Ubud

Wednesday we had a few hours off in the afternoon so I had my first chance to go into the city. Ubud is about 15 minutes away by taxi - the streets are lined with restaurants, shops, spas, and temples. There is a lot to see - it's much larger than I expected so I am looking forward to going back.












Monkey Forest- you have to hang onto sunglasses and purses or the monkeys will steal them! Not kidding.

Classes

Today was our fourth full day of classes. Daniel Aaron is the owner of the program and our primary teacher every day. In addition, he brings in experts in a variety of subjects other than yoga. So far this week we have had one session on Neuro Linguistic Programing (NLP), three sessions on Ayurveda, and two sessions on nutrition. These supplemental subjects are helpful in gaining a broader perspective in addition to just the logistics of teaching a yoga class.

NLP is interesting way of looking at how language is related to achieving specific goals. In regards to teaching yoga, it is relevant in establishing rapport, interpreting verbal and non-verbal responses, and helping students integrate changes into their lives. A basic example is to say something like "see if you can XYZ" rather than "this pose is challenging so it's okay if you can't do it." The second statement sets people up to have a difficult experience so it is important as a teacher to use language that will promote success.

Ayurveda looks at attributes (known as gunas) and classifies people into three types (doshas): Vata, Pitta and Kapha. Everyone has all three doshas present but in varying degrees. I am primarily Pitta with a lot of Vata and low Kapha. Some of the characteristics of Pitta are a sharp mind, highly organized, enjoys challenges, etc. When the doshas get out of balance, there are certain things you can do (foods to eat or avoid, climates that are helpful, etc.) to help bring yourself back in alignment.

Last night we met Simon Borg-Olivier who is an amazing yogi! He put on a performance for us that was incredible - I took a video but it's too big to upload over the slow internet connection. There are plenty to watch on You Tube if you are interested. He's a bit of a yoga celebrity and tomorrow morning we have a class with him so we are all filled with nervous excitement.

Also tomorrow we are having a full day of silence - we have been doing 3 hrs of silence each morning which is pretty easy so it will be interesting to see how everyone does with a full day. In addition to not talking, we are supposed to stay away from reading and writing - basically any distractions. To top it off, it's a day of juice fasting so instead of having regular meals, we will be drinking fresh juices all day. It's going to be quite the day! So it will be at least Saturday before I am back online...

The beginning

Wow - Anahata is incredibly beautiful! The property is on a hillside above the Petanu river valley so we can hear the river in the distance (and you can walk down there if you don't mind climbing back up the hill). The resort is 1.5 km off the main road and it is filled entirely with participants from our program so it is like our private community! Anahata is the Sanskrit word for the heart chakra.


Sunday afternoon we arrived for registration and they had coconut water with rosella flower to drink, and three different kinds of raw cacao (chocolate) to eat. Yum! We were also given a beautiful Balinese sarong before being shown to our rooms...I mean villas. Each villa has three bedrooms with two people in each room, so I have 5 housemates. My roommate is Anne-Marie from the UK and we have a lovely room downstairs that has french doors opening to a garden with a private pool!!! I was shocked - I had no idea we were going to live in such luxury. Also fun - it turns out that Anne-Marie has the same birthday as me! Next to us are two guys: Ross and Kim who are both from Berlin (although Ross is originally from Australia and currently working on a project in Jakarta). Ellen (who was with me in Seminyak) and Sherri (from New York but living between Hong Kong and Singapore) are staying in the master suite upstairs.








Sunday evening we had an orientation meeting followed by dinner, and then we began the program on Monday morning. Each morning starts in silence from the time we wake up until 9 a.m. We have meditation from 6-7 a.m. followed by yoga from 7-9 a.m. Next is breakfast and then classes on various subjects: Teaching Principles, Neuro Linguistic Programing (NLP), Ayurveda, Nutrition, etc. just to name a few. The information is jam packed so after just two days, I already feel like I have learned what could reasonably be covered in a week! I mean that in a good way though - we are all rising up to the challenge.

The space where we practice is beautiful just like the rest of the property. There are huge windows that open up so it feels like we are in a tree house or something. The weather has been great - nice and warm during the day time and then it cools off just a bit in the evening. Not so much that you need a jacket, but enough that it feels refreshing.


