28 days, 48 classes, 50 asanas, 37 degrees, 23 students, 7 teachers, a beautiful Sanctuary and a tropical island...What can I say - this has been a beautiful journey and instead of thinking it has come to its end, I know it's a beginning of something beautiful. Against my initial doubts, I now feel fully ready to take the next step and start teaching yoga.
The last week has been full of work and study. Our group for the peer assignment was absolutely wonderful. We supported each other 110% and worked so hard to help whoever was teaching by giving our energy and best possible practice. We shared the joy after each accomplishment, as well as quite a few (happy) tears. Yoga and emotions kind of walk hand in hand, this we all have learned.
My own peer assignment went pretty well. We were practicing in room 411 and even though it wasn't that big of a room, it had nice energy in it. We kept the windows and doors open and the students had a beautiful view over the hills and the sea. It was almost as practicing out in the nature. I loved it. Towards the end the sun set and evening grew darker. We experienced a beautiful thunder storm and final Savasana was emphasized with amazing lightnings. Even the nature was working with us. I got good feedback from Pim and the students and was very happy about that. In the beginning it was so hard to believe that we could ever teach anything and here we are - teaching quite comfortably every single one.
Yesterday was a day of overwhelming emotions. Our morning practice was a silent practice (although I felt a momentary stomach turn when John said This morning's practice will be a silent practice and I heard This morning's practice will be assignment practice - we've experienced quite a few lost in translation moments over the course.) The room wasn't too hot and I decided to add some heat to my practice with a tender Ujjayi breathing. The practice was so beautiful, I managed to keep the same rhythm and breathing throughout my practice - even in Balancing Stick and Bows. The beauty of yoga to me is in those moments when we move effortlessly to our breath and experience this amazing flow feeling. I've been so sore for the last week and I was so happy to have a good practice on our last day. The final Savasana was lovely and when we opened our eyes everyone had received a lovely gift (won't spoil it here) but to me it was something very special and there where a river of tears all around the class room.
We also had a written exam and then Lucas shared very interesting info about the possibilities in Absolute Yoga network. It was very reassuring - we get to keep in touch after the training as well. I have no idea where I can start teaching, I just know that I really want to do it.
In the afternoon we had one more peer class and Varisa and Tess were wonderful teachers. After dinner we all gathered in the studio and finally got our certificates. They looked lovely and the deep sense of accomplishment was colored with mixed emotions of joy and laughter and sadness of good byes. We ended the night in Chaweng by partying and dancing. Harreson always played us some music before our practice teaching and when those same tunes were played in the bar we totally shook the place down. It was a blast.
I'm writing this in the Love Kitchen and it seems like another beautiful, sunny day is coming. Many of us has already left. I'm staying for another week to do some apprentice training and joining in to Hot Yoga Immersion (Kill Bill style as I learned yesterday.) Today is a day off and I will take it really easy and probably end up at the beach to get a massage. It's one of the things I will miss for sure when back in Finland.
Ans, Cigdem, Jarna, Jason, Jii Young, Kristin, Laura (my lovely roomie), Laura (my fellow Finn), Leticia, Lilian, Lishan, Mary, Mona, Lily, Randall, Rosemarie, Santi, Suzannah, Tess, Tangqua, Varis, Witou. John, Pim, Harreson, Jeanne, Rachel, Lucas.
From the bottom of my heart I thank you all, I love you all. My highest in me bows to the highest in you.
I leave you with a few randoms from our journey:
Bone by bone.
Bug towel.
Multi-tasking.
Feet together, arms up.
Body down, leg up!
This posture is only 10 seconds (btw.)
Change.
Lips down.
Any questioooons?
Hips scared!
Coconut juice.
Coconut ice cream.
Steam room.
Canadian fish.
Swimming pool.
Pole dancing.
Full moon.
It's not about You, it's about Yoga.
We all have a good heart in Yoga.
Eight limbs (or was it legs?.)
Happy Camel.
Dorsi-flex.
Eka mukha pada paschimottanasana.
Child's pose.
Savasana.
Lock the knee. This is your last chance!
Trust the ____ Process.
Namaste.
It's been a blast. Thank you for reading.
Love and Light.
