Good practice in Berlin

I've been getting some good series in here in Berlin.  There seems to be a fantastic vibe to this place.  It could be the town Berlin.  I've had fun my whole time here.  The people are friendly and chilled out.  Kreutzberg is really nice too, much nicer than the northern parts of the city.  Perhaps it's seeing old friends that I haven't seen for a while.  Maybe it's speaking Spanish again.  We've also had some lovely sunny weather.

Practicing at home, it's been warm, and I have a nice big room to practice in, with a solid wooden floor and a high ceiling.  My body has been open, with easy binds in all but Marichyasana D.  I'm tempted to go back to doing full primary if it stays like this, but had best keep it cool until at least Mysore.  Who knows, Saraswati might finish me in Primary while I'm there anyway.  Well... that would be wishful thinking, but still...

Another thing about being in a big house is that there's time to do all the things I enjoy.  This week I'be been making tortilla and gaspatxo a lot.  The combination is perfect.  I know tortilla isn't the healthiest thing in the world, but gaspatxo is, and I love them!

Next stop Barcelona

Ashtanga Yoga Berlin

Here in Berlin, I inscribed at a local studio Ashtanga Yoga Berlin.

It's a lovely place, a bit of a walk from where I'm staying, but the sessions I get to are during the day, so the place isn't busy at all which is nice.

I had three different teachers while I was there.  The first was a lady Nathalie from Brazil.  While being lovely, she was utterly lost with my body.  I think a lot of teachers have never had a body like mine, and so they don't know how to deal with it.  She in particular would try her best to adjust, but say things like "your body doesn't move when I push." Oh well.

The next teacher was Nir.  He was absolutely amazing.  He was a softly spoken little guy, and really worked closely with me to get me to move my body in ways I hadn't before.  He had little techniques such as getting me to push my plantar forward to his waiting palm after dorsal flexion to activate certain muscles in my legs and hips.  The guy was a real technician, and I learnt heaps.  Another thing he got me to do, was every second time I went up for a jump back, I should pull upward and backward as far as I can with straight legs.  This will slowly strengthen my core for eventual straight-leg transitions.  Well it's hard work, that's for sure!!

The other guy I had a couple of times was Grischa.  I though he said his name was Josh, but the website says Grischa.  He had a lot of experience, and was a master manipulator.  He wasn't as good as Nir, but got me easily into Mari-D on both sides, and that was really pleasing.  He had some pretty negative things to say about Saraswathi in Mysore though.  Maybe he had a bad experience.

Back to Paris, and on to Berlin

Back to Paris to see some friends.  I'd planned to see Steph, but her plane was delayed flying in from Israel, and she let me know that there was no way she was going to be able to rouse herself from Bed.  I'm sad to have missed her, but we'll have to catch up some other time.

I caught up with Julie, after not seeing her since Mexico a year or so earlier.  She was in great form, and we spent the day picnicing in Paris.  One thing the Parisians do well is a good city park.  The moment the sun comes out, people head to the grass of the parks to bask in the sun.

After Paris, I caught the night-train to Berlin.  It was a fun adventure, meeting lots of interesting people, and I listened to the whole Bhagavad Gita on the trip.  It was the audio version of the copy that the Hari Krishna's use.  Quite a literal interpretation, but still a good listen.  I don't think there are any other copies available on audiobook.

It's wild stuff, and contains so many good lessons for life.  I wish the western belief system had a useful book like this one instead of that bible rubbish.  Oh well.

Le Nord

I've been doing yoga in the frozen north of France these past two weeks.  Gee it's cold.  this is meant to be summer time, but we haven't seen the sun once.  For those who live there it's funny.  Each time they see me rugged up in my finest down coat they just laugh and say "Le Nord" (the north).
I did manage to get a few nice practices in, thanks to the ability to shutter my room quite nicely from the freezing cold and wet.

During this period I've been lucky enough to visit much of this part of France and a little Belgium.  We went to Roubaix, Calais, Dunkirk, and even went to a Patois Theatre.  Roubaix was amazing, as the caretaker called the council to get us permission to have a private tour of the venue, including the famous showers.  It was brilliant to see the place where my heroes raced and won their famous races.  Hell of the North they called it.  I could see that by the blood stains on the velodrome, and the dark sense of cold in the bathrooms.  Cycling truly is a hard man's sport.

One last thing, I finally saw England.  I still haven't been there, but I saw it from across the channel when we had a picnic on the cliffs on the night of the equinox.  As an Englishman, it feels good to have finally seen England.  Maybe someday I'll go there. :)

Caught in my underpants.

Staying at my friend's house in the suburbs of Paris, there was a flatmate I hadn't met yet.  He chose to come trundling down the stairs and into the living room just while I was in the middle of my Virabhadrasana B.  Well, what a shock for him!  To see a stranger in the middle of your living room in their underpants doing yoga...  Well it was time for his coffee. 

In the end he took it like a champ, and I had a great three days there in Paris and surrounds.  It was great catching up with my old workmates, revisiting old haunts, and experiencing the smells of an old life.

