Sorry for the gap in communication and content. Don’t worry, I am still here in Goa and still doing very well.

Our training program is winding down nicely toward our ending ceremony Saturday afternoon. I hope to have time on Sunday to share more details and use that oportunity to process some of what has been transpiring. Right now all I can say for sure is that I am a little leaner, a lot tanner and extrememly thankful for this adventure.

If by chance, Sunday passes without additional correspondence, please send me positive energy for an uneventful journey home. If you remember the challenges I had getting here, just know that was the “better half” of my travel itinerary.

Lastly, if you want to see entire photo slide show (so far), please visit: https://picasaweb.google.com/yogakeith/GoaIndia2011#

Now, centered, grounded, fed and coiffed, I don’t feel at all like writing about the training, so I will take the easy way out and talk logistics. I won’t dwell on the weather because most people reading this are not presently enjoying warm sunny days and gently comfortable evenings. So I will move on to geography. Where exactly am I?

Geographically, it is straight-forward enough to say I am at the Whispering Lakes Retreat Center between Arambol and Mandrem in Northern Goa (on the West Coast of India). I am living in a simple bungalow on what appears to be a small man-made lake or a large man-made pond.

The retreat center surrounds the oval body of water. If the lake were a clock, the yoga shala (where we practice) is all by itself at 12 o’clock. The bungalows, kitchen, dining area and reception area are all along the bottom (from say 4 o’clock to 8 o’clock).

We are a short walk from the beach and a totally different world. If you have never been here, it is difficult to describe Goa. Our part of the beach is tame compared to infamous party towns like Arambol (a 20 minute walk North) and Anjuna (a 40 minute taxi ride South). Imagine a multi-national Burning Man with an ocean to jump into when things get too intense. There are fire twirlers, drum circles and always music to be found somewhere (some of it welcoming some of it frightful). More than once we have chosen our dinner venue based on the sounds permeating outward.

Unlike other (more “respectful”) beaches in India, many people are very nearly naked. Not surprisingly, those wearing the least, often have the most to cover. That being said, the crowd still leans favorably toward the “more attractive” end of the global spectrum. Maybe that’s the yoga?

There are people doing yoga everywhere. I lost count of the number of places offering yoga classes. Many people just do their own practice on the beach (or at least show off there). With this yoga culture comes a wealth of healthy dining choices including “Raw” food and some very tasty vegetarian hang-outs.

Thankfully, there are no large gaudy resorts here. Instead, the accommodations are generally simple and flawed in that “what do you expect on the beach in India” kind of way. We have come to knock on our “attached bathroom” door before entering, just to make sure we don’t surprise whatever might be in there. While relatively expensive for India, lodgings are relatively cheap for the rest of the world. So the world comes and much of it sticks around for a while.

There is a whole community that come to Goa for “the season” (roughly November to April). It might be there winter get-away, it might be part of a migratory lifestyle that includes other calendar-appropriate stops in places like Thailand, Bali and wherever home used to be.

Not surprisingly, there are many Russians here. Their winters are famously uninviting. Their domestic beach options don’t come readily to mind. Goa makes sense. One of the reasons I have been told it is a “slow” season is that the Indian government recently cut the maximum Russian visa from 6 months down to 3. Why bother going for a mere 90 days?

For me, 5 weeks is the shortest of my five visits to India so far. I can see the appeal of staying here longer, but I am also looking forward to coming home. Then again, I will only be home for a week and a half before heading to another beach (this time Mexico). I love my life!

I had only known my escorts Safah and Riannon (from the Teacher Training program) for 2 days and 6 hours, respectively, but I remembered the band, Kundalini Airport, from my last visit to Goa in 2009.

We were primed by a traditional Goan dinner as the sun set over the Indian Ocean. I don’t remember the names of the dishes (and couldn’t spell them regardless). After dinner, Vinod, the restaurant owner, sat for a round of drinks with us, but again my birthday was low on his list of motives.

