Bondi Yoga Festival

9.00am Yoga to Surf  - Effective Sequences for Wellbeing with Zoe Braithwaite

This yoga class was designed specifically for surfers. I have never surfed in my life, so it was only logical to take this class right? Also, my yoga bestie, Katie had signed up for another class in this timeslot so this was the most convenient.  Now, I want to learnt to surf!  I also wanted to do this class, because I've been toying with the idea of teaching yoga to specific people like swimmers, runners, office-workers, tradies, you name it.  So I wanted to get some ideas on that approach. The coolest part of this class was that Zoe, who was an amazing, tiny, ball of muscle and also a circus performer, made all 60 or 70 of us get into a massive circle and we did the warm ups together, holding hands and stuff like that. Now, I'm not big on any sort of hugging or touching, or really being in too close a proximity to people, but this was a nice experience all the same. A good start to the day.

11.00am - Fearless in Nature with Duncan Peak

This class was exhausting! With the combination of epic power moves like inversions and arm balances, plus the ensuing humidity with the oncoming storms, sweat was dripping for almost the entire hour and a half!  Being a "vatta/pita", I really should be doing more Yin Yoga or Restorative to couteract this fire, but to be honest, I just love this style of yoga.  I feel just the same benefits from a slower class as I do from a stronger class like this. A feeling of ease, peace and balance.

I decided to meet Duncan Peak at the end, to get the obligatory photo for my blog and also to ask him a legal question. As a lone teacher, without much guidance, I want to make sure I do right by my students and the business world.  So, it's inevitable that I seek information from whomever I come across. I had one question to ask him and so I did. "Am I allowed to teach Power Yoga without getting sued?" He sort of laughed and explained that the word "power" and "yoga" cannot and will not ever be patented or copyrighted or anything like that.  So, I should go forth and teach power yoga! That's all the explanation I needed. Thanks Duncan!



Sequence:

After a million Sun Salutations (Surya Namaskars) going through the Vinyasa, where I kept collapsing in Up Dog (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana) due to sheer exhaustion, we repeated this fabulous set sequence. Something I love about the concept of Power Yoga is learning such a sequence, almost like learning choreography for a dance, and then cranking the music up and repeating it in your own time and at your own pace. Pure bliss.  Here it is:

After flowing through the Vinyasa

• step back to Crescent Lunge with both arms up, pinky fingers turned in
• sweep back to Warrior 2 (Virabadrasana II)
• scoop back hand through to the front, like you're bowling a ball, ensure back heel up
• stretch hand up and hold in Reverse Crescent Lunge
• front hand to the floor and take front foot halfway back to a variation of Revolved Side Angle (Parivrtta Parsvokanasana) but really twisting the top arm around, with your buttocks about an inch from the floor and balancing on the edge of the back foot
• step up into Standing Splits (Urdhva Prasarita Eka Padasana)
• kick up to Handstand (Adho Mukha Vrksasana)
• jump back to Plank (Chaturanga) 
• flow through the Vinyasa and repeat on the other side!

Amazing.

1.00pm - Yogic Secrets of Strength, Flexibility and Fitness with Simon Borg-Olivier

Simon Borg-Olivier is amazeballs.  He demonstrated a sequence with one of his proteges, Christie I think her name was, and I'm assuming a fellow teacher who was clearly a ballerina, either past or current.  Her strength was amazing. When my ADD kicked in for a mere millisecond, it made me think of an experiment that was carried out somewhere testing the fitness of a team of footballers versus a troupe of ballerinas (or whatever the collective nouns are for these groups!). I'm a bit sketchy on the details so you might need to Google it, but it turned out the ballerinas by far exceeded the footballers in all aspects including strength, stamina and not surprisingly, flexibility.  Anyway, this display was simply incredible and I wished I had videoed it.  Again, on a tangent, isn't it cute that we still use the term "video" when really we are simply "recording it digitally on our smartphones ready to upload to whatever device we want?" I love that we still say "video".

Both before and after this mesmerising display, Simon gave a lecture on the following topic:

"How mudras move energy (prana) and information (citta)    through the subtle channels (nadi) in yoga."