We are all becoming close friends super quickly - feels like we have known each other for years! Today was Carolina's birthday so we threw a little party for her :)









I'll write more about some of the things we are learning soon. Hope you are all doing well - I think about all my wonderful friends and family every day! xoxo

Seminyak

I'm loving Bali! Over the last month I've been getting to know some of the other participants on Facebook and had arranged to meet up with 4 of them to hang out at the beach for the two days before training starts. Ellen came from New York and her flight landed around the same time as mine on Friday afternoon so we met at the airport and shared a taxi to the hotel. We were staying at Grand Balisani Suites which is on the west side of Bali in a town called Seminyak. Ali arrived from San Francisco on Thursday so she was already at the hotel when we got there. Ali walked us around the hotel property to show us where everything was and it was absolutely beautiful!
Here is the coi pond and fountain that ran between the buildings



The pool



The beach - the sun was just starting to set so we took a nice walk



On the beach with Ellen (middle) and Ali (right). we found a bar that served fresh juices - perfect since we aren't drinking alcohol



Then we went back to the hotel to meet Maryam (from Cairo- the brunette in the photo) and Juniper (right). Small world - Juniper is actually from Spokane! We went to different high schools but I'm convinced we must have met at some point in time because we have some of the same friends and we both were lifeguards/managers for the City of Spokane pools. So fun to share that connection! She's been living in Tokyo teaching English for the last 5 years.



Anyway, the five of us instantly had a blast together and stayed up late chatting like kids at a sleepover! Saturday we woke up and had a lovely breakfast at the hotel. There was a ton of tropical fruit: papaya, passion fruit, mangosteen, pineapple, etc., and some weird looking ones that I were delicious but I have no idea what they were (I even asked but couldn't understand the answer).

Then we spent most of the day lounging by the pool and on the beach. Ellen and I did some yoga in the grass on the side of the hotel in the afternoon. Then we all got cleaned up and headed into town for dinner. The hotel was about a 10 minute drive from the central part of Seminyak where all the restaurants and shops are. You can't really walk there though because there isn't a sidewalk, but the taxi was cheap enough so no big deal. I had found a vegetarian restaurant online for us to go to called Earth Cafe. We loved it - delicious food and they also had a store there that sold all sorts of natural products so we did some shopping as well.

After dinner we came back to the hotel to go to the Balinese dancing show they were having along the beach. Unfortunately we got there a little bit too late and the fire dance had just finished. That was the main reason we wanted to go so that was too bad. Maybe even more unfortunate...we got there just in time for YMCA and the Macarana. Ugh - my least two favorite songs on earth and they pulled us all up on stage to dance with them. Slight torture but it turned out to be pretty hilarious so we ended up having fun.


Sunday morning we had our first massages of the trip. Ah, just what we needed after all that travel. I'm sure there will be plenty more to come because they are so cheap here! Then we took a taxi to Anahata where our training is located. We checked in and dropped off our bags in our rooms and met all the other participants. Can't wait to see what is in store for us!

Taipei

I made it to Taipei after a long but uneventful flight. I wasn't really looking forward to my 4 hr layover, but I was pleasantly surprised that the airport was really nice! No I'm not being sarcastic - I actually spent a good 3 hrs just wandering around. It felt great to stretch my legs out but I quickly realized that my backpack was super heavy. For a brief moment I was beginning to wish I had one of those nerdy backpacks with wheels...but then I found a free cart to use! That was a lifesaver - I definitely wouldn't have been able to walk around as long if I had been carrying my bag.

The first thing I ran into was the ridiculous shopping: Gucci, Versace, Tiffany & Co., etc. Needless to say, I was happy to get all my Christmas shopping done in one place! LOL! Seriously though, it was weird. However, I guess a lot of people must shop there because I couldn't even begin to count the number of stores. The largest by far was the Hello Kitty store and neighboring playground/kitchen-set. Kind of made me wish I had a kid with me to go play :)


Anyway, on the opposite end of the spectrum, the airport had all sorts of green spaces which I really enjoyed! There was a beautiful orchid garden and numerous lounge areas with all sorts of plants.





There was also the "Taiwan Green Wall" which was probably 30 feet tall and made entirely out of potted plants that were selected specifically for purifying indoor air quality and reducing the amount of fallen dust. I don't know how they manage to keep them all alive...I can't even keep the one plant on my kitchen counter thriving.



There were also art exhibits, a cultural center, prayer rooms, and a reading room. The reading room made me laugh because they had multiple shelves of books divided by subjects and the signs were translated into English, but none of the books were in English. So while it didn't do me any good, I still thought it was a neat idea to have free reading (signs said not to take the books out of the area).









