Cooking not happening

Hence... the absence of food/recipe entry the past few weeks. Tried to make potato soup using my newly bought Osterizer as suggested by Tesa. The machine was fine but the cooking sucked. I guess that happens when one doesn't put one's whole consciousness into the process. Again... cooking is an art... not a science... when the consciousness isn't there... trash is created not art... so that was dinner tonight.

Good thing I bought Putong Queso at Trinoma. That was a good way to end a not so good dinner. I still don't have a fridge. The small one we have downstairs is shared by 3 other people so there's no motivation to buy fresh fruits and veggies because there's no space already. I'm thinking of moving out soon.

I WANT MY OWN KITCHEN!!!

Om shanti, shanti, shanti.

Our Deepest Fear

Received this from Joanne today.

here is the poem that Neil quoted from Marianne Williamson

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

I'm still in Lonavla and enjoying every single day practicing pranayama with Tiwariji... wonderful people in the course... both teachers and students... GREAT food... learning kriyas like danda dhauti, vastra dhauti and shanka prakshalan. It's the last leg of this "journey" and there's nothing greater to end this than studying the Sacred Breath.

Looking forward to home soon.

May all be well.

Namaste.

Liberation

Arrived at the Kaivalyadham Yoga Institute yesterday with Janet and we don't really have anything until tomorrow so we're in town now to use the internet as the internet facility at the institute is not working today.

I like the place. The weather now is also perfect for more subtle practices like pranayama and meditation.

Nothing really much to say except that the food is great! Will start taking photos of the food next week. Still need time to get into the flow. Will be here for a month and not really sure if I'd get to be online very often.

Om.

Letting go...

“Loi Krathong” is traditionally performed on the full moon night of the twelfth lunar month, which usually falls on some day in November. The floating of a ‘Krathong' – a banana–leaf cup – is intended to float away ill fortune as well as to express apologies to Khongkha or Ganga, the River Goddess. Some believe that the ritual is meant to worship the Buddha's footprint on the bank of the Narmada River, while others say that it is to pay respect to Phra Uppakhut, one of the Lord Buddha's great disciples. (Source)

Janet and I went to the river early this evening to send out our krathongs. I was in bed the whole day reflecting on this journey and all that has been happening back home. Made me realize really that the deeper one goes into this so-called spiritual path, the more one realizes that you have no one with you but yourself. As much as we would like to believe that things will remain the same when we go home... truth is it isn't.

Change, as it has always been, remains the only thing constant in this life.

On Friday, I will fly back to India to study pranayama with Tiwariji. This time in Thailand triggered something within and the focused time at the institute should be good for reflection. Whatever comes out of this experience will only reveal itself as time passes by.

Letting go is difficult. But sometimes, it is necessary for us to move forward.

May the River Goddess accept our krathongs... our wishes and apologies... and allow us to have a better life.

Oh, Jessica and I went to a Thai vegetarian cooking class with May Kaidee and it was fantastic. I learned how to cook 10 dishes and I'm getting excited to feed my family with vegetarian food when I get home this December. Thai-Indian vegetarian Christmas dinner it is.

Namaste.

City Rat

From beach bum to city rat... I'm now in Bangkok and staying at the funky Suk11 Hostel. Got a nice basic single room on the 4th floor and big enough space to do my practice. Will attend classes at the Ashtanga Yoga Bangkok starting tomorrow.

Off to do the river cruise today. Friend Jessica said it's a boat ride up the canal but not sure if she'd call it a cruise. Should be a more relaxed day compared yesterday.

And guess what's the first thing I did after checking in the hostel. Went to see the latest Bond 007 movie at the Major Cineplex in Ekkamai. Glad to be back in a big city and enjoy the malls before heading back to India for the pranayama intensive.

Sawasdee krap.

Beach Bum

I'm getting used to this. Yoga in the morning, then beach bumming until the sun sets. Didn't stay on the beach today though. Rented a scooter and took it for a spin. Beach hopped from Rawai to Nai Harn, Yanui, Karon, Kata, Patong. Phuket is blessed with many beautiful beaches and you can find one that suits your taste and personality. If you want something laid back with less tourist, you can go to Rawai (although it's not really somewhere you can swim), or Nai Harn. The other places tend to be very touristy. Just scooted to see the different beaches but didn't really stay.

Nai Harn Beach

Yanui Beach

Yanui Beach

Julie and I had lunch at this Chinese vegetarian place in Chalong then went to the post office to send my extra stuffs home.