Your,
Certified Yoga Teacher.
maanantai 28. kesäkuuta 2010
torstai 24. kesäkuuta 2010
Start of the final week: The Heat is On
The final week was launched yesterday. My morning practice was ridiculous, I felt the flu draining my strength and had to sit down most of the time. It's a very humbling experience to sit down unable to do asanas when the rest of the class is working their hardest. In this time and age we live in, we are so prone to push ourselves at any cost, that we forget to how to take a rest. I had almost full 90 minutes to observe my feelings on this issue.
There was also another reason why I didn't want to push myself too hard - I knew I was going to be paired with another trainee and we were going to start our 90 minute one on one classes. The tension in the Sanctuary was building steadily and finally after breakfast we were told who our pair was. I got a really wonderful teacher/student Cigdem :) We flipped the coin and Cigdem was teaching first. All the trainees were spread out on the Sanctuary Premises and we went to a one room with a very nice view over the sea.
Cigdem taught me the full 90 minutes class and she was so good! It was mind blowing. We only started this training little over 3 weeks ago and now we're actually speaking 90 minutes full on! When they told us to 'trust the process' (tongue in cheek) we were a little bit hesitant, but now I really must agree with them. Whoever came up with this teaching training - I tip my hat to you. It does really work!
Today, it was my turn to do my first 90 minute class. After morning yoga I spent an hour in the steam room to open my lungs and relax my body (I love that room!) and after lunch it was time to bite the bullet. We went to the same room and Cigdem was my student. She was such a sweetheart and really worked hard to give me her best practice - I really appreciate it. I kept on talking and teaching 99 minutes (9 minutes overtime) and felt really good. The teachers came to check on us, but were really discreet, I didn't even notice them all. I still can't believe I was able to do it AND my student gave me stellar ratings :). I need to work more on the floor series and in fluency to hit the 90 minute mark. My student told me it's because I'm a perfectionist, that I want to correct everything, which is kind of true. But for the first time, it was pretty good!
Now we're divided into peer groups. I will be teaching my next class together with another student on Sunday. We will divide the class into two and will do some of the standing and floor series each. There are 6 of us in each group, so the class is more crowded and will take us closer to experiencing bigger size classes. Next week when the actual training is over, I will give my first public class and I'm sure that will get my heart racing. But as John says - your heart races, but your breathing never does :)
So the heat is really on and I'm feeling, well quite blissful. If you're considering teacher training I can fully recommend this one. We had soooo many struggles in the beginning and now every single one of us is doing so well. I came here to find out if I wanted to teach yoga and if I could do it. Today I got my answer. I feel that I've finally found my calling.
Thanks for reading, more entries soon.
There was also another reason why I didn't want to push myself too hard - I knew I was going to be paired with another trainee and we were going to start our 90 minute one on one classes. The tension in the Sanctuary was building steadily and finally after breakfast we were told who our pair was. I got a really wonderful teacher/student Cigdem :) We flipped the coin and Cigdem was teaching first. All the trainees were spread out on the Sanctuary Premises and we went to a one room with a very nice view over the sea.
Cigdem taught me the full 90 minutes class and she was so good! It was mind blowing. We only started this training little over 3 weeks ago and now we're actually speaking 90 minutes full on! When they told us to 'trust the process' (tongue in cheek) we were a little bit hesitant, but now I really must agree with them. Whoever came up with this teaching training - I tip my hat to you. It does really work!
Today, it was my turn to do my first 90 minute class. After morning yoga I spent an hour in the steam room to open my lungs and relax my body (I love that room!) and after lunch it was time to bite the bullet. We went to the same room and Cigdem was my student. She was such a sweetheart and really worked hard to give me her best practice - I really appreciate it. I kept on talking and teaching 99 minutes (9 minutes overtime) and felt really good. The teachers came to check on us, but were really discreet, I didn't even notice them all. I still can't believe I was able to do it AND my student gave me stellar ratings :). I need to work more on the floor series and in fluency to hit the 90 minute mark. My student told me it's because I'm a perfectionist, that I want to correct everything, which is kind of true. But for the first time, it was pretty good!
Now we're divided into peer groups. I will be teaching my next class together with another student on Sunday. We will divide the class into two and will do some of the standing and floor series each. There are 6 of us in each group, so the class is more crowded and will take us closer to experiencing bigger size classes. Next week when the actual training is over, I will give my first public class and I'm sure that will get my heart racing. But as John says - your heart races, but your breathing never does :)
So the heat is really on and I'm feeling, well quite blissful. If you're considering teacher training I can fully recommend this one. We had soooo many struggles in the beginning and now every single one of us is doing so well. I came here to find out if I wanted to teach yoga and if I could do it. Today I got my answer. I feel that I've finally found my calling.
