Umiinit, Umaapoy, Lumiliyab
It’s summer once again and the heat in Manila is aggravating my skin condition.
No, I no longer do Bikram in a heated yoga studio.
But yes, my skin broke out with just a few postures at home.
My dermatologist said that my skin condition is characterized by break outs whenever there is a change in weather/temperature. $#%! Ganon?! Walking climate change barometer talaga ako?! Kali…
I’ve been seeing some search stats using the key words “skin break-out and yoga”, “bikram yoga and skin irritation”, “pimples and bikram yoga” and they’ve landed on my previous blog posts about my skin problems.
Didn’t get to realize that I haven’t gotten around to posting a picture of this skin problem. So to help others who are in the same predicament, here are a few photos:
Red bumps on thighs 
Red bumps on upper arms
Close-up of keratosis pilaris – whitehead/tiny pimple like bump before it turns flat and red.
I’ve managed this “kp” with prickly heat powder, sulfur soap, wearing clothing on these areas so as not to let sweat sit on it — in Bikram, we’re not allowed to wipe off the sweat so I wear dry fit clothing just so sweat won’t stay on my skin. Have even worn long sleeved dri-fit tops and long pants at one point and had those long sleeve thingies that motorcycle peeps wear — I forget the name but Nike has them.
Such a hassle practicing with so much clothing! Try doing eagle pose with your arms and thighs clothed and you’ll always be short of your real depth. Not to mention it gets all the more hotter so it’s a catch 22 situation.
Then, dermatologist after dermatologist would prescribe some form of lotion which would work intitially until my skin develops some form of immunity from it and the kp comes back with a vengeance.
It’s precisely because of this why my Bikram practice is on again, off again. For a while a non-heated studio yoga practice works for me but now even that doesn’t work. There is something about this “internal heat” generated in a yoga practice that makes my skin break out. And we yogins all know that whether in a heated studio or some well ventilated and cool place (outdoors even), this fire from the belly is what makes our yoga practice safe and effective.
If not for vanity’s sake (soon-to-be bride), I’d still be practicing regardless of. In the meantime, the search for skin management goes on.
Hope this helps others out there and please do leave a few tips/learnings on your personal skin management research as well.
Namaste.
Kali
After months of not having blogged (and in effect locking myself out of my blog) I have mixed feelings about writing here.
1) What do I write about when this blog is aptly subject as “Yoga” and my last yoga class was December 2008, characterizing it as highly inconsistent/irregular practice.
2) Can I write about my attempt at a self practice where in the last month I’ve only practiced the full Bikram Beginner’s series once since I kept waiting for the right moment…right moment being “with a full length mirror installed in my yoga spot at home.” My yoga spot is already “fully-equipped” for 2 weeks now yet, I’ve only done a few postures within the 30 minutes each day that I can dedicate to my “practice.”
3) Or do I add a twist to “yogaddict” and creatively justify that my life is in a different stage now that’s why a yoga practice is evolving to something less physical…
4) And then there’s writing about all the controversial buzz that my site’s been getting. Ah, I did say in my “About” page that I will use this space to talk about yogic things that others do not feel as open in discussing.
Peace.
One thing’s for sure. Having had a sporadic yoga asana practice has given me time to just languish and catch up on all the yoga magazines that I’ve subscribed to but never really had a chance to read and absorb.
One such article caught my mind. From Yoga Journal October 2008: “How to Be Fierce. Being a yogi doesn’t always mean being nice. Unleash your inner strength with the goddess Kali.”
The article talks about the “Gift of Anger” — how serenity and peace can become the very instruments that prevent one from addressing fear, trauma, or social conditioning. Hence, making one unhappy and unhealthy.
It further explains that these deities in Vedic belief symbolize characteristics that a yogin is meant to focus and meditate on. I understand that as “No, they are not meant to be worshipped and should not be misconstrued the way Christians/Catholics do.” They are personalities that one carefully studies. Much thought is given on their unique circumstance and how they manage to become examples of character.
Kali, in particular, is all about having the “power to unleash the true in you — not only the ultimate truth but also the truth that is uniquely yours.”
Now how beautiful is that.
Here’s wishing everyone a Kali consciousness. 
Video Stills of the 1st Philippine Yoga Asana Championship
These are stills grabbed from my video camera, taken on competition night of the 1st Philippine Yoga Asana Championship. Haven’t had the time yet to grab the stills of the contest proper, but that will follow in the days ahead. In the meantime, here are the opening/introduction segments of competition night:
Host: Mr. RJ Ledesma, yoga practitioner and certified yoga teacher.
