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February 28, 2007
Timeloss
Beginning to get a bit frustrated with the amount of time I'm consuming when walking between Cardiff and Encinitas. I was thinking on the saunter back home that I could churn up to a day of 3 weeks here in Encinitas just walking along the Toaster line back and forth to and from the bus. Hmmmnn. I checked out the car rental situation and it wasn't as bad as I thought. Gonna re-check after this.
Work's finally got its stuff together and the kit is being fed-ex'd across here as I type. Hmnnn. I pointed out to them that I was effectively on a training course when I get back to Miami for 3 weeks so it's really only the next 2 weeks I have to do anything for them.
Practice today was tough. I'm getting plenty of help getting stuck into my hip joints from Tim and his assistants. The last 3 days I've been feeling sick when I first get into my hips as I prep for ardha baddha. Not a nice feeling at all. Thankfully it passes. Kiran found practice hard today too, which actually made me feel better. It's one of the things I like about practicing in a group.. the sense that I'm not in this on my own and there's other people having 'fun' too. Thing is, if the likes of Kiran's having a hard time of it as flexible as she is, how am I supposed to manage when I get up to that level? Gads, more chitta vritti for the monkey to mangle.
Posted by graeme at 10:10 PM | Comments (0)
February 27, 2007
They're the only ones I've got
It rained this morning as I walked for the bus to class. Ha! Only my 4th day of rain in over 4 months, jeez, I'd forgotten how 'refreshing' it can be! Now I remember why I wanted to come on a world trip away from Scotland :>
Practice was a quiet affair for me, lots of time to check in with the breathing and the end of my nose. It can be difficult sometimes to prevent myself from having a good gawk around the room as everyone here has such amazing practices I'm in awww of it a little bit. Ok, in Miami there was about 7 or 8 people far into 2nd series but here there's loads of them. Eaakkkk. Gotta pay more attention to the end of my nose. I think Kiran practising next to me was checking out her toe nails in back bends she was like hanging there for so long before quietly dropping down into her hands. Wow!
Tim stepped in between my arms in Marichyasana C today and after pulling on my arms and shoulders for a little while said "You're attached to those arms of yours, aren't you?" Well, yeah kinda. Only ones I have, but I knew what he was getting at. I'm kinda stiff around there.
It really amazes me how the really good teachers can get to that part of my practice that I'm having most difficulty with really quickly. The Iyengar teacher back home noticed my stiff back after 1 practice, Dena my hips and now Tim and my shoulders. These guys certainly have great vision.
It's brightened up now though I'm in a starbucks checking on the internet speed before the J.O.B. delivers a laptop for me to do some work for them. No use in being able to develop some stuff if it takes yonks to send it back to them. I'm considering getting myself some wheels so I can get around town and see abit more of the area. Got a message from Return To Mysore yesterday to call him which I'll need to follow through on tonight. Wow, I'd love to go see him up in the big smoke, it's been like 26 months since we sang Beatles numbers at the Southern Star!
Posted by graeme at 10:40 PM | Comments (0)
February 26, 2007
Galley slaves
I spent most of the class this morning thinking about galley slaves, down below decks pounding away on their oars to the beat of the counting drum.
It was the first Mysore class for me today at Tim's. I got a lift in with Julie which was handy though I felt really sorry for her when she mentioned Max as it didn't sound too promising what she was saying about the wee guy.
It's a different set up here to Miami for Mysore class. In Miami everyone faces their mat towards the end of the room where the picture of Pattabhi Jois sits by the windows. Here, in Encinitas mats go down against the 2 longest walls and windows with people effectively facing each other. The room was fairly empty when I started but within about 10 minutes there must've been about 25 odd people in the room.
Ok. By that I mean 25 plus/minus a few, rather than the fact that the people are not right in the head! Yesterday the receptionist mistook me when I asked about leaving my mat with her. She said I could lock it up outside against the wall. My mat? Is there lockers out there or something. "Oh, I thought you said your bike". Err, no.
