Living pure

I can't get enough of that relaxing, peaceful, blissful feeling after a great yoga session....it's what made me fall in love with the practice.  A Thai yoga massage can actually come pretty close to giving you that feeling without having to perform any effort....all the stretching and deep breathing and release of energy...pure bliss!  

On Friday we all had an exam to mark the end of Level 1 of the course....and I got a 98!   Celebration time...we all went out in town for dinner and dancing.  It's really amazing to me how close and comfortable you can become with new people in a short amount of time.  I mean, they really become your friends.  My first experience of this was at the ashram and I truly met some amazing people!  But yet still when I took off for my travels I was still nervous about meeting people...especially when someone would say to me, "Wow, you're going on your own?!"  But alas, once again, I've met really great people, like-minded people from all around the world.  

The weekend was lots of fun....there are a few of us from the course staying at the same guesthouse so we practiced yoga and meditation, ate lovely Thai meals, swam at the waterfalls, and practiced massage.  I'm particularly grateful to my fellow yogi friends who are a great sattvic and pure influence.

I was given a book to read, Yoga The Science of the Soul by Osho, and this one particular caption resonated with me and I'd like to share it....A negative mind is always an egoist.  That is the impure state of being.  Ego feeds on no.  Whenever you say no, ego arises.  Whenever you say yes, ego cannot arise because ego needs fight, ego needs challenge, ego needs to put itself against someone, something.  When you say no, you feel like you are someone.  "No" gives you a sense of power.  Remember this:  for seekers (spiritual seekers), it has to be remembered constantly that you have to continuously live in the aroma of yes.  Suddenly the ego falls -- it cannot stand, it needs the props of no.  The negative attitude creates ego.  The positive attitude -- the ego drops, and then the being is pure.

Om Shanti

PS For pics http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=af603047f4f64cca6d9889752d9a603c&sid=9EZuWLJs4ZPw

Faith in the flow of life

Tomorrow is exam day for part 1 of my Thai Yoga Massage course.  It's a lot to take in in a week but we'll give it a go and see how it goes.  Word is...its really difficult to fail.  The worry of it vaguely reminds me of my fellow yogis and how we all stressed our teacher certification exam, and it was much easier than we expected.  So, I've learned not to stress these things.  

Its really starting to feel a bit like home here.  I'm still quite jet-lagged so every morning I'm up around 6am and by 7am I head across the street to the yoga studio to do my daily sadhana, yoga and breathing, before my class begins.  Tukta, the nice Thai lady who runs the yoga place, cooks me breakfast while I'm upstairs practicing and has it ready for me when I come down around 8:15am.  Who wouldn't feel at home with that kind of treatment?!

Just as I was feeling at home here, I get ahead of myself and start to think how I will feel getting on my way to the next dot on the map.  Then, that morning, I met two fellow unemployed NY'ers while having breakfast at the yoga place.  They are traveling and plan on going to Vietnam and Cambodia next and they have offered to meet up as I make my way there.  Just a little reminder to me to have a little more faith in the flow of life.

Last night I had my first introduction to a Kundalini Yoga meditation session with my new friend, Sakit, a very handsome Brazilian guy also taking the Thai Yoga massage course.  He just spent the last 6 months in India studying masters, meditation and traveling to ashrams, in particular Osho's ashram, who he has a particular fondness for.  The session was quite interesting as it incorporates shaking, dancing, sitting for meditation, and then laying as in sivasana.  I really enjoyed it...the freedom of letting your body go in all directions before sitting still.  I'm excited to continue to practice with him...Its really nice having met someone who is so passionate about following his path.  

Thoughts I take with me today...The greatest act of will in which we can invest in our spirits is  to 1) make no judgements (however difficult it is), 2) Have no expectations, 3) Give up the need to know why things happen as they do, 4) Trust that the unscheduled events of our lives are a form of spiritual direction (my personal favorite), 5) Have the courage to make the choices we need to make, accept the things we cannot change, and have the wisdom to know the difference.

Love and peace.

