Archive for October, 2009

Yoga mama

Oct 25

Posted by Liza in Koh Phagnan, Thailand, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

We started our week with a 5-elements asana class on the beach Sunday

Yoga at sunrise

morning just as the sun was coming up. I had never heard of 5-elements asana before- it has a Tai Chi feel to it and you focus more on the energetic body than the physical and play with the different qualities of the elements (earth, water…). It was just beautiful and an amazing way to start the day.

We also learned about candle gazing this week- meditation using a candle flame. Making sure the

My lovely flower candles

candle flame is very still, you gaze into the candle as long as you can, then when you feel you need to blink, you close the eyes and meditate on the images that might appear- repeating for about 10 minutes. A very calming yet powerful technique.

It was great to have this weekend off. Friday night we went over to the other beach to get a room so that we

Yes please

could get some sleep because at the Sanctuary there is a bar that bumps techno music till 9am. We did get woken up in the middle of the night by the loudest (and closest) thunder I’ve ever heard. Sounded like a bomb going off- pretty crazy. The next morning we were on the beach by 8:30 soaking up the sun, eating and playing beach volleyball. Really nice to have some time off and really enjoy our surroundings. On the way to lunch we had to walk over this rickety bridge- definitely a lesson in trust and surrender. The planks are loose and wide apart in some places- I went to hold on to one of the hand rails and it just crumpled below into the water. Yikes.

Questionable safety standards

This morning we slept in till 7:30 (yee-ha!) and then went to a pilates class. I thought it was supposed to be yoga, so it was a bit unexpected, but made me think of my sis and Jen. Hi-ya ladies!

I just booked my ticket to Chiang Mai. I’ve decided not to do the Thai

Mr. Snake

massage course because it cuts into my free travel time and it would be a lot to go from the teacher training, to massage training to the orphanage. I plan to do some cooking classes, get lots of massages, go on a trek and see some elephants!

Love,
Liza

Tags: south east asia travel, Thailand, Yoga Teacher Training

A great week

Oct 19

Posted by Liza in Thailand | 9 Comments

Saturdays

Sooo… I had my first Thai massage, and my second and my third within 5 days of each other. What else are you supposed to do when they cost less than lunch? The first two were some of the most amazing massages I’ve ever had in my life- kneading, stretching, twisting, the women using their feet and kneeling on you- it’s an experience like no other. Afterwards the women set us up on the porch with a cup of tea. I am so inspired by it I’m considering doing a 2 week Thai massage course in Chiang Mai after this.

Anywho, Koh Tao was fun over the weekend- it was nice to have a change of scenery. The girls I’ve become close with at the training are really fun- we went out Saturday night and had some good beach time.

Our new teacher is incredible- an answer to prayers! He has been studying yoga for 48 years and has the most warm, playful and passionate approach to teaching. Yay Peter.

Me and Prow

Thursday we had a guest teacher (a massage therapist from the Sanctuary) teach us contact yoga (partner yoga or acro-yoga)- he was really fun and playful and demonstrated some amazing maneuvers with one of the petite women in class. I got to ‘fly’ our

Partner yoga

new teacher cuz no one in my group felt they were strong enough (woop-woop South Dakota roots!). Thankfully no yoginis were hurt in the making of these photos.

The Sanctuary offers a free meditation every evening and on Fridays it’s a shaking meditation to techno music. It’s meant to build up energy and help release blockages and negative energy. You keep your feet planted on the ground and shake your body from head to toe, sweating like crazy for about 45 minutes to some amazing music. Then you come down to the floor for savasana for about 15 minutes listening to the surrounding jungle. It’s really silly and fun and exhilarating and intense and I felt absolutely amazing for the rest of the day.

Don't have time to fix this pic! Sorry

We learned quickly after arriving that EVERY Friday night there is a raging party at one of the local bars (about ¼ mile away) that blasts music till 9am. Yes, 9am. You can hear the music clear as a bell, so after 2 Fridays in a row with hardly any sleep (it’s the kind of volume not resolved with earplugs or pillows over the head) we decided to join ‘em (you know what they say). Not exactly the most yogic activity, but we had a good time drinking vodka from buckets (that’s their thing here) and dancing in the sand till about 3am. Good thing we had Saturday off this past weekend.

Tomorrow is our first asana practice on the beach at 5:45am with our new teacher so I’m hittin the sack early tonight. I’ll be thinking of you when I’m saluting the sun tomorrow morning and you’re getting ready for dinner my time yesterday…

Love from Thailand,

Liza

Annie & Eric…

Oct 11

Posted by Liza in Uncategorized | 5 Comments

I’m so HAPPYYYYYY!

