Singing in Handel's Messiah

Last night I sang in a performance of Handel's Messiah, at St John's Anglican Cathedral in Brisbane with the Bach Choir. It was (again) such a lovely experience ... I didn't sing in it last year as I'd only just got back from overseas, and so missed most of the rehearsals. But this year, since I'd given up on my regular choir, I'd had it in my mind as my 'choir' experience for the year. And yes, sometimes it was hard to come home for an hour, and then drive back into the city to go to rehearsals. But it was so worth it!

I know pretty much all of the music now.The only chorus I still have a bit of a problem with is the final one - the Amen chorus. But I felt that I mostly had it! And it's so wonderful to come to the end of a chorus, and stop singing, then hear the sound echoing back to us from the cathedral's vaulted ceilings ... :)

Today my friend Helen came round and we practiced to the Mark Darby DVD. For various reasons, I hadn't been able to practice for 3 days, so it was really nice to get back onto the mat. I did a few poses that I'm not doing in class yet (ones that have been 'taken away' because of my meniscus injury and haven't come back yet). Some of them were quite good - others I could see I was a long way away from being able to do them again And in fact my knee felt a bit tender afterwards ... So I won't be pushing to get some of them back again yet!!

Wildlife etc.

This is a possum with her baby on her back, up in the rafters of my back verandah! They're mostly nocturnal, so you can spot them during the day (if they're not inside your roofspace!!)

I've had quite a lot of wildlife encounters in the last couple of days! On Sunday, as well as seeing the possums, when I was hanging out the washing I heard some scrabbling over the fence in the neighbour's garden. And there appeared a large rabbit (or maybe a hare) woofling around. It got to about 3m from where I was when it finally saw me. Sat there with its ears pricked up looking at me for a couple of seconds, and then leapt into the air and rushed off!

And then on Monday morning as I was having breakfast and getting ready to go to work, I heard all this squeaking outside on the back verandah. When I looked, there was a red parrot on the railing, pretty much demanding to be fed! So I grabbed some (very expensive, and oh so yummy!) maple granola and put a handful out for it. It sat there less than 1m away and then hopped over and started in! It seemed to like the granola as much as me... :)

Such a surprise at yoga class on Saturday - I got given Garbha Pindasana back! Really, I haven't done that for a few months, since before I had the knee meniscus injury. I also got parivritti parsvakonasana back too, so now I've got all the standing poses again. Seated is a much more patchy experience, but I know it'll come back little by little. I hasten to add that my GP experience is nothing like that of Kevin (globie.wordpress.com) ! I can't do lotus, so the only way I can attempt GP is with crossed legs, and no arms through anywhere! But it's maybe easier to get round that way, even though it might take more than 9 rocks ... <grin>

Back on track!

I'm feeling so much better now ... final course of antibiotics ends on Sunday - I don't really feel I need them but am taking them just in case! And I'm also taking Inner Health acidopholous to replace all the good bacteria killed off by said antibiotics. It really is so wonderful to be feeling healthy and with lots of energy again! You always appreciate your health so much more after a period of bad health!

And my yoga practice is all coming back too, after the extra restrictions of being ill and just unable physically to do much. I'm nearly back to my pre-Bali practice now. When I first went back to class (only last Saturday) I was put back on the restricted "post-illness or absence" practice that they make you do. But by yesterday evening I was given all my standing poses back, and just told to do the restricted practice to Navasana. Of course, even when I get all the pre-Bali practice back it will still be a practice restricted by knee meniscus issues, and I fully expect that to take up to a year to properly recover.

I just did a 35 minute lunchtime practice in the Uni pilates gym (my usual weekday practice location) and it felt really good! Still a bit wobbly in UHP (a fairly common issue for me anyway!), but I'm almost able to grab my toe in trikonasana, and my wrist in paschimottanasana. Feels very satisfying!

Some friends came over for brunch on Sunday. I'd originally invited them for lunch, but they suggested an earlier brunch. Turned out to be a really nice way to entertain friends, and still have time left after they've gone to do a few things in the garden, or wherever!!

