Sunday, December 8, 2024
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Acupuncture and Yoga

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I tried acupuncture for the first time last night.  One of our instructors specializes in it along with Chinese medicines.  It was pretty cool. She somehow read from my pulse that I had some type of kidney deficiency along with sleeping issues.  Now…I had a full physical before I left the U.S. and nothing came up regarding my kidneys, but I do lean towards insomnia on occasion.  She already knows about my back injuries. Anyway…I laid on my stomach while she inserted 13 needles into me (4 head/neck, 6 lower back & 3 ankles). Just to test the waters…I tried moving my ankles…not so much! Shooting pain made me stop.  So I just laid there for 20 minutes until she removed them. I didn’t feel anything last night and didn’t sleep very well…again.  However…my back has NEVER felt so good. Seriously!  Ever since the car accident I was in at 16, I’ve lived in varying degrees of back pain.  It feels really good right now. I think I might be hooked on acupuncture!

6 days a week, 8 hours of yoga classes a day is tiring! We are now working on putting different level of classes together…its like chorography or writing song…making sure everything flows and fits.  Physically, while sore, my flexibility is increasing. Only 1 more week left before the final exam!

Full Moon Party: Haad Rin

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Last night I went to the famous ‘Full Moon’ Party held each month on Haad Rin beach (a 45 minute songtaw taxi ride). It was impressive! 10,000 people from all over the world dancing and drinking on this large stretch of beach.  It was a beautiful, clear, hot summer night. Bars set up elaborate outdoor beach parties with techno, R&B music, fireworks, light displays and games.  One of them involved drunkin’ tourist jumping rope while it was on fire…and yes, I did see several get singed. Picture Spring break in Cancun.

Inversions & Japanese

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I am loving living at the beach and enjoy my 20 minute, straight up the mountain, cardio workout each morning.  I walk to class with 2 other yoga students who moved down to the bungalows.  They have dubbed us ‘Team Baywatch”

We also have ‘Team Japan’.  3 of the students are from the Japanese island of Shikoku and speak very little English. I admire their efforts in learning yoga and Sanskrit via English.  Today at our beach bar hangout I asked them to teach me some Japanese. They are all so sweet and I want to be able to communicate with them more.

Classes are coming along nicely. We are working on ‘Inversions’ this week. I know this means nothing to many of you, but it means lots of headstands, handstands and some other funky moves which put me upside down.  Its progressively harder, physcially then last week and next week will be even harder as we work on backbends.  Fun!

After classs I enjoy the beach and go to my little outdoor internet pad/ yoga hangout.  The “Salad Hut” is this covered outdoor bar right on the beach with great food and an incredible ‘coffee shake’ for 60 bahts (less then $2).  They have 2 internet computers on the side by the bar.  Its nice to email, update my website and listen to the waves at the same time I have dinner here now instead of hiking the mile back up to the Pyramid Jungle place.  I don’t mind.  Dinner only cost me…maybe $3-4 and it gets me quite a lot of food.  This may be the first trip I take where I DON’T lose weight.  The food is SOOOO good!

 

SCUBA diving in Koh Tao

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Yesterday was beautiful. Sunny, hot and the seas were calm. I spent the day aboard a large tourist boat filled with people from Switzerland, Italy, Canada, Japan, US and Russia. We went to Koh Tao, an even smaller island then Koh Phangan, to snorkel and SCUBA dive. Visibility was good 50 feet down. We weaved in and out of many large boulders and saw some colorful fish…even a barracuda.

Overall it was nice to be among the marine life but it wasn’t anything remarkable. In the 10 years I have been SCUBA diving I have to say my favorite was a 120 foot, shipwreck dive off of Key West. The most beautiful was ‘The Wall’ in Cozumel. Granted…I haven’t been to the Great Barrier Reef yet and I know there are SO many other amazing places to dive. If you have a recommendation…let me know! J

I have made the ‘executive decision’ to move from my jungle mountain hut to a beach bungalow. My reptilian roomie keeps coming in late at night and is quite noisy. I really don’t ‘do’ reptiles…its just not my ‘thing’. Besides…the ocean is so calming. I feel more inspired to study among the waves then under a mosquito net.

Spiders, Lizards & Snakes…oh my! – Koh Phangan, Thailand

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I am lovin’ the yoga teacher training course I am taking at Pyramid Yoga Retreat/Ashram.  It is located in the jungle mountains off of Haad Salad beach.  I’m so busy the days fly.  We have an intensive yoga workout from 6:30am-9am.  Breakfast from 9am-10am & lunch 1-2pm.  Classes are from 10am-4pm include anatomy, sanskrit, philosophy, sequencing etc.  Usually after class we have time to run down the mountain to enjoy the beach, run errands, use the internet cafes , call home or study.  Dinner is at 6:30 and I am usually in my hut by 7:30 working on homework and then asleep by 9pm.

The accommodations are VERY rustic.  My little 1 room, wooden hut on the mountain includes a western style bathroom…outside…and no roof.  I have 2 large windows and a deck with a hammock.  My view is the ocean.  There is no air conditioning, tv or phone and just 1 light on the ceiling.  I have a queen size bed with mosquito netting.

My hut wouldn’t be so bad if my windows had screens.  The problem is my unwanted roommates…lizards the size of a semi!  Ok…well maybe not the size of semi…but I swear the size of baby alligators!  I have found 2 in my room in the past 3 days.  The first time I screamed like a girl (yes, I know I am one but hate the ‘freaked out girl’ stereotype) as it darted out from under my bed.  I am not one to get creeped out by wildlife…come on now, I have camped all over the world and been in the Amazon…but I have never had to deal with baby alligators in my living space…not to mention large gray spiders and ants!!!  I have invested in bug spray and requested they install screens.  I can live with all the above…except for the lizards.  We have had other wildlife sightings including a large green snake in the rafters of our classroom pavilion and a scorpion in the sound chamber.  I guess this is all to be expected.  We are invading their natural habitat after all.

Tomorrow I am going SCUBA diving off the island of Koh Tao, about 45km from here and then back in class Monday morning.  I’ll update site when I can…just been so busy.  Will for sure fix the below picture situation within the next few days.

Namaste Amigos!