More photos - from the gorgeous yoga space

Here are a few more Bali photos - mostly relating to yoga.

Going into the yoga space:


Waiting for class to start:


Me in the yoga space with rice paddies view behind me:


And the view from where we had breakfast ...




And the view from where we had breakfast:

Last (morning) class

We had the last morning class today. There is a session this afternoon, but it'll be short - we're heading out to a last night dinner at 6pm.

The class was different. Dena and Jack both practiced with us just up to navasana, before finishing poses. The idea was for us all to be together. So if someone finished a pose early, they waited for everyone to come to stamistithi before moving on. As Dena said, we'd been following her breath all through the week (in pranayama, etc), so she wanted us all to be breathing and practicing together. With no attachments to what we thought we would like to be doing. It was lovely. We did a full vinyasa practice, which was something I'd not done before. Tiring, but rewarding!

Then because some people had to leave before this afternoon's final class, we did the sharing our experiences thing, which was veery touching.

Justw having a final coffee in the wonderful Tutmak cafe before going back to get ready for the final final class! Tomorrow it's off to London, for the next adventure! But I definitely want to come back to the next workshop Dena does here! We'll see how that goes!

Yoga and lazy day

Sitting in a cafe in a little street off Monkey Forest Road ... Having lunch and checking email, etc. I was tired this morning - possibly because I went out for dinner last night to a wonderful Japanese place, and drank beer! Not sure that's very conducive to getting up early to do a strong yoga practice!! Lucky I don't have any pressing shopping or anything to do! So I lay around reading the rest of the morning after breakfast, and just ventured out for lunch, very decadent!

I am stopping/stopped at navasana ... But there's so much in every pose of the practice as Dena says, so I am content. We are doing all of standing sequence led, which means at a cracking pace! In fact, because I normally take quite a while to set up in the UBH (standing balance?) I haven't got balanced by the time it's on to the next side/pose ! Oh well ... Today Jack (Dena's husband who assists), got me into the first side of Janu C. I don't know when that last happened - if ever! I can manage the second side, but never the first by myself.

In yesterday's afternoon session we went through the 2nd sun salute in minuscule detail. Also long discussions/try-outs of different styles of down-dog, and the reasons for each. I am learning a lot! Looking forward to whatever this afternoon's class brings ...

Photos at last

Just a few at the moment ... Views of the hotel


The outside bathroom wall ... (I don't have an outside bathroom any more!)


And statue (not sure of who, not Ganesh) at entrance to yoga room ...


More (many many more!) will follow later ...

First Bali yoga practices

,So, the yoga! The reason I am here in Bali ... ! Already it is very special. Dena is somehow not how I expected at all. (Why did I think she was tiny?!) In one way she's a normal Aussie girl (OK, woman!) But there's a real strength and control in there, and I know she is going to teach me so much, bring my yoga practice to a new level.

On the first afternoon we spent a lot of time with the breath (how nice!). Then we very slowly went through Surya Namaskar A, breath by breath, breaking each bit down. Ditto with Surya Namaskar B. Then just finished with a few gentle backbends. After that we sat in a circle (all 30 of us) and talked a little bit about ourselves, our practice, whatever. I guess the class is more Aussies than anything else, but there were Swedish people, Americans, Japanese, and a couple from Brazil!

Then this morning we went through the standing sequence led, before Dena 'let us go' to finish the rest on our own. Halfway through the sun salutes she stopped everyone to pull us up on the 'Upward facing dog' section. Reminding us all that this is the first backbend in the series, and that we should be aiming to bend the thoracic section of our back, not the neck or lower back (from whence comes back and neck pain!) It was really interesting - about how we had to first stretch our back by pulling from both ends, the toes and the head, so there is space to bend! I could go on about stuff she said, but I won't ... But I really tried to do this through the practice.

Bali workshop day 2

Best laid plans and all that ...wrote this yesterday and had planned to go to a fast Internet place in Ubud today so I could upload photos etc. But when I got down there, the electricity was off! However, I had discovered that there is limited wireless access here at the hotel, so have come back to pLay with that! Photos will probably have to wait another day ... This below is what I wrote yesterday to post.      

I'm going to write a separate post about the yoga so far (incredible), but wanted to write about today's 'trip to the countryside' with Sujana first. Such a sweet and unassuming man - I'm so unaccustomed to that! So, we set off on this drive up into the mountains. First stopping to see some amazing rice terraces - mind you, rice is grown everywhere here, including all through the grounds of this hotel - as photos will reveal soon!

Then on to a place that grows all sorts of spices and coffees. Coffee, cocoa, vanilla, ginger, ginseng, cloves, cinnamon - you name it! The owner (another sweet guy with an adoring little 2-year old daughter clinging to him!) reminded me that Indonesia used to be known as the Spice Islands. They served us up a variety of teas and coffees - including wonderful cocoa and incredible 'ginseng coffee'. That was the best! I had to buy some - I think it's just powdered ginseng mixed with coffee, but Yum!

Then we carried on driving up the mountain, through beautiful Balinese countryside, orange groves and up to the top wih a spectacular view of two live volcanoes! Nothing happening there I hasten to add, but evidence of the lava flow from an eruption about 70 years ago. Had lunch at a restaurant overlooking the view - vey nice! Came home after that to have a restful rest of the afternoon. I have arranged with Sujana to go to some Balinese dancing on Thursday evening. Maybe Maxine and/or someone else will want to come too.

I would never have done something like this - go off for a drive to the countryside by myself with a taxi-driver I hardly know - in somewhere like India! It is a completely different world here!  

Friday in Bali

There is something to be said for writing with a pen. I wrote a whole note on the iPad to copy and paste into this blog when I got to a wifi cafe. Well, either you can't or I haven't mastered that yet! (Note: I appear to have somehow got the copied text in but mAybe a bit out of order. For info - that was written yesterday. The yoga workshop starts this afternoon. I'll get better at this soon!!)

Of course I am loving Bali. Who wouldn't?! The people are so nice and the countryside is so so pretty! Yesterday (Friday)Oi had a lovely day. Had intended to go down into Ubud to try a wifi cafe, and maybe go to the Monkey Forest. Then the taxi driver suggested a few other things and I thought - why not be different! So he took me for a drive through the lovely Balinese countryside, first to a silversmith place (where I ended up buying a nice silver bracelet, of course!) and then to this batik place, where they have demos of the batik process and ikat weaving. Plus a very large and wonderful shop! I emerged from that some time later with my travel money card somewhat lighter, having bought some very nice clothes, a sarong and a few presents for people.

After that he took me to the Bali Bird Park, where I saw some amazing birds, although a few not looking so happy, including a cassawary. But there were huge caged rainforest areas that you could walk through with the birds flying freely in there. Including birds of paradise. That was lovely.

Came home exhausted after that ... I really enjoyed driving through the pretty pretty Balinese countryside! Such a sight for sore eyes (if my eyes were sore, which they're not!) I think I'm going to go for another drive with him up into the mountains and more rice terraces on one of the days when there's only yoga in the morning ... Not the sort of thing I normally do, but it is so lovely, (and the people are really gentle and nice, and trustworthy!)

Now I'm back home, and in a little while I'm going to do some yoga. Managed a bit yesterday, but I didn't even get through the standing sequence. Hopefully better today. The workshop starts tomorrow afternoon and it'll be full-on from then! had been