Thanks for reading, more entries soon.
tiistai 22. kesäkuuta 2010
Week 3 - Just Breathe.
Week 3 is over and done. This week has been more of a struggle than week 2. Many of us went through a lot of tiredness in week 2 but for me this week was hardest so far. There is some kind of flu virus going around and I've been ill from last Friday. Lots of sneezing and coughing, so it's pretty tiring. But as they say in Yoga when one meets struggle and resistance: Just breathe and soon things are better again.
We still have the same schedule and have to learn the lines but we're almost at the end with the dialogue. Our training has shifted even more towards teaching and we keep having these insane classes where we teach in turns and naughty twins Pim and Harreson create all imaginable scenarios in the class. Phones are ringing, imaginary spiders cover the yoga studio, we need to go out and pick up things + major misbehavings in asanas. After handling these two we're pretty much able to face up any student. I'm pretty sure my students won't hop around in tightest and lowest eagle I've ever seen to go after their water bottle...
It's amazing how much more comfortable all of us have grown in our teaching. We have moved from pre class 'oh my god-cant remember any of my lines - will die" mode to
'oh my god-cant remember all of my lines - will survive" mode. I'm quite happy that they told us in the beginning, that we will for sure experience up and downs throughout our training and that our development won't be linear by any means. I'm still very much in good spirits, I really enjoy my time here.
This week we have learned more of Kriya cleansing techniques and I find them fascinating. I firmly believe that via Yoga practice (and here I mean the asana and the spiritual practice) we hold the keys to perfect health. This series gives so much energy and heals so fast, that it's quite mind blowing. Of course we have aches and pains for doing two practices per day, but still I'm amazed how much can be altered in such a short time. I'm also quite grateful that we are introduced to so many aspects of Yoga that we can explore more deeply on our own.
This coming week will be full of challenges, since now we start to teach full 90 minute classes. I'm a bit nervous since I just had a 90 minute massage at the beach and was doing the dialogue in my head.I only got to the end of the standing series which is not so good news. I don't think my students want to have 3 hour classes so need to come up with some sort of solution :) NOW I understand why we need to know the dialogue by heart.
Today I was introduced to Sanctuary's steam room and it was love at first sight. I love that room, reminds me of Finland. Except for drinking beer we have fresh coconut juice when cooling down.
So I'm off to take some deep breaths.
Thanks for reading.
We still have the same schedule and have to learn the lines but we're almost at the end with the dialogue. Our training has shifted even more towards teaching and we keep having these insane classes where we teach in turns and naughty twins Pim and Harreson create all imaginable scenarios in the class. Phones are ringing, imaginary spiders cover the yoga studio, we need to go out and pick up things + major misbehavings in asanas. After handling these two we're pretty much able to face up any student. I'm pretty sure my students won't hop around in tightest and lowest eagle I've ever seen to go after their water bottle...
It's amazing how much more comfortable all of us have grown in our teaching. We have moved from pre class 'oh my god-cant remember any of my lines - will die" mode to
'oh my god-cant remember all of my lines - will survive" mode. I'm quite happy that they told us in the beginning, that we will for sure experience up and downs throughout our training and that our development won't be linear by any means. I'm still very much in good spirits, I really enjoy my time here.
This week we have learned more of Kriya cleansing techniques and I find them fascinating. I firmly believe that via Yoga practice (and here I mean the asana and the spiritual practice) we hold the keys to perfect health. This series gives so much energy and heals so fast, that it's quite mind blowing. Of course we have aches and pains for doing two practices per day, but still I'm amazed how much can be altered in such a short time. I'm also quite grateful that we are introduced to so many aspects of Yoga that we can explore more deeply on our own.
This coming week will be full of challenges, since now we start to teach full 90 minute classes. I'm a bit nervous since I just had a 90 minute massage at the beach and was doing the dialogue in my head.I only got to the end of the standing series which is not so good news. I don't think my students want to have 3 hour classes so need to come up with some sort of solution :) NOW I understand why we need to know the dialogue by heart.
Today I was introduced to Sanctuary's steam room and it was love at first sight. I love that room, reminds me of Finland. Except for drinking beer we have fresh coconut juice when cooling down.
So I'm off to take some deep breaths.
