It's been a long time between posts but ...

Here is (part of) the reason! I have been involved in getting my house sold in preparation for the big move! And as of last week, the sale was finally 'unconditional' - meaning no going back for any party!!

I have handed in my notice at work, booked the removalists for the 22nd May. And the following day I am supposed to move into an as yet un-found rental house in the Ocean Shores/Brunswick Heads region! I'm going down to start the look on Friday. Hopefully it won't be too difficult to find a reasonable place that will allow pets (e.g. 1 pussycat!). That seems to be a bit of a stumbling block at the moment, but really, loads of renters have dogs, so I can't see that it can be that difficult. (Fingers very crossed!!)

The plan is to rent for a few months to get a feel for the area, make sure I'm not making a big mistake (which I really don't think is the case)! And then look for somewhere to buy ...

It all feels a bit surreal actually! I'm leaving work at the end of next week and then have a couple of weeks to sort things out/start packing. Since Christmas I have been sorting through cupboards and taking heaps of stuff to the charity bins / chucking away etc etc. Which is really good now as I think if I hadn't then a lot more stuff would just have gone in the bin due to lack of time! I'm giving some furniture away to friends. Last Sunday Ross came over and helped me take heaps of stuff to the yearly Council Clearup at the bottom of the drive (great timing that!) Of course, as he said he went away with more stuff in his van than ended up on the roadside!

Yoga class is suffering a bit at the moment - it's been weeks since I've been able to get to a class, and I won't be able to go this weekend either. But I'm managing to mostly do my lunchtime short practices - although today I am blogging instead of practising!!

And in the midst of all these excitements I have been to 2 weddings! My nephew Peter got married to Tammy in Sydney just before Easter ... a truly gorgeous wedding in the Botanic Gardens, followed by an incredible reception at the famous Quay restaurant in the Overseas Passenger Terminal on Circular Quay. My camera photos were crap, but it was just magical! The Sydney Opera House out of one window, the Harbour Bridge out of the other, Luna Park sparkling across the harbour, and a constant stream of lit-up ferries going in and out of Circular Quay ... I will never forget that!

And then just last weekend my cousin's daughter Krystyna got married in Brisbane. Another lovely ceremony / reception with all the Brisbane family ...

Exertions in charuranga!

Since the last Bali workshop (last October) when Dena shone a big spotlight on my fairly pathetic sun salutes, I have been giving them a lot of attention. Partly the up-dog part, but lately I've really been concentrating on lowering into chaturanga. I've never been able to do that, and for many years just accepted that as the 'status quo' and didn't make any real attempt. However, this lack of strength in my arms has effects across my practice. For example, it also means I can't lift up into urdva dhanurasana, and can only do the more basic setu bandhasana with my shoulders on the mat. And that's the way it's going to stay until I put the effort in and build up that strength!!

So I'm now making a concerted effort in the chaturanga part of sun salutes, going down as slowly as possible, and it's definitely getting better, even though I still collapse to the ground with a moan <grin> - I don't know how long it's going to take, but I really hope I do keep this effort up this time!!

My friend Helen who I used to have a Sunday morning yoga practice with until she had to go interstate for a year's training placement, was back home for a few days last week. And we managed to get together on Friday (my day off) to do yoga together. Miss Squiggle, my pussycat loves this and of course was in there 'helping' to unroll her yoga mats. Well, that's what she said she was doing!! It was really nice to spend some time together, even though I don't know if/when we'll be able to do this again. Depends on whether my house has sold before she comes back for good. But we will get together sometimes, just not as regularly!

Hello new year, new beginnings

The beginning of a year always (? - well, maybe mostly!?!) seems to be a special time. A whole new blank canvas ahead, with who knows what adventures to come.

Looking back, 2013 was a very mixed bag for me. A lot of time spent dealing with my mother's estate, and the sale of her house. Then packing up/dealing with the contents of that house, which was (unsurprisingly) quite an emotional experience. And all through that I was dealing with various health issues - some of which were no doubt related in some way to the emotional stress of losing one's mother. And all of which meant I wasn't able to practice yoga for many many months. Finally I decided it was time to take control, to just get back to the mat no matter how much I was coughing! I made a decision to go to Dena Kingsburg's Bali retreat again, and had such a great time, I haven't looked back!

And behind all of those events I have been working through my own 2 or 3 year plan, to move down to northern NSW. I spent a lot of time fixing up things in my house, and finally when I got back from Bali it was time to get the real estate agents in. The house has been on the market for a couple of months now, and there have been at least two potential buyers who were very interested in it. Although in the end these fell through, I'm still very heartened. I always knew it would take a while to sell, as it's in the country, and needs a particular type of person who likes that sort of life. But I do feel confident that things will move in the not too distant future. And then it'll be time for me to move!

So, 2014 and New Year's Resolutions ...

There is much to look forward to, and one thing I really would like is, (as a friend on Facebook said) 'more yoga'! But I also really want to remember / be aware, that this all isn't a dress rehearsal. This is my life and I want to be living it now, not waiting for things that I want to happen in the future. To stay connected inside to reality and to just enjoy the ride!