What on EARTH is this gobbledygook? You may be thinking. But alas, it really was quite a simple and logical concept in which I will attempt to explain in lamen's terms. One of the aspects about Simon Borg-Olivier's teachings is that he used both a philisophical and scientific approach to yoga, which is something that really resonated with me.

He basically said that the purpose of Hatha Yoga is "to help your body live long enough and be healthy enough for your mind to realise yoga". Of course, yoga meaning "union" and Hatha meaning sun/moon, masculine/feminine, heat/cold, high pressure/low pressure, yin/yang or whatever school of thought you have! He then told us that there are 5 main "blockages" or hinderances that are preventing us from finding "yoga". I'm not sure if he was also referring to reaching Samadhi (like Nirvana), but that's a little of what I took from it.

SO, the 5 blockages that we need to unblock are:

1. tension
2. thinking
3. breathing
4. stretching
5. eating

In a nutshell ("help, I'm in a nutshell!") and in relation to the above quote, he explained that we need to do less of the above, in order to effectively move the energy freely around. For example, too much stretch can lead to loss of energy flow. Too much food leads to lethargy and thus loss of energy flow. And so it goes on. It really was an eye opening lecture and one which can be viewed online. He puts much of his material on YouTube, both lectures and sequences. What a champion.

Oh another piece of totally handy advice, "we live in hip flexion ALL the time". If you think about it, the act of sitting, whether it's in a car, at your desk or at the dinner table, forces our hips to stay in extension (even thought it's at right angles, our hips are flexed and not extended). Food for thought.

3.30pm - Restorative Vinyasa Flow in Dynamic Movement with Melanie McLaughlin

This class was awesome and exhausting! I didn't write out the sequence sorry because by the time we got to the end of the 1 and a half hour class, it was absolutely pouring with rain and we were freezing! We thought the marquee was going to collapse around us from the wind gusts alone let alone the pelting rain, so we just wanted to head home. It was pretty cool though with all of the elements lashing the big tent whilst we were doing the most relaxing session of the day. I bloody love mother nature! She rocks. 

The main thing my friend Katie and I really noticed when we were discussing it over a late lunch and hot chocolate at a lovely little bar we found on the way home with a prime couch by the window, were the names of many of the poses. It really was true Yin Yoga as I later discovered after my friend Google told me. Gosh, on a side note, do you remember life pre-Internet? I think my family still own a set of World Book Encyclopaedias from 1989! In fact, I remember getting the "Year Book" delivered by the mailman each year with the latest events. Remember those? In fact, remember books? A true primary source of information? The first port of call for settling any dinner-time argument about world history? Now it's all online, more specifically on sites like Wikipedia or Ask.com.  It really is incredible that Google is our first go-to place and is not only a proper noun but also a verb?  Like back in the day, we certianly never said, "Oh, hey guys, I'm not sure who won the 1986 Decathlon. I'll just go and "World Encyclopedia" it. " Today, it's more like "I dunno. Ima Google it. "

Anyhoo, where was I ? Oh yes, so after flicking through the only yoga book I've found in one of my 43 boxes to unpack after my move down south, I found a few references to Yin Yoga poses and many of them were utilised in this class, some even without Yang equivalents.   We did "Dragon",  "Swan" and "Frog".  Some of this terminology I have heard or used myself, but never really understood their origins. It really is cool to hear them used exclusively in a Yin class and  further confirms my love of Yoga and the fact it can be whatever you want it to be. Evidently, I myself, use a mishmash of yin and yang asana names and am proud of it! Nothing like a bit of cross-promotion.  

Overall a great class, but one in which I did struggle a bit by the end of a long day of yoga workshops and a freezing cold wind coming through the marquee. As such, the next few days I could hardly walk and, well, I ended up getting a pretty serious injury, which I am just about to research. Hang on, let me just Google it...

My friend Katie and I totally entered a comp to win
a one week Wellness Holiday in Santa Monica, Cali, USA!
#hopewewin #santamonica

Yoga in Tamworth (new studio!)

Yoga @ Zen Body and Mind

6.00am - Zen Flow with Kimberley

This studio has only been opened for a few months so it was nice timing that I was passing through. Kimberely, who is also the owner of the studio with her husband, was a past student of Byron Yoga Centre Teacher Training, just like me! It was nice to hear some familiar instructions, including the Sanskrit names of all the poses, as she has also been trained in the Purna Yoga style.