It's funny to me how in one place I can take 2.5 hours to get through a 1/2 primary yet here I can get through all of primary, well, atleast my version of it, in around 2 hours. I had to rush a bit at the end but i got most of it. Help today was first class. I got a bit of a telling off for not engaging my soft quads in forward bends, then sat on during a prep I was doing for ardha baddha, then I got squished up really nicely in Mari-C by Tim's assistant on both sides. The guy was almost sitting in my lap but it allowed him to get his hands round to take my shoulders one way AND pull my hip round the other way. The twisting effect was really strong. Tim helped me get my fingers to touch on my better side for Mari-D. That'd be a first for me. I heard Tim say near the end "Right, let's get this Scottish guy". Next thing I knew I was up in Urdhva Dhanurasana getting straightened out from both ends. Man, that's a lovely adjustment!! I'm really bad at being an outside observer when I'm getting adjusted and it's always afterwards when I think "Oh, maybes I should've been more relaxed/more engaged during all of that". Hmmnn.
Nearer the end of the class when I became aware of Tim and his assistant walking about more. I kept getting the impression of us all being galley slaves on this sunlit, immoveable boat. However, it was a happy ship with Captain Tim and his first mate trying to eeek out of each of us our best work for the day, the rythmic passing of asana after asana taking each of us on.
It was topped off when a toddler came in to the class and started woddling around on all floors, stopping to stare at me and my feet in savasana, then pulling himself up to standing by climbing up one of the girls torso as she was in an Up-dog!!
It's certainly a friendly, warm, welcoming yet committed class Tim has here. And that was only the 6 or so students I could see down my end of the room. I can see why so many people make the effort to get here every morning.
Posted by graeme at 10:59 PM | Comments (2)
February 25, 2007
Back with Tim
It took me 90 minutes to get to Tim's class this morning. In what's more than coincidence both times I've started with Tim now I've been last in to class. Huh. And I'm like one of these people who prefers to get to anything.... places, trains, airplanes, meetings, dates, you name it, I just prefer to get there early, then I can atleast relax knowing I'm not going to be running late. Tim even remembered me from Maya Tulum which was a nice welcome.
After yesterday's improv, I actually felt really good during practice, up until Ardha Baddha and the knee troubles I've been mothering for some weeks now. Well, stiffness is still there, though the extra warmth let me bind in Mari B for the first time in a while. The heat in Tim's place is kinda strange, least where I was practicing, in the sense if feels like being out in the sun rather than in a tropical green house that some places feel like. I certainly felt warm enough, and breath was good and even, though I managed to keep relatively sweet free.
Tim's assistants are just fantastic by the way. Often or not I find that all I see of adjusters are their ankles or finger tips, but the effects that they have on my practice, especially recently, has been amazing. Having adjusted practitioners in my own group back home, and gone with out adjustment myself for about a year, it's been a real endulgence for me to have adjustments from some of the best people in each country that I've been. Today was certainly no different.
I ran into Julie when I stumbled out of class and we exchanged a few words before she left for her daughter's birthday. She's kindly offered to give me a lift to class tomorrow which was real nice of her, especially hearing what's happened recently with her dog Max.
If today's start's anything to go by I'm going to have a great time here in Encinitas.
Posted by graeme at 11:56 PM | Comments (0)
Stroll to Encinitas
Today I went to the ashtanga center and took part in the improv class. Man, these things are just great! I'd been bound up in a plane seat for most of the day before so getting in to the class was a blast. Jeez, my hips just loved all the different movements they were going through. Oh and holding them for an extra length... Hmmnnnn, lovely.
Teacher did a 5 minute headstand at the start of class. I'd heard about these sort of things but never taken part in one before. Wow, it's so much different from doing it at the end of class when I'm a bit more tired. Just feels the same as standing on my feet! And the 5 minutes? Passes in no time at all.
After class the girls walked down to the beach and I wanted to walk into Encinitas. Here's some snaps from on the way (some taken on the way back)...
This is the toaster (in silhouette). Ok it's actually called the Coaster, but it just looked like a big toaster to me. Could just imagine some toast popping out the tops !!!!
American flag. Nice, huh!
Down by the beach, first day
This'd cause a fight back home for sure.... Liverpool above Manchester (United)?? Never !!!!
