Teaching

So I am halfway through my training now and I taught my first class a few days ago! Wow that felt awesome. I can’t believe how smooth it went. Granted I was a little stiff because I didn’t want to make any mistakes but I taught my entire standing series of postures and even taught my fellow classmates something! Teaching is something I have total confidence in doing. I am able to teach other people something that I love and truly believe in. I am very lucky to be able to do this. Right now I am having so much fun learning new poses that I hope when I am back in NYC I can find somebody who will take a chance on a new teacher! Fingers crossed!

 

So when I am done here on the 11th and am looking for a place to hang in India for a few days, my flight doesn’t leave for NYC until the 16th so I have time to burn. Maybe Hampi or Kerala. Maybe just stay in Goa! Who can tell, just taking it one day at a time here and seeing what happens next.

Goodnight!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More Yoga School and the Beach

Good Morning I am sitting in an internet cafe Skyping to Kari for her birthday! Today started with yoga on the beach at 630 this morning. It was really nice because I could hear the waves crashing and then could see the dolphins jumping out of the water. How magical! I have gotten so tan and I need to stay out of the sun so I am going to be a little bored this week. 

Everything is going great here in India. I did hurt myself this week doing a posture but I am doing ok and my neck is healing. I wasn’t strong enough to hold the pose so I put too much pressure on my neck and pinched something. OUCH! But good news on the yoga front. I planned my first class! How monumental! 

I am keeping busy with both class and reading, just trying to soak up the yoga life before I head back to NYC in 3 weeks.

See ya later

 

stepsthroughindia’s photostream

stepsthroughindia’s photostream on Flickr.

Pics from India

Arambol, Yoga School, and Starting my own Journey

So I have been really busy since I started yoga school and that is a wonderful feeling.I am writing you from my first day of being on my own. Brett left last night and I was devastated to see him go because we have had a trip of a lifetime. I know it was time but I just didn’t want to see him go. He is off to Chicago to do HAIR and I am going to finish school here and we will be back in NYC about the same time.

Things are going great thus far. My teacher is too smart for his own good and it keeps me on my toes for sure. We start the day with meditation then do a posture class. Next is yoga philosophy and then we get a break where I lay on the beach for a few hours. We then have an evening class and finish with dinner. My teacher takes such good care of us, we don’t have to think about a thing including all meals. His father, our chef, goes to the market for each meal and brings back fresh vegetables and cooks them right on the spot. Everything is fresh and cooked there with never any leftovers. I have never eaten such fresh food. I can’t imagine going back to packaged/frozen food in NYC, although I don’t think my schedule will allow me to go to the grocery store 3 times a day. That would be a luxury!!! Anyway I am glad to have this for as long as I can. I am learning so much and we are exploring the yoga lifestyle not just postures. We are doing anatomy, diseases, breathing, mantras, and all things yoga!! Hooray!! Yesterday we did cleansing techniques which included using the neti pot (no problem), then sticking a tube in your nose and have it come down your throat and out of your mouth (ummm. yeah right!) and then a vomit session where we drank several cups of warm salt water and then threw it back up. All I could think of when were we are throwing up in the field is… I feel like Kate Moss. I am soo thin! Now I know people are gasping right now, but these techniques actually make you feel amazing when you are finished. The throwing up is not so tragic you just throw up the water you put in your system and the salt cleans the inside of your stomach eliminating all of the mucus build up inside. This mucus leads to blockages and eventually disease. Its crazy to think about but I would rather prevent disease than have to treat it years down the road.

I am housed just steps from the beach and it is a perfect addition to my yoga journey here. Living on the beach and going to yoga school go together like peanut butter and jelly! I think I stayed too long at the beach today because my skin is starting to peel…GROSS!

Arambol is a very hippie beach that is full of Russian people. Its like Burning Man everyday right here in India. All of the clothing shops stock nothing but hippie gear and everything is stretchy!!! (My sisters are rolling their eyes right now) HEHEHE. Brett and I have bought a ton of stuff on this trip so the shopping will be minimal here.

Alright I am off to get ready for night class. I will be back on in a few hours if anyone wants to skype/message

From the North to the South!

Hey Everyone, 

 

I am sorry for the delay in posts but I have been having the time of my life here in goa! A few days ago brett and I were in the north in Amristar seeing the Golden Temple and let me tell you that it has a lot of real gold on it! 

 

 

Completely Breath taking. This is a temple of the Sikhs, who formed this religion as a rebellion to the caste system in India. Everyone is welcome here (even if they do stare at you 🙂 and it gets very busy here. The floor is marble and the temple is golden. How amazing would it be to go here everyday?!?!

 

Next we flew into Goa and are in Palolem Beach which is South Goa! WOW this is the life. I don’t want to come back. I start yoga school in 2 days and I am really excited to accomplish something that I have always wanted to do. A little nervous, but mostly happy. So far we have gone canyoning and had an entire day to lounge and swim.