The studio was just gorgeous with lots of natural light filtering through the beautiful arched window as the sun rose. The class was nicely sequenced with floor work, a few sun salutes and then some balances. I really liked the space, the mood and the general feel of the place.

Kimberely had a good combination of demonstrating poses and then just instructing whilst watching the students. It made me think of an article I've recently read located here: http://yoganonymous.com/9-rules-every-yoga-teacher-should-follow/ in particular Rule #1. "Pay attention to me!" This is a great way of outlining how some yoga teachers might just get caught up in their own practise. The rest of the article is pretty funny too!

Anyway, I really hope Kimberley succeeds in her business, because like most yoga teachers, she has a "normal" full-time job during the day and follows her passion by night...and also really early in the morning!  I would recommend this studio to anyone who lives in Tamworth, or who is passing through.

Sorry I haven't written much more, it has been 2 months since I have completely moved my life 1,200km away. Chaos has ensued. More to come...

My 2 month absence.

Hello to my fan/s. (ie. Mum)

Do you want the happy travel yogi blog-writing reason I've been absent for 2 months?

Or the actual reason?

Yoga in Kenmore (new studio!)

Urban Yogi @ Kenmore

7.30am - Urban Flow with Mary-Ann

This once sleepy little street has been revived with this
yoga studio and awesome coffee shop on the corner. 

I HAVE A LOCAL STUDIO! Weeeeeeeeeee!

Been back in Brisbane for a month and a half now and have managed to discover a lovely little studio right in my neighbourhood. It's a gorgeous light and airy studio with all yellow mats and bolsters.  There is a feature wall with little bird decals on it which is just gorgeous. It really adds that special something.

I love yellow stuff!

I did the Introductory $25 pass for 14 days which is great value and managed to experienced four different teachers and thus four different teaching styles!  I am happy to say that my favourite teacher there was Mary-Ann who taught a lovely Power Yoga that was easily sequenced from start to finish.  She would begin with Pranayama and give many options for this initial position where we could still our minds and find our breath eg. lying down, sitting on knees, siting cross-legged or sitting cross-legged on a block.  I chose the latter and I have never looked back!  Why have I not embraced this sooner?!  Sitting on a block with legs crossed enables the pelvis to tilt forward just that subtle little bit which in turn creates a perfectly straight spine and posture.  She would then talk us through some breathing, one day she did Nadi Shodana actually, and then we would start with floorwork.   One thing I really noticed about her teaching style was that she always gave options for every pose which was handy because there was such a mixture of abilities. Then we would do Sun Salutations, a few balances, followed by heading back to the floor for inversions. Here, she would always give us heaps of options like bridge, shoulder stand, plough, headstand or handstand.  Her pace of the class was great and I really felt comfortable doing a headstand as she would be nearby and say encouraging things!  She would of course always finish in Savasana and coincidentally, would always play this beautiful track (Somewhere Over The Rainbow/What A Wonderful World by legendary Hawaiian musician "Iz") that Steve from Bonfire Yoga in Jindalee who I LOVED used to also play at the end. For some reason, it always manages to bring a tear to my eye. Click here to listen.

Mary-Ann would also play "normal" music in the class which I just loved too. There was a bit of Mumford & Sons and some old school chill-out music which I'm a huge fan of so I really think I'm going to incorporate this into my future non-existent classes if I ever decide to become a teacher, which is becoming more unlikely with each passing day! More on that later.

Sequence: 
Starting in plank through the Vinyasa to Chaturunga, right foot thorugh, Vira 1, VIra 2, flip the front hand then extended side angle with bind option, then back to Vira 2, then triangle, then back to plank and repeat on other side. back, but this flow was really quite slow and seemingly more effective. I really enjoyed it. At least, in the mood/physical parameters I felt today, at that moment.

Quote: 
"Find the place between strength and ease"
- This was very effective particularly in the standing strength.

"Take this option, if it's available to you"
- Genius! It's pretty much saying, YOU know your own body, so if this is an option that is "available", then do that. Such a great way to word it. Totes gonna copy this. Thanks Mary-Ann.


