Information on workshops, classes, and special events at The Yoga Shala in Winter Park, Florida (just outside Orlando).
Friday, March 26, 2010
baby bump
I now have about a month left teaching my morning and lunchtime mysore classes at The Yoga Shala before having my cerclage removed and beginning maternity leave. If Kaiden comes when he's due I'll be welcoming my little boy into the world in six weeks :) Next Friday Kwang and I close on our home, and begin moving! I'm very eager to get settled in the house, finally get Kaiden's room ready, and prepare to welcome Kaiden into our lives!!!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Kino MacGregor comes to Orlando

Kino MacGregor Weekend Workshop
The Yoga Shala
Saturday May 22
Sunday May 23
8 AM - 10 AM Mysore Style ($40.00)
12 PM - 2 PM Workshop ($50.00)Lengthen the Hamstrings, Relax the Hips:
Unlock the secret to open hips and long hamstrings and solve the riddle of these two seemingly incorrigible areas of the body. Without your hamstrings and hips in place the yoga practice sometimes feels like a dead end with no hope in sight. Turn that thought around in this fun, practical approach to working with your legs, hips and pelvis. This workshop gives you the foundation for healthy forward bending, easy hip rotation and a new understanding of your legs. Delve into the inner world with solid anatomical explanations, easy-to-apply techniques and in-depth understanding.

REGISTER NOW
ENTIRE WORKSHOP by April 5: $150; $170 thereafter. For more information and registration contact mailto:krista@ashtangayogini.com or call The Yoga Shala 407-506-4626.
Workshop Cancellation Policy/Refunds:All cancellations must be made 10 days prior to the start of the workshop. Refunds will be given in the form of studio credit only (less a $15 processing fee). No credits will be given within 10 days of the start of workshop.

Kino MacGregor is one of a select group of people to receive the Certification to teach Ashtanga Yoga by its founder Sri K. Pattabhi Jois in Mysore, India. The youngest woman to hold this title, she has completed the challenging Third Series and is now learning the Fourth Series. Without any background in movement training Kino MacGregor tried her first yoga class when she was nineteen. Three years later, she joined Govinda Kai's Mysore-style classes in New York City and became a dedicated Ashtanga yoga practitioner. After seven months of traditional Ashtanga practice Kino traveled to Mysore, India to meet her true teacher, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois ("Guruji"). Upon her return she began real self-practice by practicing alone and devoting herself entirely to the study and teaching of Ashtanga yoga. After seven years of consistent trips to Mysore, at the age of 29, she received from Guruji the Certification to teach Ashtanga yoga and has since worked to pass on the inspiration to practice to countless others.
After spending a major portion of her life actively engaged in personal growth work, Kino returned to Miami Beach to create a space dedicated to the integration of yoga, holistic health and consciousness. In 2006, she and her husband Tim Feldmann founded Miami Life Center, where they now teach daily classes, workshops and intensives together in addition to maintaining an international traveling and teaching schedule. Miami Life Center is a community built around yoga, holistic health and consciousness on Miami Beach http://www.miamilifecenter.com/. She has produced three Ashtanga yoga DVDs (Kino MacGregor – A Journey, A Workshop; Ashtanga Yoga Primary Series; Ashtanga Yoga Intermediate Series), an Ashtanga yoga practice card and a podcast on yoga. She is currently working on one more DVDs and book about her personal experiences in yoga.
Kino is dedicated to carrying the torch of Ashtanga yoga throughout the world and sharing the amazing tradition of Ashtanga yoga with everyone who is inspired to practice. In her unique, inspirational and playful approach Kino helps all her students expand and deepen their understanding of yoga and life. Yoga found its expression through her message of spiritual strength, balanced flexibility and emotional peace.