Chairman and Organizer: Mr. Tristan Choa, yoga practitioner and certified Bikram yoga teacher.
Welcome Remarks: Mr. Ren Soriano, senior teacher Bikram Yoga Headquarters and one of the judges on competition night.
Co-Judges: Ms. Christina Stathis and Mr. Marc Mead, (respectively) 2-time Yoga Asana champion and certified Bikram yoga instructor; certified Bikram yoga instructor.
Place was packed full…very good turn-out for the event.
And here’s the presentation of that evening’s competition contenders:
Adult Men’s and Adult Women’s categories. Namaste all and congratulations for having made it this far.
Articles Galore! – The First Philippine Yoga Asana Championship
Angel from Montgomery
Got a text message from Teacher Tristan and Koreena of Shop Talk program of ANC. Program anchor Pia Hontiveros is doing an episode on different styles of yoga and I was being invited to talk about my yoga experience, primarily to represent Vinyasa. Joelle Gouldsmith, studio director of Pulse Yoga, is there to talk about her choice of housing a non denominational mix of yoga under the Pulse household. While Tristan Choa, studio director of Bikram Yoga Manila is there to talk about Bikram. I said that I hardly qualify as an expert, barely holding up to the likes of Joelle and Tristan who have gone deep into specializing on the yoga discipline of their choice. But Teacher Tristan was quick to point out that what they wanted is the perspective of a yogini who practices different styles.
Aah…an MPD yogini! :-p
I normally shy away from the camera. In my years in broadcast production, not once did I ever appear in front of the camera.
Bestfriend Lelet knows that for sure. Especially since whenever we have a no budget shoot, I’d make her act in front of the camera for plugs that we had to produce for Studio 23. She hated me for it but I always pulled the line, “Do you want me to act in front of the camera or direct the shoot?” Of course she’d rather I directed…hehe. And that’s because I always capture the best of all my subjects — no ugly shot for my on-cam talents!
Fiance’ and long time buddy Neil also attests to the difficulty of getting a decent me in front of the camera – whether still or moving. Oh we have a collection of frowns and talk to the hand snapshots throughout the last 16 or so years. And he also ended up acting for me in front of the camera while I directed the shoots of our plugs at ABS-CBN International back in the ’90s.
It’s just not my nature. Behind the camera has always been my preferred spot.
However, for a yoga advocacy I considered.
So imagine the excitement of my two Geminis (Neil and Lelet) when I told them about the invite. “I’d like to say thank you to my fans club…” 
Seriously, the hurdle is to properly ask for permission with my current employer, GMA Network Inc. Which they gave, yay… “I’d like to thank my sponsor…” :-p
Unfortunately, I find out today that we have a 2009 budget meeting at work at the exact same time Shop Talk will be taping. Whoops, there goes the opportunity. Responsibilities first before advocacy.
Hmm, it’s just not my time yet I guess…
Posting this today made me realize, I might have a penchant for travelling to different sides of the fence(s)… From rival universities, rival employers, and different yoga disciplines…Hmm.
Anyway, please catch the live episode of Shop Talk on different yoga styles this Wednesday, November 5, 3pm-4pm. They’ll replay it throughout the week but that schedule I’m not aware of. That’s on ANC – ABS-CBN News Channel, available on your local cable or through your TFC subscription if you’re abroad.
Let’s support the growing Philippine yoga community.
Namaste.
The FIRST Philippine Yoga Championship
info@philippineyogachampionship.com — Email for inquiries on how to join, how to help/participate.
http://www.philippineyogachampionship.com/ – Visit every now and then to check on the developments, page is still under construction.
Nov. 24, 2008, Francisco Santiago Hall BDO South Tower, Makati Ave. cor H.V. Dela Costa Sts. (former PCIB Hall). Tickets at Php 300.00 available at Bikram Yoga Manila Makati (02-8891011) and Quezon City (02-3764632).
Namaste.
Zombie
The more popular “cranberry” is the musical sensation that blasted their way into our “last-song syndrome” listening-ears back in the ’90s. The yodelling part of the song is still ringing in my ears.
Today though, the popularity of the cranberry just went through my roof.
