Pancake Day!

Today we had pancakes for breakfast!!! I literally did a dance when I saw them! I didn’t take a photo of them, though because I was too busy CHOWING down! I put some banana cinnamon jam they have here on mine and topped it with honey. mmm MM! Pancake day.

Below: a portion of the group on the chocolate tour (don’t worry, I talk about it a little later).

We learned more poses today and practiced assisting. We all had to pick three poses to work on and I worked on my wheel pose (a backbend). I also have headstand, handstand on the wall, and chaturanga. The last one I added because I need to build strength to do all of the above better. I was a little sad at first, because I’ve built SO MUCH strength with yoga… and then realized I needed more. oh. But now, I’m embracing the challenge (and it’s also better because my push-ups are better!)

Me doing one-legged bridge.

THEN, for lunch was refried beans and guacamole in corn tortillas!! AWESOME!! I was SO excited! It was a day of fantastic foods! Dinner was average, but after that breakfast and lunch, they could have served me just about anything and I would still be on a high from pancake day. pancake day. mmmm.

Anyway, it’s been raining again. None of our clothes have dried so smells now include mildew mixed with sweat and wet-person. I’ve decided not to get my hair wet in the shower because it doesn’t dry. All day. For 24 hours – not dry. Rob, get ready for one stinky suitcase coming home!

Frog in the yoga room (I noticed him while doing a backbend and named him Kermit in remembrance of the frog that lived in our houseplant).

That day, we also saw a SLOTH! Actually, we saw three – a mom and baby, and another that came down to ground level and posed for all of us to admire him! I didn’t get any good pictures but others have volunteered to share. In the meantime, here’s the mom and baby. If you look for a patch of fur, that’s them!

Tomorrow morning (7:30am) I am teaching my first class here! I’m kind of nervous, but mostly excited because now I’ll get some really valuable feedback! I really want to be a GOOD yoga teacher and this experience, however scary, will help me get there!

Yesterday, we toured a chocolate farm. It was neat to see the fruit and taste it before it turns into chocolate. We learned about how the tribal people did chocolate before Costa Rica was settled. It was pretty interesting. Most people bought chocolate, but as I’d already stocked enough, I bought some awesome coco butter! Can’t wait to moisturize in dry Abilene.

 

And here’s a pose for you all to try at home – Crow Pose!

Sounds and Smells

I’d like to take a moment to write about the great many sensory experiences I’m having here.

Good sound: the many birds and frogs that make the rainforest a never-quiet place!

Bad sound: the sound of a frog coming from inside your shower (not me, but still)

Good sound: Howler monkeys in the distance with their mysteriously melodious cacophony.

Bad sound: Very loud dying-werewolf-sounding howler monkey while the instructor is leading the class… “Exhale… ow ow owwwwww… and inhale…” It’s hilarious!

Good sound: Thunder rolling in and the soft patter of rain on the large tropical leaves. I have my own live relaxation CD! Cool, God!

Bad sound: Continuous sound of rain resulting in non-drying clothes and mold spores on roommate’s duffle bag.

Good smell: The smell of the rain is amazing! It’s like every form of fresh smell you can imagine all rolled into one! It’s like a fresh cucumber, but more multi-faceted. Or like fresh rain smell with woods, and leaves, and grass, and flowers woven in!

Bad smell: Lowering face down onto a yoga mat towel that smells oh-so-very-strongly of feet and sweat! Mmm, pungent.

Good smell: The intoxicating flowers outside our window wafting their divine fragrance into our room!

Bad smell: The waste bucket full of toilet paper that can’t be flushed down the delicate system.

And good smell: The incense they burned today during yoga practice! To me, it smelled like the color green – fresh cut grass and a piney, woodsy smell. Yum!

Beach Day!

So, today was our day off! But, we still did a yoga practice (it is a yoga teacher training, after all!) And WHAT a yoga practice we did!!

It was an hour of sun salutations (vacillating between challenge-loving and life-hating moments). Sun salutations are very vigorous, in case you don’t know. Then, we did handstands and forearm balances. Then, we did abs until everyone groaned. THEN, we did six 10-breath wheels (I could only manage  3 very short 10-breaths, then 3 bridge poses). Then, we did headstands (which is where I expended the very last of my energy) and finished with legs-up-the-wall pose. In all, it was almost two hours!

The fact that I even completed such a crazy hard yoga practice makes me happy! I was wiping sweat out of my eyes with every other forward fold.

So, those of us whose rooms were close enough, rushed to take showers and grab a quick breakfast before going to the bus. We rode to Punta Uva beach (apparently one of the top ten beaches in the world) and it was GORGEOUS! Of course, pictures don’t quite do it justice.

Florida is comparable, but in a different way. This beach had a very tropical feel with its dense rainforest lining the beach. I started a light dip in the ocean, which turned into a long dip because it was so divine! The water temperature was just how I like it – not cold; and the waves rolled gently, giving me the feeling that I was in a whirlpool, or getting a little massage. Plus, the water was very “clean” – no seaweed, very little sand creeping under swimsuits, etc. Perfect.

