.

While I was in the middle of Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana (bringing the leg back to centre from the side, and holding it there), she came to give me a leg-lift boost, and then told me AGAIN - "You don't need to be doing this now. After UHP, just go straight to Paschimottanasana. Next time, after Parsvottanasana, go straight to Paschimottanasana. Shorten your practice."

Erm... I almost wanted to say "BUT IT'S SUNDAY!! I WANT TO PRACTICE FOR LONGER!!" then found myself torn between what I wanted to do versus what my teacher told me to do. I just shut up and did as she said (secretly a little bit thankful too, coz it's my first practice in days since I've been in this moving-wormhole and my body's struggling to keep up!)

OK. As any Ashtangi knows, a large part of this practice is submitting to your teacher coz... well... "teacher knows best" and all.

But... what if I DO wanna push myself a bit more on Sundays? A large part of this is also coz I'm thinking ahead coz... well y'know... when I'm back in Singapore next week and Cape Town afterwards, my teachers there are probably gonna make me practice the full primary before getting to my intermediate poses and I'm afraid I'm gonna collapse from exhaustion coz my body's not been up to speed.

HAHAHAHA. Sorry, that just sounds so chronic.

I watched the "Ashtanga, NY" documentary last night. My twitter pal, @innerspaceyoga mailed it to me all the way from North Carolina. I think I must be like the last Ashtangi in the village to have heard of or watched this film. IT IS AWESOME! (Oh, and Guruji is wearing a tank top with my Teacher's old shala logo on it for most of the film. Heh.)

(Buy it here. Oh yeah, you also see Willem Dafoe grab his ankles in Chakrabandhasana. Woah, the Green Goblin is pretty advanced! And Gwyneth Paltrow in Dwipada Sirsasana. They look like normal yogis, not celebs!)

It follows Guruji on his final tour of NY in 2001 (the Twin Towers went down in the middle of his month-long workshop there too, making that trip even more poignant). In it, it mentions this teacher-student relationship... where you just submit, unquestioningly, to what your teacher tells you to do. The Sharath-Guruji relationship is a great example of this teacher-devotion.

It made me think today... maybe this is teaching me something about letting go of my notion of "the right and wrong way" of doing things. I mean... I've read all your comments on this weird split, and I also think it's a weird split... and coz it's not currently the way its practised in Mysore now, some part of me reckons it's not "the right way", or the "authentic" way... much as I highly respect my teacher and know that she's super close to the source. That's part of my struggle with doing this weird split.

Maybe the "right" thing for me to do now is just shut up and listen? No, sorry... that should be: shut up and just DO. Bahahaha! Another reason to bring 2010's "joyful surrender" into play, perhaps.

Call me First-Aider

So... last weekend, I spent both Saturday & Sunday getting first aid certification. Yup, that's 15hrs to getting Senior First Aid Level 2 certification. Woot!

What cracked me up was getting to my seat only to see what looked like a prosthetic nose & mouth on my seat. Yup folks, I had my very own rubber nose & mouth to use for CPR. Gone are the unhygienic days from my youth where everyone had to "do CPR" on the same grotty mannequin in order to get your first aid badge for Brownies.



It would make a pretty good part of any Halloween costume, don't you think? I thought we'd get to keep them, but sadly they all had to be returned at the end of our course (so they could be disinfected, heat-blasted and dried for the next lot of First-Aiders, so we were told).

Behind the nose was a little nozzle that you basically plugged into the mannequin's face. Seriously. This is what the nose-less/ mouthless mannequin looked like.


There were 18 of us in the class, and we had 9 mannequins. I mean, torsos. It was quite a sight!


So yes, now I can do CPR, work a defribillator (but still not sure sure how to spell the word), apply bandages, make a sling, care for you when you're in shock/ having a heart attack/ having a stroke/ having an epileptic fit/ just been stung by a blue-bottle, bee, wasp/ just been bitten by a spider, snake... (though I still can't tell what's most poisonous. I mean, I'm living in the country with the most dangerous snakes & spiders)... but all this is of course while we're waiting for Secondary Aid to come. Which, in First Aid speak is "the ambos" (the guys in the ambulance).

Not bad for a weekend's work huh.