Back on the roof

As for the practice, I'm back on the roof, the harvested fields and orange orchards stretching into the distance around me.  I'm going to miss this place in some sense.  It's not for me certainly, but at the same time I think it's been a good transitionary step.  It has shown me how profound the internal change has been once I switched to doing a daily Ashtanga practice.  I can nolonger entertain the idea of drinking alcohol.  I can no longer push myself to go out and pretend to party with friends when I'm just not into it.  In a sense I've always been this way.  The years of working hard and studying at night, followed by the years of competitive triathlon training.  I was never going to enjoy Ibiza.  Haha, why did I come here?

You know what they say "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man a woman if you miss out on the night-life."  It's a time to make big decisions.  Not to say I'm going to have a sex-change.  No I'm going to leave Spain.  France will be my next stop.  I have people to see, and it's been a good six years since my last visit.

The Other big decision is that I'm going to stick with half-primary.  I know I love full-primary, but the traditional method is to only do up to the posture you're working on, and there must be some wisdom in that.  Lets see how it goes.

Nuria's Shala - Doing full primary again

Today we went and practiced in Nuria's house.  She has a little shala room there upstairs and it was really nice.  So funny, she shut all the windows and blinds and turned off the light.  I asked her "why in the dark?"
"I always practice in the dark.  It's the only way I can keep my dristi and don't get distracted."
I found that really funny.  It's totally her style to say something like that as well.

This was the first time I got to practice a full primary in over a week.  Ahhhhh the liberation!  I do love full primary.  It seems to be a better full body workout, and all that rolling onto your back towards the end of the practice, that's pure bliss.  Not only that, but if I'm already doing navasana, there are no strength poses left anyway.

But where did Kukkutasana go?  It was my favourite pose up until now, but whoops!  I guess that's what happens when you don't do Garbha Pindasana for a week.

After that we went downstairs and swum in her pool.  Her house is full of surfboards and dogs at the moment, so it's a paradise for me!! heehee.

Retreat Day 7

A little sad to be on this the last day of the retreat.  I've learnt so much here and really benefited from the expertise in the room.  Especially from Natalia.  She seems to 'get' my body, and isn't afraid to push the boundaries.  At the same time, I feel safe with her adjustments, like they're really exploring new range of motion within my joints without risking anything.

One last Prasarita Padottanasana adjustment.  It was just put-my-hands-together-and-submit.  Almost like being on a massage table, I just had to relax and let her do her work.  I'm going to miss that.  The jump-backs were gone.  After a full week of tough practice, I'm just too tired now.  Not a single one came.  I got most of the jump-throughs though.  They seem to have stabilised.

Interestingly, my body wouldn't bind in Marichyasana B or C.  The muscles are all different today.  They're all puffed up and stiff from all the work we did on jumping back and through yesterday.

I'm really going to miss all the people on this retreat.  Of course the teachers Anuraag and Natalia.  But also the three Italians Stephanie, Beppe, and his sister Francesca.  I can tell she likes me.  Haha, she so shy, but she does make it quite obvious.  And then Nuria.  We'll certainly see each other before i go, and hopefully in Mysore too.

Anuraag gave me a letter for Saraswathi when we left.  It should serve as a good introduction, because I've heard it's easy to get lost among the crowd in the Mysore shala.

Retreat Day 6

So scooter rental extended, and I'm off to an extra day of the retreat.

This morning I spent a bit of time warming up, doing an exercise in half pigeon that Anuraag had shown me.  Fortunately we got to do pure Mysore style from the very start, which generates much more heat.

My first adjustments came in Parivritta Trikonasana.  they were great, really helping me to open up in the twist.  By the time the Prasarita Paddotonasana C  adjustment came, I think my body was expecting it.  I just couldn't handle it.  I knew the pain was coming, and so I tightened up a bit. Golly gosh it hurt.  Then in Utitta Hasta Padangustasana Natalia came and got my leg right up onto her shoulder.  It was magnificent!  I've never had my leg that high before.

The jump-throughs came once, then twice, three times, then no more.  I think the body is just getting tired with all this work.  Jumping back was a similar story.  I was trying with wider hands, and it was working.  Once, twice, then no more.  I didn't manage any more until towards the end of the practice when Natalia came over to correct my form.  She said I was trying to jump back to straight arms, and that it was never going to work for me that way.  She said I was better to bend my arms while I jump back, allowing my body to come forward a bit.  It worked well.  I got to jump back three more times, then it was the end of practice.

I said no to Anurag when it came to Marichyasana B, because I could easily bind myself.  I felt bad a bit, but whatever, I wanted to bind myself.  In Marichyasana C I bound easily by myself as well (Yay).  Then it was Marichyasana D time, and Anurag came by and said no to me. :(.  I really wanted to do it, but she said it was better to do spinal twists all day than to manipulate my body into a Marichyasana D bind when it really wasn't ready for it yet.

Unfortunately Anurag was still there for Navasana, and she really is a hard task master!  They left me alone for the rest, and I managed three little Urdhva Dhanurasanas without using the wall.