Hard to believe I'm in America what with the towned called Cardiff, and the street names as they are. Well. Forest Gump's on TV tonight! Now, that's better!! :>
Posted by graeme at 4:10 AM | Comments (0)
February 24, 2007
Cardiff by the Sea
It's freezing here! But hey, it's lovely and by the beach. The place is great, my friend from Maya Tulum is very welcoming, and there's no-one here that snores!!!! Yippeee!
I took a walk around town today. Had breakfast at Pipes. Well, they may call it breakfast but it was more like breakfast and lunch rolled into one there was that much good food on the table! Yum. Delicious for sure. The town is pretty small, but it's on the beach with the "Toaster" rumbling past every 20-30 minutes. It's got a nice town-that-fells-between-the-cracks-of-2-cities sort of a feel to it. Kinda place you can leave your door latched most of the time rather than locked. Oh. The waitress thought it was totally cool that I had an accent, and the shop assistant wanted to buy my Brazil top! Ha. Somethings never change. :>
Tomorrow I'm hoping to go to class which will be a blast. Will finally get a chance to scope out Encinitas and take a look around. It may be my last chance for some respite. 49 emails in from work today. Not good.
Posted by graeme at 6:34 AM | Comments (3)
February 21, 2007
Twists and turns
It's so funny to sit back sometime and watch how my life unfolds before my very eyes. Sometimes I just sit there and think "what the (parental advisory, expletive deleted - sorry mum") and can't think where to put my next foot down, then all of sudden a day like today happens and boom, there it is, the next mile and a half down the road as clear as daylight.
So what happened today? Well, nowt much I suppose. Just a couple of emails from back home telling me of things that are changing, some not so good, some pretty good, and some down right amazing. if all this comes to pass the yoga scene in Glasgow's about to get a mighty kick up the ass and pumped up another gear. I'm actually quite envious that I'm not there just now when some of this stuff comes out. It really is amazing how the Universe works sometimes. I'd say more but I don't want to jinx things.
It's one of those "if you build it they will come" moments (Yeah!!!! Finally managed to get a Kevin Costner quote into my blog!) when I've wanted something to happen but it never looked like being on the cards, then all of a sudden there's plans a foot to bring them to my home studio. Well. Would you adam and eve it.
:>
Posted by graeme at 11:27 PM | Comments (0)
February 20, 2007
Done with Miami, for now anyway
I had my last practice at Miami Life this morning and I've gotta say I really enjoyed my time there. It's been a bit strange being in a Mysore environment where the class is 70% male energy but it's been nice that they've welcomed me so openly into their mids. I'd imagine that it's true of most places that people might keep their distance until they realise you're not just passing through and take a bit of time to say a word of hello. Most places I've been this trip, Mysore (India) aside, people are rushing off somewhere else after class, usually work, and their mindset switches into that gear way before they leave the studio. Still, the people who have stopped to exchange have all been really nice. Can't recommend Miami enough, and that's before Kino and Tim get here!
Lovely day at the beach today. I've been trying to learn the count for some of the postures as part of my training with David Keil. People sitting nearby must've thought me nuts or something as I kept picking up Lino Miele's book, taking a quick look (to check my count) then putting the book away. This went on for about an hour or so. It's actually really hard to mentally count through a primary series without losing track. It's a great way to show the chitta-vritta that goes on. I think I must've counted the Padottanasana sequence about 6 times before I got through it without losing track. Much easier to do it with an actual class there for sure.
To be honest I'm going to miss Miami a fair bit. Not only it's weather but the people and the setup itself. Life's kinda easy by the beach, especially when the only thing you've got to do is done by 8am. Thereafter it's pretty much a chill-out zone. Still, the trip to San Diego will be good for me to mix things up for a little while.
Posted by graeme at 10:57 PM | Comments (0)
February 19, 2007
Working mind
Seems that my mind is locking back into a working mindset what with the cold weather that's descended and the need inside my little mind to get things sorted and laid out proper with all the remaining stuff on this laptop, which is thankfully now done.