Plus, the water lowered my body temperature back to normal! After the rigorous yoga practice today, I thought I would be sweating to cool off the rest of the day! I took a little nap in the shade and recuperated. It was lovely.

For lunch, we stuck to our vegetarian diet and I had hummus, bread, and gazpacho. Mmmm! But, the big deal for me was the ICE CREAM!!! This place also had great ice cream (a little like gelato) and I had mango and sweet lime. It was DELICIOUS! And I was so happy to have sweets!!!

Oh yea, there’s no sweets here. We only get dessert two or three times a week. There’s sugar for coffee and tea, but no goodies. I think the instructor has it as part of our “detox.” Oh well. I miss them the most. Someone mentioned cupcakes the other day and I would really love someone out there who can to eat a cupcake for me! My thoughts will be with you. Longing.

Flying

Some acro-yoga – Sky is flying our instructor, Jen.

Already the time is flying by! Sunday, we had our first anatomy lessons. A lot came back to me from Dr. Daddy teaching me when I was little. I can’t imagine this course with no anatomy background whatsoever! It really helps to know the names of the muscles, bones, and how they interact.

My roommate has a scientific anatomy book and every time we learn something “weird” about the chakras or awakening the nardis, we look up what it would be relating to in the body. And, it’s not far off. I think it just depends on how you approach the body. Those ancient Indians were very spiritual and as they learned about the body, it was of course colored with intangible ethereal things. Our anatomy was approached from a typically atheist view and accordingly “what you see is what you get”…  I probably won’t be leading a class with the purpose of opening the throat chakra or something, but I’m not sure it doesn’t exist. That’s where I am with those. Anybody know more about the chakras?

We’ve talked about more yoga virtues – non-greed and purity. For non-greed, I interpreted it in the vein of  nonattachment and talked about how the military teaches me nonattachment – you don’t get attached to your stuff because it may get lost or broken and you go without it for a time each time you move; you don’t get attached to where you live, but you certainly enjoy it while you’re there, etc. I think I do good justice to the awesomeness of military life – any single pilots want a hot yoga chick? I could probably set you up…

For purity, a lot of people talked about de-toxing the body. But I chose to emphasize the “de-toxing of the mind” and not taking in bad things, dwelling on good things, etc. I said the Bible was my Scripture and I used it to “cleanse my mind” as it were by reading it often and applying its teaching to my life. (at least I hope that’s what came across! It’s hard to remember what I actually said because I was a bit nervous, unsure that the Bible was an acceptable Scripture here!) But it was well-received…. I’m pretty sure.

One of our recent assignments was to look at ourselves in the mirror and notice details – do I stand evenly? Is one leg shaped differently? Are my hips the same height? Are my shoulders the same?

So, as she was assigning this, I was thinking, “Aw, I’m not going to find anything, my body doesn’t have kinks and weirdness.” Ha! I was wrong! Apparently, my right hip is higher than my left; my left foot rotates out slightly; my left achilles tendon is bigger; my humorous bones are longer than my head and neck (makes me need a blanket under my head to do a correct headstand!); and my left foot is bigger than the right. Yea! So much for perfection! :-)

ALSO, we were to listen to the sounds our body makes. “Sounds? What sounds?" She meant things like hips popping and the like. Again, silly me thought, “Well, my body doesn’t make any sounds.” Ha! It showed me! My ankles have lots of little pops; my wrists as well; my scapulas seem to grind down my back when I open my shoulders; my knees pop every so often; and of course my stomach gurgles when I move it breathing, and usually during quiet times…. of course.

Interesting, huh? It’s been a great study of the body! We’re meant to try and make our own connections in these observances before she teaches us more reasons these things happen.

Maybe more on that later. This is more of us learning poses and how to assist them.

Today, we practiced teaching again, this time a 20-minute flow. I end up going a lot slower than I think and have to cut things out, but that’s better than having to throw stuff in unplanned because it’s not long enough. This was a my beast teaching practice yet! I felt confident and comfortable instructing. I was able to demonstrate and jump up to assist throughout the practice! I want to work on describing the pose more. Like rather than say, “come into downward facing dog” say something more like “lifting your hips toward the sky, lengthen the spine, push through the hands and feet, coming into Ardha Mukka Svonasana.” Yea, doesn’t that sound cooler? Okay, maybe the sanskrit is too much, but it’s good practice using it.

Tomorrow, we have a a morning yoga practice and then we’re going to Puerto Viejo for the rest of the day! A welcome break for everyone! I haven’t written because we’ve had lots of homework and you all know I’m a little bit of a nerd and like to learn, so I read ahead some and review my notes more, etc. But it’s just so FUN!!

Beach

Today, we were introduced to our anatomy teacher. I am SO excited! She seems great! And I love how the body works! That’s one of the ways I know God is amazing (and that there is a Creator!)

We had a heart opening yoga practice this morning and my thoracic spine area hardly ever gets this much attention! It was so nice!