The only thing that made me wary was the food. Marc and I flew threw Taipei on our honeymoon and bought what we thought was apple pie...I still don't know what it actually was other than disgusting! Lesson learned - today I stayed away from the plethora of unidentifiable candy and stuck with the free filtered water stations (nice!). I also happened to notice the strange food in the vending machines: peanut soup and what looked like some sort of chili??? um, no thanks.


Well that about sums up Taipei...I spent the last hour doing yoga at the far end of the terminal where no one was sitting. It felt good to stretch out after being stuck in a seat for so long. Now I'm in the middle of the 5 hr flight to Bali. Unfortunately no wi-fi on board so by the time you are reading this, I will be in Bali!

Travel Plans

Today is the day: I'm leaving for Bali!!! Well...my flight is at 2 a.m. so technically it's tomorrow, but I'll go to the airport before midnight so I'm calling it today. The good thing about a flight that late (or that early depending on how you look at it) is that I'll be really tired so hopefully I can sleep for most of the flight.

It's a 12.5 hr flight to Taipei, Taiwan where I'll have a 4.5 hr layover, and then another 5 hr flight to Bali. With the time change, I'll end up arriving on Friday at 3:15 p.m.

Our training starts Sunday afternoon so I'll have a little bit of time to get acclimated and see some sites. There will be about 40 of us in the training and I don't know anyone. One of my favorite things is that people are coming from all over the world: San Francisco, New York, London, Prague, Berlin, Cairo, Tokyo, Singapore, Sydney, and more! Over the past month I've had fun chatting with some of the others on facebook so it will be fun to finally meet in person! Six of us are going to stay together the two nights before training starts in Seminyak, which is a beach town on the west side of the island. The training is near Ubud (central Bali) so it will be nice to hang out on the beach before heading inland.

Well I better get back to packing...I've been procrastinating all day. The laundry is done so that's a start, but now I need to actually figure out what to take. We will be living in a hotel and can have laundry done each week so that's nice. However, with all the different classes I'll probably end up changing multiple times a day, so I'll still need a lot of stuff. I will be rooming with another person...I don't know who yet...hopefully she will be a neat freak like me :) It will be like college all over again, yay!

I'll try to post when I get there. Hopefully I'll have a good internet connection but I won't really know until I'm there. Love to everyone - I'll miss you!

Philly

I wrapped up another trip to Philly. It was just a quick work trip - I wish I had more time to visit my family that lives nearby but unfortunately I didn't have any extra days to spare. Next time!

On Monday I was a panelist on two sessions of a compliance conference. They both went pretty well considering they were the last two sessions of a long day. I only saw one person sleeping...and in my defense she fell asleep during the person before me so I don't think it counts. LOL!

After the obligatory networking, I escaped to an evening yoga class at Philly Power Yoga. It was a cute little studio - there were maybe 25 people there. One guy was grunting like a tennis player, pretty hilarious. It was hard to keep a straight face, but I actually thought it was great that he could let go of inhibitions or caring what others thought and he just let it all out there. I think most of us, myself included, could stand to cut loose like that.

Other than that, I wandered around the historic downtown area. I'm going to nerd out and admit that it's pretty cool to walk the streets that John Adams, George Washington and other presidents used to stroll. In school if we had focused more on learning about the lives of historical figures instead of memorizing dates I would have appreciated (and remembered) it a lot more. Oh well, it's fun now :)

Here is the Liberty Bell - taken through the window because the building was closed. The same thing happened last year when my brother and I were here. At least this year I didn't get chased away by the security guard...I still claim innocence - not my fault that the gate happened to be open.



This was a cool sculpture that had words cut out in metal and then the light reflected the words onto the sidewalk and surrounding buildings.



Old paddle boat down at Penn's Landing. You can see Campbell's Stadium across the river - last year Carey (my brother) and I saw a Phillies game there.



I squeezed in a little bit of shopping before my flight home. This looks like a church but it's actually the inside of Macy's. They had someone there playing live organ music - a step up from the Nordstrom pianist I suppose. Macy's also had a 10% visitor discount for anyone traveling from out of state - random, but nice surprise.




Now it's time to get ready for Bali...I'll post about my travel plans next...

T-minus 1 week

One week from today I leave for yoga teacher training! I'm going to Bali which is going to be amazing!!! I think a lot of people hear Bali and imagine that I'm going to be on vacation just relaxing, doing yoga, and hanging out on the beach. Yes, I'll get to do those things, but most of my time will actually be a pretty intense schedule of learning. Yoga Alliance requires a minimum of 200-hrs in order to get a level 1 instructor certification and the program I am doing is over 300 hrs. The curriculum will include: techniques of yoga; teaching methodology; anatomy and physiology; yogic scripture, philosophy, ethics and lifestyle; group practicum and presentation skills.