Coffee: Dennis' Espressivo Coffee and Wine Bar - about 20 metres up the road. (Made even better by the correct use of the apostrophe on their signage!)

Mary-Ann even took a photo of me doing or attempting to do
a headstand in front of the bird wall. Thanks Mary-Ann!

Yoga at the West End Markets

Grassroots Yoga @ West End Markets

7.30am - Yoga with Anita

What a lovely concept.  Created by local Brisbane teacher and teacher trainer, Celia Roberts, this is a yoga initiative aimed to bring yoga to the people.  Speaking of which, when I was in New York, gosh, I love that I can drop "when I was in New York" into sentences. Ahem. Anyway, when I was in New York, I really wanted to go to a yoga called: Yoga to the people which was a donation run class at all times of the day run by very interesting characters like ex-convicts and stuff. I never got the chance to do so, but it's nice to see that this donation/karma type yoga is taking off in little old Brisbane.

That's my sister on the left!

Grassroots Yoga has been happening for a few months now in 2013 and it was on my yoga "to do" list when I returned from overseas. Once I was over my jetlag, which actually took about 2 weeks, I then got very sick with some virus that was going around this winter so I couldn't do much. Anyway, once I overcame these anomalies, I was ready to get back into yoga and try and lose my "travel weight". 

My sister, Sarah, was visiting and I dragged her along to try this class out.  Oh, on a sidenote, Sarah, who has always been fit and healthy etc, once tried a yoga class several years ago and she really didn't enjoy it for whatever reason. I think she mentioned that the teacher had one of those floaty voices and spoke too slowly in a calming way which in fact had the opposite effect.  I wanted to make her experience better so have been teaching her yoga in the backyard whenever she visits, assisted by my other niece, 2 year old Jessica. So now, she was ready to "go public" with the yoga basics she'd learnt from me (hopefully).

Jess, my other niece, doing some backyard yoga with me.
(That's her on the left)

So, off we went to the West End markets. It was a beautiful sunny, winter morning in Brisbane, probably around 23 degrees and there were about 7 students.  After we sort of loitered around the soccer field, we saw a yoga looking lady making a beeline for the soccer goal with mat and sign in hand.   We positioned ourselves facing her with the sun on our backs which was just lovely. The teacher Anita was just beautiful and really sequenced the class to suit the differing abilities.  It must be difficult to teach this type of class when it's just one hour and you don't really know the students, but Anita did very well.   Especially as just nearby there was a crowd of people busily drinking coffee, eating breakfast and noisily playing chasey with their kids.  Again, the external distractions made it all the more challenging, just like my yoga in the park in Vienna!

Sequence:
It was a lovely Hatha class with some nice slow-flowing Sun Salutations and a couple of challenging poses at the end including a couple of my favourites.  We did Revolved Head-to-knee Pose (Parivrtta Janu Sirsana) which I couldn't actually do because I was babysitting...more on that in a minute...and also Crow or Crane Pose (Bakasana) which my sister did perfectly first time of course. Gah!

Yeah, so we brought Harriet, my 6 month old niece along who just sat in her pram and watched. It was just beautiful.  It really is lovely how yoga has that calming effect on babies...and also dogs...and sometimes horses...but I'm not sure about cats... So, back to the baby, yes, Harriet cracked at about the 45 minute mark, so wanting my sister to really benefit from the class, I grabbed Harriet as she started sort of crying and went for a bit of a walk.  This enabled me to really observe the class from a distance and really fall in love with yoga all over again!

NOt that I'd ever fallen OUT of love.  It's just that after my epic yoga journey, I sort of just stopped and really wasn't interested in even updating my blog...evidently. I think I just needed a break to find the passion again. THIS is one of the key reasons I've decided not to be a full-time yoga teacher. In addition to the associated financial stresses, I think that when people try to make their passion, their job, they really lose that drive and consequently, the passion. After reading the biographies of all the teachers involved in Grassroots Yoga, the majority are either yoga studio owners or a practised profession in some other field which complements yoga, like Psychology or Physiotherapy.  Thus, I think I would like to teach yoga as more of a hobby.

