Today I got up at sparrows, trampled off to the shala via 7-Eleven for an iced coffee, did the neti, did the pranayama, did the meditation with the musical chorus (roosters, motorcycles, squirrels, geckos, children, cows, sheep, goats, cats, throat-clearing man and calls to prayer) as a most bizarre soundtrack, did the asana practice with Meng Foon and then collapsed into savasana. I love savasana. It's the best part of a class when the ambient temperature is 36 degrees with 89% humidity.
I'd like to say that my practice is developing but I can't tell. I haven't done a warrior one or two in weeks and although my tree pose is coming along nicely with foot implanted on upper thigh fat, and my striking cobra is improving, my wheel is still a major work in progress.
I did at least manage to get both feet off the ground for a nanosecond today in kakasana (bakasana if you're an Aussie). Besides, Meng Foon tells me each class not to get attached to results, progress, benefits or whether a pose is easy or hard; advanced or beginner; I can do it today or not - it doesn't matter, it is impermanent.
After class this morning I mentioned to Meng Foon that I was getting a bit over Cenang beach. She suggested I try a nice section of beach in Tengah, near the fancy resorts. So I did. It was nice, but the sand isn't as nice as Cenang and the pine needles got stuck in my towel. I had a nice swim and parked up on my towel with a lovely view.
Before I knew it, break time was over and I needed food. I walked back to Cenang and found a couple of those nice cranberry cheese buns from The Loaf, some electrolytes and a coconut water. I also found a clothing stall that sells nice cotton pants with crazy prints on them, so I bought a couple of pairs along with a sarong and a couple of kimono tops, as everything I brought with me is fine but I didn't count on having to change yoga clothes 2-3 times each day!
I got changed and headed back to the shala for the Strength and Flexibility workshop. Meng Foon and I did lots of stretching, strength building poses and a few more arm balances.
I managed to get into chakrasana on my head (yay!) after a few attempts and after some more kakasana, we rolled up and down out of shoulder stand using just core strength several times. I've come a long way, baby. Six months ago I couldn't even do shoulder stand on my mat, now I can hold it in "look mum, no hands" mode. Oh yeah!
After the workshop it was break time, then another asana class with Marc, followed by meditation. Cue the musical chorus of roosters, motorcycles, squirrels, geckos, children, cows, sheep, goats, cats, throat-clearing man and calls to prayer - plus bulldozers, diesel lorries and jackhammers. Fancy that! I can now differentiate all the sounds one by one, without attaching to them - well, except for the calls to prayer. That I can listen to all day without complaint.
After a hard six hours of yoga today, I had something that I believe was quite possibly a food group or three for dinner, with the obligatory daily ice cream. I've got another hard day tomorrow and some stuff is starting to come up which I'm not sure I want to deal with right here, right now - I'm on holiday, dammit! I'm here to work on my yoga and meditation and pranayama practice, not haul the skeletons out of the closet that I stuffed in there so I could go on this trip and enjoy myself.
Bed now, but hopefully there are some shifts of paradigms and blockages tomorrow. I can feel the winds of change starting to speed up!
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