NEPAL BLOG 2

We slept till very late the first of january, which is good, cause we had to get rid of the jetlag before starting the yoga training. After breakfast/ lunch, we went to the Monkey Temple (because of all the monkeys hanging around over there), together with dr Subodh's wife, Kapila, and their two daughters, Suna and Sula (identical twins). It was a 30 minute walk to get there and the sun was out:) such a beautiful day! We spend about 1.5 hours sightseeing and taking pictures before we walked back home. We did buy some fruits on our way home and we had a Nepalese snack, which was really good. Back home we had some dinner and dr. Subodh explained us about the yoga teacher training and he started a lecture about the 6 cleansing acts: Shat-karma. One of them is to mediate whilst gazing at the flame of a candle, without blinking. If you do that regularly, first 5 minutes and later up to 30 minutes or even longer, it can heal your eyesight… I'll let you knowif I do :). We went to bed early, since it's pretty cold here at night. Not only at night, but early in the morning as well, as we experienced the next day. We started the course at 7.30 am and it was freezing. We do have a tiny heater in the room, but nobody knows why, because it's definitely not heating the room ;). Dr. Subodh explained us the 3 stages you need to do to start the day/ before practicing the asanas.

1) internal energy regulation process: mind preparing and relaxation

2) cosmic exercise (warm up): physical energy regulation

3) savasana (corpse pose: rest): energy balancing process

I'd like to share the first one with you. It contents several things:

- relaxation of body and mind

- visualizing and promising (yourself) positive outputs

- reminding self-religion: non-violence, truth, not cheating, celibacy (not sure about that one;) and not collecting unwanted things. (this all sounds very normal, but there are not many people that follow all of these principles for a 100%, I don't.. but I'm working on it :)

- practicing mantra sound

- wishing positive

All this will only take about 2-5 minutes and then we do the warm up 5-15 minutes to finish with the savasana 2-5 minutes. After that the body is ready for the asanas: the yoga postures.

The first +/- 10 days (39 hrs) we will learn all about the human body: the anatomy, physiology and illness. Then we will be taught the principles of yoga science (52 hrs) and we'll do lots of yoga practice (104 hrs). Finally we will learn about general natural cure (39 hrs)… all together 234 hrs of study.. Lots to do these 5 weeks…

Next to the 3 stages of energy regulation we got a lecture about the human body structure: the cells, membranes, organs, etc.

When this was finishes, my mum got a massage, while I had a shower and lunch, but after lunch it was my turn :).

Before dinner, dr Subodh lectured us about yoga meditation, self-religion, how to live a good, meaningful life: enjoy everything you do and be fully aware when doing it. Don't accept a job for the money, but because you like the job (I already knew that: wouldn't be happy doing anything I don't like doing). Be true to yourself and others and always think positive (happy thoughts :), and so on.

After dinner we checked our mail: the internet here is very slow and uploading pictures is unfortunately impossible, but skype works well :). It also happens often that there is no power… about 6-8 hours a day! Since we need power to take a hot shower, it's sometimes very annoying, but well, you do appreciate it even more when the power is on.

The second day of the course we started the morning again with the 3 stages of energy regulation and after breakfast we went outside to continue the class. We chilled in the sun and we're already getting a tan :) nearly even got sunburned! We talked about the skeletal system: all 206! bones and all the joints. After that we did some more exercises and at 1.30pm it was lunchtime. I try to have a different meal each time and I'm doing quite well. I really like the Nepalese food. Had a chat with the cook, Arun, and he was going to prepare a special meal for me that night ;), which was really nice.

I had a nice shower, as far as this shower can be nice… hardly any water coming out, but at least it's warm water ;).

Before dinner, meditation time. Dr. Subodh told us a bit about the Mudras, the hand Mudras to be specific. In asanas (yoga postures) the senses are primary and prana (life energy) is secondary, whereas in Mudras senses are secondary and pranas are primary.

Mudras are a combination of subtle physical movements which alter mood, attitude and perception, and which deepen awareness and concentration. As for the hand Mudras: It's meditating while keeping the fingers/ hands in a certain position for about 10 minutes (up to 45 minutes). For example: touch the tips of the thumb and the index finger with each other, keeping the remaining three fingers straight. This is the Gyan or Dhyana Mudra and it is said that it helps the stages of Dharna (steadiness of mind) and meditation: concentration improves and negative thoughts get reduced; to increase the memory power; to strengthen the brain nerves: headache, insomnia and stress are removed and to destroy anger.

After the Mudra we did Trataka: candle meditation (one ofthe 6 cleansing acts) and next a guided meditation for about 15 minutes.

My mum was very cold, sitting on the floor with no heater around. So after the meditation she asked if she could maybe use a chair next time or maybe start the meditation earlier, when the sun would still be out. Dr. Subodh decided to start the course a bit later in the morning (8am) and to do the meditation way earlier in the afternoon, outside, on a chair…

Dinner was amazing and after dinner we studied and read a bit. Life without television or social obligations :) no cooking or cleaning either: could get used to that ;)

This morning, Monday the 4th of January, we got a bit later then yesterday, sincewe were going to start the course at 8 am :). We started out with the 3 stages of energy regulation, as always, and after that we did some standing asanas, followed by some sitting ones. Brekky at 9.30 am and we continued the class at 10.15 am. Today we were taught about the muscular system and we finished the cosmic exercise. All of that took about 3 hours. Time flies.. Another sunny day, which was really nice.

A quick shower, lunch and we started meditating early, around 15.30 pm for about an hour. First we did some Mudras and after that a guided meditation.

Next was dinner: spaghetti :) and I started putting all my notes into the computer, which is a hell of a job… I was doing quite well, until the power went of and my computer was low on battery.. So we finished our (lemon grass/ginger) tea and it was time for bed… the end of another day in yoga paradise (if only the mornings and nights were warm… ;)