Anyway, at the end of the class, we were able to make a donation and chat to the teacher who was lovely. I highly recommend this to ANYONE and EVERYONE, in particular those who've never tried yoga, living in Brisbane. You can then just pop to the markets straight after to purchase all of your fruit, veges and flowers for the week!  Yoga outdoors is the best. Yoga for the people is the best.

Coffee: Kombi Koffein, West End Markets, usually by the rowing sheds near the Northern entrance. Best coffee at the markets!

Yoga Retreat in Croatia

Suncokret Body & Soul Retreat

on Hvar Island, Croatia.

Nearing the end of my trip through Eastern Europe and intending to explore Croatia, I decided to randomly book myself into a yoga retreat somewhere near the ocean.  Found a 5 day "Summer Breeze" Yoga Retreat on Hvar Island.  This was basically relaxation and beach time with one yoga session each morning. 

"Suncroket" means Sunflower. Here was one of the many!

WHERE?

Hvar is an island about 2 hours by ferry from Split, Croatia. This was the last week of many weeks of travelling for me and the first time I've stayed in one place for more than 4 nights!  What a luxury.

Handmade Lavender Jams?

The accommodation was a lovely collection of old homes, with nice simple rooms and beautiful views of the hills in Dol, a tiny town with one breathtaking church on a hilltop.

View from my room!

There was a nice mix of 8 people on the retreat from all over the world, including Australia, the United States, Slovenia, Sweden and England. I also concluded that there are many, MANY, yoginis (female version of "yogis") who fall into the same category as me. You know, that 30 something, single gal looking for more meaning in life other than the daily grind? Yeah, more on that later.

The yoga terrace wrapped in nice flowy orange silk things.
We did a moonlight meditation here on the first night. 

Nice little chill-out area with lots of good books!

WHO?

The retreat is run by Evening (yes, that is actually her real name since birth, how apt that she became a yoga teacher?!) who is originally from the States and her husband, Stipe, who is a local Croatian dude.   Oh and their dog Maza of course! She was AWESOME!  Evening's husband Stipe who is a trained Chef, would prepare our breakfast and cook our vegetarian dinner each night.  The food was simply amazing and exactly what I needed after 2 months to eating on the road mainly "white" food like bread, biscuits, nuts and also meat! Blurgh. So it was a lovely detox to have fresh homegrown veges from the garden!


The yoga that Evening taught was mostly Kundalini and began with a few different types of breathing, sometimes a chant and often Evening would kind of reverse the class and begin with more restorative, twisty floor stuff, before moving on to balances and sun salutations. I don't' think I've ever done a class like that in my LIFE, so it was interesting to experience. Tough due to very little sleep and the fact my body and semi-shutdown for the first few days because I'd actually STOPPED MOVING AND TRAVELLING! But, by the last day I was efficiently limber and ready to go. 

WHAT?

Typical beach.

The week involved yoga every day at 6.45am where we were driven to a "secret location" usually at the "beach" (and yes, I use that term lightly and put it in inverted commas due to the fact that they aren't really beaches! Well, not by the Australian definition anyway). As it is surrounded by the Adriatic Sea, none of the beaches are actually sandy. They are mostly rocks and cliffs, but it's all compensated by the beautiful views and aqua blue water.  

After yoga, we would have a picnic breakfast which was muesli, fresh fruit, bread/rice cakes and just about the BEST peanut butter I've ever tasted in my LIFE! Amazing. Oops, forgot to get the brand. After that we would have the day to ourselves and mostly go firstly in search of coffee and then just lie on the "beach" ie. rocks and try to avoid the nudists. Well, I would anyway. I really do admire the EUropean people and how accepting they are of nudity. It's just so refreshing.  Then in the afternoon, Evening would meet us in town and take us on a fascinating tour regaling us with the history of this amazing place!

View from the mat on Day 1. Doing it tough.

Another afternoon walking tour. Perfect.

Another sleepy little fishing village to spend the day in.

Everyone in Croatia speaks English which makes it easy!

We did a Moonlight Meditation on the first evening. Incredible.

NEW FRIENDS:

Coffee success! Me, Jen, Nikki, Maja.
Also, Croatia serves coffee in the smallest cups EVER!