We weren't able to rent an automatic scooter until about 3pm so I had only 3 hours to bum around. Julie lent me their non-automatic scooter a couple of days ago and being a motor vehicle neophyte, I found it difficult to control it. I only learned how to scoot last year in Samui, thanks to my Austrian friend Nicola who was a professional motorcycle driver. Oh and guess what? I still don't have a driver's license! I didn't have a car when I was in Manila so there wasn't really a need to learn how to drive... or so I thought.

Karon View Point

Anyway, after exploring those beaches in the Southwest part of the island, I've decided to just spend the rest of my stay in Nai Harn Beach. It's closer to Rawai and I can see the sun set at Phromthep Cape, the southern most tip of the island, on my way back.

Oppsss.. it's almost 7. Got to go back to Julie's to catch supper. That's all for today. Cheers.

Walk and Sail Away

Oh boy, this day was a blast! Started it with a walk up to the Big Buddha of Phuket. It takes about 45 minutes walk up and another 40 minutes down. It wasn't hard because to do it with a bunch of yogis who just had a weeklong of daily ashtanga practice was just awesome.

We reached the top and sat for some homemade oatmeal cookies from Julie.

It was a rather misty day but you can just imagine how lovely this view would be on a sunny day. Then after walking down. Julie and Cindy (who just had a successful art exhibit a couple of nights ago which we all attended) dropped Ben and I off at the Chalong docking area where Marieke (another regular student of Julie who also attended my classes) would pick us up. She's a skipper and has sailed a boat from Thailand to Greece with her husband Bert. After the class one morning, she just asked if we want to go sailing with her. And who can decline such an offer? I tell you, this will probably the first and the last time that I'd set my feet on a sail boat because it is expensive!!! But if you're a skipper like Marieke, you can get to use other people's boats for free provided of course that you'd bring food and take turn stirring the wheel and hoisting the sail. Or you can simply do your job well and be invited onboard ;-) I must have been really good to deserve this. I can get used to this.
Just in case any of you would be interested in sailing in Asia, check out Faraway Yachting's website here.

Ok, I have to go to bed and hope that my luck doesn't run out. I still have a week here in Phuket and I intend to enjoy the beaches in the next few days plus some massage gigs. Hoping for more sunny days. Ciao.

And the Sun came out...

It's just amazing how time passes by very quickly. About same time last year, M and I would just be chatting about my 2008 travel plans and now it's already past the halfway mark.

Got one more week in Phuket and it will be just a week of yoga and chilling out by the beach. After days of cloudy sky and rainshower, the sun finally came out yesterday... last day of my one week teaching stint at Julie's shala. What a great way to finish an awesome week!

After the morning class, Julie's friend and practice buddy/yoga teacher Luigi came to practice with us. He studied with Lino Miele and therefore practices with full vinyasa. Lino is an old-school ashtangi and one of the few teachers who still teaches the full vinyasa system and the press to handstand from navasana. I've practiced full vinyasa in 2003 at the former Jagad Yoga shala in the Philippines when a visiting teacher came to teach a workshop for a week. I was new to yoga then and man, was it tough! Though like with anything else, one simply needs to get used to it and find one's rhythm. But with Luigi keeping the pace, I'd say it was one hell of a great practice.

After practice, Julie whipped a mixed fruit shake for us... "to keep the blood sugar up" as she'd say. It was also almost noon so Ben (yup, Ben the OFW/yogi from KL... he came just for the workshop... a fellow Pinoy on the ashtanga path... thanks for coming mate!), Julie and I decided to have lunch in Nai Harn. We had Thai vegetable fried rice with egg, stir fried kale and mixed fried veggies with curry. Yum! Enjoyed the sun and the beach after.

It looks like it's another sunny day today so we're off to a morning walk up to the Phuket Big Buddha and then join Marika for sailing. Yes, sailing!!! This must be a dream... a dream I want to be in for the rest of my life, hahaha.

Watch Lino presses from Navasana to handstand and be inspired! Namaste.

Island Hopping

I'm back online in Phuket! Survived the 12-hour layover in Bangalore... arrived in Singapore at 6:30 am... met Singaporean friend Daisy... who then brought me to Suntec for a breakfast of local Singaporean coffee (which tasted really nice and chocolatey) and roti naan.
Rushed to the nearby hotel to attend James Figueira's workshop. Had a quick brunch in Chinatown... carrot cake (it's actually steamed shredded radish and fried with some Singaporean sauce) and vegetarian laksa... before I head back to the airport to catch my flight to Phuket at 1pm.

