One month in Finland

Grabe, time flies fast when you're enjoying it.  I've been in Finland for one month and it seems like I've been here for so long.  University life has been amazing and I'm learning a lot from the best professors in the field of sport and exercise psychology (SEP).  My mind was already thinking about sharing all these new knowledge to my dear UP.  For sure, I will first share it with my beloved UP Pep Squad and then I was thinking maybe it will help the UP Fighting Maroons to have a better mental attitude.  I'm not a basketball fan but my colleagues back home used to say that they have the talent.  It's just not working.  This topic should be discussed in the other blog but couldn't decide yet if I should make that blog a little more formal or should I keep it similar to this but just focus on SEP.

To open each day with heart full of gratitude and thanksgiving.

That is one of the many things that I learned from Paul.  I am grateful to be here in Finland.  It's a beautiful country and for a student of ashtanga and sports, it is the best place to be. 
When I was still doing my bachelor's, my friends called me "Jogas", taken from the first syllable of my first name, and last syllable of my family name.  In the Philippines, it sounds a bit funny because it means something else when you drop the "s".  I searched for the meaning of "Jogas" in other language and later found that it means "yoga" in Latvia.  Then if you drop the "s" and add another "o", it becomes 'yoga' in Finnish.  Of course, we can consider these things to be as simple as coincidence.  But somehow, it's a very meaningful coincidence.  "Jogas" also means 'yoga' in Lithuania.  Then there's "Jogos" which means games in Portuguese.  

So I guess the nickname that my friends back in college gave me sealed my destiny.  Funny, isn't it?  But it bears some truth in it.

Here's a video that my Finnish friend Anna shared on her fb wall last week.  It's a promotional video of the University of Helsinki but most of it really is about Finland.  As winter comes, I might get depressed and start hating being here, my thought is that I will go back to this video and remember the reasons why I am here... por da kawntri en por may pipol.

My university, Jyväskylän yliopisto (University of Jyväskylä) is 4 hours away from Helsinki.  Here's my university's video.



And to celebrate my first month in Finland, I attended Frank Kappas' mysore classes at Ashtanga Jyväskylä.  One of the reasons why I chose Finland over Greece and Sweden is the yoga.  The SEP programme is offered in consortium with universitires in Greece, Sweden, Germany, and Finland.  During the application process, I had to choose my home university.  There's an ashtanga studio 3 minutes from the university and that made my decision.  I've been there 4 times before yesterday and I loved it.

Talking about practice, I've only been practicing until laghu vajrasana the past few weeks and yesterday did until bakasana B.  This morning, Frank asked me if I have done the succeeding poses and I told him I've been taught until pincha mayurasana.

Ok, I'm lying.  I've been taught the whole 2nd by JS but I feel it's unofficial because Paul didn't "give" it to me.  Plus, I practice until pincha only for two reasons: first, I'm still trying to refine kapotasana, and second, I want to keep my asana practice under two hours.  Common, I still have life outside the yoga mat.  When I was in Manila, I had to earn a living, spend a lot of time commuting.  Now, I have articles and books to read.


So going back, after bakasana B, I did the poses until pincha.  Then he helped me into karandavasana and taught me how to flip to chatvari/chaturanga.  I was surprised that I was able to do it.  Bandha is definitely coming back.  Then he told me to do mayurasana, and when he noticed that I couldn't lift my legs off the ground and balance, he said something like, "That's your last pose. Ok? Work on that."

"Ok."

Oh wait, there's more.  Urdhva dhanurasana, drop backs, and assisted tick-tocks.

I'm definitely enjoying being a student here.  I feel blessed for this opportunity to focus on both SEP and yoga.  The responsibility for now is to experience life one season at a time.


Moi,

Jogas