And the reason why I went to all this trouble? ...well, now that life has started to ease into a routine here and I'm a lot more grounded and comfy with what I'm doing with the rest of my life, I feel ready to teach yoga again!! (Duh, all roads lead back to yoga, didn't you know).

And most studios here require all yoga teachers to have current insurance (check) and First Aid certification (check). So... I've just been inquiring with a few studios here and let's just see where the Universe leads me to. :)

In other news, SHARATH'S WORKSHOP BEGINS TOMORROW! I've just packed my bag and I'm ready to go. Was so excited I had trouble falling asleep last night. I'll try to give (almost) daily reports if I can, so watch this space. YEEHARR!

The longest 1.5hrs of your life...

...is being in a yoga class taught by a teacher you're not connecting with.

Maybe it's coz I've become so used to the Mysore-style of ashtanga practice, where the room is QUIET except for people's ujjayi breathing, that when I went to a power yoga class today I kept wishing the teacher dude would just SHUT THE HELL UP!!

It's been bugging me all day and I just had to write it down. I've been wondering if it's because I've become used to a different style of practice, or maybe it's coz he was just pretty green as a teacher. I kept repeating to myself during the class "put all judgment aside"... "it's just a different style"... but I dunno, I was once a major Power Yoga lover... all that teacher chatter used to helped me along in my practice... but as I've returned to Ashtanga mysore-style and fallen in love with it all over again, I found his 'guru speak' really annoying and extremely distracting.

Plus, it didn't help that the last 10 minutes of the class was a guided meditation to open up the chakras, but as he counted his way down he went from the crown chakra to the throat chakra, skipping the 3rd eye... then going back up to the 3rd eye chakra again, then jumping down to the solar plexus chakra... I was feeling as all over the place as he was.

I just ended up shutting his voice out and concentrating on my breathing, trying not to get irritated. But as you can tell, it was probably too late. URGH. Can't wait to get back to a Mysore class tomorrow. Double URGHHH.

(Photo credit here.)

PS. Kelly's away shooting in New Zealand so I thought I'd go large and watch a cheezy rom-com... "I Love You, Man". Paul Rudd. Need I say more? ...it's not nearly as bad as you'd think. In fact, I was pissing myself laughing through most of the movie. Thoroughly recommend it. :)

Today's Little Triumphs

Since I got into the habit of not blogging regularly, I've become ultra-lazy about blogging... and er... it's been a while hasn't it?

A lot has happened in the past few weeks... I went back to Singapore to visit friends and family, and after returning back to Sydney, Kelly's mom came to visit so I've been busy doing touristy things with her while Kelly's been at work. Will have more photos in the next few days (or maybe weeks - this is my disclaimer here!)

But anyways, I went to one of the famous ashtanga yoga teachers here in Sydney this morning and wanted to talk about it... Hauled my ass out of bed at 6am, took a bus and got to Bondi around 7am. The studio's called Yoga Moves and the teacher is Eileen Hall. She and the rest of her teachers came highly recommended by my ashtanga teachers back in Singapore so I thought I'd give it a bash.

In case you're unfamiliar with ashtanga, it's basically a fixed series of poses you flow through with your breath leading the way, linking each pose. In the traditional style in Mysore (where ashtanga came from in India), you practice in your own time and the teacher moves around and adjusts you to either take you deeper in your practice, or to correct you in the posture, or even give you a new pose that's next in the sequence (if teacher feels you're ready for it). So if you showed up at any time between 6am - 9am, the entire room could be full of students at various points in the sequence, doing their own thing.

When I first turned up and walked up the stairs to the studio, all I could hear was Ujjayi breathing - the glorious "victorious breath", a deep hissing sound made by constricting the back of the throat as you breathe through your nostrils. Kinda sounded like a room full of Darth Vaders! After turning the corner at the top of the steps, I almost made an about-turn beeline for the door again... the studio was packed to the brim with people and their heaving bodies... there was probably at most 2 inches of space between each yoga mat and I instantly felt claustrophobic. I've been doing purely self-practice on my own at home since moving to Sydney and used to the peace & quiet, so this scene in front of me was a complete shock to my system.