It was mad! What was I thinking? I had a great time though. Too bad I wasn't able to transfer the 2 bottles of Kaya that Daisy gave me into my checked-in luggage so it went to the trash bin as the security didn't allow me to carry it onboard.

So after the very boring 12-hour layover in Bangalore... and a very exciting 6-hour food trip and ashtanga workshop in Singapore... I arrived in Phuket in the afternoon of Oct 25 and happy to see Julie again. Had a great time catching up. We had her famous lentil pie and homemade chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

Will post more photos and maybe stories in the next few days. I have wifi until I leave Phuket so will take this opportunity to upload more stuffs.

Cheers for now.

Waiting Patiently

Like the plant that waits patiently for the sun everyday... I am waiting patiently for my flight to Singapore at 11 this evening. Have been bumming at the Bangalore airport since 10 this morning. Flew out of Trivandrum. What a prince. But hey, told you already I couldn't get a train ticket (yeah, yeah, yeah).

Reading The Alchemist. Bought it this morning and now I'm almost over. Learning a lot from it wonder why I kept on putting it off. It's been in my must-read list since years back.

My butt is already deep in sleep from too much sitting. I'm actually tempted to lay out my yoga mat and do savasana until the check in counter opens. It won't be until after 3 more hours so glad to have found an outlet to plug my laptop as the battery ran out already this morning.

Will probably not join the workshop tomorrow in Singapore but will just see friend Daisy for breakfast. Might be too groggy to even do one sun salute.

Looking forward to enjoying Thai vegetarian in the next 3 weeks. Om.

Reiki

Did Reiki 1 course today. It was an interesting experience. Not that I'm eager to add 21 more es of self-healing to my daily yoga practice but it was good to experience it. I'm thinking I'll just add some of the techniques to my ayurvedic massage as I'm more keen on doing massage more as a "side practice". Off to the beautiful but touristy Phuket tomorrow. Will pass by Singapore to attend James Figueira's workshop at the Yoga Shala. Will see if I'll have the energy to do the workshop then rush back to the airport to catch my flight to Phuket. Otherwise, I'll just have a breakfast in the Citystate and head back to the airport. I might be pushing it too much but we'll see. Landlady is preparing dinner for us this evening. It should be a lovely meal. Will upload more photos when I get to Thailand. Om.

Meditation by the beach...

Woke early as usual and prepared to meditate by the beach with friends from the ashram. It was a lovely morning. Did 21 Om meditation... everybody chanting om at their own pace and breath... and the sound of the waves helped lull us deeper into the state of no state.

Did a couple rounds of classic sun salutes, ashtanga suryas and some balancing poses. Had breakfast at the Cafe Italiano and decided to hop online to check what's happening with the rest of the world. Wonder how traveling to India 10-20 years ago was when there's no easy access to the internet.

Pranayama is being shelved at the moment... hopefully I'll be able to get back to it tomorrow... and full on practice starting Sunday and psyche up for teaching in Phuket.

Can't believe that Saudi Arabia is just at the other end of the Arabian sea. Grateful for the opportunity to experience life there and realize this dream of traveling to India to study yoga. The future holds so many possibilities... but today is more important... more beautiful... so the mind has to stay in the present... and be awake to fully experience each moment.

It's a nice day to chill out... read a book... have coffee... and just watch the waves.

Om.

Life by the beach...

Varkala beach

Left the ashram yesterday noon and decided to come to Varkala. The day before that I was at Kovalam beach and thought of spending a couple days there before I leave India next week. Varkala is way nicer than Kovalam though that I've decided to stay here for the rest of this trip instead.

Kovalam Beach

Woke up at 5am... tried to go back to sleep but couldn't so I decided to practice... practice was really good... 10 days of Sivananda yoga, 2x a day, was nice... but I love ashtanga and I'm just happy to be back.

Met a lot of wonderful people at the ashram. I guess staying in one place and doing the same things together created more opportunities for people to interact and discuss more interesting things.

Leaving India for Phuket on the 24th of October so I have more than a week to ease back into my ashtanga rhythm and psyche up into teaching mode. Actually taught an intro to ashtanga to some friends I met at the ashram this morning.

I'm hopping from one beach to another. I was in Camiguin last June, Kanyakumari last Friday, Kovalam 2 days ago, now in Varkala until Thursday next week, then off to Phuket for 2 weeks... this is life... looking forward to more life by the beach come 2009 ;-)

Will upload photos next time. Got of really nice photos of the Devi puja, sunrise at the Neyyar dam lake, etc.