Thanks for reading.
tiistai 15. kesäkuuta 2010
Week 2 - Break downs, Breakthroughs and Bliss
Week 2 is over and so much has happened that my head is spinning. Our little group has grown even closer and the other evening we sat in Satsang without the teachers and shared our thoughts. It's such a healing experience for many of us to be surrounded by people who accept us exactly as we are.
This week the training has picked up its pace. We finished the standing series and have just started with the seated series. The daily routine is the same - getting up early, yoga, breakfast, 2 hours super hard dialogue study (+ practicing on any free and available teacher trainee), then practice teaching where we get feedback on how our dialogue goes, lunch break followed by a posture clinic to the next asana, more studying, 2nd yoga and dinner, good night (more studying).
People are starting to get all sorts of aches and pains not to mention some emotional or physical break downs that are usually followed by some very insightful breakthroughs. Yoga really works on the body, mind and soul. All the experiences that we've stored into our body start to surface. This process goes into very deep and it can be tiring but sure is worth it.
The other day in evening yoga John suddenly called somebody's name to give the dialogue for the first pose. After that there were very nervous 24 yogis and yoginis in the room waiting for their turn. He totally blindsighted all of us! Some of us are already very much in teacher mode and actually enjoy the teaching while some of us look for secret exits from the studio. I had to do Standing Bow and after doing it I felt such a loser that never in my life before. I actually had some sort of emotional meltdown and felt that if this is what it's going to be - I'm never ever going to make it. My voice projection was totally off, it felt as if I was screaming like a mouse on Speed. I was shaking so hard that it was as if somebody had just shot tons of adrenalin through my veins (as the case probably was.) I have so much respect for every single hot yoga teacher in the world. Their job is not an easy one! I bow to you all.
After beating myself for the evening and then talking with some truly amazing people I got it out of my system. For the next day's yoga I had to deliver Akward 1,2,3 and although I probably missed lines I felt so much better since I didn't feel like I was having a nervous breakdown - I think I'm starting to understand more about what John is saying: It's not about YOU it's about YOGA.
That is so very true. The students really don't care about how the teacher looks, feels and so on - they just want to come in and concentrate on their yoga practice and to be helped in it the best possible way. Teachers need to take care of the students and get them safely in and out of a posture so that they can do their Yoga. That's quite a humbling thought.
What it comes to myself I'm physically coping quite well. Many of us feel extreme tiredness which is very understandable but for me some reason I just seem to get healthier by the day. It's very easy to get up at 6 am (which is a miracle for those who know me) and even my muscles aren't aching that much.
But as I said, we're being spoiled here. All the tedious every day tasks have been removed from our lives. Our beautiful studio is just a few steps away from our rooms, everything is super clean all the time, the food is good. After yoga one doesn't have to have artificial electrolytes but instead have a fresh young coconut in the juice bar. And when the muscles start to get knotty - it's time for a massage. Today is the day off and I went to the beach in the morning to first have a 90 min open air oil massage followed by a 60 minute reflexology foot massage. Total bliss!
This week Lucas came to teach us some Kriya (cleansing) techniques and it was super interesting. I must say that he is a phenomenal teacher. So clear and to the point that it is quite amazing. I noticed that a Yoga Trapeze has miraculously appeared in the gazebo so I'm very much looking forward to learn more about that!
The teachers here are so nice, we love them all to bits. They really work so hard to make it easier for us. Before practice teaching Harreson puts on some nice music and we dance and relax for a few minutes before our dialogue. John's thoughts about yoga are always so interesting that you want to just listen and learn. Jeanne has a wonderful talent of explaining very complex things in a very clear and easily understandable way. It's a good skill since all of us come from very different backgrounds and many of us aren't native english speakers so we have to study a bit harder to keep up with others. Pim is a true gem, she has already helped me and others with super good tips on how to improve our asanas or correct misalignments and so on. She is also a natural comedienne, in yesterday's evening class when we all had to deliver a pose, she suddenly did a headstand when Kristen was giving her Separate leg stretch. Talking about extra pressure. It was hilarious but Kristen recovered very quickly and said for those of you don't have their feet in the air please proceed to..It was super funny!
So that's it for this week. Some breakdowns, lots of breakthroughs - all underlined by a blissful feeling :)
Now I need to go and study my next dialogue.
Thank you all for reading.
This week the training has picked up its pace. We finished the standing series and have just started with the seated series. The daily routine is the same - getting up early, yoga, breakfast, 2 hours super hard dialogue study (+ practicing on any free and available teacher trainee), then practice teaching where we get feedback on how our dialogue goes, lunch break followed by a posture clinic to the next asana, more studying, 2nd yoga and dinner, good night (more studying).