Passionate about the environment, Kino pledges a monthly donation to Go Zero! to make her heavy travel schedule carbon neutral. As life coach and Ph.D. student in holistic health with a Master’s Degree from New York University, Kino integrates her commitment to consciousness and empowerment with her yoga teaching. She has been featured in Yoga Journal, Yoga Mind Body Spirit, Yoga Joyful Living, Travel & Leisure Magazine, Ocean Drive Magazine, Boca Raton Magazine, Florida Travel & Life Magazine, Six Degrees Magazine as well as appearing on Miami Beach’s Plum TV and the CBS Today Show.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Kaiden's Baby Shower ;)
My baby shower was last Saturday, March 20th at the College Park Community center in Orlando. My closest friends worked very hard to plan and execute the shower - and it was so much more amazing than I could have ever dreamed! I had invited a combination of long time friends, family, and yoga students who were near and dear to my heart! It really meant the world to me that so many people made the time to come celebrate the coming birth of my little man!
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Sati's Ashtanga Immersion Workshops at The Yoga Shala

April 10th and April 17th, 2010
Ashtanga Immersion Part 1: The Beginning (3.5 hours)
INFO & REGISTRATION: $35.00 per session or $125.00 for the entire series. Pre-registration is required! Each session meets at The Yoga Shala. You can pre-register in person at 927 N. Pennsylvania Ave. Winter Park, Florida, 32789; or online at http://www.theyogashala.org/. For more information and registration contact Krista@TheYogaShala.org
Friday, March 19, 2010
Make time for yourself
Saturday, March 06, 2010
Manju Jois Teacher Training and Weekend workshop at The Yoga Shala, Orlando, Florida
Manju's led class (maureen and alea doing their practice)
Manju
Saturday Led Class
Saturday Led
Led Batch in Navasana
Miss Sati
Led PracticeSaturday, February 27, 2010
What's going on at The Yoga Shala
Along with these new classes we welcome several new teachers on board: Jaime Shearer, Anat Taggart, and Linda Walker ;) - for full bio's please see our website
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Happy Valentines Day :)
I got home on Tuesday - sick as could be. It seems I ate something not so good about two days before I left India; I started having trouble on Sunday, the day before I left Mysore. Needless to say, the plan rides, layovers, transits, etc from Mysore to Orlando were, well, they were hell on earth! I've never in my life felt so sick or annoyed....But I made it :) And when I got home I called my OB and he had me come to see him asap. He warned me about getting too dehydrated, and said if I did to go to the hospital. Kwang took me to Walgreens to get tons of Pedialite and I went home and drank as much fluid as I could. Yet come Wednesday I felt even worse - so around 12pm I went to the Winter Park Memorial hospital where the pumped me full of IV fluid, ran some tests, and six hours later and a well-hydrated Krista, I was allowed to go home! I've been perfect since then!! Don't know what I had, but whatever it was it is gone now. I was extremely dehydrated and it seems that two bags of fluid was the magic potion I needed to feel better. Little Kaiden man was perfect the whole time :) He was kicking around inside me on the plane, at the hospital - and the doctors joked that he was in a mighty protective shield. My OB told me the next day that it didn't really matter what mama was dealing with, Kaiden was gonna get his nutrition from me, even if it left me with none - that made me feel a lot better!
Kaiden James Park - 19 weeks Friday, February 05, 2010
my last friday in mysore
I had two lovely coconuts after practice and then hunted down some bread and eggs before heading home to make some delicious breakfast. I got to speak to Kwang for a little while, have some food, and check emails…I did all that before taking a glorious 1 ½ hour nap! Being tired has been a real constant theme in my life as of recent, so that nap today was a true gift from the gods J
Once I got up I took another shower and made my way to Anu’s internet café to do another hour worth of work. Mona met me there so we could head to meet up with Rachel and Ben and Faith for lunch at the stand up. To my total surprise the gang had planned a little going away party for me and Kaiden!!! Isn’t that the sweetest thing ever? Mona told me we absolutely had to stop by Tina’s house before meeting everyone for lunch; and I agreed. When we got there Ben, Rachel, Chris, Phillip, and Tina were waiting for me J We had a feast at Tina’s for lunch and it was quite literally the best meal I’ve had in Mysore! And after lunch Rachel pulled out a delicious chocolate cake she picked up from the Southern Star. It was really so sweet and it touched my heart that they went to the trouble.
After lunch Chris and I headed back to my flat so we could do some training on the mind body online software he’ll be using when he comes to Orlando in April to teach. He caught on super quick and we were finished in no time! So we chatted for a while and also picked out a bunch of really good asana photos of him for our website. It’s always so lovely to spend time with Chris – he’s a truly beautiful spirit and real friend. I feel really blessed to have him coming to Orlando to sub for me while I’m on maternity leave – and I feel even more blessed that my students will get the chance to work with him!