After dinner, we wandered over to the Surf Club for the music. The open-air club is not very big, and it wasn’t very crowded when we situated ourselves conveniently at the bar near the stage. As the music brought in the people, the vibe started to flow. Observing the crowd was a big part of the experience (let’s just say anything goes in Goa).

At the front of the stage was a traditional tablas (drums) player with magic fingers and the vocalist with a less traditional electronic sitar that was later excanged for a lute. behind them were a bass player and a “western” drummer. Off to one side was a digiery doo (sp?) and on the other side a guy with distant eyes on a mixer/synthesizer/keyboard thing. None of these details remained from my initial viewing of the band two years earlier because they were at the far side of a large open space in the middle of the Night Market. But the funky rhythmic world/dub beats were as soul rockin’ as I remember and more so.

When the show ended, I bought the four CDs of their that I didn’t already own and got their contact info. Who knows, Kundalini Airport just might end up as background music for a series of yoga CDs/podcasts by some yoga teacher you know.

For those of you wondering, the clubbing boozy nightlife is NOT part of the yoga training. The “work” starts tomorrow.

Roughly 6 hours later, we finally arrived at Whispering Lakes retreat center in Goa.
I did managed to stay awake for a couple of well deserved beers and sunset on the beach. Let’s just say today is going much better than yesterday. It’s supposed to, it’s my birthday!

It never ceases to amaze me that wonderful things happen whenever I challenge myself. Of course there were doubts (The winery was too far; The redwood grove wasn’t flat enough; There was a chance of rain; Yoga and wine?). That just made it more rewarding to look up and see 30+ people practicing yoga together in the beautiful redwoods!

Speaking of challenges…

You may have noticed I have been personally challenged when it comes to keeping up with my blog. This is the first entry in a long time. Who knows, it might be the start of a trend.

Speaking of trends…

Most of my blogging (and earlier chronicling) involved travels. Maybe there is travel news in the near future. Please stay tuned…

…Keith

Men’s yoga wear is woefully uninspired and that is probably our fault. If I am an example, I want function and I don’t want to spend much for it. For me function means minimal resistance when I move. That’s why I always practice in sleeveless shirts and shorts. The shorts I find work best are simple lycra shorts (with elastic waistbands and no pockets) bought at least a couple sizes larger than specs would suggest (I go for XXL), so they are loose. Manufacturers that I know of include Reebock, Nike, Champion and Asics. Unfortunately, these simple shorts are getting harder to find (especially in colors other than black). So if it seems like I am wearing the same shorts all the time, it only looks that way because I have many pairs of black lycra shorts.

Even though they are loose, I still don’t want to walk around studios/clubs in lycra shorts, so I always have an outer layer (pants or cargo shorts). In addition to modesty, this outer layer provides pockets to stash valuables during the practice. I have multiple pairs of Lulu Lemon yoga pants that are comfortable and stylish. On the rare occassions that I have actually practiced in these pants, they were quite functional, but in my humble opinion, I would always rather practice in shorts. Therefore the outer layer can be anything from blue jeans to cargo pants/shorts.

With such a basic lower layer, shirts become the only option to add color and style. Any shirt can become sleeveless. Some of my yoga shirts are “last year’s” T shirts or, in other cases, brand new T shirts with amputated arms. The functional choice in shirts is really cotton or something more technologically developed to “wick” away perspiration. If a guy sweats a lot, the non-cotton option is probably a good one. Most of my “wicking” shirts came without sleeves. Yes, the ones from Lulu Lemon are better designed, but you pay for that. Most of my “hi-tech” shirts came from Ross, Marshalls or Target. Don’t expect to find them all at once, but rather consider it a “practice” to check these racks from time to time.

Getting even more personal, if you are wearing lycra shorts and “wicking” shirts, why would you even consider cotton briefs? Jockey makes some good non-cotton briefs. This is not the place to argue for boxers. This is a good time for support.

Just one guy’s opinon.