I had a non-event sort of a practice this morning. I was there and turned up, albeit a little bit late, well it is President's day across here today, whatever that is. But I feel like my practice is just a little bit somewhere else at the moment, that I'm not remaining present or paying much in the way of attention. My breath has gone completely south for the winter, just when I was beginning to think that I'd finally discovered Ujjayi breath in all its glory. Well, there you go, lesson there somewhere. Oh, and I need to buy a new tooth brush pronto.
Atleast the sun is shining today and its looking a bit warmer if not quite feeling it yet. I shouldn't grumble, I've seen the pictures from other parts of the country and it's bliss compared to what they've got elsewhere.
Expecting the phone to go any minute now with work giving me the get-go on the next stage of the project. Well, atleast it will help with the bank balance and give me something to get stuck into.
This entry's a bit scattered today, which is a good reflection of my state of mind. I'm so looking forward to getting a solid night's sleep away from the hostel here.
Posted by graeme at 4:21 PM | Comments (0)
February 17, 2007
Life is a movie....
I get the feeling sometimes I'm just watching the world go by, time and tide and all that, and that in many ways it's what I imagine being in a movie is like. It's so surreal sometimes being in a place that I've seen on T.V. and now to be actually walking along the streets and beaches it feels, well, weird.
And now that a change is a foot, and I'm moving on again, I get this gut feeling from within that part of me has already left, and part of me is preparing to stay forever. I think it's a sign that I'm having fun if I'm missing a place before I even leave. Can't get much better than that. Miami's certainly the sort of place I wished a little bit that I'd come to before now, but I'm sure if I had things would've been different, the place, the people, the temperament, and the pace of life. Still. I got here in the end and that's a good thing.
Where to next?
Oh yeah. Encinitas. Another dream about to be fulfilled.
Posted by graeme at 10:45 PM | Comments (0)
February 16, 2007
Un jour au lit
Today I actually had a day off, no dreams, no confusion, just me and my bed. I'd put it down to the fact that I have one class left on my pass and wanted to keep it for Sunday's led but in all honesty I just felt like having a bit more rest. Which is weird as inwardly I've been thinking that practice hasn't been taking much out of me physically - I've always felt I could go further through the series than I'm stopping at - but I guess on a different level my body's needed a bit more rest than it's been getting. I'd say quality of sleep rather than quantity is a factor right now as the room mates make such a din either last thing at night or first thing in the morning I'm lucky to get 4 hours straight each night. Looking forward to a change of pace for sure.
Wine tasting last night was real good. Of course the wine I thought I would've liked based on my choice from the bottle turned out to be naff, but, heh, I know next to zip about french wine (other than you should always look for a bottle with a controlling number on it) and very little about alcohol in general. Never liked the taste of the stuff much as a kid, and more often than not ended up being the designated driver. It's that morning after the night before that gets me every time. It's such a waste of a day to spend the following day in bed recovering. There's my age showing again!
Talking of which, a big happy burpy day to my friend from Maya Tulum. She's got a big birthday today and I'm very happy for her.
Work called me again when I was on the beach yesterday. Darn, looks like I'm going to be getting back into development sooner than I thought though the change of pace will be a welcome respite. It's going to interesting to see how this all works with equipment and source as I've litterally nothing here with me.
Posted by graeme at 8:25 PM | Comments (0)
February 15, 2007
Pigeon Sex
Yeah I know, not much happening around here, is there.
The highlight today was watching 2 pigeons making out right there in front of me at the foot of the table. For a minute I thought it was a pigeon with her baby as the little brown speckled one was always at the other one's mouth, trying as hard as it could to, what looked like to me, get food out of the other one's mouth. Ok, for the romantics you could say that they were kissing.. altogether now, awwwwwh, but when the 'kissing' stopped the little brown one turned round, sunk it's head back into its neck and shoulders and the other one duly jumped on top, thank you very much. 2 quick flicks of the tail, and true traditional female styley got flung off from underneath. Game, set and match in under 1 minute. Now that's love.
