Rocky, an 83 Year Old Guinea Pig & Some Temples

Week 4 was pretty much about putting everything we’ve learned together and working on planning and then carrying out our sessions. We acquired two new classmates (who had finished level 3 two weeks ago, and then came back to join us), and lost one. One of my lunch crew realized that 3 weeks was enough for her and decided to opt out early. Sad to see her go, but I know she chose what was best for her. On Monday and Tuesday we both gave and received a 2 hour massage. Getting a 2 hour massage a few times a week may sound heavenly, but I would say it sometimes takes just as much out of you (in a different way) than it does to give a massage. We continued to learn some new techniques, and by Thursday I (like my classmate) felt done! Maybe it’s because we were working on removing blockages (and I had a whole heck of a lot in my neck that my partner was good at finding), or maybe I just couldn’t fit anything else into my little brain. It was almost a relief to not be at the school on Friday and took away a bit of the nerves I had about our field trip.     

We were scheduled to give two treatments – one in the morning, and one in the afternoon. In the morning, my guinea pig? client? victim? was an 83 year old woman with no major health issues. She was great because she was up for letting me try out anything. It was a bit difficult though because she didn’t speak any English, so we couldn’t really communicate and, in the end, I have no idea if it was ok or not, and what I might want to work on. In the afternoon, there weren’t enough seniors, so I worked on the manager of the centre. She pretty much slept the whole time . . . . I took that as a good sign!


I was able to take some pics while we waited before I got in trouble for bringing out the camera 🙂

Me and Claire (Namibia)

. . . . Sascha (Germany)

 

Eri (Japan) 

Emre (Turkey) and Johan (Belgium)

Karlijn (Holland) and Claire showing off their water bottles that the teachers had labelled with our names.

The first “victim” arrives

For my last weekend, I didn’t want to do much or venture too far. It had been a busy, tiring week of school, getting to a few yoga classes, teaching a private yoga class to one of my classmates (felt soooooo amazing to be teaching again!!), and a few nights of dinners with a couple classmates having some really good conversations. On Saturday, I decided I’d just do a temple tour. There are over 300 temples (or wats) scattered throughout the city or just outside. I obviously didn’t do that many, and there was only one that was on my must do list. The rest were ones I just went to and found along the way.

Wat Sri Suphan which is also called the silver temple is where I started and was the only must do on my list. One of the sites said it was the only silver temple in Thailand, but I know this to be not true (you’ll see why in a bit). It is outside of the main square located on a road that is famous for its silversmiths, so when it was time for a renovation and facelift, the abbot at the time decided to use the resources and skills of the people in the area.

 

Interesting how Buddhism is mixed with Hinduism.  If you’re a yogi, you’re quite familiar with Ganesh (remover of obstacles)

 

 

I didn’t want to go in anyways . . . . 

. . . . if that’s all I’d get to see!

 

 

 

From here, I didn’t follow the road of silversmiths selling stuff with all the other tourists. I did what I enjoy doing better and took this road instead.

And that road led me to here.

 

Which is another silver temple, proving that there is more than one in Thailand.  AND . . . I was the only person there!

And . . . I got to go inside. Ganesh again.

alongside Buddhism

I headed back into the square and visited a few more, but I won’t bore you with details (mainly because I don’t know them) and like churches in Europe, sometimes after awhile (though amazing and breathtaking) they start to look the same and blur into one. So, I’ll just give you the gist.

Temples in Thailand are all different and amazing in their own way, but they also tend to have common characteristics.

They are often surrounded by and include animals or creatures of some kind.

 

 

 

Most of the time the animals are fairly good, but sometimes they eat things.

 

The main buildings are often elaborate and beautiful in their own unique ways.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Most of the time I can go in to see them, but sometimes I can’t.

There are always many other interesting things to see.

 

 

 One of my favourite feature of some temples is the sayings they have posted along the way.

 

 

 

 

Today was simply a visit and massage day. I ended up sitting for a few hours at breakfast with a lady from India/Australia/America who is staying at this guest house for the next few weeks. This week has been very much about connection and I’ve had some amazing conversations with people in the last few days. I then went over to a classmate’s guesthouse and we went over some school stuff. We ended up practicing for 3 hours (didn’t feel like it!) and I became clear on a few things I didn’t know as well as a few things I didn’t know that I didn’t know! I went to get a massage after that at a place she told me about. It’s at a medical centre and associated with Chiang Mai University, so I actually had a consultation with a Chinese/Thai medicine doctor to begin with. I’m sure it was good, but let’s just say it was NOT relaxing!! There was a knot in my shoulder (which is the second place I hold a lot of stuff) that she kept coming back to and I didn’t think I would be able to make it through! Maybe not the smartest idea to get this kind of massage on Sunday. I’m not looking forward to any of my classmates or teachers working in that area tomorrow!

As I head into the last week, I thought this saying at one of the temples would be particularly fitting.