Mona got home a little after 4pm and we headed to town to the bookstore so she could get some kids books for some friends back home. I scored big by finding a nice map of India in English, and two great little books (one on Hinduism and one specifically on Ganesha). We spent a little time trying to find a calendar, but gave up as it’s been impossible to find a wall size calendar for 2010 with nice pictures for the shala. I realize now that I really hit the jackpot last year when I stumbled (quite literally) upon a wee little shop during my travels through North India that had a fabulous wall size calendar for 2009 with different and gorgeous pictures of Ganesha for each month of the year, complete with moon days and all! No such luck here in Mysore – Mona and I have searched high and low throughout Mysore since I arrived. Oh well, poor shala will be barren of a wall calendar from India this year…
I cannot believe how quickly this month in India has flown by…I have two more full days in Mysore…two more practices at the Shala…one more conference…one more breakfast at Tina’s…one more ride to Bangalore. I will leave Mysore pretty early in the day on Monday because the day time traffic to get to Bangalore is rather hairy. I will arrive home in Orlando Tuesday night. I’ll take Wednesday and Thursday to re-coup, address jet lag, unpack, unwind, spend time with Kwang, and go to my doctors appointments with my OB and high risk OB…I shall return to teaching bright and early Friday morning!
That’s all for now…
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Manju Jois Workshop and Teacher Training
•The Nadi Shodhana Pranyama’s traditional breathing exercises, taught using original Sanskrit so that students will benefit from the traditional form.
•Vedic peace chants (Shanti Mantras)
•Meditation practice (concluding each day)
Teacher Training will begin Monday, March 1st and run through Friday March, 5th from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm each day (6 hours per day) with a one-hour lunch break and typically includes:
•2 Hours of practice every day
•1 hour of hands on training
•Breathing exercises
•Vedic Chanting training
•Pranayama
•Yoga Therapy (includes teaching adjustments)
•Questions & Answers

Students Should Bring: A well hydrated and well rested body, refraining from eating at least 2 hours prior to the workshop. When eating, select foods like fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grains. Low acidic food choices are optimum. Wear loose comfortable clothes. Bring your own mat, towel, and an open mind, body and spirit.
WEEKEND WORKSHOP: March 5-7, 2010
Students Should Bring:A well hydrated and well rested body, refraining from eating at least 2 hours prior to the workshop. When eating, select foods like fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grains. Low acidic food choices are optimum. Wear loose comfortable clothes. Bring your own mat, towel, and an open mind, body and spirit.
If you opt to do the teacher training and weekend workshop you will receive a $100.00 discount.
My usual ramble
I'm at my friend Faith's house now working online...I'm sitting next to my friend Ben whom I'm trying to convince to do a new brochure for me ;) He's got some photoshop talent, and tons of time, so I'll let you know if he sucumbs to this pregnant woman's pleas!
I've been very bad this trip and not taken ONE single picture! I don't feel too bad though guys, this is my fifth trip to Mysore and I would have taken photos of the same exact things, just in a different year! I may grab a few of the shala before I leave b/c I could use some new ones for the website - but other than that you can always scroll back through the blog here to years past when I've posted tons of photos!
And regarding pregnant photos - I've been bad with those too - some people do the monthly belly shot to see the progression from beginning to end - I am sorry to say I have not! BUT, I will be doing some lovely photos with a great photographer around month 8-9 and I'll post some big ole belly pictures here and on facebook - I promise!
I'm really getting excited about heading home and getting ready for Kaiden's arrival. Kwang and I hope to make an offer on a home soon, and if things work out we can move in before Kaiden comes and I may even be lucky enough to prepare his little baby room too :) A dear friend and student is giving me her crib and another is giving me her matress. For all the other baby items I'm hoping to get some help with that from friends at the baby shower, which Connie, Jessica and Sasha are planning for me ;) I'm super excited - its gonna be at the College Park Community Center on March 20th! I have no idea what they are planning but I'm very grateful.