I’ve been battling the 10 pounds that keeps coming and going in my weighing scale for the most part of this year and some of last year. It drives me into a yoga frenzy where I try my best to maximize my unlimited membership with the local yoga studios. In the past years, a few bikram sessions and I’m back in my ideal weight. In the past month though, it’s a different story.
I’ve been attending atleast 4-5 times a week the last 3 weeks. And my weight hasn’t budged. Now before you go concluding how weight-conscious/obssessive I am, let me give a background of my condition.
I suffer from hypothyroidism. Back in highschool, I suffered from hyperthyroidism. Hyperthyroidism translates to a hyper-active metabolism among other things. Go Google it. There is much to learn out there so let’s be learning-active.
My endocrinologist, Dr. Augusto Litonjua, treated me through radioactive iodine. A hyperactive thyroid is very difficult to control. The treatment is to render it “dead” and to replace the hormones with a more stable and controllable instrument — medication.
Hence, I take levothyroxine sodium everyday for the rest of my life just to be balanced. I’m practically a thyroid zombie.
Since my thyroid is “dead”, I am hypothyroidic. My thyroid is underactive.
An underactive thyroid has a very slow metabolism, among other things. Again, go Google it.
The battle with the pounds is not vanity for me. It is a health concern. Because it is the “among other things” that concerns me more and weight-gain or weight-loss is just a barometer.
So the ten pounds that keeps coming back had my analytical mind obsessing. My diet is still relatively the same (still trying to get meat out, another battle), my physical activities upped a notch with regular bikram practice. So why is it still there.
I went back and reviewed the symptoms of hypothyroidism. Uh-oh, most of it were manifesting again. Mind-boggling to me is I am religious with my medication and my bloodwork shows I am smack in the middle of balanced.
“So I say: Hey, what’s going on?!?”
I Google and Google and find that for women, estrogen conflicts with the thyroid hormone replacement therapy. The sodium causes blood vessels to retain more fluids. And even if the person takes liters of water a day, the cells just don’t want to release it. No wonder I wasn’t sweating my usual buckets of sweat during Bikram!
Dang, here I thought I’m one well-hydrated girl when apparently I’ve been contributing to the “miscommunication” going on inside my body.
So immediately I cut off salt from my food. And sugar too because I read somewhere that sugar also contributes to this messed up internal processing. I’ve also taken out some meat because of my body’s inability to process uric acid and cholesterol. God, if this is not my body telling me to go full vegan …
Immediately I felt relief from some of the symptoms of hypothyroidism. So the adjustments are serving me well.
But I still needed to know how to address the 10 pounds which I suspected to be water retention. I vaguely remember a conversation with Teacher Tesa where she shared about 5 pounds excess weight and realized it was the sodium in a miso soup she took a few days prior to retaining water. After a few days of yoga and some diet adjustments, she dropped the extra water weight. Aha! Water retention popped in my head. Again, I Google and Google and come across natural remedies for water retention. CRANBERRIES are top of the Google search.
So I take my lunch break away from the office yesterday and find myself at Healthy Options where I just go gaga over their products! I find a caffeine free herbal tea called WEIGHLESS CRANBERRY by Traditional Medicinals. www.traditionalmedicinals.com
There are more products there that I wanted to try but restrained myself and exercised some control. I drank the tea last night and this morning poof…there went a couple of inches off my belly. I definitely was retaining water!!!
My pants went back to being loose again. My engagement ring slides like it used to. My toes don’t look like tiny sausages anymore. But more importantly, I am not sluggish and lacking energy in my day-to-day movements.
I love this tea!!! Now I can help manage my monthly cycles.
Which leads me to a new personal research… If historically my estrogen levels cycle monthly, then why is it that it’s only these past 2-3 months that I’ve experienced impact on my hypothyroidism?
Could it be ageing (33, single but hopeful to be blessed 6 kids when married)?
Could it be stopping yoga (9 months of slowed down yoga practice, 2 months of no bikram practice)?
Could it be diet (I’ve read that certain foods throw you imbalanced)?
Whatever it is, I’m going to find it. And I’m going to take these teas into my “research” since they’re my cup of tea.
Teacher’s Pet
Here’s something I got from the mail courtesy of Chona –
The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery. You can teach a
lesson for a day but if you teach curiosity, you teach for a lifetime.
When truth stands in your way, you are headed in the wrong direction.
When teaching the love of truth, never lose the truth of love.