A part of my brain just dug its heels in and said "you're doing this, no turning back". So I tiptoed round to a spot that had just opened up. Since I was there around 7ish, the first group of students who had been there from 6am were just about wrapping up their practice and headed for the shower. In a strange sort of way, practicing in that claustrophobic group environment really energized me... for some reason I felt stronger today, even though it's been about a week since my last proper ashtanga practice.

I've been working on grabbing my hands behind me in Marichyasana D - because of my busted knee on one side, I've tended to take it easy in that pose, but recently decided that I need to make more of an attempt to actually get into the pose or I'll never do it. This is what it looks like:

(Photo credit: http://www.birmingham-yoga4u.co.uk/)

He makes it look so easy. His right leg on one side is in lotus, jammed into his hip/ pelvis, and it's that twist that happens at the same time that makes you feel like someone's punched you in the abdomen and its knocked the wind out of you. If you can get over that and still reach round and bind the hands around the left knee behind you... you're apparently ready to take on the Intermediate series of the Ashtanga sequence (well, at least the first pose in the Intermediate series, anyways). I've never been able to do it on my own before, but today... my fingers touched! OK, not quite a hand-bind, but it's the beginning of something at least!

And also today for the first time, I got a complete bind in Supta Kurmasana! Hands bound AND feet around head! Teacher had to help bind me in the pose, but I could finally stay there on my own, fully bound for the 5 breaths, with no cheats or slipping out of the bind before the 5 breaths. YIPPEE!!

(Photo credit: flickr.com/photos/mastapiannis/245913906/)

And now... well, life goes on, I suppose. But it's just 2 mini triumphs for today. :)

Teaching Frenzy

This week is when practically everyone's on holiday (me included!) and it's when I start substitute teaching yoga classes. I'll be teaching from Monday through Wednesday at 9am, and this Saturday, I start my first REGULAR TEACHING GIG! Yup, I've been offered a regular 9am slot at Shanti on Saturday. Did I forget to mention it before?

Plus this evening, I was also substituting for another teacher who does classes at a hotel. So including Shanti's class this morning, I would've taught 2 classes today except the hotel guests/ tourists were probably in complete holiday mode and no one pitched up to class this evening!

It didn't really matter though, the garden where classes are taught is just spectacular, and I ended up doing a self-practice instead. It's weird doing a headstand on grass - kinda feels unstable and like you're gonna fall over!


Right in front of where the mats are placed is where a "river" flows through the hotel grounds. It's more like a glorified drain, but since it doesn't stink maybe it's really a fresh(ish) water source of sorts. There's also a little bridge to cross from one part of the hotel to the next. Very pretty!


The "river" is slightly stepped, and there's a mini waterfall as well, so you're completely surrounded by nature from the gurgling water sounds to the birds tweeting in the trees.

The light on the pictures above was a little off. This is more like what it looks like. So even though no one pitched this evening, I still had a pretty spectacular practice. :)

Are We "There" Yet?

I've been thinking.

I've been trying to re-balance or juggle my life. Since I've decided I'm ready to teach yoga, I've been in contact with some studios to make this happen. But in order to finally teach at their studios, I also need to familiarize myself either with their sequence or students or way of teaching.

And this means going to their studios and assisting in adjustments or taking classes as a student, but approaching it from a completely different point-of-view where I'm not really practicing for myself, but really thinking of how I would teach the class, how it would feel to be a student in the class, how I would call out the same instruction so that it's as concise and clear as possible... So I've been doing less self-practice at home, but alternating yoga practices between 2 different studios.

One's at Shanti, which you've read all about, and the other I haven't taught at yet, but will possibly be starting some time soon. I know I've got to go through these practice sessions coz they'll make me a better teacher, but at the same time, they're not quite a regular self-practice coz I haven't been practicing for ME. It's been for my students, if that makes any sense at all. And I'm trying to balance self-practice, teaching, taking yoga classes as a student (which helps in my teaching so doesn't count as self-practice in my book), and the rest of life which includes a full day of work as well.

Needless to say, the 6 day a week self-practice has completely fallen away; I haven't touched the intermediate series in weeks! In order to get that going again, I'd have to haul my ass out of bed at 6am in order to spend time with my personal practice before headed off to a full day of work, then adjusting or teaching or taking a class at the end of the day and I'm not sure if I could be THAT committed. And I'm struggling to accept that.