Here is a sample "day in the life" of the teacher training:

6:00am – 7:00am	Meditation and Pranayama
7:00am – 9:00am	Vibrant Living Yoga Class
9:00am – 10:00am	Breakfast
10:00am – 1:00pm	Lecture, discussion, techniques.
1:00pm – 4:00pm	Lunch/Break
4:00pm – 6:00pm	Lecture, discussion, techniques, practicum, asana.
6:30pm – 7:30pm	Dinner/Break
7:30pm – 9:00pm	Satsang & special activities (guest lecture, film, kirtan)

If you want to read more, you can check out the Radiantly Alive web site.

In other exciting news, I have been working on my flexibility every day after class with extra stretching and today I did my splits on both sides!!! I haven't done that in probably 15 years so I'm super happy :)  

another one bites the dust

Well I added wheat and soy to my list of things I don't eat anymore. Turns out I'm allergic - who knew? It's been two weeks now since I cut them out and I'm feeling great! Luckily Seattle has tons of good gluten free options so it's easy to do here. My body is loving me - after a month of no sugar or alcohol and two weeks of no wheat or soy, I've lost 7 pounds! I have just over a week before I go to yoga teacher training so I'm excited that I'll be feeling my best when I get there.

I also found out I was deficient in vitamin B12 which wasn't surprising since a lot of vegans have low B12. What I discovered though is that B12 supplements can be made from two different sources: methylcobalamin or cyanocobalamin. From the research I did online (which of course is always reliable), I found that apparently the cyano- version has a small amount of cyanide. huh??? Um, none for me thanks. I'll take the methyl- version which is more bio-available for your body to use. My naturopath also mentioned that the B12 pills aren't digested well so she recommends taking drops instead. So there you go...more info than you probably need or want, but now you have it :)

no Labor, all play

Three day weekends are the best! That one extra day makes such a difference to have time both for activities and relaxing. Labor Day weekend is always bitter sweet as summer starts turning into fall, so we made the most of being outside. Friday we went to a BBQ at Marc's classmate's house. Marc is half way through his MBA program at the UW and his small group (of 5 people) is changing for the second half of the program. His group got together to celebrate as they go their separate ways. The best part about Marc being in school is getting student tickets for football and basketball! Saturday was the season opener against EWU and we were right in the middle of the Dawg Pack. It was a crazy game right down to the last few seconds when we barely pulled off the victory! Glad to get the win, but we'll have to do better next week if we want to have a shot against Hawaii.

Sunday and Monday we were up at Camano soaking in the sunshine. After multiple failed attempts over the past few years, we finally caught our first crab in the crab pot! I don't eat crab so I could care less, but Rob, Ka and Marc were pretty excited so I was happy for them. I had my fun at the farmers market and then got adventurous and threw an avocado on the BBQ. I just cut it in half and placed it faced down on the grill. Marc tried to talk me out of it because he thought it would end up melting and making a mess, but it actually turned out good! Even though it was a holiday weekend, there weren't too many boats out on the water. It's so peaceful up there - now I'm thinking about maybe getting a paddle board for next summer. So if anyone needs a birthday or Christmas idea for me...! :)

Sailing the world

Yesterday my brother was in town and we went to see an acrobatic boat show! A couple from France was in town performing two free shows at the Elliot Bay Marina over in Magnolia. Since 2004, Franck and Delphine have been performing acrobatic routines on their sailboat "La Loupiote" in different cities and marinas while sailing around the world. Quite an amazing life! They use the mast, boom, rigging and other parts of their sailboat to perform aerial acrobatics choreographed to music. It was a fun show to watch and it made me want to go take another trapeze class!

Girl's camping

This past weekend was our annual girl's camping trip - one of my favorite weekends of the summer! We had a small group this year because unfortunately a few people couldn't make it, but we still had a blast with just the four of us! We stayed at Ft. Ebey which is on Whidbey Island. Sonia and Anya drove down from Bellingham, and Yael and I came up from Seattle. The ferry ride to the Island was beautiful

However, when I reached the campsite, it was all fogged in and freezing cold. The girls jumped in my car and we set off to chase the sun. We drove into Oak Harbor and found a beach where we spent the afternoon.

 

When we returned to Ft. Ebey the sun was out so we had fun exploring the old bunkers and walking along the cliffside.

Thanks ladies for another fantastic weekend and I can't wait for our 10 year camping anniversary next summer!!!