“You are not your thoughts. You are not your ego.”
- Andrew, yoga instructor, Yoga Barn in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia.
While holding a strong posture, this was a wonderful reminder that we are in control of our minds.
I would do yoga, but I don’t want hepatitis
After almost 3 weeks of great yoga sessions in Koh Phangan, I was ready to commit myself to a daily practice. That’s a lot easier said than done.
Take our stop Penang, Malaysia, for instance. Upon arriving, we spent at least an hour trying to find a particular hotel with no luck. We eventually got tired and ended up at a fairly dingy place. We’ve stayed in some substandard places before, so we didn’t think too much about it. What was not mentioned at check-in, though, was that bordering one of our rooms was a room occupied by a “lady of the night”. On the other side, was a man speaking loud Chinese into his phone while making some sort of puking sounds. If it wasn’t puking, then he was probably expelling a cat from his stomach. Not exactly a good yoga setting, but whatever.
Trying to be the true yoga practitioner, I looked around to see where the mat might go. When I looked around, however, I quickly noticed that it looked like the room probably hadn’t been cleaned since Reagan was president. Some dust and dirt is ok, but after hearing rodents scramble around in the roof above and knowing that rodents are usually not potty-trained, I quickly reliquished the idea of doing a good yoga practice. I was seriously afraid that if I did savasana and touched outside the mat, I might contract at least one form of hepatitis. (Not to mention the bad omen of doing the “death pose” in a place like that.)
I know the true yogi would be able to ignore these distractions and continue the practice. Unfortunately, I’m only 3 weeks into my practice, making me as much of a yogi as Flavor Flav.
Some day, I’ll learn to use yoga and my mind to block out my surroundings. Until then, I’ll opt for a hepatitis free body and a hope that the next town will be better.
- Kyle
Photo: Funky64
Yoga Destination: Koh Phangan, Thailand
Koh Phangan, Thailand is my yoga paradise.
If you’re looking for warm waves, white sand beaches and more yoga classes to chose from than you could possibly attend, this is the place for you.
For a high end experience, The Sanctuary, on Haad Thian, offers many daily yoga, pilates, and meditation classes. They offer fasting and cleanse options in addition to their stylish accommodations and restaurant.
On Haad Thian, and its neighboring beaches, Haad Yuan and Haad Why Nam, there are a number of yoga spots set up, including The Blooming Lotus (occasional teacher’s trainings), Love Lips, and Mysore Led Ashtanga classes. Classes range between 250-300 Baht/ class (US$8-10) with deals for multiple classes. We settled into a routine going to daily classes at the Sanctuary because we really enjoyed the teachers, but it would all depend on your yoga preferences and the instructors in the area. We wrote a little about the Sanctuary’s Vinyasa and Yin Yoga classes, the Blooming Lotus and the Mysore Ashtanga. It’s about a 10-20 minute walk between the beaches.
There are many bungalows along the beaches ranging between super basic to higher end. We really liked Big Blue (089-871-6214 or 086-470-2625) on Haad Yuan that offer basic bungalows with private bathroom and fan for 400 baht. We wrote about it here. They also have a restaurant with good prices, an ocean view, and daily movies. There are so many bungalow options between the beaches, it’s not hard to find something for a reasonable price, although I hear high season from Dec-Mar gets more expensive. Plates of Thai food range from 60-120 Baht ($2-4). Internet is pricey on the island, starting at 30-45 baht ($1) for 15 min.
If you’re in search of yoga elsewhere on the island, you can try tantric yoga at Agama Yoga or sign up for a retreat or classes at Yoga Retreat, and I’m sure there are other places as well.
From Bangkok it’s a 10-12 hour bus ride, or shorter train ride to Surat Thani, the largest city on the mainland. Take another bus to the ferry terminal. From there its a 90 minute boat ride to Koh Samui, and continue 45 minutes to the port Thong Sala on Koh Phangan. It sounds a little complicated, but Songserm and other travel companies in Bangkok offer a direct transport option for the bus, bus, boat to Koh Phangan. We paid 950 baht/person. When you get to Thong Sala, take a pick-up truck or sawngthaew (100 baht) to Haad Rin. From Haat Rin, take a 5 minute boat ride to Haad Yaan. It’s 200 baht/person for the boat ride, despite our best attempts at bargaining. It’s a multi-step journey to get here - but it’s worth it!
If your budget is larger or you’re short on time, you can fly from Bangkok to Koh Samui in less than an hour and take boats to Koh Phangan from there.
It’s yoga paradise!
- Bessie
From Me to We. And WE wanna go to Bali & India.
Holy wow, exciting things are happening.
We’ve been in our yoga paradise almost 2 weeks now taking a 1.5 hour class nearly everyday. We’re sweating, we’re stretching in ways we never thought possible, and I’m saying ‘WE’.
