Yoga Goa (part II)

Pictures of our time in Goa:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=328285&id=523210814&l=e9c0769ba4

Second blog in less than two weeks… Shocking!

Well, not that shocking really. It’s quite easy to lose your inspiration when you have to run a high end liveaboard, dive 15 times a week, get to understand the newly implemented Maldivian tourist tax system and do the accounting for three boats while your days are limited to 24 hours and your weeks to seven days... And it’s even easier to make writing a personal blog last priority when you are called Yaisa and you despise underperforming at work.

But two weeks in Goa and submerging myself in yoga has done wonders for body and soul. Darja and I started off slowly, with a half-baked self-practice in the chill-out zone of our guest house Bean Me Up. Not a huge success, but it motivated us to go to a class next door, the next morning. In this area of Goa, you find drop-in yoga classes everywhere. Every street pole has flyers stuck on it, advertising all styles of yoga, pilates, meditation, belly dancing, massages and more. Any self-respecting restaurant has a message board, with dozens of similar adverts for workshops, courses and retreats. It’s yoga left, right and centre and I’m loving it.

The class next door turned out to be a flowy Vinyasa practice with a lovely teacher who told us to check out the Brahmani Yoga centre in the next village for a variety of drop-in classes. So we did and we fell in love instantly. We fell in love with the teachers, with the atmosphere and with the shala (the practice hall), each class filled to the brim, with perhaps 50 cm between mats.

The amount of energy flowing through a packed shala during a practice is sparkling. The level of concentration one can achieve even though a room is packed and the scooters are racing outside is incredible. And I can’t believe the poses I am able to pretzel myself into with just that extra deep exhalation combined with a firm yet gentle adjustment from a teacher. Alternating between Vinyasa and Ashtanga yoga, I am getting to know my body parts better with each practice and gradually learning how to control them in ways I thought impossible for me. But looking at my neighbours during practice also makes me realize there is still so much progress to make! Honestly, advanced yogis make make the Chinese Circus look like child’s play.

Since I got here, I have been eating vegetarian food only. Not out of principle at all. But there are so many wonderful meat- and fish free dishes to choose from that, also considering Darja is vegetarian, it only seems logical to order a large variety of veg dishes rather than having to stuff down a whole fish curry by myself and not having any space left for the delicious bean, lentil, cauliflower, pea, tofu, avocado and broccoli dishes. And surprisingly, my body has not been longing for any meat at all. I feel light and healthy. I drink two or three fruit and vegetable juices a day – they all have these hip & trendy names like “Diamond Detox” and “Caribbean Cure” – and I overload on fresh tender coconuts. After a few days, I even lost the taste for coffee and I switched to Lemon Grass infusions and Organic Green Teas. The last seven days, I’ve only had one glass of wine, which lasted me throughout the entire evening and dinner… No, no, I’m not converted, nor sick. But it feels great to detox, I must say!

After a week at Bean Me Up, Darja and moved to Purple Valley where Adel was already waiting for us. We had booked a workshop in this Ashtanga heaven months ago and were really looking forward to it. The best Ashtanga teachers of the world come here to teach workshops and students from all over the globe, ranging from total beginners to super advanced practitioners, flock to this simple yet exceptional retreat.

Please allow me to indulge in a short explanation of Ashtanga yoga. Being one of the more popular yet traditional styles of yoga in the world, Ashtanga is also considered being one of the most intense. If you ever thought that yoga was sitting in Lotus position and singing “Ohm” for hours on end in order to obtain enlightenment, you can forget about that. But don’t confuse it either with these commercial semi-fitness trainings, which they call Power Yoga and is demonstrated by women in pink hot pants and miniature tank tops.

Ashtanga yoga consists of a sequence of poses (asanas), which you get into by flowing through a set of movements synchronised with your breathing (vinyasas). Once you’ve pretzelled yourself into a pose, you stay there for five breaths, deepening the pose, moving your nose just that closer to your knees, or bending your arms just that more towards your head behind your back, or moving your hands just that closer to your feet while bending over backwards. After the fifth breath, you pretzel yourself out of the pose and flow into the next one, whereby wriggling your folded legs through your arms while your hands are on the floor is a recurring movement. Wriggling if you are a beginner, that is. If you are advanced, it’s a smooth jump from pretzel to plank.