So I'm now also thinking about WHY it seems so important for me to continue a self-practice on my own, why going to a class still isn't enough for me. Why is it so important to finally "get" those poses I struggle with... and why do I fear that not keeping a regular practice means I'll have to work my body up to a certain level again before attempting those poses. Why can't I just let go of this over-achieving ego and accept that things are as they should be?

I suppose I'm figuring out a new routine - incorporating teaching yoga in my life - and frustrated I'm not getting there fast enough, wherever "there" is.

That Dreaded FIRST CLASS Is Over

WOW. What an experience. Before the class last night, I felt like I was dipping my toes into a cold swimming pool - in... out... in... out... should I or shouldn't I...? ...Jump in or just hang out on the deck chair?

Then when I got to the studio, Uli told me "Aldi's coming too". My jaw dropped. Aldi's one of my teachers from the teacher training course. Kena Sabo (only the Singaporeans need to know what this means). Okaaaaaaay. No turning back now. And then Uli said "I'm going to practice rather than adjust. See what it feels like as a student in your class so I can give you feedback". Double Okaaaaaay. I'm just putting the mental brakes on the panic going on in my head at this point.

I had gone through my music playlist in iTunes over and over, choosing and re-choosing tracks, using the same playlist in my self-practice to see which songs work and which don't, just to keep the flow of the Ashtanga vinyasa sequence going. Of course my iPod mini is so old it starts to go funny (yes, it's oldskool. No touchscreen. Not even a colour screen!) I can't get back into the "Menu" page and I can't reset it anymore either. It's gone cuckoo.

So to avoid any music mishaps during the class, I cleverly decided to lug my entire laptop there in order to access my playlist. Of course its got a 2-pin power socket and there are only 3-pin adaptors at the studio. And my laptop probably couldn't last on battery power alone for the 1.5hr class. Or rather, I wasn't gonna chance it and screw up the vibe. Got to teach the class the traditional way - in silence; no music to help get me through this. Sigh.

To top it all off, the average class I've been to at Shanti either as a student or as an adjuster averages about 8 - 10 people; a nice cozy size. But of course the evening I am to teach my very first led class, a total of 16 (SIXTEEN!) people rock up. How to not feel like it's all a conspiracy?

So when Aldi shows up, I gave her a hug and whispered in her ear "PRESSURE!"... She hugged me back and replied "SUPPORT." How cool is that? It made me feel a whole lot better.

The class itself started off pretty well, but then I started to realize how much multi-tasking needs to go on during a class and how much energy this actually takes! Of course I knew this already, but having to focus your energy for 1.5 hours where you're able to call out poses, remember which actions happen on the inhale and which on the exhale, give concise instructions on technique, benefits, cautions AND variations while watching out for students with off-alignment AS WELL AS giving adjustments at the same time... and of course ensuring that my own posture when giving adjustments is also aligned otherwise it would just be a bad adjustment for the poor student and I could also hurt myself... AND THEN! On top of all this also being mindful of giving each student space to explore their own practice, body and spirituality... it was a lot to take in and at one point I was just going cross-eyed with it all. Not really sure when I was talking too much or too little, and just generally trying to gauge the vibe of the entire class at the same time as well as looking out for individuals.

...and THEN! That's when the first wave of insecurity hit me. I caught myself beating myself up - feeling like running away halfway through the class, thinking thoughts like "What am I doing here? What a fraud, I've got not enough experience to be doing this! RUN!" ...I had to catch myself and squash those thoughts before it started affecting the rest of the class too. It's part of my yoga process that I need to go through as well - practising Ahimsa, or non-violence, to myself, but I've never felt so inadequate and unsure of myself like I did at that point. All my fears were hitting me squarely in my face. (No wonder one of my most respected teachers told me she knelt down and cried in the middle of the first group class she'd ever taught coz she couldn't handle it!)

OK, at least I got through it fine. And I got great feedback from people afterwards. Uli said it was an awesome class and I really worked them hard (everyone was dripping wet, even me!) Aldi said she couldn't believe it was my first group class since the course coz of my confidence level (that's where being an ex-TV and Radio Presenter comes in handy!) One of the students turned out to be a Hatha teacher and after the class, she asked if I could substitute her yoga classes as well over the holidays. Yay! I'll take what I can get just for the experience! So let's see if that works out.