There was Jen, who was a 30-something single girl who had just quit her high-powered Advertising job in New York to see the world/find herself. Very "Eat. Pray Love."  Yoga was something that made sense to her and really brought her back to her roots. I felt exactly the same and was pretty much on the same journey.  Why are there so many single gals in their 30s who suddenly realise that there's more to life than work/play/daily grind and discover themselves through yoga? It really is remarkable. There was another lady, Maja, from Slovenia, just over the border, who was similar. She was a gorgeous single lady who is an Economist with the Government, obviously a very important, high-powered job.  She was also a talented photographer and yoga devotee too! Again, yoga was something that brought us all together and made sense. Oh and then of course, Nikki, a lovely English lass who was about to embark upon a one year tour of the UK in Wicked - The Musical as, wait for it, "Elphaba"!  I couldn't believe my luck! Being a musical theatre nerd since childhood, I was definitely a little in awe of this woman.  Go Nikki!  Nevertheless, yoga was something that brought the 4 of us, whose paths would never have crossed otherwise, together.

GETTING THE GIGGLES:

Day 2 - The nude with a view morning yoga. 

This was Evening's favourite spot to do yoga and it really was lovely (see pic on the right). I mean, check out the colour of the water! This class was sort of in the reverse of a traditional sequence in that we began in about 5 minutes of Savasana, then did a heap of floor work like twists and stuff and then finished off with Sun Salutes and balances. It really was quite diffifult I found. I guess it's because you're used to a certain order of things and siddenly your muscles and your brain is shocked into doing something new. Keeps you on your toes at least. 

Anyway, another significant outcome of today's class was that I decided I'm waaaaay too immature to be a yoga teacher, or in fact, even a grown up. So we were all immersed in this lovely early morning yoga session, positioned in a semi-circle on another "beach" which was essentially a cliff overlooking this gorgeous little bay tucked away from the main "beach" and full of yachts moored. We could hear the sounds of the waves lapping at the boats, the birds and wind in the trees and wait, what's that, the groan of a naked guy emerging from the bottom deck of one of the yachts and having his morning stretch, in ALL his glory. Yep, right in the middle of a Virabadrasana 2, some guy managed to regale us with his entire morning ritual. While is was entertaining, it really didn't make it easy to concentrate on relaxing and as a result, I had to stifle my giggles.  

The bay around the corner with non-nudists.

After the shock of me seeing "naked yacht guy" waking up and stretching, ahem, facing us nonetheless, he then proceeded to bend down, wait, that's not even the worst part, and search for something on the deck. As he stood up, I realised it was a fishing line and off he went, threw the line in and went for a bit of a naked fish!  By this time, some of the other yogis and yoginis has spotted me trying not to smile and also saw "naked yacht guy" now morphing in to "naked yacht fishing guy".  We all shared looks and simultaneously tried to stifle our giggles.  Why is giggling so contagious? Even as an adult? 

After only about 5 minutes of unsuccessful fishing, he then grabbed some sort of hose, gosh, NOW what are you thinking…and then proceeded to give himself a lovely shower.  I am actually not kidding.  He had soap and everything. So as he was showering and making sure he cleaned EVERYWHERE, ugh, his partner, I assume, a naked lady also emerged from the deck and then SHE proceeded to shower!  By this time, almost all of us had noticed this naked couple going through their morning ritual and were sort of all laughing or smiling and poor Evening, with her back to the whole show, was none the wiser.  Sorry Evening!  It really was difficult to concentrate on the yoga with all of this going on. But, I guess that's the whole challenge. To block out the external distractions and focus inwards. So, the moral of this story is, always position your yoga students so their main focus is you and ONLY you, otherwise they may not have the self-control/maturity to block out all those other more entertaining events, particularly in the form of "naked yacht fishing stretching showering guy."  

Stari Grad.

Day 3 - The "city beach" in Stari Grad with creepy
man in the background who stared at us the whole time!

Such a cool little town.