Teacher’s task: take a look of live wires and see that they are well-grounded.
The mediocre teacher tells, the good teacher explains, the superior one shows, the great one inspires.
Some people go into teaching because it is a job. Some people go
into teaching to make a difference.
Filipino
Teacher Tristan of Bikram Yoga Manila called me one time to see if we can do the “For TV airing” coverage of the first Yoga competition in the Philippines. Wow! The objective of the competition is to produce our very first delegate(s) to the Bikram Yoga International Competition. Go Philippines!
Unfortunately, time is against us so we are not able to do a “For TV airing.” In any case, I said we will study this year’s 1st Yoga Tourney so that next year we can help produce a TV show. Another way to yoga-fy the Philippines!
The Tournament is open to all yoga practitioners, from every practice level. As Teacher Sheri of Sundar Bikram Yoga puts it, “It’s not about who has the most flexible postures. It’s about sharing your practice.”
I’ve been witnessing the preparations of yogis/yoginis and I am so excited to see them share come November!
If you’re interested to participate (whether competition or show support), please get in touch with Mr. Tristan Choa of Bikram Yoga Manila bikramyogamanila@yahoo.com or get in touch with your yoga teacher. Come on people, let’s show the world “the beauty and benefits of yoga asana.” Right Teacher Pio?
Chona, Jane, Teacher Jon, and Teacher Tesa please spread the love!
Filipino! Filipino!
Morning Has Broken
One of my favorite cinema scene is from the movie Lord of the Rings The Two Towers where Gandalf the White appears with the support army at Helm’s Deep where the people of Rohan fights exhausted after an all-nighter against the army of Sauroman.
The brightness of the morning sun gave Gandalf and the support army such a blinding energy, the enemy could not stand a chance to fight back.
Ahhh, the sun.
One of my favorite mantras is “This too shall pass…” Whenever there’s something to endure, take strength that this too shall pass. That such is the constant thing in life.
After two months of no yoga, I signed up for a 1 month unlimited at Sundar Bikram Yoga Greenhills. I intend to maximize the number of classes I can attend for a month and catch up on my lost practice. I intend to loose the weight I’ve been putting on and off and on for the last 9 months…and finally get my measurements for my wedding dress done. I intend to gain back the strength and flexibility I lost after sacrificing my practice time for other things that had to take up time, attention, space.
My first class was with Teacher Ginger Diaz, it was a PM class. That shocked my body back to Bikram reality after 2 months of being in some sedentary lala land.
The soreness is nothing compared to my very first yoga class two years ago. That I should remember this pain so as never to go lala land again in my practice. That I should remember that all things shall come to pass.
I allowed my body to recover for a day and an eve. And come 4AM this morning, I woke up wide awake up, and headed for the 630AM class at Greenhills. The sun wasn’t up when I pulled out of my garage. The sun was barely breaking when I parked at the yoga studio. It was a good solid half hour of quiet alone time at the car before coming up to the studio at 6.
Class is exactly what I need.
I may not be bending sides back and forward as I used to.
I may not be grasping palms and hooking foot as I used to.
I may not be kicking out and tucking forehead to knee as I used to.
I may not be side splitting forehead to floor as I used to.
I may not be toe standing as I used to.
I may not be lifting shoulders as I used to.
I may not be lifting legs as I used to.
I may not be 747-ing as I used to.
I may not be raising hips and touching forehead to knees as I used to.
I may not be twisting as I used to.
But the class is exactly what I need.
Thank you Lord for giving us our daily needs. For breaking our mornings. And for the promise of always breaking our mornings.
Namaste.
Now Lord, help me break my mornings for the next 19 weekdays straight…I intend to attend 630AMs.
And throw in those 8PMs weeknights and 930AMs weekends too.
Baby, baby
My dear friend Camille Pangilinan sent me a really cute yoga book: BORN YOGIS by Susie Arnett and Doug Kim.
The book is soooo freakin’ cuuuuute.
All the photos are lovely but here are my favorites. Just click on the photo if you want a larger view.
Thanks so much Chummy for this cuuuuutie book!
I am what I am
Am I still a yogini if I haven’t been practicing asanas for two months running now and it no longer bothers me that I haven’t been practicing?
I just might change my self description of being a yogaddict since I no longer am.