But a part of me also wonders how honest people are with their comments and how much of that is just them being nice and kind to a teacher just starting out? (oops, there I go again. Must be nicer to myself and not doubt so much!) I guess I'm still trying to gauge the vibe of the class - I want to give people enough info to explore deeper in their practice, but at the same time I don't want to go overboard and talk too much. (I hate being in a class as a student where all I can think of is telling the teacher to just shut up already! Yes, it's very unyogic I know) Maybe it's that ex-radio training too - you're taught not to leave dead space on the air, whereas in a yoga class sometimes the teacher does need to leave that space open/ silent for students to explore the pose in their own bodies. I need to be comfortable with the silence.

It was quite a rush teaching that class - of course there are still a million and one things going through my head at this point... I'm still processing how to become a better teacher. It feels like I've got all this info in my head, all the tools in the toolbox, but only with experience will I start to figure out what info to use when. Coz at this point I feel like I want to share EVERYTHING I know about each pose to the class, but that means everyone would have to hold each pose for at least 5 minutes while I ramble.

Good start, though! :)
P.S. Did I mention that Uli actually PAID me?! I so wasn't expecting it and it was such a nice bonus!

Freak Out

I'm teaching my first official group class... TONIGHT!

Yeah, it was supposed to have been right after Christmas, so it would've given me more time to get less freaked out. But since I've been helping Uli adjust her Monday and Wednesday evening Ashtanga led classes, she suggested we swop roles and I teach tonight's class while she adjusts. She was getting bored of me having all the fun adjusting!

I thought about it yesterday and it seemed like a good idea - having her there to give me feedback later would be an invaluable experience, so I said "OK, let's do this". And then I woke up in the middle of the night last night while reciting my "script" for teaching sun salutations in my dreams. I was tossing and turning in bed for 2 hours while I went over the entire Ashtanga primary series from the technique of each pose, to the variations (in case beginners decide to show up to class), down to the benefits and cautions of the poses. My head was gonna explode from all the info, and my body was melting from the stress, and the African summer heat in the middle of the night didn't help.

Finally, reading a few chapters of Iyengar's 'Light on Life' helped me take my mind off the stress - I know I'm making it bigger in my head than it actually is... I know I'll be fine I just have to get over my nerves. Class starts in 5 hours. ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

I'm Teaching at Shanti

OK, so this is actually happening. Too late to turn back now! Will be teaching ashtanga classes at Shanti Cape Town between Christmas and New Year, and Uli's just sent out her December newsletter announcing this, along with my bio info.

You'll have to download it from the Picasa web album to read it in full though coz I can't figure out how to make the file bigger. Click on the newsletter, then when you're in the album, click on download.

What a beautiful introduction! ...now I've got to live up to this reputation. ARGHHH!!

Ready to Teach!

You might have remembered about a week ago that I was feeling a big push to finally get my ass into gear to start teaching my first group yoga class.

So I'm talking to some hot studios and working out schedules to teach power vinyasa and/ or ashtanga classes, but in the meantime, I've scored my first teaching gig. Gulp. Will be substituting classes over the holidays at the end of the year at Shanti Cape Town. In the weeks leading up to it, I've volunteered to assist Uli in adjusting her led ashtanga classes on Monday & Wednesday evenings so that I'd get to know her students. I started my first session this Monday, and it was such a great feeling to be adjusting people again.

It's the first time I've adjusted since my teacher training in September, but it's like riding a bicycle... we had done so many adjustment classes with Maria that it was like second nature. I needn't have worried that I'd forgotten it all!

Yesterday morning, Uli forwarded me some feedback from a student in the class and it's made me beam from ear to ear. I'd helped her come into a handstand in the middle of the room. Here's an excerpt:
"I loved last night’s class so much and I really enjoyed Jamie’s (I hope I have it correct) gentle, yet firm manner. I would feel confident in one of her class’s – she really knows her stuff and expresses a silent passion for yoga, especially the physicality of it.

I feel ready for the week! Perhaps it was the handstand I attempted – there is something liberating about facing a fear (yes, I admit, I was always too scared to do a handstand!)"