People are starting to get all sorts of aches and pains not to mention some emotional or physical break downs that are usually followed by some very insightful breakthroughs. Yoga really works on the body, mind and soul. All the experiences that we've stored into our body start to surface. This process goes into very deep and it can be tiring but sure is worth it.
The other day in evening yoga John suddenly called somebody's name to give the dialogue for the first pose. After that there were very nervous 24 yogis and yoginis in the room waiting for their turn. He totally blindsighted all of us! Some of us are already very much in teacher mode and actually enjoy the teaching while some of us look for secret exits from the studio. I had to do Standing Bow and after doing it I felt such a loser that never in my life before. I actually had some sort of emotional meltdown and felt that if this is what it's going to be - I'm never ever going to make it. My voice projection was totally off, it felt as if I was screaming like a mouse on Speed. I was shaking so hard that it was as if somebody had just shot tons of adrenalin through my veins (as the case probably was.) I have so much respect for every single hot yoga teacher in the world. Their job is not an easy one! I bow to you all.
After beating myself for the evening and then talking with some truly amazing people I got it out of my system. For the next day's yoga I had to deliver Akward 1,2,3 and although I probably missed lines I felt so much better since I didn't feel like I was having a nervous breakdown - I think I'm starting to understand more about what John is saying: It's not about YOU it's about YOGA.
That is so very true. The students really don't care about how the teacher looks, feels and so on - they just want to come in and concentrate on their yoga practice and to be helped in it the best possible way. Teachers need to take care of the students and get them safely in and out of a posture so that they can do their Yoga. That's quite a humbling thought.
What it comes to myself I'm physically coping quite well. Many of us feel extreme tiredness which is very understandable but for me some reason I just seem to get healthier by the day. It's very easy to get up at 6 am (which is a miracle for those who know me) and even my muscles aren't aching that much.
But as I said, we're being spoiled here. All the tedious every day tasks have been removed from our lives. Our beautiful studio is just a few steps away from our rooms, everything is super clean all the time, the food is good. After yoga one doesn't have to have artificial electrolytes but instead have a fresh young coconut in the juice bar. And when the muscles start to get knotty - it's time for a massage. Today is the day off and I went to the beach in the morning to first have a 90 min open air oil massage followed by a 60 minute reflexology foot massage. Total bliss!
This week Lucas came to teach us some Kriya (cleansing) techniques and it was super interesting. I must say that he is a phenomenal teacher. So clear and to the point that it is quite amazing. I noticed that a Yoga Trapeze has miraculously appeared in the gazebo so I'm very much looking forward to learn more about that!
The teachers here are so nice, we love them all to bits. They really work so hard to make it easier for us. Before practice teaching Harreson puts on some nice music and we dance and relax for a few minutes before our dialogue. John's thoughts about yoga are always so interesting that you want to just listen and learn. Jeanne has a wonderful talent of explaining very complex things in a very clear and easily understandable way. It's a good skill since all of us come from very different backgrounds and many of us aren't native english speakers so we have to study a bit harder to keep up with others. Pim is a true gem, she has already helped me and others with super good tips on how to improve our asanas or correct misalignments and so on. She is also a natural comedienne, in yesterday's evening class when we all had to deliver a pose, she suddenly did a headstand when Kristen was giving her Separate leg stretch. Talking about extra pressure. It was hilarious but Kristen recovered very quickly and said for those of you don't have their feet in the air please proceed to..It was super funny!
So that's it for this week. Some breakdowns, lots of breakthroughs - all underlined by a blissful feeling :)
Now I need to go and study my next dialogue.
Thank you all for reading.
maanantai 7. kesäkuuta 2010
Thailand First week in Training
Greetings from the land of smiles! I've been here for one week and this our first day off from the Training. The first week has been so much more than I ever expected. We started the training programme on Tuesday by doing the series for the first time. I haven't practiced this specific series before and first learning it I felt a little bang of disappointment. I was so tuned in to Bikram's series that it took me a while to really get in to this one. Now, however it think this series is Absolutely Genius! After one week in training I can already tell how much my body has already healed. The series has 50 asanas and many of them are spine twists and hip openers. Also the way the series is created it opens and strenghtens the body naturally, it really has a good flow in it and for somebody who has lower back problems and tight hips this series is a gift from heaven :)
The training itself is also quite amazing. There are 24 of us from all over the world: Finland, Sweden, Ireland, Holland, Spain, Austria, Turkey, Australia, Canada, US, Thailand and Singapore. All of my fellow students are so lovely and I feel very much supported by them all. We have 4 teachers plus visiting teachers who do there very best to help us learn - not by stick but via laughter and easiness. The same mentality is stamped to this whole training, and I feel so grateful for that.