Don’t Lose My Number
After nearly three solid years of good service, my ever reliable Treo 650 was taken out of commission — it got stolen. I was taking care of my fiance’s business at the Wedding Expo over the weekend when a thief took my phone that lay right beside my hand as I was entertaining the stupid question of a tall man in a black shirt – “Director’s Cut?! Paano nangyari yon?”…says the man who I suspect is the partner in crime (if not The thief) of the thief who stole my phone! It’s the salisi move of thieves since time immemorial.
In barely seconds after it got stolen, I was calling it using my other phone but could not hear it ringing because of the Expo noise. In a few minutes, best friend Lelet comes to my aid and texts me the Globe customer service hotline. I got my cellphone number disconnected with Globe. Thank God for speedy customer service because I will throw a fit if they require so much paperwork and redtape that by the time any action is taken I’d have been billed ridiculously by this cellphone thief!
May the fleas of a thousand camels infest your armpits, you thief!
And may they traverse down to your groin, multiply and take residence there!
I call on Karma.
At the same time, I reflect on the loss of my phone. I don’t loose things or have things stolen from me. In fact, I once absent-mindedly left that very same phone at Vinyasa Yoga Center after one of our evening practices there early part of this year. It was kept at the safe-keeping of Mang Gerry, the resident katiwala — pagpalain ka Mang Gerry! In my biblical education, I know how to keep in God’s covering. I know how to call on God’s promises of protection. However, I also know that God giveth, God taketh away.
When God taketh away, I stop and meditate on what God is trying to tell me. Hmm…have I not been faithful to Him that’s why I’m being “poked.” Or is He saying something else.
We each have a language with Our Father. My language with Him in this respect is, if He doesn’t want me “somewhere” He will call my attention.
I think for one, He doesn’t want me in Expos…hahaha, I don’t too (sorry Dy). Bestfriend Lelet says, the loss of a cellphone to her means a fresh start. Come to think of it, all that baggage…contacts that occupy space, collected over the years…why do we hold on to them all…are they all still relevant in your present…
The root of all this holding on is fear…fear that one day we might need the contacts. What if this and what if that. Hmm…go back to the time you didn’t have that contact. Somehow that contact landed in your hands and onto your cellphone/PDA directory right?
Living in the present is one of the things we aim to practice in yoga. In biblical language, it’s Luke 12:34 — “Don’t worry about tomorrow. It will take care of itself. You have enough to worry about today.”
So I let go of the phone and all the information stored there. I had a security feature activated on that phone at the time it was stolen. I know that for the phone to be of use to that thief, he’d have to hard reset it thus erasing all the data stored there. So I worry not about the misuse of the data.
Then I went on to claim my good karma. I went and bought the phone I wanted to buy early this year but never bought because I still had a phone — yep, I only buy to replace…that’s how frugal I behave.
I just love it when space is created for something new to come in.
So in true Feng Shui de-cluttering fashion, I am now enjoying my new phone — putting into it only those that I hold valuable in my present.
At the same time, wisdom tells me to take note of the Serial Number (S/N) and IMEI number indicated in the battery bed of my phone — NTC can disable a phone from ever functioning again once you report these numbers to them. So all that becomes of your stolen phone is spare parts trading for the thief. But the system, just like any system, has it’s faults…so don’t be surprised if some unscrupulous techie fills in the value chain for cellphone thieves to proliferate.
Again! May the fleas…
Broken Wings
The first time I paid attention to the words trapezius muscles is when I saw an image such as this one on the left (lifted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trapezius) on a machine in a fitness studio back in 2005.
The second time my attention was called to the words trapezius muscles is during a Bikram yoga class in 2007. We were doing the full locust pose or Poorna Salabhasana and the teacher’s words were “You should see your trapezius muscles coming out.” Being very literal, I could not figure out how I’m going to see my back as I do my darn best to “fly like a 747.” :-p
Now my trapezius muscles call my attention every so often — because my body apparently stores stress at the right shoulder. Whenever this tension builds up, I have to go to my masahista and get a good beating. In a way, I should call her my masokista. I find receiving hard massage as a reliable way of releasing the tensed up trapezius muscle. In the course of getting a beating though, I would shake in laughter. All the massage therapists who have ever handled me find some sense of amusement over how their client would laugh whenever in physical pain. One therapist even told me that they are trained to service Deep Tissue Massage designed to release pent up emotions in the body. Very rare do they encounter someone laughing, not ticklish laughing, but ouch that hurts laughing. Most of the time it’s uncontrollable tears. According to their belief system, we store emotions and memories in our body’s multitude of cells. It’s all banked there. Hence seeing me laugh all the time, this therapist said “You must have a happy life.”