Have a most fabulous day ahead, or evening :)
xoxoxoxo
krista and kaiden
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
a few days left
As I was going to give my respects to Sharath and Saraswati, I entered the office to find Saraswati chanting -- I nearly cried -- it was just such a beautiful moment for me!
When I left to get a coconut I spoke to a lovely lady (don't know her name though) who is here with her child and was here when she was pregnant with him...she asked if I was still doing inversions. I told her yes and she advised me to stop around 8 months and once he moves into position with his head down. I noted her good words of wisdom and thanked her! Not something I'd even thought of yet - good to know! She said she did everything else she had been doing, just left out the inversions.
My morning was filled with work online for the shala of course...8am-1pm flew by in the blink of an eye and before I knew it I was packing my computer away, paying Ganesh for my internet usage, and heading to the coconut stand to meet some friends for lunch!
After a fabulous meal, Faith and Ben and I headed back to Faith's place so both of them could help me ;) Faith with quickbooks and Ben with a graphic thingie ;) And about two hours later ben had created a fabulous graphic for me, faith had helped me with quickbooks (although I must admit i feel slightly dumber after our session - by no fault of faith's - I think I'm just think I'm utterly doomed when it comes to this damn software and accounting in general)....
I'm really at a loss for words about the fact I'm leaving in a few days! Where has time gone??? But, I'm excited to have four more practices at the shala ;)
I wish you a wonderful Wednesday ahead....Sending my love from Mysore!
Friday, January 29, 2010
Leaving too soon
I can’t believe its been about a week since I last blogged either…hmm, well last Sunday Mona and I went to the city and I found several special things for Kaiden I got him a little baby boy shirt from Fab India, a toy Rickshaw from Sapna bookstore, and a bronze baby Ganesha from a small shop in the city (ok that is more for mama :)
Most of the rest of last week is a big blur because it flew by so quickly. I do vividly remember going to the hospital with Mona on Tuesday to meet with Dr. Meena, upon Saraswati’s recommendation. We waited for a few hours for the Doctor to arrive, and it took all of five minutes with her to find out I’d have to go elsewhere to get the ultra sound. Also decided to wait til I get home to do the glucose tolerance test. On Thursday morning we headed back to the city to the Kannon Diagnostic lab to get the ultrasound done. We didn’t wait long at all!! But when we went to sign in I noticed a sign that explained how it is illegal for doctors to tell the sex of babies here in India , and they can be fined up to 50,000 rupees and five years in jail. I knew it was illegal, in order to protect girls here – but I didn’t know such laws were in place to punish doctors – thought that was really interesting. Unfortunately I didn’t get to see much of the ultrasound b/c the screen was directly in front of the doctor, and I was faced in the opposite direction :( but Mona got to see everything and she enjoyed that very much! Baby kaiden is doing great – his heartbeat is super strong, and overall looking great.
The bits and pieces of my week were filled with work, lots and lots and lots of work….emails, scheduling, website, QuickBooks, taxes, payroll, etc.etc.etc.etc.etc.etc. and somehow, even though I’ve devoted tremendous amounts of time to all this work related stuff, there is still sooo much left! I feel like as soon as I mark something off my list, its replaced by five more items. How can this be? And how is it I have more time to spend on admin stuff here in India and yet I feel so far behind? One of the laws of nature I suppose!
Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend ahead : )
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Enjoying Mysore
Practice this morning was good, very challenging but good nonetheless. I always prefer Mysore class to Led class – EVEN MORE SO during my pregnancy. I’m either catching up (i.e. in Vinyasas) or waiting (like in Navasana when I don’t do the posture), and everything in between seems more of a challenge. I found myself praying the Marichasanas would come to an end today as I have to do A four times during led class now that Saraswati has taken B, C, and D away from me because I’m too far along now to do those postures. It just seemed like, well, I was in a time warp…Otherwise though practice was lovely. And Kaiden was having a ball this morning – he was moving from sun salutation A all the way to Shavasana ;) It was rather awesome! A lot of days he moves a little during practice, and usually the days he moves a lot its not comfortable for me because he keeps moving himself further down into my pelvis, which can be extremely uncomfortable and sometimes painful. But today he stayed pretty high up and just had a ball with mama while Saraswati led us through primary series.
