I can’t say that my sleeping here has been that good at all. We have mozzie nets to sleep under but I just can’t because I don’t enjoy them. Luckily the mozzies aren’t too bad, there are a few but not gazillions that you need to sleep under a net for. I also sleep with the fan on full tilt cause it’s so warm at night and that scares them off….but I swear there are millions of other little creatures which crawl over me at night and keep me awake. So it’s normally an interrupted sleep most nights unfortunately. I definitely long for my comfy bed and insect free room back in London!
This morning was our last led Yoga class……eeeek. From tomorrow we have no teacher and we just do the class at our own pace, it’s called ‘Mysore Style’ – Mysore is a city in India where Yoga is huge and a lot of the traditional Yogis still practise. In Ashtanga there are set postures and sequences, the problem is there are a million to remember and in order as well. So it’s going to be interesting tomorrow morning to see how that pans out! We do have other teachers there who just watch, adjust and align us so that is nice.
I feel like in my practises each day that there are some small victories and some small set backs. Some postures I feel like I am learning a lot about and improving on and others I feel like I have not progressed or got worse on/in!! Hahaha – one of the hardest things I find is sitting properly. We’re supposed to sit on our “sit bones” with our pelvis tilted but jeepers this is proving really difficult to do! Today I think I learnt a technique to help me improve my sitting! I guess practise makes perfect and that’s just what I need to keep plugging away at to start seeing and feeling the changes and improvements. I can relate the set back or stumbling blocks to the same things I had issues with in body building…..issues activating my lats, my lower core being weak (not able to control it when posing) and the right side of my upper body being dominant. It’s very interesting when you are in tune with your body by just ‘listening’ to it and observing how it works or doesn’t in some cases!
I felt like I really started to hone in on a few great breathing techniques during meditation today which kept my mind from wandering. It’s hard to explain but I had such an amazing few moments when I felt completely removed from everything. It was either that or I was flippin tired and had dozed off…..it’s 50/50
This afternoon we had our Yoga philosophy class which is really interesting and we unfortunately only touch the surface of it. I think the more you learn and find out, the more sense Yoga makes as well as understanding both the physical and spiritual benefits and also how they are linked with each other.
We had an very interesting strength and stretching class this afternoon, I learnt a lot of new tips and tricks to improve my practise. It’s amazing how technical Yoga (and every single other sport) is when you really start learning and analysing it as a participant. I get excited about all this stuff and just want to know more and more. Today I felt like I learnt a heap of new things!
All meals are good fun and interesting, there are so many people from different backgrounds here that are either really smart or have lived very interesting lives. Tonight I wanted to eat quickly and get to studying but sat around listening and talking about eating disorders which ‘normal’ people, mostly girls, suffer from. It’s amazing how complicated humans can be for no good reason!
Anyway spent tonight preparing my class which we need to teach tomorrow in our small groups. That will be another little stepping or milestone, preparing us for the big day at the end of next week.
Over and out. Sending big love and happiness to everyone
Gareth / BB / Token / China