To which I respond, “I’d have it no other way.”
After noticing a recurrence with my shoulder pains, I decided to analyze what brings on the stored up stress on my right trapezius. These are what I discovered:
1) Carrying a laptop, travel bag, office bag on my right shoulder. Not only is this heavy but I discovered that my fashion sense for the “interesting” bag straps cause the flesh on my shoulder to take an unnecessary beating. Funny, I realized this after seeing an episode of CSI where the dead victim’s body showed intricate pattern bruising on her shoulder. Scriptedly gifted CSIs as they are, they traced it to a braided bag strap. Tah-dah! Insight to my pain.
2) Working in front of a computer 6-8 hours a day, 5 days a week. I’m right-handed so I hold the mouse with my right hand (uh-I think most people if not all hold the mouse with their right hand but so as not to generalize…). Apparently that movement brings down my right shoulder instead of keeping my posture with shoulders levelled.
3) The tendency to raise both shoulders up towards the ears when bracing for something. Relaxation is a conscious effort for me because I can hold the shoulders up for such a long period of time especially while composing emails or contract draft reviews. Tsk…tsk…bad habit.
NOW if only I can yoga at the office to heed the call of my trapezius muscles… but doing the down dog might be too compromising a position at the office! :-p
Instead here’s what I find helpful while waiting for yoga practice time after office.
The video upload function of my blog won’t work for days now so here’s the link to a youtube of Broken Wings:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=aWyeVfuolT4&feature=PlayList&p=4AB935744F0B8D73
Voulez Vous
Yes, I am an ABBA fan and I am playing the Mama Mia soundtrack over and over again at the car and at the office. I might as well self practice with it blasting away in the background. Haha. I just might one night. :-p
Voulez vous is French for “to want to.”
When the weighing scale climbed to 125 pounds last week, I “voulez vous-ed” to loose the extra pounds. And where else have I always succeeded in doing that but in Bikram yoga. So I seize the opportunity through Sundar Bikram Yoga’s first timer package of 700 pesos for a 1 week unlimited.
S-W-E-E-T.
They’ve got a Monday to Friday 6:30 – 8 AM class and a Monday to Friday 8 - 9:30 PM class. Perfect for an office-going person like me who’s bundy-clocking 9-6 M-F. They also have Saturday – Sunday 9:30 – 11 AM and 3 -4:30 PM. All classes start ON TIME and end ON TIME (or somewhat 5 minutes off tops).
That’s 14 (count ’em) 14 classes I can get myself to which brings my per class fees down to fifty pesos!
Now that’s what I call UNLIMITED.
And what’s beautiful about the Bikram style is that whether you’ve been doing this for years or just today (first time), you can all attend the same class and experience the full benefits of the postures regardless of how flexible/inflexible and strong/weak your practice is.
No need for segregation between beginner, intermediate, advanced. Everybody together. Each student has full access to the same number of available classes, with the instructor giving you the attention your practice needs…how the instructor manages to do that, I don’t know. But if you think you’re getting an easy time in class because there are first timers/beginners who will get teacher’s attention, think again! I’ve been whipped every single time, and the demands are more from the more “seasoned” practitioners. Haha.
For instance, my first class was with Instructor Ginger Diaz — whom I only knew by name because of an email she wrote while she was at Bikram Teacher Training last December and the email was forwarded to a circle of us by Bikram Yoga Manila’s Tristan Choa. She made me do Trikonasana without the aid of the side mirrors — hence it was all by feel. She also made me bring down my upper body lower and kick up my leg higher on Standing Bow Pulling. This is the first time she ever saw me practice, note.
Then next in my first time with Instructor Sherie Dyer — whose birthday was that same Saturday that I attended class. She made me look at myself in the mirror…actually, I couldn’t see myself in the mirror. It was a packed class and I was squeezed somewhere in 2nd row with my mat barely 2 inches away from those in front, at my sides and behind me. So in the balancing series, I would look up at the ceiling or down at the floor to focus on something still. I know Sherie meant well (please click on My Yoga Teachers tab and scroll down to 2008 ) and wow is it tough to stare at the back of the neck of the person practicing in front of me who would move out of balance sometimes. But to voulez vous to take on the challenge of holding the pose despite a weak drishti gave me a sense of satisfaction.