As I was leaving the shala I stopped to pay my respects to Saraswati and Sharath and Saraswati asked me if I had been to see the doctor yet? I told her I planned to go tomorrow. She asked if I had to take an appointment and I told her I wasn’t sure. She smiled and wished me a good day…I slowly made my way out of the shala as the led intermediate students made their way in – I felt a twinge of jealousy as I saw them prepare their mats for class – I used to be in the led intermediate group – for years! And then I reminded myself that I’m the lucky one because I am blessed to be carrying a little man inside me, and my physical limitations were only temporary, but my relationship with Kaiden would last my entire lifetime. I smiled and headed out for two delicious coconuts…
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I had a wonderful Ayurveda massage with Kumar yesterday. I have been looking forward to that for such a long, long time. He has amazing energy and always seems to know how to release physical and emotional baggage from my body. I had called him late last week to tell him I was back in Mysore, I was pregnant, and if he did pre-natal massage I wanted to book an appointment to see him. He said he did, he told me congrats, and we set the appt. for 2pm Saturday. He was so sweet when I arrived, he told me I looked beautiful and asked all about me and the shala and the baby. After a bit of catching up I soaked up 1 ½ hours of pure heaven; it was super gentle for a massage, and that is ok with me given my current ‘condition’ – but it was just awesome having someone with healing energy work on me and Kaiden. Kaiden liked it too :) After the massage he said how much he enjoyed working on me today – he rarely gets the opportunity to work with women who are creating life, and its just very magical for him to feel that energy. I booked another session for myself just before I leave; and one for Mona next week (she’s never worked with Kumar before so it will be a lovely treat for her).
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If you have not yet read The Time Traveler’s Wife, you MUST! I’m on my last 30 pages of this novel right now and I can’t begin to tell you how much I’ve enjoyed reading this book. It took the first 40 or so pages for me to really get into it, but after that I’ve been most hooked on this story and these characters. There are certainly some sad moments, a lot actually – but the novel is so well written you are just drawn into the characters lives and feel like you are there living the story with them! Props to the author, Audrey Niffenegger – very talented indeed! I don’t want to give the whole story away to any potential readers, but there are moments in this book I relate too all too well – death of parents, pregnancy, intense emotions – it’s awesome! Another book I’ll be very sad to say goodbye to…
I’ve been blessed to be able to do a lot of pleasure reading this trip – and I’ve most certainly taken advantage of this more this trip than any other. I think I’ve ‘digested’ the last two twilight sage novels, A Thousand Splendid Suns, Daddy Long Legs ;) and now The Time Travelers Wife. I’ve got several more books lined up and only hope I can get through them all before I leave; because I know when I get home I won’t have any free time to do leisure reading for a long, long time to come.
I wish you all a very happy Sunday ahead!
Friday, January 22, 2010
happy friday
This morning after practice I went into the office and she and Sharath talked about the location of the doctors office and Sharath wrote down the doctors name and details. I smiled and thanked them and quickly left the shala as I'd had a very difficult practice and was not feeling wonderful. Not easy to describe why today was so hard, but it was. My body felt very stiff, my mind was restless, my baby was over-active, my heart felt a little sad, and my stomach was too empty. At any rate, I was glad to have made it through practice, and even happier to get home and lie down for an hour to just let myself relax.
It's been a rather contemplative day today in Mysore. I've done little outside my house other than a lovley lunch with friends. Otherwise Ive stayed in and read, journeled, done a bit of tax stuff, and rested. I've always been such an active person - always on the go....and although it took a bit of getting used to this trip being softer, slower, less active - I'm now realizing how great this is for me. I cannot do this when I'm home with the shala and teaching and EVERYTHING that makes up my life; but here i can. Here, the only obligation I have each day is my practice. So the rest of each day I'm trying to focus on mentally and physically nourishing myself and my baby. I'm very grateful for this time, and will look back on it with a great deal of gratitude and love.
I wish everyone a wonderful Friday back home - enjoy your day and remember you will not get this particular friday back ever again - so make the most of each second. Be sure to tell the people you love that you love them, say hello, goodbye, I'll miss you, I love you, thank you as much as you can.
xoxo
krista
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
If you have nothing nice to say, dont say anything at all...