Finished our first week of training

Oct 9

Posted by Liza in Koh Phagnan, Thailand | 3 Comments

Woo-wee, uploading and posting pictures takes FOREVER! Internet is a little overpriced here at the Sanctuary as well. But, I will do it for the love of my people! (that’s you)

Our yoga shala

We just finished 18 hours of anatomy (sitting on the floor the whole way through- I think my back is the strongest it has ever been), so it was nice to get into asanas to be able to move around during class. Corrections and adjustments were fun to practice on each other. I’m doing the most meditation I’ve ever done and its wonderful but also makes me realize how much work there is to do! How the mind likes to wander…

I feel like Snow White around here- frogs in the kitchen, a bat hanging over my bed (one again, so happy about my mosquito net), spider skeletons, roosters, lizards in our house that hang in the rafters and drop the seeds of the fruit they’re eating onto our floors. One of the local dogs (we named her Bella) like to hang with us in class. Oh and kitties, kitties everywhere.

Down dog over dog

Learning assists & corrections

We’re excited to have some time off this weekend to check out the neighboring island of Koh Tao. We hear the snorkeling is great and I hope to get a massage and study for our anatomy test on the beach…

One of the women doing the training brought her 8 month old, Jack. It’s interesting to see that the local men love babies and waiters will just come up to you at dinner and scoop him up and cuddle and coo at him.

Sending love,

Mr. Jack

Errands in Had Rin w/ Marisa & Jenna

: Our transportation

Tags: south east asia travel, Thailand, Yoga Teacher Training

Finally over my jet lag.,,

Oct 4

Posted by Liza in Uncategorized | 6 Comments

I’ve killed 3 cockroaches in the past two days and found some poop (lizard?)

My yogi room

on my bed. It’s too hot to sleep with my windows closed and apparently the low-budget room I’m in isn’t ‘allowed’ a fan. Thankfully my beautiful blue mossie net keeps me encased in a safe little sleeping area.

The past two nights we hiked about 10 minutes over to the other beach for a meal looking over the water with the full moon in the

Hiking to dinner

backdrop. I had watermellon/pineapple juice and the best pad thai ever the first night and a mango shake and fresh barracuda and salad last night. Some of the girls went to Had Rin for the full moon party, but being the good yogi I am (ha) I went to bed at 10pm to rise easily for 6am asana this morning. Maybe next full moon…

This is the 3rd time I’ve been in an internet cafe trying to get this posted. Much more laborious than I imagined… Love love,

Dinner in Had Yuan

I made it!

Oct 4

Posted by Liza in Bangkok, Thailand | No Comments

Saying goodbye

The flights over were quite nice- I had the entire row to myself from Seattle to Tokyo so that I could lay down. Food, drinks, movies and reading- it’s like a little vacation in itself. The uninturruped Ambien sleep was a treat as well…

I intended to meet up with a woman from my teacher training at the Bangkok airport but we couldn’t find eachother so I took a cab to our hostel to meet there. My non-English speaking cab driver wanted to drop me on the street when he couldn’t find exactly where the hostel was so we had to work through that being it was 1:30 in the morning and all. Our hostel was super cute and clean.

The next morning we walked around the city for a little shopping and eating snacks from the street vendors. A little afternoon nap was in order as well. In the evening we met up with Beau, a Thai woman who lived in Colorado for a while who knew my friend Lorell, for a wonderful authentic family style Thai dinner. She was so sweet and happy to tell us all we needed to know about Bangkok. I hope to meet up with her again when my sister arrives.

On the beach just before sunrise

The next morning we caught a flight to Koh Samui, then a ferry to Koh Phagnan (Had Rin beach), then a little boat over to Had Tien beach where the Sanctuary is. It is so unbelieveably beautiful here, I almost can’t believe I’m really here.

So far the yoga training has been great. The 29 women doing the training are all lovely; we practice in a studio overlooking the forrest; amazing vegetarian food, smoothies and fresh juices at the main resturant; teal ocean water the

Shopping in Bangkok

temperature of bath water with the softest, whitest sand- just incredible.

Im on a lunch break right now and there is so much more I want to add- sorry for the hurried post, but I’ve got to go!

PS- I just had a fresh blueberry, strawberry, peanutbutter and flaxseed shake for lunch.

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Tags: south east asia travel, Thailand, Yoga Teacher Training

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Liza's Travel Blog – Thailand, Cambodia & Vietnam

Archive for October, 2009

Yoga mama

A great week

Annie & Eric…

Finished our first week of training

Finally over my jet lag.,,

I made it!

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