Monsieur le Patron of the coffee shop is hosting a wine tasting at his cafe this evening. What with the 6am start tomorrow morning I'm thinking I might just skip class and go to the led primary on Sunday instead. I've got one class left on my pass and I really enjoyed the led class last weekend. I've been toying with the idea of doing some sun salutes on the beach in the morning as it's pretty level. I won't be making the same mistake as Byron Bay where I used my mat to practice on. Took me about 4 weeks to get the sand off it afterwards. Not good.
Nose bleed feelings again in backbends. Took my time and did lots of prep. It's fun now how I can feel like I'm actually resting on my arms rather than having to put in a lot of effort to hold myself what was literally just a couple of inches off the floor. Nice stretch in the abs too.
Ok. Am off to get drunk, I mean, taste some of this lovely wine !
Posted by graeme at 10:15 PM | Comments (1)
February 14, 2007
On a day when I sleep in...
I had a dream that I got up and went across town to practice at Coconut Grove. I got changed in the dark, brushed my teeth and packed my bag, loaded up with clothes to keep me warm on the scooter and headed out into the night.
The scooter sounded loud against the blank wall of the morning, the crispness of the time broken only by the murmur of a sunrise off to the East.
The petrol tank marker jutted down a notch, then another. "It's not that far! I should get some juice though, before I have to walk there". Thankfully I made it to the metrorail which silently sped me towards the shala. "Sun will soon be up".
"Is this where they do ashtanga?", I asked as I poked my head round the doorway. "Oh my god, you came!". Well, yeah, this is the place they do ashtanga afterall.
And in all good dreams things come easy, right? Like finally working out that if you take your toe by bending your knee inside your outstretched arm in Uthitta Hasta that your hip seems naturally a lot lower allowing the foot to lift higher into the air; that in forward folds you finally get told that pointing your feet but flexing your toes back is easier on the hamstrings than flexing your entire foot back, and it is; and that for some god knows reason back bends are soaring above the floor. Pushing from my feet my shoulders come a foot further across the mat, and my torso finally through in between my shoulders, scapula dropping and arms straightening, straightening so far I think I'll get a nose bleed I'm that much further off the floor. "Arrrggghhhh"
Oh and the Abs. Why is there a stretching of the connective tissue there? Why is it screaming "I've never done this before?".
If you fall asleep in savasana in a dream in your dream, is the dream still a dream or something else, like some meta-dream? Why is it that the teacher has you all doing Sun Salutes to the West? Is it because the blinds that shade the sun have fallen down over night, cos from where I stand, I see as much of the sun with my head between my legs as if I'd done the salutes facing East anyways. Huh. Thoughts. Funny little things.
And, yeah, it actually happened, it wasn't a dream. So maybe this is why I practice each morning. Fear that I'd miss something, or hope that the day I decide, 'fuck it - I'm not going to sleep in today, I'm actually going to put in some effort and get out of bed', that this is in fact the day that things do come.
But of course none of it matters, apart from the backbends that is. Awesome.
Posted by graeme at 11:02 PM | Comments (0)
February 13, 2007
Road to nowhere
Quite literally I think that would be kinda funny, y'know a plac called "Nowhere". It'd be a bit weird when people asked where you were going this weekend for sure, but y'know it'd be comforting in some ways when you finally got there.
I got this from the trans-miami bus trip I took today. I went out to see the "Mall of the Americas" for some light relief from the sun which wasn't shining anyway, plus it gave me a chance to indulge somemore in my new favourite pastime - listenting to podcasts of lectures from Princeton and Berkely Universities on my IPOD. It's a wonderful world I've discovered, damn site more interesting when I was an actually student - no exams. Now that's a big plus! So I spent about 2 hours getting there (after the accident on the isthmus before Biscayne and the stop/start of 11th street) only to find there was like NO shops there that took my interest. In fact I was outta there in under 10 minutes flat. Oh well. Atleast I had another 90 minutes to listen to another anatomy lecture.
Practice was somewhat great this morning too. There was 16 people in the centre this morning and I had to remind myself that the stuff I'm doing now first thing I could barely do late on in the evening practice back home. Ujjiayi breathing has taken on a whole new dimension. I've been thinking for the past 2 days how best to describe the difference to what I'm experiencing. For me it's like the difference between drinking from a bottle when you're using your bottom lip as a rest for the bottle, so you've only really got half the bottle opening in your mouth. Ujjayi for me now is like putting the whole of the bottle opening into my mouth and the air's just rushing in, cascading down my throat. It's weird as hell, but in a nice way.