I'm sitting at Anu's internet cafe with a bout of heartburn and a growling tummy. Looking forward to lunch but am unaware as to where or what. I have another hour before anything opens so its no biggie.
I've been quite productive these last few hours attending to loads of paperwork, emails, etc. And with each 'to do' I cross off my list, I am feeling more and more relieved. But alas there will be another page full tomorrow.
I would like to send a big THANK YOU to Linda who subbed class at the Yoga Shala last night. I am quite grateful to you for that!
Well, this wee little entry is all I can muster for now. Have a great day folks!
Monday, January 18, 2010
monday monday
When I arrived at the shala I got a spot not even five minutes later. It was pretty close to the door…I must say I just don’t care what spot I’m given, as long as the people next to me are mindful of ‘space’ – I’m not super paranoid with the pregnancy about people crashing down on me, but with the shala so cram packed of people and mats so close, I just feel a little anxious on my mat when I am next to people who seem oblivious to the fact that they are all over the place – their mat, my mat, their other neighbors mats….it honestly pisses me off! Just being a bit protective of my little man is all! The lady to my left this am had me on the defense for a majority of my practice; but I didn’t let her carelessness destroy my good energy and focused meditation – at least to the best of my ability anyway.
People ask me what I do for asana practice during my pregnancy….well I do the primary series modified…I do triangle twice – no revolved…I do side angle twice – no revolved…I do everything else in a modified fashion as I feel necessary up to Marichyasana D. I leave out Navasana, do only Kurmasana, no Supta, and no Setu Bandasana. I do backbends, but no dropbacks, and do inversions to the best of my ability – some women find them impossible or miserable to do – they are certainly a bit uncomfortable given the extra weight, but I do enjoy them – I just hold most inversions five breaths as opposed to eight b/c more than five becomes really uncomfortable….This has been my practice until today….Saraswati came up to me as I was finishing Marichyasana D. and she asked me again how far along I was… “Six months!” She told me to take Marichyasana B through D out of my practice from here on out – A is ok, but not worth it to do B-D. She also said no Navasana. I asked if Bhujapidasana was ok, she said if I can do, then do…She and Sharath keep their eyes on me pretty constantly when I practice, and they had let me do all of Primary as I’ve been doing it all of last week. But today she took the Marichyasana’s out. Nothing else though…Then once I’d finished backbends and picked my mat up to head to the finishing room, Sharath asked me about Ustrasana and Laghu Vajrasana He told me to add them tomorrow. I said ok, and asked if the pain I have in backbends is due to the baby’s position. He said yes and just to do what I could tomorrow. Kaiden sits very very low, which makes backbends really quite painful for me; some women carry quite high and enjoy backbends tremendously, but I’m not quite so lucky. Don’t mind in the slightest b/c I am sure I’ll be back to deep backbending after Kaiden’s born – and he is worth this discomfort and much much much more. For such an intense practitioner, I’m surprising even myself in how I’m able to back off however I need to in order to enjoy this pregnancy, bring no potential harm to Kaiden due to yoga, and also still continue to enjoy my practice. The first trimester was quite hard, mentally, and physically – but the second has been wonderful and I hope and pray the third is better than the first ;) either way, little man is gonna be here before I know it; and I cannot wait to meet him!
To fill you in on conference….it was awesome! Sharath told us how Guruji made Mysore a famous yoga destination :) He told us Guruji’s story from the day he met Krishnamacharya to the growth of what we know Ashtanga yoga to be today. He also talked at length about the practice, how it is so much more than just asana. How important the Vinyasa is to this system, how dedication is key, how years and years and years of being a student are necessary before thinking one can teach. He feels sad to know so many people want to jump into teaching yoga when they don’t know deeply enough about their own yoga practice. What place can you teach from then? He hit deep into my soul when he said, “without true dedication, it is very difficult to understand this yoga.” If only people could take time and really dedicate themselves to daily yoga practice, allow it to change them, and then they could truly see what all this is about; why this is so special, so amazing. Sitting and listening to Sharath yesterday really brought me peace. I have some wonderful students at home, but I worry daily over how there will be enough income to pay my teachers, to pay the bills, to keep the shala open. And somehow, sitting listening to Sharath yesterday helped me find peace with all of it! I hope and pray things will work out with my school back home, and I have faith they will. But if they didn’t I think the practice would carry me through that too….