Regardless of how, yoga mats do get dirty. There are products you can buy to clean your mat and I am sure there are countless other methods advised, but I use a simple solution of  warm water (90%) and vinegar (10%). If you have a less substantial mat, you can just put it in the washing machine (I do NOT recommend using the dryer). If you have a thicker “performance” mat you can rinse/scrub it in the bath tub, or just spray whatever cleaner you are using on it and wipe it off. Please note if you soak your mat or run it through the wash, it may take a couple/few days to dry. It is effectively a sponge. I have thought my mat was sufficiently dry a few times only to squish and slip through class (another lesson in patience).

No matter how you do it, cleaning your mat will (hopefully) not be the highlight of your day. So, keeping your mat clean is another matter to consider. My suggestion is having intention as to how you roll your mat up at the end of your practice. If you simply roll your mat up as you would a sleeping bag, the (presumably) dirtier underside of the mat comes in contact with the top side (which you are trying to keep clean). Instead, I recommend folding the mat in half first (clean side in) then rolling the mat up. Another advantage of this method is the elimination of the dreaded “mat curl” where the end of your mat won’t stay on the floor. Give it a try.

The disconnect was that he was standing there in full uniform next to his DPT scooter printing out a parking ticket to some poor unsuspecting soul. He was the enemy! A parking Nazi!

It is so easy to put a label on someone or something. I am sure many people have categorized me based on my chosen profession. I only hope I help them see things differently (as I did yesterday).

To make the site more accessible to the html challenged (me), the site has been migrated from textpattern to wordpress. That process was slow and tedious because quite frankly, I am a web designer’s worst nightmare (slow to respond, unfocused, asking too many of the wrong questions).

Now that it has migrated, I have slowly figured out how to add slideshow for previously un-represented events such as Yoga on The River 2009 and Random Acts of Outdoor Yoga (both accessible from the “Events” tab). I have also gone back to many of my earlier blog entries (primarily from India) and added pictures (and links to other slideshows). Let’s just say I tried to get caught up to the present.

Oh yeah, I also got married (but that deserves it’s own post).

Goa was the last stop on my trip. A ten days yoga retreat on a beautiful beach seemed like a great way to culminate the adventure. I wasn’t teaching, just deepening my practice and challenging myself with things I was not good at. Though I respect the Ashtanga practice greatly, I had only gone through the primary series a few times since my teacher training (seven years ago). So it wasn’t a big deal that I couldn’t do everything. It didn’t even bother me that I wasn’t the strongest student in the retreat (Monica has been practicing yoga longer than I have AND she is about 20 years younger). I wasn’t there for validation. So how come I got so bothered when it didn’t come?

Stripped of the comforts of “my” practice and “my” yoga style I felt my relationship with the teacher, Heather, slip from equal to less than. Some of that was likely her taking the authority that a teacher needs to effectively lead, but part of that was also her defending her way. Ashtanga is a very traditional and dogmatic style of yoga. There is one right way of doing things and everything else is wrong. My teaching style is the polar opposite.

Where I regularly suggest easing into the first down dog by bicycling the heels toward the floor, that habit was reprimanded. Where I constantly remind students that yoga is about intention, not the goals; Ashtanga (as least this version) meant grabbing the toe in the triangle (even if that meant bending at the knee) and bringing your nose to your leg in forward folds (even if that meant giving up the length in the spine). Props were viewed largely as crutches that prevented students from progressing.

Who was I to challenge these traditions? Who am I to create my own flow sequences when there were time-tested routines to be followed?

My formal teacher training had been with an Australian company (Yoga Arts) that happened to be running a training program concurrently with our retreat at the same retreat center. There was even one of my former teachers there (Lucy). It wasn’t meant as a slight to me, but at one point Heather voiced the opinion that “none of those students would be qualified to teach” when their program ended. I tried to challenge her in a respectful way, but it still came across sounding defensive.

Being defensive is a good indicator that our insecurities are being challenged. One day over breakfast, someone familiar with the Bay Area asked where I taught. I could see the “inferior gym yoga” judgments forming when I told them of the classes I led at health clubs and corporations. As if on queue, they asked if I taught at any yoga studios. The ego is always looking to impress others. My ego took quite a beating. I guess the universe knew I needed it. It made me stronger and even more determined to keep teaching my way.