My last full weekend here. But like I’ve been trying to tell myself, and B-Rod keeps reminding me I need to live in the now and appreciate the time I have left. I remember trying to remind Danielle of this when she was set to leave. She would lament about how in x number of days she would be in Enlgand. Everytime I’d tell her “but you’re here now!” Now, I’m where she was and I’m doing the same thing!
The past week I had a huge leap in my yoga practice. Not in regards to the physical side. We only really have one gentle asana practice a day. The rest of the time is spent in discussions, breathing, postures between more breathing, other various activities and movies. I’m not actually sure how much my physical practice has improved as we don’t really get any adjustments and I haven’t really done a hard core physical practice in the last 3 months (you’ll have to help me get back into that when I return Thursday mat mates!) I had a huge leap in regards to the mental side of my practice. Sunday morning came around and just as class was about to start something happened that really bugged me (I’m not going to get into specifics as that part doesn’t really matter that much). It is common to set an intention before starting a practice (I am calm, I want to feel peace, etc.), but this time I set my intention as a question regarding the thing that had triggered me, and I wrote it in my notebook. We started our practice and then something interesting happened. I started getting insights to my question! So, I’d write them down which would lead to more questions, which in a short period of time would be either answered or direct me to ask more questions to get to the root of where the previous question came from. I even had a couple of childhood memories come up – things I hadn’t thought of in a very long time! Maybe because I was focused on doing the movements and my breathing that I didn’t analyze anything that came up (which is something I am VERY “good” at), I just wrote it down which would lead to another question. Sometimes they were things that were painful or upset me, sometimes they made me smile, but overall they gave me clarity about the original question I asked. I ended up doing this 3 days during the week and it “worked” on all 3 days. It was also interesting because this past week we focused on a different chakra energy center each day. The final insights that came up on the days that I used this technique all related to the chakra area we were working on that day. After 8 years of doing yoga, I’ve found what a powerful tool this practice can really be!
For the weekend a couple of Sara’s friends came down. They are Canadians (a father and daughter) currently living at a place called “Bahay Kalipay” (you’ll learn more about this later) – a yoga/healing center in Puerto Princesa. We were fortunate to get a body work session with the father (Lux) called Integration. Pretty interesting and again helped me feel the energy flow (ask me about this when I get home if you want more details!). They are also yoga teachers, so this morning Lux led us in a Kundalini class. This is a style of yoga I have always wanted to try, but have never had a chance. It’s very different than other forms of yoga I’ve done. I’m really thankful that I get the chance to try out these different things.
I didn’t really take many pictures this past week, so I’ll leave you with some shots of the numerous animals and critters we have around here, as well as the different fruits I’ve tried (finally, some variety is showing up).
There are probably plenty of these in my room. I know I sweep out lots of their poop in a day.
Hello Mr. Frog. How did you get into my bathroom?
The waves pretty much drown these guys out, but in my old place they are what I (unhappily) woke up to every morning.
These are huge and often show up during yoga class. Doing yoga outside surrounded by huge butterflies . . . . who’s a lucky girl?
Kittens the boys brought back (and weren’t always good at taking care of).
2 of the kittens were returned to their homes. Now only whiskers remains – poor bastard!!
Another time the boys showed up with some chicks. Did I mention they’re not good at taking care of things? One of the chicks didn’t “make it”
This is Margaret. She was originally named “Mr. Tick” by Danielle (but Rich & Jenny – my neighbors who weathered the typhoon with us – named her Margaret and this name stuck). She was often seen following Danielle around. Now that Danielle has gone she has latched onto me (even though I rarely give her food – plenty of other people around here seem to be taking care of that). In fact she is currently under this table right now as I type out this blog!
This is David’s cat Shiva. Had to get a picture of him as he looks exactly like our old cat Loob. That’s right we had a cat named LOOB (my brother named him, not me)!!
“Gangnam” is picture shy. He is a resident here at Deep Gold. Margaret will stare at you until you cave and give her some food, but Gangnam will actively jump on the table to get some food. It doesn’t matter how quickly you nudge her off the table, she is just as quick to come back. It’s pretty annoying.
Papaya – are you jealous Todd? Not my favourite fruit, but it is now in season and I was looking for some variety, so it actually hasn’t been too bad. Interesting fact . . . . papaya has a lot of digestive enzymes, so if you want to do a one day cleanse just eat papaya for the day.
Anyone know what this is?
Passion Fruit. I believe there is one tree here on the property.
Another few trees they have here at Deep Gold with fruit that is starten to ripen is Star Apple. Yummmmy!!
This is Soha. It looks like a big fruit.
Until you cut it open
Found out from Kirsty that the English term for this fruit is Pomelo (which I hadn’t tried yet). It was good, but the effort wouldn’t be worth it to me.
Not a critter or a fruit, but I can’t remember if I have introduced Sara yet. She’s the third person in our class. Sara is from Malaysia and did the first 2 months of the course earlier in the year in Thailand. Sara has been great for me as she is someone who is very open and approachable and I feel very comfortable with her. She loves to give hugs which is good since I’ve had a few emotional things and frustrations that I’ve needed to get off my chest and share – not everything here is all fun, games and dance parties! Thanks Sara : )
Cannot wait to hear more, and have you lead us thorough some chakra stuff. And don't worry… we'll all be there to help you on Thursdays. That reminds me, a few of us are doing a 'yoga streak' for the month of January… at least 15 minutes of yoga every day for the month. You better be in!!
Two things:
1. I would crap my drawers if that bullfrog appeared within eyeshot of me.
2. Awww….kitties!!!