YAY! It's such a great feeling when you can help someone come to terms with their barriers. I'm a lot less nervous and more excited to teach now. :)

Dear Amy.M.Hart...

...So I received an email from an amy.m.hart, but somehow when I tried to reply to the email address it kept bouncing back. Amy wanted to find out more about the Africa Yoga course and since I can't send a reply back to her and I think she might have a feed to this blog, here it is as a blog entry. ;p

Hi Amy!

Thanks for your note. It's definitely a course I would HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend, it's absolutely brilliant! There are about 7 teachers on the course, each with different backgrounds and philosophies and they don't always agree with each other - which is what they wanted to share with us as well... that yoga is a system that's 5000 years old, with many different schools of thought, so no one way is the right way. They wanted us to figure out for ourselves which beliefs resonated with us as individuals, since each path is different. This is what I found refreshing since too many different schools preach that only their way is the right way... which isn't necessarily so!

The teachers also fill the course with so much love so it's a warm, safe environment for you to let your walls come down. And for me, that's what yoga's about. This course was based around the ashtanga system, and we also touched on vinyasa and sequencing vinyasa classes. Yoga Alliance accreditation falls under the ashtanga/ vinyasa category.

The course is run by Maria Taylor of Africa Yoga. Her website here: http://www.africayoga.co.za/Teacher-Training/

She runs the course twice a year - in September and April, and there was mention on our course that the next April course might be in Uganda instead of S.Africa, I'm not sure what they eventually decided.

All the best, I hope this course is what you're looking for coz if it is, you're gonna have an awesome time! Let me know if you wanna find out about anything more!

Lots of love and light, Jaime.

The Balancing Act

Trying to find balance is tricky. Coz it's a constantly shifting, organic state.

It's been about three weeks since I've been back at work and come last week I'd already lost that shiny zen crystal bubble around me from the course. I was grasping to hang onto that little piece of calm inside, but work stress came back in full force and wiped away pretty much everything I had.

I've also been stressing about trying to find a yoga class to teach - the "kiasu" (afraid to lose) part of me's thinking if I don't do it now I'll get rusty and won't ever teach again. And hearing stories from the other graduating teachers about how some of them have already found classes to teach makes me both inspired and annoyed (yes, I have to let go of this competitiveness!)

I was feeling extremely frustrated earlier this week about trying to find a regular class to teach, plus handle being back at work (the stress, the irregular hours, the crazy client requests) and keeping up a 6-day a week practice all at the same time, but thank goodness for my yoga support group (all of us on the teaching course have been keeping in contact)... I'm learning that I'm not Wonder Woman and I'm actually OK with it.


Guess I was trying to go from first to fifth gear without learning how to change gears in between... I somehow had this idea in my head that in order to be a "proper" teacher, I had to be teaching a bigger group of people. But with the manic job I've got, it's difficult to commit to a regular, weekly class. Also at the same time, I'm TERRIFIED of teaching a bigger group of people even though I think I'm desperate to. The internal dialogue in my head of "Yes"... "No"... "Yes"... "No"... earlier this week was driving me up the wall.

In the end, after much pacifying and encouragement from anyone willing to listen to my moaning, I'm beginning to see that I was just putting too much pressure on myself and getting frozen in one position, not knowing what to do with myself or where to begin.

At the moment, I'm just comfortable knowing that it will happen when it happens... I'm just "being" at the moment... content that I'm still enjoying my almost daily practice and that at least I've got Kelly as a student.

Super Fit Weekend...

Yesterday, I gave Kelly his very first yoga class of his life and he rather enjoyed it. (YAY FOR ME!) Considering what a fit gym-bunny he is, we had to take frequent rests during the Ashtanga series coming into child's pose, and we stopped at Navasana coz he was pretty spent. Fortunately, he actually wanted to go for a second session the next day. (DOUBLE YAY FOR ME!) Was afraid I'd turned him off yoga for good but I guess I didn't have to worry... :)

This morning, I went for a 1hr power yoga class and Kelly went to gym. Then, we went with Robyn & Margarita for a 2hr walk with their dog, Abby. (Jezebel the Maltese has a torn ligament so the poor princess couldn't come).