The afternoon, we had free! I went to the beach to study and listen to the surf. Even though it was overcast, it was peaceful and nice to be in an open space again (although the rainforest is nice, I didn’t realize how much I miss the horizon!) See the black Costa Rican sand?

Then, I went to the pool to read.

Here’s some more pics of my beautiful location!

Flowers abound! In fact, there’s some intoxicating perfume of nature wafting in my window as I type!

This is the short path from the yoga room, dining room, and pool to our “eco-cabina”

Our “eco-cabinas”

Mine and Sarah’s is the one on the bottom left. We get to walk by all the pretty flowers.

We’re learning to live with a variety of bugs. These ants visit us every evening. We’re not sure why they do, but we’ve deemed them harmless and allow the apparent scouting ants to quietly dissipate as we get settled after dinner.

     

I think they might live in the desk… I like to imagine them in a little world in there like James and the Giant Peach or something.

Tomorrow is anatomy learning!!!! I’m stoked!

Stock Phrases

We’re practicing teaching a lot more. I’m so glad! I really want to polish my “stock phrases!” You know how yoga instructors say the same things a lot, like “spiral your ribcage toward the ceiling” “lengthen the spine” and “draw your lower belly in.” Anyway, I want to refine my stock phrases. Anyone got any they really like?

How does your teacher explain something that really makes you go “click! I get it"  ?

Also, we got tiny bananas for breakfast today! Look! Aren’t they cute?

Getting Into It

The days follow the schedule pretty well. The past few days have been very similar. I wake up a little after six when the sun has brightened the sky. I don my yoga clothes and quietly walk up the path to the dining room to get some morning coffee. I walk over to the yoga room (all these rooms are open air) and set up my yoga mat for meditation practice at 7.

Meditation has been fine. We’re not supposed to meditate on anything in particular, we’re kind of just going for thinking about nothing. I know, it sounds kind of boring. Tomorrow, I think I may go rogue and be inspired by visualizing the ocean or thinking about a Bible verse to get started. Actually, my first meditation day was great and I started with Ephesians 1:17 – may God give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, the eyes of your understanding be enlightened. Cool, huh?

After meditation, we do a yoga practice. Jacqueline led the practice for the first time yesterday and I sweat like a waterfall! It wasn’t even that hard, just slow, steady, and consistently warm! It’s a serious workout!! I’m thinking it is a MUCH better yoga class to be longer than one hour, because you can spend more time warming up and therefore getting more out of the intense poses. In an hour-long class, you only end up with a couple intense poses. Maybe I can get an hour fifteen at the gym in Abilene….

After yoga, we go to breakfast, which is totally my favorite meal of the day!! I LOVE it! It’s loads of fruit – pineapple, mango, papaya, bananas, watermelon… with bread, homemade jam, granola, and yogurt. They also have a rotating “entree” with maybe eggs or oatmeal.  There’s fruit juice too! Coconut juice, mango, watermelon, mixed! I could eat breakfast all the time!

After breakfast, we go back to the yoga room for a lecture. Today, we talked a little about yoga history from our reading books. I’m proud to say I recall more than most and I think she’s stopped calling on me to answer questions. Don’t worry, I won’t let it go to my head… I know I’m a little bit of a nerd, but I also feel a heavy responsibility to learn the information well because I’ll have classes when I come back PLUS I’m supposed to relay to the other teachers in town what I’ve learned.

We also go over more yoga poses. One person models the pose while Jacqueline shows us how to instruct it and modify it and assist people in it. Then, we split into partners and instruct our partner and practice assisting them. It’s really helpful! But I know I’ll still need a lot of polish to be at the level of teaching I want.

This is where we practice yoga and have lectures. Nice, huh?

We also discuss the yoga “virtues.” Today was "non-stealing.” It has a few facets, including non-coveting and generosity. I talked about the military life and how the culture has such generosity – our squadron commander’s wife gave me her car for the summer; we stayed in the Jestice house; when you move somewhere they stock your hotel with food or send you brochures about the town…. People rise to help when it’s needed with no expectation of return! AND it inspires others to do the same – I know I’m all too eager to orient new spouses because I had such great ladies show me the military life! Thank you, if you’re reading this!

Usually, after our lunch break, we’d go back for more lectures and learning poses until dinner. It almost feels like two days and the return after lunch is the beginning of another day! It’s not that time drags slowly, we’re just doing so much! Then, after dinner, there’s not that much time to take a little shower, check emails, read, do homework, and shoo the bugs out who are attracted to our light, before we really should be sleeping!

We saw this beetle in town! Wow!

This afternoon, we had free and some of us walked into the town of Cahuita. I needed more bug spray – my little travel-sized one is almost gone and I’ve still got itchy bites in spite of using spray every day! We could take a taxi, but some of us chose to walk. It takes about an hour and we putted around after we’d found our goods at the grocery store. After we’d made the hour-walk back in the rain, I was a little tired, but exercised! Now, I’m using my remaining time to send a little update and then head to dinner, followed by homework and the next day!

Thanks for the prayer! I’m appreciating it!