Posted by graeme at 11:38 PM | Comments (0)
Well it had to happen sooner or later
No, not some earth shattering break through in my practice. The J.O.B. sent me an email asking if I wouldn't mind helping them out of a spot with their development efforts for a customer deadline. I'm flattered that they think I could help (yet again) and I know the consultant I work with would try all other avenues before asking me - she did put it very nicely. Thing is, I could probably include a trip to see my best friend in order to get access to the equipment/tools I'd need to get the job done. Plus it would be a little light relief from the yoga tour (as long as it doesn't take up too much time !!!!!!).
Practice was tough this morning but that's not surprising following on from the primary series I did yesterday. I had such a blast with that practice, especially since the friend I made in Maya Tulum came down to check out the studio and to practice which was real nice. Still, knees were kinda ouch this morning, but seeing as how time's not a problem at the moment I just took lots of time working things through. On the bus into town this afternoon I managed to cranck into my left hip a little and got some almost immediate relief from it.
Posted by graeme at 2:02 AM | Comments (0)
February 11, 2007
It would be rude not to
Monsieur le Patron at the little French Cafe I frequent these days, initial as they provide free wireless internet with every purchase and now because they're really nice people, was so nice last night that he invited me to join him and his friends outside the cafe. being French this included a somewhat lovely class of french wine, on the house as it goes.
So who am I to refuse?
Well it was simply lovely. Olivier and his friend allowed indulged me with my pigeon french for a while and dropped into english when they sensed I was having a bit problem to keep up with the conversation. I didn't try to explain to them my 6am yoga habit to them in french as the words just simply escape me. However, in the essence of a yogic experience the mere act of sharing with these friendly people really didn't warrant any form of explanation. Le Patron welcomed me into his life, was happy to share it with me, then bid me A Bientot when it was time for me to go home. A simple, effortless example of yoga in action. Ok, so the glass of red wine may have helped a little, as did the easy flow of the conversation and the convivial surroundings (we're beside a night club and opposite a strip bar!). But I get the sense that this guy makes his life out of making strangers feel friendly in this little corner of the Universe. In fact as I type the front sitting area is struggling to cope with all the friends passing by and dropping in to say Bonjour on their way to their watering hole of choice.
Ah it's nice to watch to world go by!
Posted by graeme at 1:16 AM | Comments (0)
February 9, 2007
Lazy day
Today was one of those practices that forces you to take a good look at your practice and just surrender to the fact that it's kinda naff. I went in with the intention of just going with the flow having spent the best part of all week having scrutinised every part of my practice to death following Tim's workshop in Maya Tulum. All I really wanted to do was sit and go with the breath and try not to get to cerebral about it all. Fat chance. Teacher adjusted me pretty much in every standing posture. Yikes! It was tough going and certainly I'm finding it beneficial to practice under different teachers if only to remind me how far I have to go with this thing and that it's not a race, time will come slowly and surely to me as with everybody else.
I had the hard task of finding 4 hours at the beach to fill today. It was in the mid 70s (25 centigrade) and very warm and sunny. I've a nice healthy glow about me now though admittedly I got a little bored near the end. Ended up taking the laptop up Lincoln Mall to work on converting more of my windows media audio files for the Mac. I even got down to reading up on Apple's development environment... man I'm more bored than I think :>
On a funnier side I've noticed twice now that some of the girls here delight in walking around with the top button of their trousers, shorts undone and the two flaps that the button/hole would be attached to wide open to the world - ok I got some testosterone issues going on at the moment! I had to laugh at the thought of girls in 'sunny' Glasgow trying this out. They'd freeze to death.
So glad tomorrow's a day off. Now I need to find some way of filling it !