Seaking sattva and chai lattes

I truly believe that people and experiences are placed in my path exactly as I need to hear and see them.  Upon arrival at the massage school yesterday I met two British girls, one of whom is just finishing up her 4 months of traveling through New Zealand, Australia, the beach islands of Thailand, and now Bangkok and Chiang Mai, essentially the map I'm just starting.  I told her that for me it feels a bit overwhelming at the moment, it seems so long before I'll get home again, the comforts of home.  She assured me that the experience is so awesome and if she could stay longer on the road she would.  Reassuring.  

I was so glad to notice a yoga studio yesterday, Sattva Yoga, across the street from my guesthouse.  At my disappointment that the teacher is traveling, the nice lady offered me full use of the beautiful yoga studio upstairs.  They run a vegetarian restaurant downstairs with yummy fresh fruit smoothies which many of us sampled on our lunch break from class.  My reward for the day was treating myself to a 2 hour massage offered to the massage school students...just 400 baht ($12 USD)!

Last night the Brits and I took a walk into the main town of Chiang Mai.  One of the highlights of this adventure was noticing a Starbucks in town.....I really miss my Chai lattes!   We got a bite to eat and then risked our lives in a "tuk tuk" (a scooter with seats - pics to follow) who took us home and I hit the sack immediately...still so jetlagged.

This morning I woke up to an exciting email...that my good friend Margie will be coming to meet me in Sydney in early August!  I couldn't be happier with the news that I will see someone I know and love sooner than later....exactly what I needed to hear as I wake up missing home.  

Entering the whirlwind of change

I just completed my 30 hour journey to Chiang Mai, Thailand and arrived in my adorable guesthouse near the Thai yoga massage school I'll be headed to in the morning.  My private room equipped with internet access and a balcony (pics to come) couldn't make me feel more at home in the farthest place I've ever been away from home.  And to help matters more, every person I've met since arriving has spoken English and has been more than helpful.  

Along the way I also met nice folks, one couple at the JFK bar while I was having my pre-boarding beer, who admired my courage and reminded me what a great experience this was going to be for my personal growth, and another lady who is from Chiang Mai who works for the UN and was in NY helping refugees from Southeast Asia.   In return for my favor of filling out her taxi receipt from NY (so it looked like a American writing) she has offered to get together while I'm here and possibly introduce me to some of her work.  Those of you who know me know that I think those jobs are so admirable and would love to be able to get involved in some way.  These gifts along the way reminded me of an article I read a few months ago in O magazine about the power of the law of attraction, that just making eye contact and smiling at others, sends love out but also brings even more gifts back to you.

So now I'm up at midnight since I slept all day, the first challenge of adjusting to being halfway around the world.  I take with me this passage that jumped out at me from a book I'm just finishing up..."Admittedly it is frightening to leave the familiar contents of one's life...change is frightening, but waiting for that feeling of safety to come along before one makes a move only results in more internal torment because the only way to acquire that feeling of security is to enter the whirlwind of change and come out the other end, feeling alive once again."  Anatomy of the Spirit, Caroline Myss.  

Travel journey starts tomorrow

I was reading through old journal entries this morning and noticed that so many of the wishes for my life have transpired, or are about to.  What an amazing feeling!  From Nov 11, 2008..."I've always dreamed of going abroad to Southeast Asia, Africa, disadvantaged countries, etc to really gain a sense of depth through travel, to gain perspective and not take for granted ALL we have here in the West, and most of all to help, to find out how I can be of service to this world.  The private sector is not enough for me...making money for shareholders is not enough for me." 

On January 28 of this year, I was laid off from my corporate sector job and with grace I knew this was a blessing.  It was His answer to my prayers.  I spent the month of March at a yoga ashram practicing yoga and deepening my spirituality and faith in a higher force at work in my life.  Today I find myself packing for a 5 month journey through Southeast Asia and India to volunteer, study more yoga, bodywork, and health and wellness, and Australia and New Zealand to visit family and friends.  Boy, do I feel blessed!

Although to be completely honest, the last few mornings I've woken up with a sinking, nagging feeling of nerves and anxiety....I'm giving up the luxuries that we are all so accustomed to here to live out of a bag, one bag!, for 5 months!  But then, I know, there is no reward without risk, and a little fear.  So here I am, about to embark on the longest flight of my life so far, a 24 hour journey in all, to get started in Chiang Mai, Thailand.  Here's to being open for whatever may be placed on my path and to fully embrace the universal current of life.