Life without a cell phone

Hi! So I'm on the road again. This time I'm in Australia to backpack, explore and celebrate the wedding of Melodie and Christo!! I arrived in Brisbane yesterday morning (which was Monday night Ottawa time/ Tuesday morning Australia time). There were a few set backs (technical problems, delays and a missed flight... oops) but nothing to complain about. It's a really great feeling to be in absolutely no rush at all... nowhere to be, no schedule, no one waiting on me, no cell phone and no laptop. Oh but I did get singled out at customs and put in a separate room to be searched (as those who have traveled with me can confirm, this is nothing new). For some reason, if there is a button to push - I tend to get the red light. No big deal though... the lady was really nice and lenient, especially because I had no proof that I was going to a wedding. She wanted an invitation and I showed her my high heels ha-ha. Well... "I would not backpack with heels otherwise." She laughed and said OK.

So things about Australia (well, Brisbane) that I've noticed so far:

- People here are super nice and good looking. Although, I think Canadian runners need to bring over the friendly hello wave as runners pass by. I'm trying, lol.
- Things are not cheap. I've been very shocked at the price of things. $3 for a little bottle of water?? Yikes.
- I have yet to see a toilet flush clockwise. This was the first thing I looked for when I got off the plane but water came from all sides and went straight down! :| I'm on a mission to see this.
- They drive on the right side of the road but pedestrians/cyclists all stay left.
- I haven't figured out if the clutch is on the right or the left yet but I'm on it.

Anyways, that's it for now. Next I'm off Bryon Bay and then going to head up North to use my coupon for snorkel lessons that I won at a travel auction last night :-). Stay tuned.

~Amanda

Itch Itch

The travel bug is scratching!

DAY 29!

The finish line is in sights... rejoice! rejoice!

Are We There Yet?

(photo from Bikramyoga.com)

So 26 days of hot yoga finally caught up with me yesterday. I couldn't even do child's pose (when you sit on your knees relax), so I spent the last 10 minutes of the class in corpse pose (when you lay on the ground and pretend you're dead). I didn't feel too bad about it, I still made it to the class and that's what counts. I have to admit though that I am finding the classes extremely repetitive (or at least I was yesterday... this morning I had an awesome class, so I guess it depends on the day). Last night I had to rush to yoga after hoop class and was going on very little food so my mind was not focused. All I could think about was getting home and how much I didn't want to be there. I was hating that the new teacher made us hold dancer's pose for longer than normal and that my body (and mind) were not able to stay in it. I was so exhausted afterwards that I had to come out of the class and sit in the lobby for awhile before I could bear going in the change room. It wasn't all bad though, the best part about the class was that I learned a new pose (toe stand - see photo). That was probably the first new pose I have learned since I started the 30-day yoga challenge and it felt great to challenge myself a bit. My toes were happy too!

~~3 days to go~~

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The mind is everything; what you think, you become. (Buddha)

The New Friday Night Hot Spot

Tonight I waited in line on Preston street for more than 45 minutes to get into hot yoga. It really was the most bumping place on the street, with bouncer and all (think of the photo above but with everyone decked out in lululemon and carrying a yoga mat). They let us in 10 people at a time and had a guard at the front door and another at the hot room door. I'd never seen anything like it. One guy who was in line for yoga even lit up a joint while waiting in line and got booed at by everyone. The girl in front of me said "he better not get a little froggy sticker today" ha-ha that made me laugh.

Today I had to stay late at work so I couldn't make it to my usual 5:30 class and had to go to the charity class (1 hour Moksha, $5 minimum donation that goes to the Canadian Liver Foundation). The class is notorious for being packed with young rowdy students but tonight it was pretty mellow, aside from the joint smoking trouble maker who tried to pick a fight with the bouncer and was falling all over the place in class. The room was pretty calm and I had lots of space to stretch out. I felt very relaxed and stayed focused the entire class (aside from a couple of spontaneous thoughts that would pop in... but I managed to push them out). It was definitely one of my better classes and I'm glad I went in the end (I seriously considered bailing again).

19 days down, 11 to go!

Why Marisa Tomei Rocks

http://www.gaiam.com/text/videos/05-55200_video.html

Some Like It Hot...

Some Don't.

So one of my loyal blog readers has pointed out that I have not been updating this regularly. I apologize. You can infer that on the days where I did not blog, I was not having a great yoga day. There have been some good days and some bad and I have missed 2 days (both yoga and the greens+). I made up for one of them by taking 2 classes this Tuesday and it encouraged me to keep going. Less than two weeks left of the challenge and I'm excited! So far I have learned that forcing myself to go to the studio on those days where I really don't want to go (and I usually end up getting there super late and am in a mad rush) really are those days that I feel so great when it's done and appreciate that I went.

Earlier this week I felt like I was cheating by opting for a relaxing 60 minute YIN class instead of an intense 90 minute Moksha (Yang) class. Tonight I again opted for the relaxing late night YIN class, and on day 18, I think I finally understand why I am doing this challenge. The teacher said something that really helped me. She said "don't go anywhere without your breath". She also told us to keep breathing inwards until you could feel it in your collar bone. For some reason, these two little tips were all I needed to hear to completely clear my mind and focus on my breath for the entire class. This is why I am doing yoga. I want to achieve this clear state of mind, where we can let go of thoughts from the past and thoughts about the future and just enjoy the moment. If I start thinking of something else, I try to remind myself "don't let this moment pass you by". Cliché, yes. But it works. Yoga is really about so much more than just the postures (asanas), it is about being connected to yourself and being mindful in everything that we do. So tonight when I mindfully reached for my water bottle, I was able to stay in a meditative state and not get distracted by the nice lululemon shirt that the girl in front of me was wearing or start thinking about what I was going to do when I got home and what I was going to cook for lunch tomorrow.

So my summary of the challenge so far is that 30 days of yoga is hard, but worth it. There is no need to push ourselves to the max and no need to punish ourselves for missing a day. We do what we can do and if we feel good, then it's worth it!

Stay tuned for more updates!
~A