So Kyle and I have been together for ~5 years now and married half of that, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s not to push him. Kyle’s the most easy going guy, until it’s something he’s really not into, then forget it. I’ve tried on multiple occasions over the years to get my man soaking in a down dog, and it’s never quite caught on. Now, though, things are different. We get up at 7am everyday and have had some amazing classes. He’s seen the light.
Months ago, we decided to set off to southeast Asia to 1) work on our online business and 2) for me to try more yoga. But now it’s ‘we’ - not just me - looking for a yoga journey.
Smiles of yoga bliss.
So what’s the big deal, “great, your husband’s into yoga too.” Well, the big deal is that we’re both so into it now that we’re looking past some traveling we wanted to do in southeast Asia to focus even more on yoga. It’s something we can share it as we both grow into our practices. It started with a subtle mention from our amazing yoga instructor Jen, “you know, you guys would love a few places I studied in India…” India? We would love India!
The thing about India is it’s a journey I’ve long dreamt about. I set it aside waiting for a time when I was ready for a few month spiritual journey. It’s intense there: parts are poor, super-populated and sometimes dirty, and it’s also filled with spiritual gems, beauty and peace. And of course, thousands of years of yoga tradition. I’ve been waiting for a time like now, when I’m in search of something. Hot damn. Sign me up.
So, when are we going? TBD. What’s important is the seed has been planted. In the meantime, we’re pushing back plans to explore Cambodia, and we’re going to Bali. Lookout yoga, we’re coming to getchya.
- Bessie
Metaphysical This
So, as we prepare to leave our yoga haven of nearly 2 weeks in Koh Phangan, Thailand, here is my current yoga state of mind, so to speak.
I like yoga, I really do. For me, it is a great way to get in tune with my body and work on the things that I need to work on. Yoga is an excellent guide at showing you which parts of the body are weaker or need to be stretched. And it is able to do that without overtaxing any part of the body. For that alone, I want to continue doing it for a long time.
Of course, there are parts that as of now I don’t get so much and that’s all of the “metaphysical” talk. I don’t really believe that there are things called chakras or that by somehow placing my hands in a certain position, I am awakening a secret energy within me. I’m too scientific to believe in them literally.
I do think, however, that they are great tools to get you thinking about your body and to get your body in the correct positions. Do I really feel energy shooting out of my fingers when I’m in a warrior position? No. But, thinking about it does make me stretch those arms a little bit more and get more out of the pose.
Maybe someday I’ll get into the metaphysical and spiritual side of things. But, for now, I’m content with just feeling the positive effects on my body.
Ok, it’s a little more than contentment.
It’s bliss.
- Kyle
Trying Yin Yoga
Today was a good day of Yin Yoga, or what I like to call “stretch-y” yoga. My muscles have gotten a bit tired from physicality of doing yoga everyday, so this was an excellent way to loosen them up a bit.
If you’re not familiar with Yin Yoga (and I wasn’t until today), the premise is that you go into a pose only until you hit your edge, the point where your body is feeling the pose, then stay at that edge for 2-3 minutes. This gives a good, thorough stretch in your body without overstraining it. Paul Grilley is a respected instructor.
Unfortunately, I’m not so good at listening sometimes, and I over-strained my upper back a bit. It’s just that the poses felt so good, and I wanted to get into them a little deeper to have them feel better, which is exactly what you are not supposed to do. Oh, well.
Sometimes, you have to learn your lesson the hard way.
- Kyle
How long does it take to become a Yoga Guy?
Apparently, about a week. I’ve only been doing this yoga thing for about a week and already a lady in one of my classes thought that I was “a yoga guy.” It definitely was not in awe of my physical abilities as I still usually do the easier form of the poses. (e.g. on a tree pose, I put my leg on my calf instead of above my knee) And if she could see in my mind, it was most definitely not in awe of my mental calmness. (I still have many thoughts of “This is really hard. When can I stop holding this pose? Damn you, yoga!”)
The only thing that I can think of is that I look confident in what I am doing. Now that I’ve been going to the same teachers for a little while and I know what most of the poses feel like, I can move between them with more ease and confidence. I no longer look like a parrot mimicking the movements of the teachers - I know what some things should feel like and I make sure my body is feeling it correctly.
I don’t know if I’m a “Yoga Guy” yet, but I can say that I’m not a “Not Yoga Guy”.
It’s hard to be a yoga guy on a palm tree.
- Kyle
Mysore makes my head sore.
The first yoga class went pretty well yesterday. Sure, I couldn’t do half the poses, and I was constantly looking around to see what it is that I was supposed to be doing, but it didn’t break my spirits or any part of my body, so that’s always a high point.