Our daily schedule is somewhat same every day. We do 2 yoga practices every day, then have breakfast, do our studies on the dialogue and then actually practice teaching. After that we rehearse the next day's dialogue together and get introduces to the new asana in a really detailed way. Then we have a little break (opportunity to study a bit more) and we then return to the evening practice. After dinner we have this thing called Satsung, where we discuss different topics.
The other night we had the best Satsung ever. John (who created this series) showed us together with Harreson (this amazing super athlete who is both really strong and bendy) why this series was created and how these beginner's asanas prepare the body for advanced poses. It was so helpful - now we know where the asana can go, what the next step (eventually) will be and that helps us to concentrate to strengthen, stretch and keep the alignment accurately. He also told us about standing head to knee, standing bow and arrow sequence which was an analogy that has personally given me strength to do this sequence. First you set up the arrow (standing head to knee) then you stretch the bow (standing bow) and the you shoot the arrow. Keeping this story in my head helps me to maintain the same stretching and tensing energy in my practice.
This week we also have had yoga history and philosophy which is my favorite subject. We looked into Patanjali's yoga sutras, got an introduction to ayurveda and learned about history of yoga. I fell quite humbled to be part of this ancient practice.
Today is our first day off and yesterday we left the Sanctuary for an evening off and had a dinner in this amazingly beautiful sea side restaurant. Thai people truly have keen eye for esthetics - how much they pay attention to tiniest details. The evening was beautiful and I got to know a little bit more about my fellow students. Afterwards we went to a massage center and I had a foot massage. So relaxing!
Today I've booked myself another massage in Sanctuary's Spa and then plan on staying here and study tomorrow's dialogue and maybe read my other interesting books that I dragged all the way from Finland.
My practice has been pretty good, yesterday was the first day when I felt exhaustion. But the evening practice was
okay. Studying the dialogue and delivering it every day is quite demanding but we get so much support that I don't find it too nerve wrecking. All of us go around mumbling the dialogue, throwing our hands in the air, bending forward and doing bunch of other stuff that might look like crazy people in action to outsiders :)))
I'm so grateful for the opportunity to be here and I'm also quite pleased that I didn't choose any other training. We're being spoiled here :)
Okay, time for breakfast!
Namaste
The training itself is also quite amazing. There are 24 of us from all over the world: Finland, Sweden, Ireland, Holland, Spain, Austria, Turkey, Australia, Canada, US, Thailand and Singapore. All of my fellow students are so lovely and I feel very much supported by them all. We have 4 teachers plus visiting teachers who do there very best to help us learn - not by stick but via laughter and easiness. The same mentality is stamped to this whole training, and I feel so grateful for that.
Our daily schedule is somewhat same every day. We do 2 yoga practices every day, then have breakfast, do our studies on the dialogue and then actually practice teaching. After that we rehearse the next day's dialogue together and get introduces to the new asana in a really detailed way. Then we have a little break (opportunity to study a bit more) and we then return to the evening practice. After dinner we have this thing called Satsung, where we discuss different topics.
The other night we had the best Satsung ever. John (who created this series) showed us together with Harreson (this amazing super athlete who is both really strong and bendy) why this series was created and how these beginner's asanas prepare the body for advanced poses. It was so helpful - now we know where the asana can go, what the next step (eventually) will be and that helps us to concentrate to strengthen, stretch and keep the alignment accurately. He also told us about standing head to knee, standing bow and arrow sequence which was an analogy that has personally given me strength to do this sequence. First you set up the arrow (standing head to knee) then you stretch the bow (standing bow) and the you shoot the arrow. Keeping this story in my head helps me to maintain the same stretching and tensing energy in my practice.
This week we also have had yoga history and philosophy which is my favorite subject. We looked into Patanjali's yoga sutras, got an introduction to ayurveda and learned about history of yoga. I fell quite humbled to be part of this ancient practice.