Then in my next class is the encounter with my first ever yoga teacher Al Galang. I got so many corrections from my dependence on using the towel for the grips, to sipping water in between postures, to getting right back into my standing forehead to knee whenever I fell out of the pose. Whether he thinks I can take corrections well or he believes I’m never hopeless to get corrected, I don’t know. He always just lets me have it every single class, no matter what.
Each class is super worth the money paid, the effort to drive to get to class, the effort to deal with the parking. I live and work at Quezon City and this Bikram studio is located in Greenhills. So I estimate something like 300 pesos (gas, parking, yoga class, towel rental, water) per trip.
I’m not going to shell out that money and effort just to be lulled to sleep or to practice where I have to do so many adjusting to the “practice conditions” — such as wearing more clothing (which is a burden to wash) because windows are opened in a non-heated studio, or dealing with insects (real and otherwise) in the shala, or having very limited space to change or clean up/wash up.
That’s just how the cookie crumbles.
Last night was my 4th class and I’ve shed off 5 pounds. Whether it’s water retention sweated out of my system or fats, I don’t really care much. My clothes fit better again.
Plus it was nice to get back to my Bikram friends, and to my first ever yoga teacher Aljearreau Galang (Who has sincerely matured and welcomes and acts upon all feedback. Kudos Al!) See, we really all travel in circles.
Now for my fear: will heat rash pop up again now that I’m “voulez vous-ing” my way to a full blast Bikram yoga practice?
So far, nothing’s emerging. Skin’s still a-glowing. Thanks to a skin care regimen that involves creams from my dermatologist, Virgin Coconut Oil from The Farm at San Benito and Olay Total Effects.
OR, is it because I’ve finally finished detoxifying that’s why the rashes and pimples are now gone? Hmm.
New Soul
Okay, so it took me a while to write something to accompany this youtube material. And up to this point, I still can’t turn on the writer. There’s something about the song that speaks to me.
I came to this strange world
Hoping I could learn a bit bout how to give and take
But since I came here, felt the joy and the fear
Finding myself making every possible mistake
La, la, la, la (21x)
La, la, la, la (21x)
See I’m a young soul in this very strange world
Hoping I could learn a bit bout what is true and fake
But why all this hate? Try to communicate
Finding trust and love is not always easy to make
La, la, la, la (21x)
La, la, la, la (21x)
This is a happy end
Cause you don’t understand
Everything you have done
Why’s everything so wrong
This is a happy end
Come and give me your hand
I’ll take you far away
I’m a new soul
I came to this strange world
Hoping I could learn a bit bout how to give and take
But since I came here, felt the joy and the fear
Finding myself making every possible mistake
New soul… (la, la, la, la,…)
In this very strange world…
Every possible mistake
Possible mistake
Every possible mistake
Mistakes, mistakes, mistakes…
Tourniquet
Chona’s first to post about our first yoga portraiture and while I’m still cleaning up the stills from our cameras, reviewing the digital tape and finding time to create the page for Jon and Trin’s first yoga practice portraiture, please click on this link – my way of saying “Page Still Under Construction.”
Thank you Jon and Trin for allowing us to capture you while in your Ashtanga practice…and also for preparing a delightful vegan meal after. You two are so beautiful in your practice, there are times I just want to put down the camera and watch.
Thank you Chona for bringing all of us together…and for bringing the raw materials for the cookfest. You are not P.A. – Pang Asar. I wanted you in the frame but you walked out of the frame instead…ngyek, Ms. Communication talaga ako.
Thank you Neil for capturing the moments on video…and for trying out veggie food even if it goes against your very fiber. (Chona promises to bring you a burger next time. Chons, gawin mong veggie burger!).
Until I find the time to post the photos (just the production shots, reserving the main pics for whatever we put together in this laro-laro yoga photoshoot project.)…
Say My Name
Signs that you’ve been away from yoga class for too long:
1) You are called “front row”, “3rd row”, “my friend”, “girl with white shirt” instead of your usual first name.
2) You are asked to register before class even when you’ve already registered so that they catch your name — hehe.
3) You walk into a yoga party and you recognize barely 5 faces out of the crowd — when before you knew (almost) everyone.
The first one shows that the teachers have now changed and your old teacher-buddies have moved on. The second one shows that the staff have now changed and your old staff-buddies have also moved on. The third one shows that the student-buddies have also moved on.