Posted by graeme at 11:15 PM | Comments (0)
February 8, 2007
Dreaming of Yoga
I fell asleep on the beach this afternoon. It's been another scorching day and with the inmates at the hostel waking me at 3am with their snoring it's been a long long day. Practice was so so and again the group was mostly male energy. In fact their was only 1 female spirit in the room until I was coming out of finishing and another radiant soul turned up. It's a funny thing to say but I miss practicing in a room full of female energy. Huh! I never thought it would effect me but apparently it is. I'm really super aware of trying hard not to be competitive with the guys round about me, it's strange the way it draws itself out of you when you start to compare where you are in down-dogs compared to the guy behind you.... it's a slippery slope from there on down. I'll need to work on my driste more. There's a lesson in here somewhere I'm sure so I'll try and sit on it for a while and see if it gets to me more next week or whether it fades a bit.
Back to the beach. I fell asleep face down, nose buried in my t-shirt and woke to the sounds of a yoga class, least that's what it sounded like inside my head. When I looked up and unscrewed my eyes I was literally lying 2 feet away from a class mid-stride on the beach right there in front of me. It looked like it was a Gyrotechnics class, that's what it said on the seats each of the students had anyways, and was very fluid and wave like, vert apt seeing as how it was so close to the sea. Within 10 minutes however one of the girls in the class upt'd her mat, whipped her bottoms of and jumped into the sea for a quick swim before heading back towards the beach front. I guess that's one of the downsides of teaching by the sea it can be very tempting to just go for a dip (I'm sure she had another engagement to go for!).
Posted by graeme at 11:23 PM | Comments (0)
Models Inc
Today I must've seen about half a dozen girls in the street that I would've classed in the "Oh My God" category of phwoar-ness. It's unbelievable seeing a photographer sitting at a traffic light shooting with a long lens across the road behind you and when you turn back to look at what he's shooting and you just about stumble over your bottom lip. Huh. There's a czech girl that sits in this French Cafe quite regular doing the same email stuff I do. According to Monsieur le-owner she's a model too. Funny, but I kinda prefer the lass that runs the boutique a few doors up... more natural and all.
Anyways, back from fantasy land. Practice this morning was a bit of a hotch-potch seeing as how the centre's first class is at 9am not 6am. They kinda have this day-off thing going on here at the Miami Life Centre on a Wednesday which is a bit weird and as I expected I was wide awake at 5am ready for the usual walk to class. Still, gave me a good oppportunity for some weird dreams about trying to convince a class of teenagers I could teach them ashtangi in preference to McDonalds. I also had a dream snippet where I was absolutely bursting my eyes out crying, over what I'm not sure. Maybe the models, the McDonalds or something else for sure. It's a bit like being down the rabbit hole with Dorothy, nothing seems to be real on the surface, though the guys at Athens juice bar and the french coffee shop are real enough, with actual lifes and stories to tell. Just today I was getting around town.. There's all these massive high rise buildings but no people.. it seems so quiet, and no real sense of a business centre or soul to the downtown area. I guess it just reminds me of Dubai with all the construction going on. I just expected to see more people.
Posted by graeme at 1:29 AM | Comments (1)
February 6, 2007
Maya Tulum Last Pictures
Finally managed to work out how to resize the images to a more suitable upload level. So here are some of the best ones from the group.
Tim makes a point
Another homework assignment???
Art work, Maya Tulum style
Tug of War!
Nose dive!
Days like these
Cheese
I've only got Flickr's basic account so here's what I've managed to load up so far....
I can't get the url to work to flickr so for now try pasting this link into your browser.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25094809@N00/Sets
Posted by graeme at 5:12 PM | Comments (1)
Miami Life
I took part in my first practice her yesterday morning. It's always a bit weird practicing with a new group of people, not knowing what the etiquette is or anything, where you place your mat, when do you chant, do you chant? all the usua questions, and it's a great chance to sit and just life for the moment and see what comes up. As usual everything kinda fell into place one way or another and the guy leading the group was realy good to boot. So happy practice all round. Heck even my knees weren't complaining too much.