Today is our first day off and yesterday we left the Sanctuary for an evening off and had a dinner in this amazingly beautiful sea side restaurant. Thai people truly have keen eye for esthetics - how much they pay attention to tiniest details. The evening was beautiful and I got to know a little bit more about my fellow students. Afterwards we went to a massage center and I had a foot massage. So relaxing!
Today I've booked myself another massage in Sanctuary's Spa and then plan on staying here and study tomorrow's dialogue and maybe read my other interesting books that I dragged all the way from Finland.
My practice has been pretty good, yesterday was the first day when I felt exhaustion. But the evening practice was
okay. Studying the dialogue and delivering it every day is quite demanding but we get so much support that I don't find it too nerve wrecking. All of us go around mumbling the dialogue, throwing our hands in the air, bending forward and doing bunch of other stuff that might look like crazy people in action to outsiders :)))
I'm so grateful for the opportunity to be here and I'm also quite pleased that I didn't choose any other training. We're being spoiled here :)
Okay, time for breakfast!
Namaste
torstai 6. toukokuuta 2010
Yoga Competition - Oxymoron or Semantics?
I have 26 days before my plane takes off and I'm panicking a bit. Not very yogish but hey, I'm work in progress. I don't feel very prepared and think too much about the things I still need to do and not enough about the things I'm actually doing. Focus girl! Anyway, the other day I was net surfing and ended up on a discussion forum where the topic was about Yoga competitions.
We don't have yoga competitions in Finland and I'm not sure if we have them in Scandinavia either. In US and some other countries one can take part in Bishnu Ghosh World Cup where one has to deliver some mandatory poses from the Bikram Beginning series and then 1 or 2 asanas from the advanced series.These practitioners are quite amazing and you can find videos of their performances in youtube.
The article I was reading was about whether Yoga Competition should/could be an Olympic Sport. One of the replies was in short: Yoga Competition - Oxymoron. That got me thinking.
I personally think that there is nothing wrong with competing in yoga, if the definition is understood as who perfoms the asanas (postures) best. I do think howeve r that we misinterpret the meaning of competition. We see it more as a way of ranking people than focusing on pure performance - a benchmark as something we should aim for. A Japanese researcher Masaru Emoto wrote a book called Messages from Water. In the book he was studying how water responds to different words as well as music. He would fill a testtube with purified water and then voice or write or word to that bottle. He would then freeze the water and as soon as it started to form crystals he'd take a photo and analyze the shape of the crystals. He made some phenomenal discoveries - positive words such as love, thank you, please etc. affected the water in a way that it formed beautiful, balanced and even shaped crystals. Other words such as stupid, hate, anger etc. made the water to form ugly looking, disformed crystals. He also made an experiment with the word competition. On the contrary what one might think, the water formed a beautiful, shiny crystal. Why is that? Well, one of the finer attributes we humans posess is our intense eagerness to improve - ourselves, our environment, to make new discoveries, inventions etc.
So, competition can be something that makes us want to do our best, to improve as much as we can. It's only when we put our ego first and give ourselves permission to compare our performance to that of others in discrimination - I won, I'm a better person/human being or I lost I'm no good. That's where the competition starts to lose its magic.
The semantics play part in what comes to definition of yoga or should I say Yoga? Yoga (with a capital Y) is the perfect 8 limb Patanjali's definition where the Asana practice is only one part. That Yoga concentrates on one's personal development and experience, a sport that's too individual for anyone to compete in :) In fact, it's more than too easy to shoot oneself in the foot when thinking hey, I'm doing well in Yoga, I'm sooo advanced! No. It doesn't work that way. Judging oneself or others isn't yoga way - it's on yogi's way. But to compete in yoga is one beautiful way of showing what a human body can do when it's trained for thousands of looong hours. As long as we don't equal that advanceness with spiritual superiority, it's a good benchmark and not an oxymoron. Again, it's about our own perception of how we see and experience this illusion we call The World.
We don't have yoga competitions in Finland and I'm not sure if we have them in Scandinavia either. In US and some other countries one can take part in Bishnu Ghosh World Cup where one has to deliver some mandatory poses from the Bikram Beginning series and then 1 or 2 asanas from the advanced series.These practitioners are quite amazing and you can find videos of their performances in youtube.
The article I was reading was about whether Yoga Competition should/could be an Olympic Sport. One of the replies was in short: Yoga Competition - Oxymoron. That got me thinking.