After class we spent some time chatting in French which was nice.

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Retreat Day 5

We did a really fast opening standing series this morning.  My body was still very closed after it though, it didn't seem to respond as it usually does.  I was adjusted in Utthita Trikonasana and Parsvottanasana.  Funnily enough my handstand from Virabhadrasana was perfect.  Hahaha, I have absolutely no idea where that came from!

Another big adjustment in Prasarita Padottanasana C.  This time my shoulders slid down with the adjustment.  There wasn't the pain of before, and they went further than ever before.  Natalia said that my arms were only a foot off the ground at the furthest point of the adjustment.  No bind in Marichyasana B or C by myself today.  My body isn't like yesterday, but I think it's tiredness more than anything else.  Also, by not doing Garbha Pindasana and Baddha Konasana, my hips are slowly tightening up.  I haven't done those two poses for a week now.  Nevertheless, Natalia got me into Marichyasana D easily on the second side.  She's amazing at that.

After practice we were all messing about, and I tried the "Anurag boyfriend" device.  It's a roller that you use on your spine, and it's terribly painful!  I can see how it works, but I'll certainly not be getting one myself!!  I also had a good chat to Francesca, the Italian girl who's there with her brother.  She was really cool.  Today I couldn't stay for brunch unfortunately.

In other news, I booked my flight to India!  I'll be flying there at the end of July from Germany.  Can't wait!!

I need to set up some sort of afternoon stretch session.  My body just doesn't respond to yoga in the morning as it does in the evenings, and I seem to tighten up after each session, whereas after an evening session, I'm always loose the following morning.  Here's what I need to work on:
Softening my glutes and making my padmasana more comfortable so my left knee drops to the ground like my right.
Some spinal twists, so my back doesn't crack like crazy in Marichyasana C
I have to do something with my wrists or they'll surely explode soon.  The can only bend to about 45 degrees instead of 90.
Hamstrings of course!!
And finally, my shoulders.  Natalia won't always be there for Prasarita C.

Nuria gave me an email address to check for accom in Mysore. Aaaaahhhh, it's all coming together!!

Retreat Day 4

I didn't manage a wink of sleep last night!!  I have no idea why, but oh dear!!  The wind on the scooter ride to the shala woke me up somewhat, and thank goodness I have mate to drink.  Without it I would be absolutely useless!!

Because I wasn't able to sleep, I used the morning to apply to KPJAYI!  Yep, that's right, I did it!  The minimum time ahead you can apply is two months, so I counted sixty days ahead and just put that date down.  Boom boom done.  I'm going to India!

Back in the shala, and I seem to have lost my standing postures.  My muscles are super tight from all the hard work these last three days, and so my range of motion is a bit limited.  I still bumbled through though, and generated a lot of heat.  The Prasarita Padottanasana C adjustment from Natalia today was amazing.  It was just pure craziness.  I can't believe I held it so long while she was pushing and pulling her heart out.  I had tears streaming down my forehead as I bawled my eyes out, but it was beautiful and clensing and pure and fantastic!

After standing my flow was on with all the heat.  I bound myself in Marichyasana A, B, and wait for it.... C on both sides.  Easily.  I still use my little yellow towel for B and C, but I slotted into the poses very easily and Natalia took note.  She sat down to give Marichyasana D a go, and we had a little surprise.

It's funny how she adjusts Marichyasana D.  She grabs my arm with both hands, and somehow does some sort of jujitsu with her feet.  I know one of them is pushing against my leg, and the other is keeping me upright, but I'm not really sure how.  However it works, today I was adjusted into Marichyasana C on the second side.  My left hip is still a little tight for me to get in on the first side, but I certainly made it half way there.  So there we have it, Marichyasana D in June 2013.  Woohooo!!! :D

Natalia said I should be able to get into Mari D by myself in Mysore.  That would be fantastic, but she doesn't really know my body, so I'm not going to set my hopes on it.

Back to the dancers' bar again before backbending, doing my hip stretches.  I really pushed them this time, trying to breathe deep into the glutes.  In Urdhva Dhanurasana I was assisted by a beginner named Angel who'd already finished.  That was nice.

After practice, they taught me to go up into handstand after the Virabhadrasanas.  The vinyasa is as follows.  Inhale hands down, exhale half step back.  Inhale up into handstand, exhale down into chaturanga dandasana.

After class today Maya gave me a gift.  It's a drawing of me.  She really is the sweetest little child, and has taken to me.  It's the perfect souvenir of the retreat for me.

I've been using Greg's hand blender every day here in Eveissa, and so I finally decided to head up to buy myself one.  Well in the shop I had a blond moment, and used my thumb to test how sharp the blender was... oops!!!!  now my thumb is bleeding like crazy and I can't get it to stop!!  Hahahaha silly me!

And tonight I extended the scooter.  I'm going to keep going to this retreat until Sunday.  Although it's a lot of money, I think it's worth it.  Natalia is just amazing, and I'm getting a lot of progress in my Asana practice working with her.