Yesterday was also the first day of a new routine of basically having nothing to do after 8am for the rest of the day. It's ok in Mysore where there's a whole bunch of people to hang out with but when you're in a city where you know 3 people and 2 of them are out of town you're kinda left to your own devices most of the time. So a good time to spend sorting out some of my rubbish, getting my laptop back up to scratch and doing a bit of planning. Oh, but as it was a bit cold and wet outside I did the next best thing and went shopping.
I know I'm losing some inches around my waist but I tried a pair of cargo pants marked "Small" on yesterday up at the mall and you could've parked a bus in the gap at the front there was so much room. The 30 inch belt looks massive on me too but thankfully the t-shirt I bought fits nice and neat. It was the quickest way to re-align myself to the way of life here as compared to Maya Tulum. What with the SuperBowl crowds and all the shenanigans it's been a bit unbearable at times. Still, more used to it now.
Ok. now to fill the day. I yes, I forgot about that little plan.....
Posted by graeme at 4:33 PM | Comments (0)
February 5, 2007
Back to Miami and Superbowl XLI
The trip back from Maya Tulum was a bit of a let down as the airport in Cancun was totally packed. I'm not sure what was causing all the delayed flights, weather in Dallas, or back log of planes at Cancun, whatever, but needless to say I didn't get back until 3 hours after I was supposed to. By that time the crowds of people here for the Superbowl had turned South Beach into a bit of a pedestrian only area. In effect, you were quicker to walk mostly as the cars were jamming back all over the place. Still, I got my same bed back in the same dorm in the hostel I was staying at, and even better the snorers had moved further down the dorm. Bliss !!!
I must say I had a totally fantastic time with Tim Miller and if you get the chance to go work with him then I'd definitely recommend him to you. He's top notch. There was so many heart felt words of thanks for him at the closing circle that someone said later it had brought a wee tear to his eyes. To think that he's been passing on his words of advice to students from the four corners for so long is just one of the measures of the man. He's funny, warm, so knowledgeable and patient he's a real inspiration. I can only hope that our paths will cross again.
And as for the other students? Well, they were just superb as well. I'll not forget Bill, my room mate, for a while to come. His openness to join a group so obviously in advance of his own practice, but the humility he displayed in being open to helping us all learn from him really filled me with warmth. The people I met from all parts of America, and even from Russia, really quickly jelled into a close nit friendship that it was hard to say goodbyes at the end. And when a workshop week goes so quick it only goes to show how much fun I had.
Oh, and a wee thanks to the kind soul who helped keep me up to 2.30am on a school night, for her company, her friendship, her warmth and kindness. I miss you already.
Julie, you were right about who was in the back of the picture.
And now back in Superbowl land the hard work of assimilating the last 2 weeks into my own practice begins. Fun times ahead.
Posted by graeme at 3:19 AM | Comments (0)
February 2, 2007
Maya Tulum Day 4 and 5
I didn't blog yesterday as a group of us had got together to take part in a pre-hispanic sweat lodge called Temascal. 14 of us huddled into what is basicially and oven and went through the centuries old ritual of spiritual cleansing. Well. I guess it was ok. I thought it mostly a bit hoaky, especially when the guide revealed he wanted to share that he had been bad to women all his life. It just didn't sit well with me. Not so much the cleansing, there was a fair bit of tears and release going on, but the ritualistic aspect, well, I guess it just isn't me. I found I felt the same way towards religion when I went to Church, and to some degree how I felt about rugby when I was playing. The concept is ok on the surface but it just gets a bit whacked by the people running the show. Close but no cigar.
I almost forgot, Tim relented to a request to run an improv class on Wednesday (my first) and boy was it fun. We ran through Sun A, B and a C version incorporating a lot of standing, then leading into arm balances, a couple from 2nd and 3rd series (whose names I'd never remember). Today's the last day so we're running through a lot of the postures now to catch up. One of the girls here today has a scary back bend in the sense she could go up then twist her shoulder so she could see her feet. The girl next to me almost had a fit everytime she did it!
Here's a couple of shots. Still haven't figured out flickr upload for mac but to be honest I haven't really been trying.
Ok, that didn't work too well. Will have to do another time as it's sunny out and everyone's on the beach and I'm inside. Yeuch. Gotta go!
Posted by graeme at 8:45 PM | Comments (0)