Partner Practice makes New Friends 
January 10, 2012
The workshops have been incorporating a lot of partner work which I am really enjoying. The yoga treehouse sala is a bit of a snug fit for 40 but it works with three rows of mats. Some of the partner work is as simple as having a row of us stand (balance) on one leg with the other leg extended straight to the side with our neighbor catching the foot and elevating it an inch or so higher. It looks like a strange rockette formation along a row of 15 people... and if one goes down, the domino effect ensues. Yesterday we did full wheel practice with not one but two partners assisting. One to pull the shoulders, the other the thighs. Amazing backbends. And the makings of new friends. Nothing like supporting someone's handstand to then establish some degree of trust.

Yesterday I fulfilled my massage quota with another Thai massage. She was cracking walnuts in my calves. I don't know where those knots come from, I really didn't think they were there the day before. Today was my first non-massage day. Its been difficult, but I think I will survive.

Later that evening was yoga movie night, we watched a documentary titled "Yoga Unveiled". It was really well done, focusing on a brief history of yoga and it's adoption in the west. Panditji from the Himalayan Institute was interviewed a fair amount - and got me thinking about my early classes and workshops up in Honesdale and at East West Books. My first exploration of yoga with Michel and Nishit was over 13 years ago, I cannot believe it! There was some fantastic video footage of many of the old masters showing off their asana contortion tricks in tiny bikinis.

Full moon tonight, the energy is high. We had a free evening, so a few of us walked a km down the road to Sanpatong, the local village. There is a small food market along the road. A lot of fried chicken and mystery meat was on offer, but we satisfied ourselves with pad thai and pad see ew. A few sips of beer rounded out the evening with mangosteens for dessert. According to google, mangosteens are the queen of all fruit, reminds me of sarvanasana, the queen of all asanas - which we held today for 7 minutes!
  • Sanpatong  Canon Powershot Sd750 5.8 - 17.4 Mm
    Sanpatong
  • Sanpatong  Canon Powershot Sd750 5.8 - 17.4 Mm
    Sanpatong
  • Sanpatong liquor store  Canon Powershot Sd750 5.8 - 17.4 Mm
    Sanpatong liquor store
  • Pad See Ew (yum)  Canon Powershot Sd750 5.8 - 17.4 Mm
    Pad See Ew (yum)
  •   Canon Powershot Sd750 5.8 - 17.4 Mm
  •   Canon Powershot Sd750 5.8 - 17.4 Mm
  •   Canon Powershot Sd750 5.8 - 17.4 Mm
  • Pad Thai (yum)  Canon Powershot Sd750 5.8 - 17.4 Mm
    Pad Thai (yum)
  • Sanpatong  Canon Powershot Sd750 5.8 - 17.4 Mm
    Sanpatong
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