Going back to your yoga practice is always a challenge. And it’s always just a matter of getting over the hump. I was telling my dear sis Cindy yesterday that when I can’t pull it from inside or outside, I would just lie down in Savasna.
Mercury Rising
Since the start of Mercury in Retrograde, I’ve experienced a kind of slowing down that is both a welcome relief and an annoying burden.
A welcome relief because my coping nature is to finish everything in TAZmanian devil fashion. “Para tapos na.” Waiting for people to get with the program is not my default tendency. And it’s taken me atleast 5 years to let people volt in to the things that I pre-occupy myself with.
An annoying burden because my coping nature is to finish everything in TAZmanian devil fashion. “Para tapos na.” Waiting for people to get with the program is not my default tendency. And it’s taken me atleast 5 years to let people volt in to the things that I preocuppy myself with.
What a balance sheet, same item is a debit and a credit.
Mercury in Retrograde is a good time to be still, meditate, contemplate, declutter, finish unfinished business.
I finished many unfinished business these past weeks. God has a way of being very efficient in hitting many birds with one stone. And my lesson in finishing unfinished projects is you don’t have to finish all of them. You can let go.
Counter intuitive.
I had to audit the things that I really want in my life. Some of these have already served their purpose during the time they were undertaken. At some point in the journey, they are now becoming liabilities.
For instance, I decided to take another masters degree in 2007 and during the start of the journey it was interesting. Sometime over the course, It’s a burden. My default nature would finish this even if it kills me. But I computed the payback and ROI and decided to cut loss in this endeavor. The program is taking too much of my time and person than I am willing to give. The degree also has fallen below expectations. And I have other priorities where I would like to give that time and effort to…
Also, my yoga practice has undergone this Mercury in Retrograde scrutiny. I miss the times when I can just yoga everyday and still come home to rest early. Since the start of 2008, I have had a consistently sparse practice. I would be lucky to get to 2 yoga classes a week…after about 1-2 weeks of attending zero clases. I feel the shift.
Yesterday, I got to attend Bikram Yoga Manila’s Christina Stathis as Makati 3pm class. It’s perfect weather for a hot yoga class — it was signal # 3 yesterday (but so sunny today!!!) and I really welcomed the heat. My last Bikram practice before that was Friday and there I hardly sweat. Do sweat glands close up when you stop Bikram for a while? Hmm. That’s my pattern. And I find that with one more class soon after my pores open up and I’m back in my regular sweaty practice. I also loose the discipline of not eating atleast 2 hours before class. I ate a heavy brunch at 11AM and a tall glass of pulp orange juice at 1:30PM when my class is at 3PM. I could not bend over or twist from the core so much. My shoulders are also tight. I could not hold my palms together in Eagle pose. And my endurance is off. I skipped a set of Triangle, Locust, and Rabbit. Plus instead of Toe Stand (although with me it’s Toe Sit since I still can’t lift my butt off my heel), I did a 2nd set of Tree pose.
Despite that, Christina approached me after class asking how many classes have I taken. The context is I’m not a familiar face in Bikram Yoga Manila anymore, teachers and staff have changed. I told her I used to be a regular last year and this year just try to come atleast 5 classes in a month. She wished me to be able to come back on a regular basis. It was encouraging because in a way it showed me that my practice is still good despite all the “sparseness.” My yoga teachers taught me well.
Last Wednesday, I was over at Ortigas cutting yoga class at Vinyasa Yoga Center to meet up with best friend Lelet. Blast from my yoga past, Teacher Aljearreau Galang of Sundar Bikram Yoga Greenhills caught me in the street as he walked to his radio show.
Going around in circles is fun.
The Trouble With Love Is
Finding this yesterday on my blog stats made my day.
Search engine words:
I’m inlove with my yoga teacher…
I will not finish the sentence since the “…” is immaterial to this post.
Whoever typed these words in Google (or whatever search engine) and landed on my blogsite, thank you…and I hope this post blesses you and others as well.
I have a page called “My Yoga Teachers” — it’s a personal reminder of why my unforgettable yoga teachers are. A few of these teachers are still single and unattached. So if it so happens that one of them is the object of this “searcher’s” affection, please do have the courage to be happy…have the courage to love.
Go for it! The worst thing that can happen is you get over it. The best thing that can happen is there’s two less lonely people in the world.
Namaste.