I personally think that there is nothing wrong with competing in yoga, if the definition is understood as who perfoms the asanas (postures) best. I do think howeve r that we misinterpret the meaning of competition. We see it more as a way of ranking people than focusing on pure performance - a benchmark as something we should aim for. A Japanese researcher Masaru Emoto wrote a book called Messages from Water. In the book he was studying how water responds to different words as well as music. He would fill a testtube with purified water and then voice or write or word to that bottle. He would then freeze the water and as soon as it started to form crystals he'd take a photo and analyze the shape of the crystals. He made some phenomenal discoveries - positive words such as love, thank you, please etc. affected the water in a way that it formed beautiful, balanced and even shaped crystals. Other words such as stupid, hate, anger etc. made the water to form ugly looking, disformed crystals. He also made an experiment with the word competition. On the contrary what one might think, the water formed a beautiful, shiny crystal. Why is that? Well, one of the finer attributes we humans posess is our intense eagerness to improve - ourselves, our environment, to make new discoveries, inventions etc.
So, competition can be something that makes us want to do our best, to improve as much as we can. It's only when we put our ego first and give ourselves permission to compare our performance to that of others in discrimination - I won, I'm a better person/human being or I lost I'm no good. That's where the competition starts to lose its magic.
The semantics play part in what comes to definition of yoga or should I say Yoga? Yoga (with a capital Y) is the perfect 8 limb Patanjali's definition where the Asana practice is only one part. That Yoga concentrates on one's personal development and experience, a sport that's too individual for anyone to compete in :) In fact, it's more than too easy to shoot oneself in the foot when thinking hey, I'm doing well in Yoga, I'm sooo advanced! No. It doesn't work that way. Judging oneself or others isn't yoga way - it's on yogi's way. But to compete in yoga is one beautiful way of showing what a human body can do when it's trained for thousands of looong hours. As long as we don't equal that advanceness with spiritual superiority, it's a good benchmark and not an oxymoron. Again, it's about our own perception of how we see and experience this illusion we call The World.
torstai 29. huhtikuuta 2010
Sister Death and Definition of Hell
When I was studying in Helsinki School of Economics I had one course that I really loved and it was in my opinion the only truly interesting one. It was Philosophy 101 and our teacher was philosopher Maija-Riitta Ollila. Now, I'm not prone to person idolising but always want to show credit and respect for exceptional people. Razor sharp mind, ancient wisdom intertwined with kind heart and good manners is a combination I can't ever resist. This lady is my benchmark! The way she speaks is so elegant, well thought and keeps me on the edge of my seat, I never know where she's going when she starts and then in the end it all just makes so much sense.
Anyway, the other night she was on TV in one talk show and she made an excellent point about priorities. This is actually something I think once in a while myself, I just never knew its background. Saint Francis of Assisi introduced an idea of Sister Death. If one should live to 80 years of age that's roughly speaking about 29 200 days. It's a good idea to check every now and then one's own timeline. I've already spent almost (exactly) half of my days. If I have about 15 000 days to see, how do I want to spend them? It quite quickly puts things in order and helps to figure out what really is important and what just seems to be. Quite a few things are very trivial in the end. And some seemingly trivial things actually quite important.
So, if there is anybody reading this blog that thinks is too old, too weak, too fat, too young, too anything to do whatever makes them feel happy, content and passionate I urge you to stop hesitating and start living your dreams.
And what about the definition of hell? In hell you'll learn what your potential could have been. If that is hell, what is the opposite? Finding and realizing one's potential - whatever that means to each. Sounds good to me. I say let's do it.
Anyway, the other night she was on TV in one talk show and she made an excellent point about priorities. This is actually something I think once in a while myself, I just never knew its background. Saint Francis of Assisi introduced an idea of Sister Death. If one should live to 80 years of age that's roughly speaking about 29 200 days. It's a good idea to check every now and then one's own timeline. I've already spent almost (exactly) half of my days. If I have about 15 000 days to see, how do I want to spend them? It quite quickly puts things in order and helps to figure out what really is important and what just seems to be. Quite a few things are very trivial in the end. And some seemingly trivial things actually quite important.
So, if there is anybody reading this blog that thinks is too old, too weak, too fat, too young, too anything to do whatever makes them feel happy, content and passionate I urge you to stop hesitating and start living your dreams.
And what about the definition of hell? In hell you'll learn what your potential could have been. If that is hell, what is the opposite? Finding and realizing one's potential - whatever that means to each. Sounds good to me. I say let's do it.
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