I am a wanderer making a home in my soul
The Divine is my shelter and my warmth
The stars are my decorations and the sea my music
The wind is my companion and guide
With these eyes I see the world and with these feet and hands, I touch it
With God I know it
In Love I dwell, in Love I stay, in Love I live
I have just finished a ten day silent meditation retreat on Koh pha Ngan with Agama yoga schoo. It was such a beautiful experience. We were maybe 50 people in the retreat, women and men separated in the yoga hall where we sat for hours a day attempting to find inner stillness and the grace of God in our hearts. We sat, we did Hatha yoga led by our Retreat leader, Claudiu and were told inspirational quotes, stories and poems from the masters like Ramana Maharshi and Rumi and so many more. I rented a bungalow on the beach for the occasion and spent the break time swimming and rocking silently in the hammock. what a beautiful experience and so hard to describe. I really enjoyed guided meditations and new techniques as they helped me to really feel love radiating from my heart, feel my heart, feel stillness and painfree body after hours of sitting. one morning I sat in constant stillness and it was so profound and natural and I have been trying to get back to it since and finding my mind fight with me on that a bit...
I felt inspired and wrote in my journal about the meditations, wrote some poems and wrote a lot of notes on the lectures. The last night we had 'sharing' of our experiences, people sang, read poetry and cried telling their stories. We were all there in totally different journeys and it was amazing to witness and take part in. Amazing how HARD it is to quiet the mind, that stubborn and often restless ego doesn't like to surrender to the heart or to the stillness that our true 'self' IS. so worth the attempt:)
Now, I am getting ready for an ashtanga teacher training course and back in the world of talking and being and people. It is a bit of a shock and I feel tired now that I am not meditating and doing yoga for 11 hours a day! ha... soon I will be starting classes at 6am daily for chanting and yoga and learning the ins and outs of teaching yoga and learning more about the body and ... Ayurvedic Medicine. I am thrilled! I know the struggle to pay for the course is worth it... I am reminding myself daily that all is well in this perfect and complete universe and that money is just energy to exchange and comes when needed and is spent accordingly! I am really looking forward to the opportunity as the experience promises to be mind and heart fulfilling!
I will be living in the jungle close to the school and will have two kittens for company:) and Shai will come out often to stay as well.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
Around the world in 80 days plus procrastination
It has been ages since I last caught up the blog. A lot of travel has been done in that time period... and many oceans crossed.
I started at the end of February with a flight to Bangkok and then through Tokyo to California... a very long flight. During my stopover in Tokyo I met a bunch of US military who were on my flight from BKK and sat with them while they drank rum and coke and told them about meditation and yoga:)
I went directly to MCH from the SFO airport and really loved seeing the staff and of course the children again... so much that I came back the next week to assist at park play. Anuhea informed me of the changes that had happened, such as picking a new favorite teacher, her sister attending the school and her new watch:)
I visited Carmel and SF and Novato and Napa... a lot of driving within short distances, seeing childhood friends and newer friends, one meeting was done during my friend's weekly shopping trip to Rainbow market... very north american pace.
Next, I spent a lovely and quick paced week in Bisbee, AZ with my mom, meeting her many new friends, massaging some of them and popping over to Mexico for dinner one night!
The last week of my American travels was spent with the Gordons of the Pacific Northwest:) I stayed with Angel at his home, now converted into the Noesis Temple and was fortunate enough to celebrate the full moon with them. My dad joined me up there and we drove to Luke and Kate's home where I met Alia and played with Asher all weekend.
THEN.... for the European adventure, I started in Dublin with my former neighber from the island, Aisling. She showed me the seaside, introduced me to her friends, took me out in the city and offered me a few guinness beers to change things up a bit from my yogic diet:)
From there, I returned to Torino, where I used to live in 2004 and stayed with my former student and now, very good friend, Anna, who is now in Koh Pha Ngan visiting! I became friends with my former boyfriend, Alessandro. I went to Alba during the trip to see another old friend and got to spend a nice weekend in the Piemonte Hills and in precious Alba, which was having an international film festival.