Here is a link to what canyoning really is because I had no idea either when I signed up for it. Totally scary but an adventure to remember.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocOaWknvrYg

Tonight we are thinking of doing a cooking class. Tomorrow we are going to Dolphin Island, and Butterfly Island early in the morning. Next we are going to a spice farm and then we will land in North Goa so I can begin school. 

 

Short and sweet so we can get back on that beach

 

Loves

Kendra

 

Amritsar-Golden-Temple-india-20677114-570-370

The tigers and the taj

Hi guys! I haven’t been on here in a while and so much has happened!

First Brett and I went to Ranthanbhorne National Park and we saw not one but two tigers eating breakfast. It was really cool to see them. They were orphaned cubs who lost their mother in a fight so they were sticking together! We got really close to em and have beautiful pics which I will show u later. awesome safari at 630am but still really cool

Next we went to Agra to see the taj mahal. Ooh lala. We had an amazing hotel with beautiful woodwork to stay in which was great because the trip to Agra was crazy and long. We had a good night of sleep and woke up at sunrise to see the taj in all its glory. We get there around 630 and hire a guide to take us around. We was a lovely man and told us all about the taj and it’s glory

Fact: all of the “painting u see is actually marble inlaid with semi-precious stones! Wow! We get asked for professional photos to be taken and we agree because this is such an amazing place to be and our cameras can’t capture the beauty so we go ahead and begin the photo shoot. So many photos and I begin to get fussy because I want to get in and see it but brett says one more photo. I look away to roll my eyes (hehe) and all of a sudden he is down on one knee asking me to marry him! What! I don’t know what’s happening and I jumble out some words like ” are you serious” and “sure sure”. It all happened so fast and I was taken aback by the crowds as well. Wowie what a crazy few moments that was. I really had no idea this was going to happen. We hadn’t really talked about it seriously and when we were at the gem shop looking at rings I thought they were fashion/promise rings. He got me a ruby ring with tiny diamonds on the side. I don’t like diamonds and he knows that so he did good in picking out the ring. Crazy! I can’t believe I am engaged. After that the day was kind of a blur and nothing else really compared to that.

Next 2 days are Varanasi to see the ghats. This is not my favorite city and it’s really hard to feel any love for it but I am trying. We did however get to go to a Buddhist village today which was beautiful and peaceful beyond words! Of course we did some shopping where I got some more gifts and then we headed back to the city. Not too much to say there. Varanasi is very raw and graphic and a lot to take in. I am thankful for the chance to see it but I don’t know if I would come back. I feel conflicted about this because I have fallen for every other city we have been to. I guess you can’t win them all. Who cares… I am engaged!

stepsthroughindia’s photostream

stepsthroughindia’s photostream on Flickr.

Just a few more pics. Internet is slow so I only got a few on. Enjoy

Jaipur!

So for the past two days Brett and I have been in Jaipur, the pink city (although we think it looks like terra cotta) and the capital of Rajasthan. First we saw the wind palace Which was stunning. Built to withstand the heat in Jaipur the king had hundreds of windows built to cool his palace. Supposedly it was better than air conditioning. It get to 120 in the summer months so I hope it worked otherwise it would be a pretty sweaty place.

After that I completed one of my dreams when I got to ride an… ELEPHANT!!!! Ahhhhh anyone who knows me knows that this is the highlight of my trip. I adore elephants and being able to ride one was magical!

Next was lunch and I usually don’t talk that much about the food but this could be the best thing I have ever eaten. Our driver Deepok took us to the Rainbow Restaurant in order to get dosas!
Example picture:

This dosa was about twice the size of the picture and was so good I wanted to die and go to heaven. The outside is like a flaky pancake and the inside was filled with veggies nuts cheese and came with a mango chutney and a mint chutney dipping sauce. The meal was so big that everyone was staring at us and I felt like I was on an episode of man v food. We finished of course because you can’t leave something like that on the plate. Wow wow wow.

After a full stomach we went shopping. Jaipur is famous for gems, fabric, and blue pottery and we got some of it all. Well at least Brett did. I did however score a really nice bed cover for Jessica! I hope she loves it cus I had a “say yes to the dress” moment with it! Handmade is all I will say and I will leave it as a surprise for her. I am sure she will blog about it on her site when she gets it. We spent hours shopping and the businessmen here love Brett and I. They keep throwing in some extra gifts which is always welcomed! Got mom her birthday present and some stuff for the yoga studio. Whew I was exhausted. My mom and sisters know that if I am shopping for more than an hour it is an absolute miracle and Brett and I shopped from 1-9.

The day ended with our first ever Bollywood film: Agneepath. It was a three hour film completely in Hindi but I surprisingly loved it. The cinema here is stunning with expansive screens and ornate decorations and the red velvet curtains of yesterday. Here is a pic of the movie poster and a link to the official song.

official song

Alright good night from me. Tomorrow is a tiger safari and then on to Agra for the Taj Mahal