Posts Tagged ‘Bikram Yoga Buenos Aires’

 

home.. (far)away from home

February 12, 2010 at 9:43 pm in On The Street, Yoga Practice | Please subscribe!

Pranayama Deep Freezing

I’m a yogi and it’s been 1 month, 11 days since my last practice.

The body needed a break and I was looking forward to not feeling anything, not an ache, stiffness, pain – good or bad. It took a few days before I awoke and felt.. nada! Ah yeah that’s it.. oh no, wait.. hehe, false alarm: just the faintest, little stretching at the corners of my mouth.

I tried to enjoy my last 19 days left in South America (without yoga). I hung out in Buenos Aires, and when the passport finally arrived, took a snappy 26 hour bus ride north to Florianopolis, Brazil (don’t ever spend that long on a bus!). I bid farewell to Bikram Yoga Buenos Aires and for the first time in many months, looked into the sweaty mass of bodies and held back the urge to tear off my clothes, run in and join them. Could I be missing it already?!

With a silly grin and spinning compass, I jumped on a plane heading home, although, unfortunately, not back to Australia. Somewhere new, exciting.. somewhere very, freakin’ cold.

First though, back in Budapest – deja Vu (plus snow), ironed and lovely smelling clothes, shots of Palinka, Unicum, home made wine, Hungarian cuisine and finally.. total relaxation! Big hug and many thanks to Veronika’s family.

During this time though, I went through a little post 365 day challenge disorder: I didn’t want to talk about yoga, my challenge, how I felt, changed, gained, lost or remained the same. I wanted to say hello to old friends but laid low, shuffling the snow.

Turn page. I wake in my new home to a freshly brewed espresso, stare out the window at my little hill of bare trees and snow, and start a set of the deepest, most enjoyable Pranayama yet. I continue to Standing Head to Knee then collapse – cold stiff, weakness has crept in already.. wf?! Haha but it was enough – a familiar tickle as the first droplet of sweat snaked its way down my bum-crack.
I am alive again!

The blog continues.. at home: Stockholm, Sweden.

 

365 classes in the bag, but..

December 31, 2009 at 4:00 pm in Yoga Practice | Please subscribe!

While brushing my teeth tonight, I realized that today marked my 365th class for the year!

One class a day since 02 Jan 2009, with a double class in Switzerland and Sweden. Of course my challenge is “12 Months, 12 Countries, a 30 Day Challenge in each” so technically I finish on the 01 Jan 2010.. only 2 classes to go here at BYBA!

I should be over the moon, well over all the poses actually, but something very strange has happened to my yoga practice. I guess it started at Bikram Yoga Viña del Mar, Chile (month 11) but not quite comprehending or believing, I kept quiet, fearful I would jinx myself.

So, what happened?  As you know, there are so many things to focus on, explore and ultimately, master in your practice, for example: an even and quiet breath, unwavering drishti, and relaxed mind, that to control any one of them, is no small miracle! After the first month and each consecutive 30 Day Challenge, it seemed the harder I pushed, the more strained I became. The deeper I breathed, the louder it got. The more I tried to focus, my vision wavered.

But every month I had new teachers (guides), differing studios (energy centres) and met with more and more yogis (collective conscious) – each imparting little morsels of information. Some helped me a little and others basically slapped me in the face – for which I cant thank enough.

Then at Bikram Yoga Commercial Drive Vancouver, Canada (month 9), a teacher told me, “the more I feel the pain, the more I laugh”. Of course I laughed at the absurdity but never forgot this gem and over the coming months put it to practice – I felt the pain.. and I smiled a lot! Slowly, very slowly, all the pieces started coming together and I relaxed more and more into my practice.

And after all this time.. I’m finally starting to get what this yoga “trip” is all about.

 

Good morning Buenos Aires!

December 6, 2009 at 4:25 am in On The Street | Please subscribe!

12 months rolls around pretty fast when you’re having fun.. hmm, I think there were a few other experiences thrown in there too haha but here I am, almost at the end of my Bikram shuffle with a month to go here at Bikram Yoga Buenos Aires, Argentina!

After spending last month in a dusty little room in a student boarding house operated by a lovely family, sneezing and blowing my nose every day I decided to find a sun filled apartment in Buenos Aires. A tad more expensive but hey, it’s my last month AND Christmas, so let the coin jar run out in style right?! Picture this: asleep on a big, soft, white bed, dreaming of yoga (of course) and.. wtf is that.. a brass band, chanting, a military parade?! What looked like a lovely green park on google maps turns out to be a military base. We couldn’t see much of the parade and I thought of taking setting up the camera but what was I thinking – taking video of a military base?! I could have been doing the next 30 day challenge in lockup in, I’m guessing, some advanced postures!

The 6am bugle call makes for a great alarm clock and the 8am morning parade is kind of like the snooze option. I’m kind of enjoying it although last night was our first late night out at a Milonga. We haven’t been to a lesson yet so unfortunately we couldn’t tango the night away.. yet!

Thanks to Carla, Jay, Daniela all the friendly teachers and yogis BYBA for making us feel so welcome!