And my only other news is I'm back singing with the Bach Choir, for their annual Handel's Messiah concert. When I gave up singing with my main choir at the beginning of the year due to lack of time (and a desire to give more of my precious time to yoga), I always said I'd try and do the 6 weeks rehearsal with the Bach choir to sing the Messiah. And I'm really enjoying it ... :)

Absence of yoga practice

This post is just a whinge (Australian expression!) about how sick I've been the last few weeks, so be warned if you read further <grin>

I have been sick for weeks and weeks. In fact I started coughing badly the minute I stepped off the plane in Bali nearly 3 weeks ago. Then by the middle of the week the rest of this flu/chest infection caught up with me and I had no energy to do anything except class with Dena, and possibly a trip into Ubud to get a massage. Not interested in eating - most unusual for me! I was almost glad to be leaving at the end of the first week, as it had felt harder and harder to be involved in the class - specially with all the paroxysms of coughing ... I don't know how I got through all that pranayama!

Now it's nearly 2 weeks since I got back and only now, the 3rd type of antibiotics finally seem to be working. The cloud is lifting from around my head, and I almost feel I might have the energy to set foot on my yoga mat again - but a very short practice, and at home only!

Still feels like it'll be a while before I feel 100% again. I took some time off work last week, but didn't have much sick leave so had to come in this week. All I could do when I got home was collapse in bed with a cup of soup!

Turns out I've had some obscure flu that is very hard to get rid off. My lungs got infected, and that made the whole flu virus keep re-infecting! Lovely!

Don't think I want to write anything much about Bali at the moment - want to wait till I'm better again and can see it all through clearer eyes. It certainly was hard this time, which I had never ever expected!

Anyway - I do feel better than I felt at the beginning of this week, and people at work even say I look better so that's good! Hopefully it's all upwards and positive from here on ... :)

Steve Jobs ... thank you

I was sitting in a cafe in Ubud in Bali when I heard the sad news. And yes, as Barack Obama said, I was one of so many who heard the news by reading it on a device that was inspired/created/refined by him (and his team). 'Devices' that have changed the way we communicate in so many ways - it's hard to get your head round how much.

This is a short bit from his famous speech to Stanford University graduates about 6 years ago ...

 "Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

Read the whole speech here or watch it on YouTube. And a great article here by Henry Porter (one of my favourite authors) in The Guardian.

He lived those ideals ... And we are all the richer for it.

I will miss your inspiration Steve ... go gently into that good night (sorry Dylan Thomas!)

Bali days

One of the things everyone seems to do in Ubud is have massages. I didn't last time I was here but yesterday I went and had a "deep tissue" massage Is that the right term? Not sure but no doubt you get the drift! The two photos above are from Body Works, the massage place (predictive text changed that to massacre!!!) When I walked into the actual massage room the music playing was the Gayatri mantra which was nice. It wasn't nearly as painful as I had been fearing and I slept really well last night. Think I'll do it again before I leave!

After you have the massage you are taken into the garden (pictured above) to sit and drink a mug of herbal tea and have some fruit ... Really lovely - can't imagine a massage place like this anywhere but Bali!



And this picture was taken just before an afternoon workshop. The ducks seem to live in the rice paddies outside the yoga studio, and gather together in the evening to be shut into their duckhouse ... :)

Today's workshop was really good. Dena was talking about 'conscious stamistithi', and taking those principles into every pose. In a nutshell (and if I've remembered it correctly!) she says that at the beginning of every pose you should first Stretch (or lengthen), then Protect (activate uddhiyana bandha), and then move into the direction of the pose. That makes a lot of sense. Can't wait to see if I can remember/do this!

She also talked about how the practice of yoga will help people stay healthy as they (we) age. Which sounds like a wonderful idea since we can't avoid the aging bit!

Apart from the yoga, I did a bit of shopping today with my friendly driver Sujana, from last time! At a batik place I had fun buying a couple of little dresses - for Richard and Katy's daughter Margaret, and if Elizabeth has a girl this time, then one for her too! It's lovely to have young children to buy presents for!

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Back in Bali!

Here I am back in Bali - that little island of paradise. I'm sitting on my balcony looking out at the rice paddies that run all the way through the hotel on a not too hot, overcast morning. Been for the first yoga practice, been for yummy brunch with everyone in the Indus restaurant across the road ...

Going to have a relaxing day today ... May go down into Ubud later, but mostly I want to just laze around, read a book, think vaguely about what I may want to do over the week.

Class was lovely. After we each introduced ourselves and said a bit about our practice, we did some breathing practice and then did a full led primary. I did all the poses in my modified practice and all seems good! Last week Richard gave me back 3 more poses and a couple of days later my knee wasn't at all happy. Which freaked me out somewhat (though I did keep Dena's wise words to me in mind!) But a couple of days rest seems to have done the trick - though I am more aware of being extra careful about alignment.

And I've met up with the other bloggers Bibi and V! Which is really nice ... :)


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