So, today, based on Bessie’s yoga expertise, we went to an Ashtanga class with teachers who studied under Patthabi Jois. I really don’t know who Patthabi Jois is, but I gather that is a big dude in the Ashtanga yoga world. And since I really don’t know what Ashtanga is, the name Patthabi Jois is about as random as any other Indian name to me. Maybe he’s the Michael Jordan of yoga (minus the philandering), but I wouldn’t know the difference.
The other thing I didn’t really understand in this class was that it is all in the Mysore style of instruction. Well, ok, I knew that, but I didn’t really know what that meant. My amateur understanding of Mysore is that you do your own yoga practice and then the teachers come around and give you adjustments. That’s all well and good, but since this is my 2nd day of yoga, I don’t really have my own practice.
I told the instructors this, and they were really patient with me, going through probably thousands of years of yoga theory in about 5 minutes. There were a lot of words that I didn’t understand, but the gist was “Breathing is important.” I also found out that there are proper ways to breathe and that I really suck at them. Who would have thought that I’m not that good at something that I’ve been doing every day of my life? Oh well - I’ll just put that on the list of things I need to do better at.
The class itself went ok. I learned the basic Sun Salutation progression and did that over and over again. When I was able to do that on my own without forgetting anything and breathing correctly, I was given some other postures that I don’t think I really ever did correctly and that I’ve mostly forgotten already (my brain is more like a soft rock than a sponge - I need to do a lot of massaging to get things to soak in).
Like true yoga teachers, though, they just told me to keep practicing and I’ll get it. I will keep practicing but I don’t know if I’m going to do Mysore for a while. For now, I’m just learning how to drive my body, and I need the instructor in the passenger seat, telling me how to use the pedals so that I don’t drive over a cliff.
The Mysore class did come with a sweet view.
- Kyle
Popping in on a Teacher’s Training
I’m still not sure what will come of my idea of doing a teacher’s training (TT), but today was a cool sneak peak into one. A studio here called the Blooming Lotus is about half way through a TT, and I showed up for an open class that was part of their training.
Showing up to a room of 15 people super into some yoga text book all in a circle on their mats was intimidating. Luckily, a few other people also showed up, which made it less strange, but spending nearly an entire 1.5 hour class doing backbends was strange. Maybe cool for the people getting trained, but I’m not so into using belts to wrap by foot back around my head and balancing the opposite hand on a block.
It was a more advanced class than the others I’d taken, so it was full of new challenges, which was cool. But the best part was getting a feel for the vibe of all the people in the room who were training together and had obviously bonded. There was a neat feeling of camaraderie, as we broke into partner postures and after class students stuck around helping each other into headstands and getting postures just right.
It also affirmed my desire to study under an instructor before signing up for a random TT. I’d hate to spend a month and US$2,000-3,000 with an instructor that wasn’t my style. Not that I didn’t like this instructor, she definitely knew her stuff, but she was wearing long feathers as earrings and a shirt with a ripped back, and just seemed a little disorganized. Maybe she was just feeling a bit off this particular morning, but I sort of lean traditional rather than new-agey in my yoga style, and I’m a little anal, so I’d like a teacher that’s really on their game.
It was certainly a nice sneak-peak into a TT, and I’d definitely suggest trying an instructor before signing up for a training.
- Bessie
2 Yoga Tips: Simple Shoulder Stretch & Vacuum Breathing
Try it! Stretch and open those Shoulders!
An instructor at The Santuary, Ushma from Mexico City, showed us a great all-levels stretch to open up the shoulders and chest. She explained that the more open your shoulders, the more open your heart is to the world. Women’s shoulders are naturally more open, and we’re also more lovey-dovey open and sharing than men she continued. I can go along with that.
1. Start with your arms out to the sides in front of you and hold a sarong or towel between your fists, palms down.
2. Slowly move your arms up, and back over your body and down to the back of your body. If you have any pain or resistance, move your fists outwards. The idea is to make a slow, fluid movement, moving your arms at the same time time. (Pictures 1+2)
3. Repeat 10-15 times/ daily. Over time your fists should move closer together.
When moving your arms up and back, remember to move gently. Move your hands outward if you have any pain or it’s not a fluid movement.
Try it! Vacuum Breathing
Ushma also shared a hardcore breathing technique called vacuum breathing to lengthen your breath. The idea is to push all the air out of your lungs, hold, and slowly inhale. We did it immediately following a vinyasa practice.
1. Stand with your legs a little further than hips width and bring your chest parallel to the earth, hands on hips.
2. Make 3 strong exhales through your nose. No inhaling.
3. Exhale any remaining air through your mouth. It should sound like you’re gently fogging a mirror. You can try holding your hand near your mouth to feel your breath.
4. Hold for 5 seconds (or longer).
5. Slowly inhale through your nose.
6. You can take a few slow breaths and repeat.
Hope you enjoy.
- Bessie
