YogaBirds Pilates

March 1- 2
Re-entry. Arrive Miami 9:35am. Nice to be out of the airport. Going from a day of hiking in the Himalayas to 40 hours of sitting, my body is surprisingly in good spirits. It’s got to be the yoga. My challenge today is to stay awake until a normal sleeping hour. I just need to be diligent and put myself into this time rhythm. So apparently the biggest news in the US is Charlie Sheen’s weird breakdown. Really? I want to talk about the pulsating energy of Varanasi and the Ganges. And the state of affairs of Tibetans in India. Or the beauty and power of meditation and mantra. Or something, anything but Charlie Freaking Sheen. It seems to have captivated the nation. Glad I missed it. Hopefully it will last as long as the average attention span of a 4 year old. It actually makes me feel a little bit lonely and sad. Or maybe I am just extremely tired.
I do make it to 9pm before hitting the hay. And have goodish sleep til sunrise. Enough time to prep for a day of Advanced Anusara Yoga w John Friend. My friends and teachers are all here. So many of them have made the journey to India and know where I’m “@”. The theme is Dancing With the Divine. The asana is super challenging. And once again I am really surprised at my own level of practice and studentship. Even in the midst of India jet lag. Big backbends, handstand scorpions, super fun arm balances and more. At one point I feel nauseous thinking its too much for my jet lagged state, but then Scotta, my teacher whom I am practicing alongside says she feels it too. Nausea is common when doing a strong back bend practice– it’s all the internal rubbish dislodging and moving to exit the body. Just good old detoxing.
Glad to have done this full day of advanced practice surrounded by like-minded asana and yoga junkies. I love it that this is my work. And I realize this whole last month of travel and study and exploration and time away from Fairhope is just another facet of my job as a yoga teacher and studio owner. I realize I have chosen it and work hard to manifest the abundant nature of it all. It’s empowering. It’s my dharma to stay on this road.
Every moment we are choosing. Whether it be to engage in the Charlie Sheen drama, to over-analyze a situation, to be a ‘victim’ of our choices, or empowered by them. Often I don’t understand other peoples choices. I am not supposed to. I am only meant to stay true to my own calling, apply myself in the highest, help and serve where and when I can and to love love love. Om namah shivaya.

– YogiPod posting from iPhone

Location:Miami

Feb 28 – Mar 1
Wake up in Dharmsala. Before leaving here I visit the Dalai Lama Temple. The story of the Tibetan people has had tremendous impact on me. I will come here again, hopefully with members of my family to show them this place and to continue to help preserve the amazing spiritual culture of Tibetan Buddhism. It is important.
So now the travel begins. Next stop Delhi, where I spend a boring nine hours sitting for the most part in one coffee shop (I can’t believe I am saying this, but a person can only drink so much coffee before it’s boring) because we cant get unto the Int’l concourse until 3 hrs before our flight. Glad to have time for one more Indian meal…Yellow Dal, Paratha bread, and a sweet Lassi. I really love the Indian food. My 15 hour flight is at 11:30pm. Yawn! The flight is packed full and my seat seems to be in the middle of the screaming child nursery. Its claustrophobic, uncomfortable, and loud. Its weird flying for 15 hours and covering 10,000 miles. I can not imagine doing it without meditation and mantra. Really, I don’t know how people do it. I literally sit for an hour at a time and chant internally wwearning an eye mask, neck pillow and covered with a blanket. Its a sleep cocoon but i am not officially asleep. I alternate this with watching movies. And it is still a difficult journey. So I get through that 24 hour part of the trip. Have one hour in Newark to claim bags, clear customs, and get on the last leg of the journey to Miami. It is nice to be on US soil. Nice to get a Starbucks –obviously over the Delhi crankiness. And now I’m in the air again headed to Miami to stay with my mom for a few days. Tomorrow I hook up with the Anusara kula for the last day of the Advanced Intensive then the Maha Shivaratri celebratory teachings and practices with John Friend, Douglas Brooks, Sianna Sherman, and Amy Ipolliti. I am blessed with yoga friends and teachers and my mom to support my re-entry from the journey in India. I head home to Fairhope Sunday. I’m excited to see how this experience processes and how I take what all I have seen and learned and weave it into family, home, work, and social life. I cant wait to see Burke and the doggies and my sister and her babies!
Thanks again Lord for this amazing life. Amen. Om. Namah shivaya. Mani padme om. PEACEPEACEPEACE.