I wish that for everyone ... :)

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela has gone ...  so sad that he's no longer here with us, but talk about a life well lived! Very few people have made such a difference - I believe he truly changed the world.

I've seen lots about this on Facebook - including a photo of Mandela with a friend (must be such a thrill for Joe to have that photo now!) It's nothing really, but this is my Mandela story.

When Angela and I first came (back for me) to live in Sydney, back in 1988, we came from London, where there was a very strong anti-apartheid movement. So, we were looking around for a house to buy, and ended up buying one in 'Pretoria Parade, Hornsby'! Honestly, we had very nearly refused to even go and look at it. The idea of having Pretoria Parade as our address was just anathema to us! (And Angela's sister was living in 'Avenue of the Revolution' in the Caribbean!!) And then, when we saw the gorgeous little timber cottage, we loved it, but ... our compromise was to give the house a name that would stand in opposition to that apartheid connection and that name was 'Mandela'!

I went through old photo albums, and found this photo of the name on the gate (with a very young godson, who's now grown up and living in Portugal)!

Sunny day news

I got a new iPad Air today - I'm thrilled! As I'm going from the first iPad, the difference is immense! Half the weight, double the memory, and the new (to me!) Retina screen. It's smaller dimensions-wise but the screen is the same size. And so so much faster!

I'm gradually being given more of my 'old' yoga poses back, which is great. Fingers crossed that I don't come down with some other injury to set me back again!

And tomorrow is the first 'open house' - yes, my house is now on the market. Caused a large amount of panic and soul-searching when I got the real estate agents in and signed on the dotted line! I seem to be ok at the moment, but I'm sure there'll be more of that to come ... !

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad Air

Location:Kholo Road,Kholo,Australia

Post Bali wrap-up

Back home now after a truly wonderful few days in Bali. My experiences last time (of being sick) had somewhat coloured my memory of Bali, and all those stupid worries I had about whether I was healthy enough to go and take on the intensities of a yoga workshop just made me scared to commit. I knew inside I was being pathetic (!) and, oh I am so glad I went. Bali is just a magical place. The people are so uncomplicated and happy. The way ceremony and their religion intertwines throughout their daily lives every day is just amazing ...

But - despite all of the beauties of Bali, this trip really was all about the yoga for me. Dena is such a wonderful teacher - the way she is just really clicks with me. (I think I've said it before, but she so reminds me of my favourite friend, Wendi!!) Another thing to look forward to when I move down to Ocean Shores is that she will be my yoga teacher down there ...

Anyway - I will have had 3 days at home before I go back to work tomorrow ... when I guess the normal day-to-day stuff will come back in and take over more of my consciousness - sadly! Going to a yoga class this evening ... it was a choice between choir practice (for the Messiah) and yoga, and I'm afraid yoga wins out over choir!!

Yoga in Bali - happy times

It's now the middle of the 6-day workshop with Dena ... Well actually it's past that - just 2 more practices to go. And it's been such a lovely experience ... So unlike last time I was here (2 years ago) when I was sick the whole time and could only manage to struggle to the yoga practices and spent most of the rest of the day in my room feeling sorry for myself!!

Yes I've had to be careful, and I still only have a pretty restricted practice, but I feel I have taken on so much this time round. On the asana side, what Dena has been (what word to use? Teaching? Demonstrating? Encouraging? Yes, that's the best maybe) encouraging has manifested in a complete overhaul of how I do the sun salutes. They were a pretty sorry sight before! Two of the things she has talked about a lot is "conscious samistithi" and (her analogy) making the lazy players in the team do the work. In other words, not relying on the bits that are already flexible to do all the work. Specifically in this case, forcing my thoracic spine in the upward dog bit of the sun salutes and vinyasas to do some bending rather than my lower back. And the 'conscious stamistithi' (which I'm not going to elaborate on here - would take too long! Suffice to say - earth, stretch, protect!) can be carried into so many poses, and in this case chataranga - or my attempt at it!

So, even though I still can't do chataranga properly, and the backbend in my upward dog is pretty much invisible to the naked eye (!) I am putting the elements of sun salutes together a whole lot better. Dena did say the difference between this time and last was pretty noticeable!!

Apart from that, among many other topics, she talked about yoga teachers, giving respect to the teachers who do the 'hard work' with their students in their daily practice, and not to get seduced by the glamour of 'workshop teachers' who had a few good tricks and stories for 5-6 days and then were off elsewhere!!

We have been singing some lovely chants each day - one which really resonated with me had the words 'sat chit ananda' in one line. Premies will know what I mean. We used to use that as a greeting many many years ago!

Internet is hit and miss here. All the cafes and restaurants have free wifi, but the wifi at the hotel is confined to the restaurant and reception areas. And this evening it was pretty much non-existent! So I'll have to post this at breakfast tomorrow morning! I'll upload some photos to the blog soon, but have been adding some to Facebook anyway!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Ubud, Bali