LAST DAY:

Day 4 - The "mystery spot"

This was an amazing abandoned village between two big rocky mountains that had such an eerie feel to it. The history of this island was just astounding.  We did yoga right in front of an old church with a view overlooking the ruins of the old village. It was just incredible. The yoga was a pretty tough class which was difficult for me personally, because the afternoon before, I actually did some Ashtanga Yoga with Tony, who is an Ashtanga teacher from Melbourne and had just been to Thailand with his partner both doing a Rocket Yoga Teacher training course thingy. So yeah, we did almost a full primary series of Ashtanga the afternoon before which I absolutely LOVED (thanks Tony!) and as a result, I intend to pursue more Ashtanga when I get home, so was pretty sore this morning.

Nevertheless, I pressed on and practised "ahimsa" ensuring that I took the gentler options when needed. It really was nice to finish off with a more restorative practise to put me in good stead for the long journey home. Oh, with a one week "shopping stop" in London, it then took me 31 hours to fly home. Joy.

Where's Maza?!

View over the old abandoned town. AMazing!

SEQUENCE:
One of the coolest things I learnt was a nifty method to find the perfect anatomical Cat/Cow (Balasana) position. So you start by kneeling back onto your heels with your knees as wide as the mat. Then you take your forearm, between the wrist and the elbow…you know that same distance that is supposed to be the size of your feet? And then you cock the wrist up and put the forearm between the two knees. Make sense so far? Then straighten the forearm so it faces the front of the mat and put the other arm down facing the same way. Still with me? So now, you should kinda almost look like the Sphinx, but kneeling…and not made of stone…and not in Egypt…THEN, you roll over both knuckles and then take one more handspan in front and then come up onto your knees! That's it! It's not just "wrists under shoulders, knees under hips" or whatever, it's very technical.  Phew! If none of that made sense, just ring me and I'll explain it! I'm not sure if I will utilise this method in a class if I ever teach, but it's really handy to pull out should you want to get technical. Thanks Evening!

Last day. Hung out in Hvar. Very French Riviera feel. 

QUOTE: 
Evening would often say "smiling energy" which was nice. It's from the smiling dosha? Or some sort of chakra? I'm not really sure. But it was nice and it certainly makes you smile and thus go into the pose more. She would also say "breathe into your arms". Ooh ooh and one of my favourite things was the "Breath of Joy". We did that at the end of each day and it invokes 3 big inhales whilst waving your arms around a bit, followed by one big loud, sighing exhale. It felt soooooo good afterwards. 

Sunset on the last night. Amazing.

My room was the top left.

Me waking up to the sunrise on the last morning. I felt good.
I felt back on track. I felt lighter, fresher and rejuvenated.
Also, I knew I was ready to go home.
Yay for yoga!

Yoga in Budapest

Ashtanga Yoga @ Yogasanas

Street entrance. Budapest is a tough town.

11.00 - Vinyasa/Ashtanga Yoga with Tom

A puppyyyyyyy!
The first time I did a pose EVER!
I fell asleep in Savasana!

SO MUCH TO WRITE ABOUT!

I couldn't have picked a better yoga class to go to on a day like today! In addition to yoga; coffee, food, sleep and dogs are amongst my other most favourite things EVER! SO, after a coffee and run that morning, I made my way to the yoga studio that seemed to be the most convenient time/location-wise.  When I finally figured out how to get into the building, once again, it was a buzz yourself up type of gig.  I made my way up the stairs and found the lovely entrance to what looked like someone's apartment. Lo and behold, it was! This guy had converted his home into a yoga studio. DREAM!

So, I walked through the door, only to be greeted by two beautiful, big, blue eyes.
"A Weimeraner!" I said, barely able to contain my excitement. "Yes", the guy behind the Reception desk said. "Her name is Gerda and she's 4 months old."
"OMG, I LOVE Weimeraners" I blurted out.

Gorgeous balcony leading to his front door. 

I launched into a spiel about my love of dogs and how I like them better than humans and how I always planned to get a Weimeraner but was now considering a Hungarian Vizsla because I'd seen so many etc etc.  Anyway, the teacher's name was Tom Hoppel and he has a very interesting history according to his biography. He’s from the States originally, so I was lucky to have an English speaking class yet again! I also proceeded to tell him a bit about my trip and that I was heading south to Croatia to do a Yoga retreat and he instantly said, “Oh, in Hvar? With the lovely Evening?” and I’m all like “Yes!” So, turns out the yoga community is quite small in Europe, as it appears to be everywhere else in the world!  Evening is also an American and Tom said he has been down to her retreat for various workshops etc. Crazy amazing!

