Just Chillin'

Still jet-lagging, and woke up 6 in the morning. Fiddled around for a while until I finally decided to haul myself out to the city for an early morning yoga practice.

It's been a long time since I've been to Mongkok in the morning, and somehow it felt, different.

Less crowded, more relaxed, and actually, a bit intruiging. Just a wee-bit. It's still Mongkok afterall. :)

And I had a kick-butt practice. Kick-butt in a sense that I was able to actually enjoy it, both physically, mentally and spiritually. My yoga practice has deviated from my original path since moving to Hong Kong, and I was having less and less fun. Instead of simply enjoying the process of practicing, I was getting to a point of pushing and focusing on the results, the ends, of my practices. Being back to Vancouver, and being able to practice again with so many awesome yogis and yoginis, has rekindled that tiny spark that has been dying out within me. It's a slight paradigm shift but I'm having a lot of fun on the mat again.

I am so glad that I've taken the plunge and made my pilgrimage back home to Vancouver. It's a well worth trip and a much needed one.

And all I hope now, is that I could keep myself from getting lost again among the midst of relatively purely physical practices here in Hong Kong.

Om namah shivaya

ॐ नम: शिवाय

AM

Chris!

Oh my! One crazily amazing teacher, Chris Chavez.

Didn't expect this when we signed on for the Teacher Training with Chris, but this is one inspirational teacher, I'm tellin' ya.

He may look like some funky rock n' roll guy, but he is one great yoga teacher.

Great strong practice with even stronger, deeper teachings.

Keiki said the last few days were like English lessons rather than Yoga lessons. I totally agree. It wasn't just any other yoga training, but rather, some sort of brain-picking, language lessons that get you started on your "thinking train".

I've learned so much in just a mere 5 days that it's going to take me a while of contemplations just to digest most of them. It's just THAT deep.

And our yoga practices were - hmmm..... crazy. From Downward Facing Dog, look between your hands, bend your knees, inhale and jump into, listen to this, Sirsasana II - Tripod Headstand.

Crazy? Very. But fun.

Not that I could do everything that he says, but, hey, it's my practice and I was simply having fun. And that's all it matters. Wow. Amazingly powerful stuff, eh?

I feel so recharged, so..... energized, that I'm totally ready to rock n' roll!

Thanks, Chris, for sharing this spark of yours that willl continue inspiring many others. And thanks Ozlem, for being the grounding force behind Chris and behind all of our trainings.

I bow to you both, my teachers.

AM

Vancooooouver!

Sorry folks! Tried blogging while I was in Vancouver but somehow I just couldn't post anything onto the blog itself. I'm really not that tech-savvy, as you know.

Anyways, I'm sure the title, "Vancoooouver!" says it all - I loved it so much, that I couldn't get enough of it!!!

The only word I could use to describe this past week was, amazing, amazing, amazing.

And I want to be back.

First, the clean, crisp, cool air - loved it.

Then, the lovely scenery with a mix of green and orange leaves - splendid.

And THEN, the people. Friendly smiles and heartful goodbyes - even from strangers on the streets.

Oh, and our friends. Oh, my. I've never realized I was (or we were) so loved. So blessed with such beautiful people around us. Oh, well, you know, birds of the same feather flock together, so I guess I should've known, eh? :)

Even thinking about it all now brings a softness to my nose - sniffle, sniffle. I have been so touched by the people and events of this past week, that I....... just didn't know what to say anymore. Really.

Maybe, just a little from-the-bottom-of-my-heart "Thanks" to everyone and everything that has colored my life?

Yeah, that's it. That's the right word. Thanks.

To you all, and to the Divine up there who's smiling as he/she is reading this.

I just LOVE life.

-AM

Alive, not dead...

Yes, I'm still alive. Alive but busy and half-dead.

One more day to wrap up everything before heading out to Vancouver, and as usual, there's just too much to be taken cared of.

Physically, I felt strong and well, and, at the same time, extremely sore. Been practicing very intensively for the past few weeks and result's been amazingly positive. Quite a drastic improvement of strength as well as flexibility and I've been having some major breakthroughs in my practice lately. Know I shouldn't be complaining but if I could just feel a little less sore......

Mentally, errrrr......I think I'm quite exhausted. Just a little too much happening lately and I'm a little swarmed. In a way I'm glad to be able to go away for a little so I could take a breather. However, as usual, I feel so darn guilty about leaving the kids behind.

*sigh* I'm missing them already, I tell ya.

If only I could bring them along.......

Anyways, better finish up my update and get back to work. I've got a pile of bills to pay and another pile of paperwork to go through before I could safely, officially, declare my "holiday".

And last but not the least, Congratulations to Ben-Ben and San-San, the happy couple:

Wishing you two a lifetime of love and joy together!

October 13, 2009

Luv,

AM