Ashtanga Traveler

It is hard to know where to start when you return from places where time has been pushed backwards. It seems like many lifeltimes wrapped up in one expereince.

The workshop in Gisborne was terrific, actually quite amazing in many respects. It is always a bit strange practicing in a new environment...but it did not really seem to matter all that much.

From there we headed north camping for a week with another family....so in all 5 adults and 5 kids...wow, when did that happen. Luckily we picked a great family to camp with, as they have ALL the roadside gear....C and I have more backpacking gear, which means, small, light, and a major pain in the ass. The car camping ethos is very different...and I love the "pack the car up so much that you cannot see out the rear window."...dangerous of course, but exciting. We had heaps of shit. Next year....bike rack off the back and a roof rack for my surf board....okay I do not know how to surf YET, but that is my plan....and hopefully has been put into action this week with a close friend that has a lot of patience, a slightly munted long board that I can use and trash....and is keen to hit the waves.....so look out Piha.

H and C has a blast....owning each place we visited....Conrad caught a wee Kowai....which was very exciting for him....the littlest one catches the biggest fish.

This morning was my first day back at the yoga school. I relief taught the 6am Mysore class, and head back for the 7pm led tonight...sometime in the next few hours I will practice.

Anaura Bay

Tokomaru Wharf

ReRe

Brown's Bay (okay this is back in the Auckland area)

Cook's Cove Walkway

Tologa Bay

Cook's Cove Walkway Superheros

I am not used to getting up at 5am.....Holiday time was sun up to sun down, no watches, no cell phones, no computer, no real idea about what was happening when.....it was great. I got home just before 9am and Craig and Connie were still sound asleep. Huxley is over on Waiheke for a few days.....lucky kid.

Now.....well I taught the 6am class and the 7pm class yesterday...beginning and the end of the day work and practiced in between....then got home as usual abit razzed up from teaching....proceeded to watch movies til midnight without a clue it had gotten so late so fast....and then had to set the alarm again for 5am.....yikes.....

I was suprised that my first practice back at the yoga school was so cruisey, even light at times. Just did the primary, and brief easy backbends. But I did work the navasana handstands a bit.

My feet are gross...a month of no shoes....so imagine....pumice stone did not help that much I might add.

I also feel like drinking wine, all the time now.....had some amazing tastes down in Gisey...a lovely Viognier and Chardonnay from the Milton Vinyard.

I am just not quite ready to get back on it...yoga I am, but otherwise......looking forward to March.

When I talk to people I sometimes find it very difficult to actually "look" at them....the distance between my eyes, my point of vision, and the person seems too far away....the tunnel in my head is too long....and so rather than "look" I glance away. I do not show myself. Is this fear or is this just reluctance to be known? I am finding that more and more I feel this way, detached from the point of meeting someone, introducing simply the paperdoll of me, not the real me.

Every now and then I forget when I meet someone, or even talk to an aquaintnace already.....and it is those people that I then cling to perhaps too dearly.....for maybe it was just me that felt the tunnel disappear? I supppose it is not until I actually talk about this feeling that I will know.

I am not worried persae, just observant of how I am changing.
.....

The back at work thing definitely sucks. I have waited over a week to poste that....pretty good, huh?

Practice has been really quite amazing of late. I am the breath, inhale, exhale, no strain, no tension, just breath.

Life Reflective…okay maybe that is a bit overdone…really the deal is I am now facing the number 35…yep say it with me, thirty-five….today, January 28th…..right now in fact….and all I can actually do is ruffle my brow is a state of denial.

So the world is now an entirely different place, or so it seems with 35 year old eyes. Not quite ready for the bifocals, but soon I am sure.