We walked from Clifton to the Sea Point Promenade, and Abby happily trotted along with us. She's a really cool dog who doesn't need to be on a leash except when crossing roads.


Found some random people, like this guy on the beach with his metal detector.

...wonder if his strange hobby has made him rich.

And the bird lady.


Abby wasn't really interested in other dogs and would politely sniff their bums if they sniffed hers, but she would happily trot along again within 2 seconds. No doggie dramas at all.




We were pretty spent after the 2hr walk (and the incline all the way back to the house in the final 20 minutes didn't help our tired legs)... so I don't think we managed to squeeze in Kelly's second yoga class this weekend. Slowly, slowly...

The Africa Yoga Teacher Training Experience

So I made it through the hardcore month of waking up at 5am most days (4.45am if our house was on cleaning duty), including 4 - 5 hours of physical yoga practice on most days (mainly Ashtanga), and reading like there was no tomorrow. I am now officially a yoga teacher and can use the copyrighted "RYT" behind my name (= Registered Yoga Teacher).(ie. if I now have the balls to teach in front of a mass number of people.)

But beyond all of that, it was such an amazing experience to have gone through - the 14 students and 7 teachers created a warm, loving, safe cocoon for all of us to start the individual journey of awareness. Each of us was confronted with all kinds of emotions from frustration, exhaustion, laughter, fear, courage, joy... for the first time ever, I had a couple of tearful moments on the mat from the sheer intensity of the course, and also for the first time ever I had the deepest, most relaxing yet aware Savasana - where I was actually floating inside my body in deep relaxation... there yet not there.

This course was beyond what I imagined it would be, and I think everyone else on the course would also agree with me. I think beyond all the teaching tools and yoga foundations etc. that we were taught, the most important gift we were given is that of Self-Awakening/ Self-Awareness. I've come back feeling empowered, inspired and motivated to do something with this gift I've been given (with no promises that I won't suck as a teacher!) Kelly's going to be my first guinea pig, so look forward to more stories of that first class!

Here are some highlights of the month, from an album of 255 photos.
My room:


View from my room, overlooking the canal:


My very '70s bathroom & walk-in wardrobe (yes, it walked into the thatch roof!):


And the shower that decided to go funny after a week, only dispensing hot water when it felt like it (some days we had to walk over to Patrizia's cottage for a shower):


The kitchen:




What was on my shelf:

No, there was no Woolworths. My heart sank when I found out there was only a Super Spar.

The exterior of the house:


Building regulations in St. Francis Bay require ALL houses to have thatch roofs or grey tiles, with white walls. While a thatch roof is extremely pretty, it gets flipping freezing cold, and all kinds of creepy-crawlies fall from the roof every now and again (found a red worm in my bag of Q-tips. Good thing I checked before putting them in my ears!)

So everywhere you walk, this is pretty much the sight you'll see:



It's kind of Stepford Wives meets Cocoon 2 (coz in the low season without the tourists, it's just full of geriatrics who live there!) With everything looking the same, it's got a strangely calming effect. The first time I got out of St. Francis was about 2 weeks into the course when we drove out to nearby Cape St. Francis (with no building regulation). And suddenly, I was aware of how messy and un-uniform everything looked outside of St. Francis Bay. Still can't decide if that's a good thing or not.

A typical day started at 6am for an hour of Pranayama/ Meditation, which meant waking up at 5am. However, if your house was on cleaning duty (twice a week), this meant waking up at 4.45am in order to get to the studio at 5.30am in order to light the fires, candles, set up the bolsters and blankets, etc. for the meditation session.


This was followed by 2hrs of Ashtanga for half of the group that was practicing and the other half that was adjusting or teaching, and the following 2hrs after that, we would swop - so whoever practiced first would then adjust/ teach in the later session.




This would take up till 11am where we had our first break for breakfast/ lunch. And traditionally, you're not supposed to have eaten anything before Pranayama nor Asana practice, since this means your energy would be spent busy digesting rather than moving towards higher consciousness. But I, the unenlightened, HAD to eat and always had at least 1 or 2 bananas before the morning Pranayama (Sorry, Maria!). Actually, I practically lived off bananas the whole time - scoffing at least 6 a day! There's no way I could've survived for 6 hours from rising without eating AND doing such a physical practice!