– YogiPod posting from India using iPhone

Location:Friendly Skies

Feb 27
Morning yoga is cooooold again. Despite that, it is a great warm-up for a half day hike in the Himalayas. It’s warm and sunny as we depart so I leave my North Face shell and hat in the room. Oops. Note to self: take a jacket when you play in the Himalayas 🙂
I do remember to bring a little bit of chocolate though and it is a very sweet treat up on the trail. The Himalayas here are snow covered jagged peaks. Enormous and breathtaking. As we ascend we find ourselves in a cloud. And it starts to snow. At first i am all upset about not having my shell and hat, but its really not that bad and we aren’t going too too far. So, I don’t let it hamper the walk at all. It’s just one foot in front of the other. A perfect meditation in an exquisite setting. We pass locals on the trail who hike in flip flops with no socks, carrying loads of wood or babies on their backs. They live up in these hills and walk this hike everyday to go to work and back or go to town. I am humbled and inspired by them all. Seeing the lives and hearing the stories of the Indians and the Tibetans up here in Dharmsala has shifted my world view like no other place in India. I can’t think of a better way to spend my last full day here. It’s always a great relief and feeling of accomplishment to reach the top or destination of a hike. Today we walk/climb to Guna Temple. It is so beautiful and charged with the spirit and energy of the devotion of the people. I feel so grateful to be healthy enough to make it to this spot and really happy to be sharing the moment with Desiree and Andrew and Joan and Sandy and Holbrook. I’ve made such great friends on the trip.
After the hike I am so hungry and happy to eat spinach tofu momo soup at Nick’s. While there I run into my friend (one of the Redback trip leaders) Alex, who joins me for dessert and chai. As we sit and chat we discover that we have a mutual friend in Los Angeles. Super small world! I love it!
Hard to believe the trip is almost over. I want to soak up every last minute of it. I’m going to miss everyone and everything!

– YogiPod posting from India using iPhone

Location:Dharmsala

Feb 25-26
I have found and bought the most fabulous meditation cushion. It is Tibetan made in India. High quality and portable! The weather has turned cold and snowy. Even though we are just in the foothills of the Himalayas, it’s huge, high mountain weather. I sort of have the right clothes for it, although i look like i am wearing a bed spread. Morning yoga has been freezing but fun and beneficial none the less mostly because of the supportive group vibe and also because Desiree works us out pretty hard every time. It’s good but I could definitely use some restorative poses.
I’m psyched about my new cushion because I need to sit and meditate more, especially here in this auspicious place. Group seated meditation has been (surprisingly) sparse on the trip. Its been really challenging to get to my seat every morning because of the go go go go go vibe and the early morning lobby calls for travel. Michele and I have learned so much about how we want to organize our 2012 trip to the South. We are meeting with group leaders tonight to do some planning. It’s kind of like thinking about ‘what’s for dinner’ while super full from lunch. Funny!
Speaking of lunch…Today is spinach tofu momo (dumplings) soup, homemade garlic bread and chai. Hot & Yum. Chai is my new fave thing. Go figure!
Hanging on the wall just next to my table is this quote:
“A Precious Human Life. Every day. Think as you wake up. Today I am fortunate to have woken up. I am alive. I have a precious human life. I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself. To expand my heart out to others. To achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. I am going to have kind thoughts towards others. I am not going to get angry. Or think badly about others. I am going to benefit others as much as I can.” -Dalai Lama
Good messages everywhere! I can’t believe only 2 more days in India. So much I will miss, (like seeing monkeys outside my bathroom window) but I’m very ready to get back home to my incredibly blessed life. I miss everyone and everything! Love from Dalai Lama country. Om Mani Padme Om.