Hi Gerda!

So, as I said, the studio was his home which I thought was cool.  He had a lovely big airy room with high ceilings, once again, and floorboards. Tom and I proceeded to play with  Gerda for a bit (see pics) whilst waiting for the other students...turned out, there was only one other student! A local girl who was in the middle of her teacher training.  This class was just incredible and ended up resparking my interest in Ashtanga Yoga and well, yoga all over again.  I've had a bit of a lapse in er judgement, down time, homesickness, my third mid-life crisis, depression, whatever you want to call it, so I needed this yoga class more than anything.  It is amazing how the simplicity of yoga can help you see through the haze and instill clarity in your life, despite all the chaos going on around you.  

Ardha Matsyendrasana 3.

This class felt like I was getting a private lesson with the way Tom really explained poses in detail in relation to my body and how I was attempting stuff.   Man, Ashtanga really tests your strength and I realised just how weak I was!  Not only because I've been travelling, so haven't been to the gym much or had a regular routine, but also how I am naturally flexible no worries, but when it comes to strength, I got nothing!  ANyway, it was an amazing class with the set Ashtanga Primary series including a couple of poses that I've litereally NEVER done before in my LIFE! I think it was Matsyendrasana 3 or maybe D or, well, like the hardest one? I have a picture of B.K.S Iyengar in it anyway.  In addition to its difficulty, it was also possibly the most nourishing pose I’ve ever done.  I really felt all of my internal organs being massaged and toxins released and all that jazz. Particularly because I’d had a few Hungarian beers the night before! Anyway, amazing man and amazing teacher.  I am definitely going to explore the Ashtanga world when I get home. I felt so strong after this class!

Scene of the crime.

Another one of my great loves,  as previously mentioned, is sleep. Ah sleep. That elusive, precious few hours that I've been constantly deprived of over the past 7 weeks.  I felt so relaxed in Savasana (Corpse Pose) at the end of this rather intense 90 minute session and I was just so tired that I actually fell asleep. I'm not talking just a light sleep where you are semi-aware of the noises going on around you and you know it's really just a moment of relaxation before you continue your day.  I'm talking like a full on, arms sprawled, drool running down the corners of your mouth, slow, loud breathing SLEEP! I remember learning at Yoga Camp that the aim of Savasana isn't to sleep, but to relax, restore and renew. We should be in that state of total relaxation whilst still remaining conscious.   Amongst the stuff I've read and learnt, there are apparently a couple of trains of thought about Savasana from the teacher's perspective.  It could be the ultimate compliment to fall asleep indicating that the yoga practise was incredibly soothing and relaxing so as to induce a deep sleep.  On the other hand, it could be the ultimate insult because it means you aren't fully relaxed and are just, well, lazy.   

Well, in today's Savasana, I very clearly remember almost going to the point of no return when you feel that massive wave of relaxation that washes over you right before you sort of go into a deep meditation and then, bam, sleep, no memory.  After what I thought was about 5 minutes, you know, the normal, socially acceptable Savasana time, I then heard a few voices, one of them being Tom's, from a bit of a distance.  As I became more aware of the noises around me, I thought Tom and the other student were just chatting in the room. Turns out Tom was actually chatting to the other lady in the Reception areadown the hall and he about halfway through his cup of tea. WHAT JUST HAPPENED?! Even Gerda, the Weimeraner, was already curled up under the Reception desk completely disinterested in this stranger sleeping on the floor of her house!  I quickly snapped awake, wiped the drool that had dried on my cheek off my face and the subsequent pool of drool on my yoga mat and hurriedly packed up.  I walked out the front and apologised profusely. It was now 1.00pm; class finished at 12.30! I SLEPT FOR HALF AN HOUR! OMG! How embarrassing?!  I was mortified! I then quickly packed up, walked out to the Reception area, very embarrassed and red-faced and thanked him for a lovely class. As I left, I really did feel like I was floating. Another factor of why yoga is so addictive. Today was definitely a turning point, for the better.  Little did I know things needed to get a whole lot worse in order to get better...

Bye Gerda!

Hungarian baths!

Part of the Liberty Statue, Gellert Hill.