Finally.... back to my beloved Paris! I stayed with Sophie and from her place, took the metro and walked all over the city like I love to do... got to visit my friends from there and was able to come to a French burner body painting party too! A family from MCH, the Robbins, are currently living in Paris and I met up with them twice and got to see a new side of the Luxembourg gardens, the children's park!! amazing! Just as my appetite for French bread and cheese and crepes was starting to blossom, I left Paris and flew across the Mediteranean Sea to....
ISRAEL... my first time in the holy land. I met up with Shai, who I have been dating on the island for some time now and he picked me up in Tel Aviv and we started a one month fest of eating, visiting with his enormous family and visiting his friends. There was holiday after holiday in April there... starting with Passover, then memorial day and independence day... somewhere in all the down time and bbq's we managed to spend 5 days in the North of the country, visiting Haifa, CARMEL:), Rosh Hanikra, Sfat, the sea of Galilee and the pools of Bet Shan! Beautiful country!!
Jerusalem was where Shai grew up and where we spent most of our time, venturing into the tunnels to see the Western wall in more of it's entirety and wandering through the Shuck (market)... spending Shabbat in different synagogues and eating Shabbat dinner with his wonderful Sister, Michal... enjoying Kosher restaurants for the first time and seeing a JEWISH state... crazy...
Before returning to Thailand, we flew to London where we met up with Shai's good friend, Sharone and got to spend time with him and his lovely wife and children, walking in the parks, enjoying pic nics with other families and finally seeing the Tate Modern museum too.
Thoroughly ready to be back in one spot, we flew to Bangkok and spent a day shopping (Shai for the business and me for SEWING) since I carted my sewing machines through a few continents to bring them to Thailand! And now, we are settled back on the island, in the bungalow in front of the beach, pool hopping and yoga-ing a lot like usual!
I started at the end of February with a flight to Bangkok and then through Tokyo to California... a very long flight. During my stopover in Tokyo I met a bunch of US military who were on my flight from BKK and sat with them while they drank rum and coke and told them about meditation and yoga:)
I went directly to MCH from the SFO airport and really loved seeing the staff and of course the children again... so much that I came back the next week to assist at park play. Anuhea informed me of the changes that had happened, such as picking a new favorite teacher, her sister attending the school and her new watch:)
I visited Carmel and SF and Novato and Napa... a lot of driving within short distances, seeing childhood friends and newer friends, one meeting was done during my friend's weekly shopping trip to Rainbow market... very north american pace.
Next, I spent a lovely and quick paced week in Bisbee, AZ with my mom, meeting her many new friends, massaging some of them and popping over to Mexico for dinner one night!
The last week of my American travels was spent with the Gordons of the Pacific Northwest:) I stayed with Angel at his home, now converted into the Noesis Temple and was fortunate enough to celebrate the full moon with them. My dad joined me up there and we drove to Luke and Kate's home where I met Alia and played with Asher all weekend.
THEN.... for the European adventure, I started in Dublin with my former neighber from the island, Aisling. She showed me the seaside, introduced me to her friends, took me out in the city and offered me a few guinness beers to change things up a bit from my yogic diet:)
From there, I returned to Torino, where I used to live in 2004 and stayed with my former student and now, very good friend, Anna, who is now in Koh Pha Ngan visiting! I became friends with my former boyfriend, Alessandro. I went to Alba during the trip to see another old friend and got to spend a nice weekend in the Piemonte Hills and in precious Alba, which was having an international film festival.
Finally.... back to my beloved Paris! I stayed with Sophie and from her place, took the metro and walked all over the city like I love to do... got to visit my friends from there and was able to come to a French burner body painting party too! A family from MCH, the Robbins, are currently living in Paris and I met up with them twice and got to see a new side of the Luxembourg gardens, the children's park!! amazing! Just as my appetite for French bread and cheese and crepes was starting to blossom, I left Paris and flew across the Mediteranean Sea to....