Found some great photos of Varkala here. Enjoy.

Om.

Anandoham

Anandoham... anandoham... anandam Brahman andam...

I am bliss... I am bliss... Bliss absolute... Bliss I am.

I am alive... food is great... yoga is fantastic... will update when I get out of the ashram. Namaste.

Guruji, Saraswati & Sharath

Now at the Bangalore Airport waiting for my flight to Trivandrum. Feels weird that I just left Mysore but happy to be moving on. The Sivananda ashram should be a different experience and looking forward to a blissful stay there. Om namah narayana.

Tibetan Settlement in Bylakuppe, Mysore

Jonathan times 2. We were roommates at Yoga Thailand.

Jon B. and Jon C.

Om Mane Padme Hum

Did a day trip to Bylakuppe with 3 friends today. Will post the photos soon. For the meantime, allow me to share with you this video. (Can't believe I'm already leaving Mysore on Friday.)

Basic Curry Gravy

Saute garlic ginger paste in some oil. Add onion paste and saute until the onion is almost brown. Add tomato puree. Add some garam masala and it's done. Mix with your favorite steamed veggies, veg kofta or boiled eggs for a genuine North Indian curry experience.

I met someone who was originally from Rajasthan and she taught me this. Just thought of posting it before I forget it.

Practice was good today. Supposed to give massage later after the Sanskrit class but I called it off because I feel I need the break. Did a massage yesterday... almost a full body one... and I slept like a log. Thought practice will suffer but luckily it didn't. I guess when the body is tired, your awareness increases and you tend to listen to your body more during practice... you get to be more in tune with yourself.

My massage teacher said I was vata-pitta. The questionnaires said I am kapha-pitta. Tiwariji said I was kapha-pitta (at least that was written in my pranayama prescription sheet). I say, I'm kapha with equal vata and pitta. Yeah, whatever. I guess one simply has to intuitively listen to one's self and let no one's opinion bother oneself. There's no need to look for flaws when one believes that one's life is already in balance, otherwise the balance becomes unbalanced.

Life is good.

Practice, eat, serve, love and meditate.

Namaste.

P.S. I just received an article saying that Indian spice in turmeric reduces size of hemorrhagic stroke. Read it here.

Guruji

Sharath opened last Sunday's conference with a topic on doubt. Doubt is one of the obstacles in the path of yoga as stated in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (1:29-30). I was doubting whether it was worth extending for another week as it was already the end of my 2nd month at the shala. I still have almost 2 weeks in Mysore to finish the massage course with Kumar so I could either practice at home or go to another teacher.

A few minutes after Sharath started his discourse, Guruji came out of the office and sat on stage. He simply listened, eyes glowing... almost piercing into each and everyone's heart as if asking, "why do you doubt so much?". His presence was enough to make me decide to stay and everything felt right. There was a feeling of complete surrender and a feeling that I've completed my time at the shala.

The time at the Sivananda ashram will be totally different and will surely be an interesting experience.

Tomorrow, Arjuna will unlease the powerful Gandiva to finally end the battle within.

Serve Love Meditate

Everything is set. I'm off to the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Dhanwantari Ashram at the beginning of next month. Practicing at the shala has been great but I've decided to see a little bit more of India and experience life in an ashram. The Sivananda Book on Yoga was my first introduction to this wonderful discipline and now that I'm in India, it would be nice to spend some time there and learn about this approach. Will be staying in the ashram for 2 weeks then explore Trivandrum, Kovalam, Varkala and Kanyakumari before I fly back to Bangalore and then to Phuket via Singapore.

The basic schedule at ashram would be:

0520 hrs	WAKE UP BELL
0600 hrs	SATSANG
0730 hrs	TEA TIME
0800 hrs	ASANA CLASS
1000 hrs	BRUNCH
1100 hrs	KARMA YOGA
1230 hrs	COACHING CLASS (optional)
1330 hrs	TEA TIME
1400 hrs	LECTURE
1600 hrs	ASANA CLASS
1800 hrs	DINNER
2000 hrs	SATSANG
2200 hrs	LIGHTS OUT

It would be a nice change to the create-your-own-schedule atmosphere here in Mysore.

The 5 Points of Yoga constitute the essence of the teachings of Sivananda Yoga. These are the proper exercise, proper breathing, proper meditation, proper diet, and positive thinking and meditation. Simple yet holistic and a complete approach to classical yogic lifestyle.

Om Namah Shivayah * Om Namah Shivayah * Om Namah Shivayah

Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.