I spent the day at the beach (Piha) with the daring duo. Huxley is of course Batman being the eldest and Conrad has made up a new super hero called Bat-Robin…now I have to tell Bat-Robin is not Robin, just so we are all clear. The guys played in the water for about 3 hours…not the white water sea though, just a wee tide pool. But I am still surprised they could even talk….a bit blue in the lips and skin pruned to hell and back..but quite happy and chirpy…and there is nothing like a little bone chilling cold to get them to sit still for once. But on the way back to the car…the demons arose…and man I let them have it… telling the both of them to shut up and not talk EVER again. Now I know already that Craig would say…�well if you were consistent in your parenting then they would not treat you so badly�….you are THE PUSH OVER, ya know….all I can say is try having the cutiest most charming little bastards on the entire planet and see how you do…..

Anyway, they both did eventually apologise…wow…cuz ya know the hardest thing for a kid to do is apologize….too bad, “sorry� is not a 4 letter word….

And then the most magical thing happened once we got home…Huxley said to me …and this was completely unprovoked…he said… “you look so beautiful in that dress, mum�….so you see why it is a difficult task raising these two.

Just to add in we had a wee birthday cake on the beach and they both sang happy birthday….telling me specifically that I was not to sing as well…but let’s face it, they needed some help…and then H insisted that we clap my birthday years….we actually made it to 35, although he nearly fell asleep by 21…. At 35 he said, “mom, can we stop my hands hurt.�

All the magic just faded away, as Huxley just ran into the room and said “Hi grandma!�

I have a few more stories up my sleeve….but I will save them for another day….

TBC

So what did I do on that oh so special day....a few of my friends here guessed...I told almost no one prior...what did I do...

I went SURFING!!!!!

First time ever...got a great lesson out at Muriwai Beach, about 35 minutes from Auckalnd along the west coast....

Okay...here are the stats

-5 foot waves out the back...apparently what that actually means is that they are 10 feet tall!
-surfed the white water closer in, about 1/2 way out to the break
-8ft soft board with ankle leash
-stood up 3 times out of about 50 attempts...okay I suck
-salt water gushed from eyes ears and nose for next 5 hours (who needs a neti pot anyway)
-did not need any rescue, although surf instructor was cute :)
-did get hypothermic (despite wearing an oh so sexy wetsuit)...could not talk, but brain was still working...funny, it reminded me of a mescaline trip about 15 years back in university....I wanted to answer the questions but the mouth was not able to move to make the words come out....chin chatter was another obstacle in word formation
-body temperature returned to normal after about an hour in a hot shower
-bruises on the knees and ribs for good measure
-one thing I had going for me....Burt's Bees Surf and Snow lip balm....it rules

Biggest problem....I can pop up no probelm, but I actually get my feet too far forward past the sweet spot and subsequently nose-dive, head over the handle bars...with the words "oh shit" lingering in the air above....

so it ain't a jump thru is it.....

On the last go the instructor had me start lying down much further back on the board, so that when I popped up I landed in the zone...all good

What did I learn....clearly alot of surf jargon...that is always a good way to impress the boyz, no

Gonna have another go next week... yes I am totally hooked

And I was think'in I might suggest to Guruji that he add a pop up after charturanga in salutes A and B.....think he would go for it?

I have being getting some seriously wicked adjustments in karandavasana of late.....while it is still much a of a team effort what my teacher has been doing is just so spot on.

So the gig goes like this...I kick up into the forearm stand and then kung fu hustle into padmasana, starting to lower down at the same time as I am squeezing my knees together and moving my feet towards my hip flexors (as fast as possible).....I suck my feet in as close as I can to my gut, and lift my head up as I land...now this is actually heaps better....but then my teacher comes in for help, and what he has been doing is to help me get my knees in even closer by lifting my up just slightly and wiggling my knees inward towards the armpits....I end up feeling like a sandwhich.....with the top part of the arm and my torso as the bread and my lotus squashed legs as the meat...or vegetarian option if you prefer....

it feels quite cool.... then my teacher helps me up again, but he does make me work for it...and I have now been able to unfold and find my balance plus exit by landing sort of correctly in chaturanga.....

Now, the other cool thing is that I now have mayurasana :)..... I really like that pose. I feel a bit like a see-saw...if a see-saw had feelings that is...