ISRAEL... my first time in the holy land. I met up with Shai, who I have been dating on the island for some time now and he picked me up in Tel Aviv and we started a one month fest of eating, visiting with his enormous family and visiting his friends. There was holiday after holiday in April there... starting with Passover, then memorial day and independence day... somewhere in all the down time and bbq's we managed to spend 5 days in the North of the country, visiting Haifa, CARMEL:), Rosh Hanikra, Sfat, the sea of Galilee and the pools of Bet Shan! Beautiful country!!
Jerusalem was where Shai grew up and where we spent most of our time, venturing into the tunnels to see the Western wall in more of it's entirety and wandering through the Shuck (market)... spending Shabbat in different synagogues and eating Shabbat dinner with his wonderful Sister, Michal... enjoying Kosher restaurants for the first time and seeing a JEWISH state... crazy...
Before returning to Thailand, we flew to London where we met up with Shai's good friend, Sharone and got to spend time with him and his lovely wife and children, walking in the parks, enjoying pic nics with other families and finally seeing the Tate Modern museum too.
Thoroughly ready to be back in one spot, we flew to Bangkok and spent a day shopping (Shai for the business and me for SEWING) since I carted my sewing machines through a few continents to bring them to Thailand! And now, we are settled back on the island, in the bungalow in front of the beach, pool hopping and yoga-ing a lot like usual!
Friday, February 6, 2009
Blessed by the Swami
Yet another month on Koh Pha Ngan has breezed by. Another month spent focusing my attentions to perceive subtle vibrations of energy in the area of the crown chakra and the other six major energy centers of the body.
The third month of Agama led up to the 'yoga aspirant exam' otherwise called the 'red sash' exam after the red cloth we receive at the final ceremony if successful. During all 12 practices, we continued to stay longer and longer in our asanas, perform pranayama breathing meditation together and learn new asanas and kriyas as well. Our teacher would encourage us to practice the harder techniques at home, like staying in one of 4 positions of our choice for TEN MINUTES without moving and staring at a black dot against the wall without BLINKING for 5 to 10 minutes, Trataka. The test, although not actually making one closer to enlightenment, serves as some sort of gage to our 'progress' and lets our teachers know if we are indeed performing certain asanas correctly and becoming sensitive to our chakras.
Nervously, we took our exam, some standing on their heads
for 10 minutes for 'bonus points' and other in sitting forward bends or laying on their backs with feet over and behind the head. We answered 25 multiple choice questions about which asanas stimulated which chakras and then sublimed our energies under watch of the teacher. Then, we listened to a piece of music and had to pinpoint the chakra it worked on through meditation. Some stared at the dot, the rest of us performed sun salutations and chanted the 12 sacred names of the sun out loud. Once finished with the list of tasks, we had a pot luck near the beach and then all met up for the 'final ceremony' at Ananda Resort.
We all packed into the yoga hall and watched some 60 or 70 people receive their first month yoga intensive diplomas. Then, my class went up to receive our red sashs... and after us, more people for orange sashs. The ceremony was about 3 hours long because each person kneeled before our founder/teacher, Swami Vivikenanda Saraswati to receive sacred ash on our foreheads, a blessed and prana infused food (cup cake! ha), a protective string bracelet tied with mantras, a flower garland and .. a red sash:)
This week, I am taking Agama's famous Tantra workshop. The class is being instructed to rewire the neural pathways and become more sensitive and aware of our bodies.
February 19th, I say goodbye to Thailand for a marathon of travel to see friends and family for six weeks, ending then with a month in Israel and back to Koh Pha Ngan to return to my new community of yogis here and get ready for a teacher training course this summer.