Location:Dharmasala

Feb 24
This morning the last intense travel push…Delhi to Dharmasala.
Hello Himalayas! The view from the plane is breathtaking. The word that comes to mind is MASSIVE.
When China took over Tibet, and many fled or were exiled, India welcomed the Tibetans. It is the largest Tibetan settlement outside of Tibet. We are now in Buddhist country. the Dalai Lama lives here. We can see his house from our hotel. Our hotel is run by the Dalai Lama’s sister. Super unbelievable wow!
Th contrast of landscape, the look of people, religious ritual and practice, vegetation, population density, and general personality of different states and cities in India is dramatic. The Ganges to the Himalayas in two days. It’s almost too much for my senses to process. I’m loving it but I am pretty zapped tired. The crisp mountain air should be just the right thing for me. strong asana classes are also hugely helpful.
We are high up in the foothills of the mountains. The road up here is all hair pin curves and sheer drop offs. Super intense. And it’s cold! The air and energy here is crystal clear and hums with compassion. Monks and nuns in the traditional red robes are everywhere as are Tibetan prayer flags. They are strung up in peoples’s cars, in restaurants, in the street, in the trees high up the mountain. It’s an incredible sight. Prayers are everywhere!

Psyched to stay in one place for a few days. PEACE!

– YogiPod posting from India using iPhone

Location:Dharmasala

Feb 21 & 22 & 23
Internet connections have been hard to come by these last several days. When I do encounter one that enables me to post there will be a barrage of recent blog entries. I feel so far away from home. And just want to share the incredible experiences I am having with everyone in my life.
We are now in Varanasi, staying in The Palace on the Ganges hotel. This is the oldest constantly inhabited city in the world. It is super charged with tangible energy that literally pulsates in your body. The Ganges is considered by many to be the holiest place in the world. Its an honor to be here.
Today started with watching the sun rise over the river. Walking the ghats (steps that go the water’s edge) is like walking through an ancient scene of morning spiritual rituals, laundry, bathing, and river life. A herd of buffalo walking in the water catch our attention so we just sit on the steps and take it all in. Out day meanders along the bank, into a silk emporium- which is a shop in someone’s home. We remove our shoes and step into a cushioned room filled to the ceiling with amazing fabrics and garments. We have chai with Vijay who’s family has lived in the house for hundreds of years selling silks on the Ganges. We stay there for over an hour playing in the vibrant fabrics and shopping in warm hospitable company.
We meander again to the Main Ghat and sit again inhaling this culture of congested bustle and ancient ritual. It’s so colorful and fragrant and it flows and flows like the River.
Our day takes bends and turns and we find ourselves in the maze of tiny lanes off the river. We hook up with Rikhu a local friend of one of the guides from Redback. He takes us ti his family house. Again we remove shoes and walk through the cow stables that are at the threshold of the house. We meet his brother who is a 6th generation Varanasi perfumer and masala spice crafter. Another chai infused incredibly sensory shopping experience ensues. Again we play. This time in the exotic scents of Sandalwood, Agar, Amrit Tara (Nectar Flow), Indian Green Grass, Lotus Flower, Jasmines, Frankincense, and more. We have more chai made with the house milk and the special blend of Masala. Chai will never be the same again! We make purchases then Rikhu takes us to the Golden Temple. He ‘hires’ a Brahmin to guide us through the temple. Because of bombings several years ago, the place is heavily protected. It is a crazy process of giving passports to armed police to get into this sacred place. We make the cut! The next half hour is a blur of holy chaos… bells, fires, monkeys, dogs, chanting, offerings, blessings, garlands, holy water. I feel like a pinball bouncing around and being all chai high in Vaanasi– it’s really so fun. I am so glad to share the experience with Michele. We just look at each other like ‘OMG how did we get here??!!’. Apparently this isnt even the highlight. The whole day is geared to Arati- the sunset ritual at Main Ghat. Arati happens every dusk and has been happening every dusk for over 3000 years. And I mean every evening- never cancelled for anything. Amazing! My night concludes on the roof of the hotel watching the moon glow light up the white hulls of old wooden boats tied to the banks of the Ganges River. I think of my uncles and how they would be fascinated by this waterfront culture. And then I think of Burke and how he would be fascinated to see this spiritual epicenter. Everyone needs to come to Varanasi at least once in a lifetime. I know this is the first of many trips here for me. Sad to leave and happy to be one day closer to home. Paradox in everything …
– YogiPod posting from India using iPhone

Location:Varanasi