After a half-hour or 1hr break, we'd go onto either technique of poses or adjustment classes which would require hands-on practice with each other, followed by a short 1/2hr or 1hr mini-flow class where we'd practice those adjustments in the context of a flow class.





Another half-hour or 1hr break would follow, and then we'd have either an anatomy/ physiology class, a marketing class, or a yoga history/ philosophy class.






On alternate days, we would end off with another 1.5hr hatha class with strong emphasis on alignment, Iyengar-style. This is pretty much how we were feeling after a week into the course:


PHEW!

We had some pretty cool classes with the use of props, partner yoga, and sequencing classes - all tools to help us become more creative and dynamic as teachers.







We started the course during the new moon (symbolizing a new phase in life), and 2 weeks into the course, during the full moon (symbolizing when self-realization comes full circle), we made the transition from yoga students to yoga teachers (coz we would start teaching proper for the next 2 weeks). We had a yoga trance dance session to celebrate this... basically an indoor rave without glowsticks! We got dressed up and put on bindis and basically danced the night away to world music.





(Course director: Maria, and Teacher Phil)

The only food provided on the course was fresh fruit and rooibos tea. And when the cartons of fruit were delivered, you knew the yogis were in town!



Without Woolies and their easy, pre-packed, fresh organic produce, I was kinda lost, but made do with brown rice & quinoa salads.


But a week into the course, vegetarians like Lisa and me started craving fish and started eating fish again (anchovy pizza, here we come!), and meat-eaters like Chloe started turning vegetarian. It was kinda bizarre how the body goes haywire... and of course when you put a bunch of yogis together, they're invariably going to talk about 3 things: Yoga, Food, Poo. Not necessarily in that order.

There were discussions about vegetarianism, wheat-free and gluten-free food, IBS, farts (during classes too!), eating meat, etc. ...to the point where I'm feeling like my little vegetarian experiment might now be over. Well, at least I'm completely confused about what's right for ME. I've since booked an appointment to see a Kineasiologist who specializes in nutrition and food allergies just to check out what I should/ shouldn't be eating since every body is different and I'm not sure if being vegetarian is right for me.

And of course no yoga course is complete without injuries (although as a teacher once told me "It's not yoga that causes injury - it's ego that causes injury")...

Pleased to say mine were all minor injuries, and the chronic shoulder knots I had which I thought were yoga-related were GONE for the entire month (which means they're completely work-related stress knots).

Injury #1: Broken toenail


Injury #2: Blood blister from dancing barefoot on wooden floor at Yoga Trance Dance


Injury #2.1: The day after (blood blister turned purple)

(yes, I know I need to moisturize those feet too!)

Injury #3: Blister on foot from dragging foot on mat during vinyasa jump-throughs


Of course it wasn't all work, work, work... we managed to get out on Sundays (the only free day every week). Checked out the infamous Jeffreys Bay (er, it's just a beach. What's the big deal?) and had brunch at Wax Cafe there with Sam & Marinus.





Also checked out the "Surf Museum" upstairs of the Quiksilver store.


On another weekend, Talitha, Marinus & I went to have brunch at the lighthouse in Cape St. Francis. There's a penguin rescue project there and all proceeds from the coffee shop go to saving the penguins.



And we also climbed the 308 steps up to the top of the lighthouse (after signing an indemnity form in case we decided to jump off at the top).




We never could fully relax on Sundays though, as there was always another assignment to complete or more reading to do, so every now and again if we finished early on a weekday, we'd also take a quick drive to Cape St. Francis to buy carrot cake, or watch the surfers/ kite-surfers.





We had our graduation/ water ceremony at the end of the course.





(My roommates: Sam & Lisa)

Adjusting back to regular life is quite weird now, especially going back to regular yoga classes (my body's saying "only 1 hour? That's not enough practice at all!") and I'm missing all the beautiful adjustments from everyone in practically every single pose. It's interesting to see what will happen from here, and how we'll take this experience and make it a part of our lives from now.

I'm already starting with Kelly this weekend - he'll be my first student (aka guinea pig). And then let's see what happens from there, but I'd love to share this gift of yoga!

For more info on the course, click here
More pix in the online album. Click here: