This week has flown much quicker than the last! Teaching this week has really ramped up, with me teaching my first full 75 minute class this morning! The days have been long leading up to that point with teaching practice and homework filling up all of our free time. The exception was Tuesday - our full day off. We were all feeling the tiredness so I was conscious of not pushing it too hard and resting. So I studied in our little house only in the morning, then spent some time by the pool and in the afternoon had a Thai massage. Which was like floating on air! Very different from the painful massages I've had in Thailand! This week is history and philosophy we've studied the niyamas - ethical observances such as saucha (contentment), tapas (self discipline) and ishvara pranidhana (surrender to the absolute). Jennilee has taken us on one massive adventure through the human body with some fascinating anatomy on how bone-on-bone compression and joint range of movement - which means two people in the same pose but experience it entirely differently. There was one beautiful moment on Wednesday evening, when after teacher practising with my roommate Elisa, we ventured out afterwards to find everyone outside on the terrace watching the most majestic sunset. Some of the volunteers were fooling around upside down on the grass - and I had a play too! Another highlight has been Vidya's envision yoga workshop. Envision yoga is her creation and involves combining neurolinguistic programming and kundalini yoga to help the brain start to question the fixed ideas it has about itself - it's awakening and inspiring! But also felt so very unBritish and out of the comfort zone to be shouting your mantras at the top of your voice and throwing your whole body into it! We're approaching the last week which sees me teaching my second and final class on Sunday, and then hopefully some more relaxed days enjoying each others company and this wonderful place. Everyone is kind to everyone here, with lots of love and support, so the 'real world' may feel a bit of a shock when I re enter it! We still have a week left though and lots of learning to enjoy still 🙏
