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
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