Wishing everyone well. Hoping to see my loved ones soon!!!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Yogini Rules
Now I have my computer here with me!!!! YAY!!!!It was put to my attention that I should update my blog. I have been here on Koh Pha Ngan for over a month now and time moves both slow and fast. The last month, as I mentioned before, has continued along the same theme, an inner journey. Lately I have been skyping, and so happy to do so!
Yoga courses continue to be interesting, inspiring and at times challenging. Quieting the mental monkey can be very rough for someone as airy and flighty as myself, constantly wanting to move around, change positions and in general restless. It has been a good test of will power and mental concentration to stay in different asanas, or positions, for up to 10 minutes at a time, thinking about a certain effect, energy and chakra the whole while.
The second month of Agama was lovely, taught by a sweet couple of yogis with a lot of heart and energy. We had music meditations, chanting, and plenty of new techniques ranging from simple to extremely overwhelming, not because they are difficult, but because they generate surges of energy like being plugged into the cosmos.
On a personal level in that business, I maintain my practice at home, trying more and more to see the 'pillar' in my stomach, a hard technique and purification in which one sucks in the stomach while holding the void (no air) and then sticks out only the center muscles and then waves them through the abdomen like an ocean wave... I may arrive soon:) Years of sit ups has hardened my muscles but kept them stuck together too!
We learned to chant with vowells for different energetic aspects and everyone loved the practice.
Socially, there are more and more people on the island and I am making friends in the yoga class and school in general. There was a Christmas Bhajan (devotional singing) and more than a few vegetarian and alcohol free yogi pot lucks and shakti gatherings (aka women's night). The beaches of the island fill up to celebrate the black moon, half moons, full moon and recently Shiva moon as well, so there are plenty of foreigners from all over the world, here, drinking, dancing and partying together. They wander about and also, more dangerously, drive their motorbikes, so there were a lot of bandages being waved around in the last few weeks.
I have been learning how to make jewelry by hand and finally get to swim again now that my own motorbike injury has healed! hehe... although I was funny enough at a stop in sand and the bike just fell over and I hurt myself lifting it!
Life is good, trying every day to remind myself more and more and more to stay in the present moment, to love myself, send love to all beings and keep my connection to the universe wide open.
More soon:)
Yoga courses continue to be interesting, inspiring and at times challenging. Quieting the mental monkey can be very rough for someone as airy and flighty as myself, constantly wanting to move around, change positions and in general restless. It has been a good test of will power and mental concentration to stay in different asanas, or positions, for up to 10 minutes at a time, thinking about a certain effect, energy and chakra the whole while.
The second month of Agama was lovely, taught by a sweet couple of yogis with a lot of heart and energy. We had music meditations, chanting, and plenty of new techniques ranging from simple to extremely overwhelming, not because they are difficult, but because they generate surges of energy like being plugged into the cosmos.
On a personal level in that business, I maintain my practice at home, trying more and more to see the 'pillar' in my stomach, a hard technique and purification in which one sucks in the stomach while holding the void (no air) and then sticks out only the center muscles and then waves them through the abdomen like an ocean wave... I may arrive soon:) Years of sit ups has hardened my muscles but kept them stuck together too!
We learned to chant with vowells for different energetic aspects and everyone loved the practice.
Socially, there are more and more people on the island and I am making friends in the yoga class and school in general. There was a Christmas Bhajan (devotional singing) and more than a few vegetarian and alcohol free yogi pot lucks and shakti gatherings (aka women's night). The beaches of the island fill up to celebrate the black moon, half moons, full moon and recently Shiva moon as well, so there are plenty of foreigners from all over the world, here, drinking, dancing and partying together. They wander about and also, more dangerously, drive their motorbikes, so there were a lot of bandages being waved around in the last few weeks.
I have been learning how to make jewelry by hand and finally get to swim again now that my own motorbike injury has healed! hehe... although I was funny enough at a stop in sand and the bike just fell over and I hurt myself lifting it!
Life is good, trying every day to remind myself more and more and more to stay in the present moment, to love myself, send love to all beings and keep my connection to the universe wide open.
More soon:)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