As a beginner you starts by learning the Opening Sequence (Sun Salutations and Standing Poses) and then continue into the asanas of the Primary Series. Your teacher “gives” you a new pose when you master the previous one and so you pretzel your way through the Series. No matter how advanced you are, you always finish your practice with the Finishing Poses, which include back bending (ie the Bridge), shoulder stands (ie the Candle), the Headstand, Lotus position and Resting. The whole Primary Series, including Opening and Finishing poses, takes a good one and a half hour, at the end of which you definitely need a good rest. When you master the First, in other words, when you can do a full back bend from standing and come back up again without help from a teacher, you can move on to the Secondary Series. If you’re dedicated and talented, this day may be after a year of two, or three. After probably four, five, six or more years of daily practice (yes, daily), you may possibly start the Third. There are a handful of yogis that are able to do the full Fourth Series, and perhaps three people in the world can do the full Fifth. Apparently there was even a Sixth one, but the one and only person who could, one died years ago and took the knowledge with him into his grave.

Ashtanga is about discipline, stretching the limits, sweating a lot and practice, practice, practice… As a beginner, you don’t even have space in your head to think “Ohm” during the practice.

Sorry, I got carried away a little…

As I was saying, 40 students of all levels have joined the workshop at Purple Valley given by Petri Raisanen, a Finish teacher who is not only a super yogi but also a Healer (Finnish Folk Energy Healing). His adjustments are therefore incredible. A little pull here, a little push there, a warm squeeze on the right muscle and flop, you’re in the pose you never thought you would be able to do! And while you are exhaling deeply to keep both your bums on the floor, your right leg folded into your ribs, the left leg stretched with flexed foot, your left upper arm wrapped around you knee, your underarm twisted around your shin, your right hand grabbing the left wrist around the back, your shoulders down and your spine twisted so you can look over your right shoulder, you see your neighbour, who is halfway the Third Series, balancing on her forearms, her legs in the air and then, in full control, jump back into plank. You think, damn, she’s good and at that very moment, you’ve lost your concentration, your arm slides over your knee, your spine twists back like a spring. You flop out of the pose like a rag doll and you grin sheepishly at the teacher that has manipulated you painlessly into the pose with hell knows which super powers. Concentration is key.

Practicing next to advanced yogis is both motivating and distracting. It gives you ambition, but at the same time, you know that yoga is not about being ambitious. It’s not about wanting to do what others can do. It’s about doing what you can do. It’s about achieving what is good for you. It’s about feeling good. And boy, do I feel good…

A not unsubstantial of part of the feeling good comes from the ambiance surrounding yoga. India being the cradle of Ayurveda, you find yourself immersed in a world of relaxing oil massages, herbal facials and eye opening nutritional recommendations. It’s literally all about making you feel good, physically, mentally and emotionally. It’s about finding balance, about feeling energised, about making your body feel alive and beautiful, about finding peace of mind and about spreading the word without condemning those who choose to live differently.

I know now where I want to go with my life, a very clear path is unfolding before my eyes. And my practical and ambitious self – which has not ceased to exist, do not fear - is going to make sure I get there. It’s not a destination, it’s a journey I’m aiming for. And it won’t be a journey I intend to embark on alone.

While I’m experiencing my little personal inner transition, Egypt, still sort of my home even though I was there for only two months last year, is going through a brutal transformation. A big nasty abscess that has been growing in the brain of the country for the past 30 years has erupted and is gushing a stream of bloody violence. The heart of the country, its people, could not take it any longer and is vehemently fibrillating. If it stops beating, Egypt which will be nothing more than an empty body, will be kept alive artificially by foreign forces or parasitic fundamentalists. If the heart keeps on beating and recovers a controlled and steady rhythm, the internal balance will be restored and the country will flourish again. The regime NEEDS to change. Change is necessary to move forward in this universe and unfortunately, people fear change more than anything.

I once found a fantastic quote right from the heart of this multi-facetted, mysterious and warm country: “You must be the change that you wish to see in the world.” (Ghandi)

Let’s hope that the year of the Rabbit brings peace and happiness for all.

Hmmm, I thought I was doing quite well, but now I’m starting to sound like Miss World.

Better sign off before I grow big tits and go blonde…

Toodles!

xYx