Have a beautiful day ahead! Until next time….
Sunday, January 17, 2010
randomness
Tina has given me Daddy Long Legs to read…Have you heard of it??? It’s a small old book, but man it’s cute! She handed this to me two days back when I told her what I was reading, A Thousand Splendid Suns! What a sad, sad, depressing book….I brought it with me from home b/c one of my dearest students loaned to me and insisted I read. It was beautifully written, but each page brought more sadness and despair. Tina turned her nose to me when I told her of the book and said, “Pregnant women are not to read such sad books!” That came after finishing the last two books in the Twilight saga, oh such wonderfully mindless reading! I’d always been on team Edward, but it turned out, in the end, it was ok to be on team Jacob and team Edward J
I’ve never been able to read so much pleasure reading as I am right now…Usually though I’m just as busy in Mysore as I am back home. I’m not complaining at all, but yesterday I found myself quite anxious and a little uncomfortable – I caught myself counting down the days till I return home!!! It upset me that I was doing that – I remember thinking, “GOSH Krista, are you never ever happy???? You couldn’t wait for January to come so you could make your yearly trip to
Faith sat down with me yesterday and helped me a little with QuickBooks – getting me going in the right direction with how to enter data. I’m still dumbfounded by this software and curse the makers of it! No not really, but I am dumbfounded by it nonetheless. I’ll spend this week entering in as much of 2009 data as I have with me and then she and I will re-convene so she can teach me how to do reports. I pray this will make it a little less expensive when I turn all data over to my accountant…Faith had asked me if I’d done my W-2 for the year and I couldn’t help but laugh…. “No, I haven’t paid myself anything this year so I will not give the government any money for money I never paid myself…” Oh well, perhaps 2010 will be fruitful enough to pay myself a meager little salary.
We had two days off practice due to the moon day on Friday and I found that to be a much unwanted two day break; although a great many others really loved it. It was a joy to get back to the Shala this morning, and led primary was wonderfully enjoyable. I sometimes feel a little silly in the shala waddling to and fro with my Vinyasa and being slow as molasses in general, but it’s a good silly – a “I’m so grateful to be here in all my plumpness” :) On led days I’ve been lucky to get the spot next to the window and man it makes all the difference in the world; so cool up there! Tomorrow we resume
I’m having vegetarian sushi at Vivian’s today for lunch with Mona, Chris, Rachel, and Faith. I can’t wait! I’ve not ever had her vegetarian sushi before and I’m trying not to get my hopes up too high in the event I’m disappointed – I am an avid sushi lover and am used to the finest sushi
Sharath announced this morning that there is conference at 4:30pm. Sunday has turned out to be a rather fabulous, jam packed day!
Friday, January 15, 2010
Moon Day Friday
It’s 5am Friday morning here in Mysore and Mona and I are sitting at the table in our flat chatting….Today is a moon day so no practice. I plan to read, journal, shower and count down til 8am when we can head off to Tina’s for breakfast. I was totally wiped out yesterday – all day! I had a rather challenging practice due to my lack of energy, my awareness of the moon, and my hyper-active baby. After practice it was all I could do to get home, shower, and eat. Around 11 Mona and I headed out to run some errands in town but everything was closed due to the festival. So we made our way to Rishi’s internet café for an hour before meeting up with Rachel to go grab lunch. How sad is this? After lunch Mona and I came home and may have gotten an hour of reading in before passing out – for the REST OF THE DAY!!! I’m serious, I slept over 12 hours yesterday….And Mona did too! We couldn’t believe it….But we are both awake now and feel so much more energetic than we did yesterday. It will be another typical day in Mysore…Breakfast, laundry, internet, errands in town, dealing with our phones (both of which have been in non working mode for two days), lunch, more errands, and maybe finish off with a long walk by the lake.
I wish everyone back home a wonderful evening, and a joyous Friday moon day. Take rest from practice, and try to relax the mind a bit as well.
Om Shanti
Krista
Thursday, January 14, 2010
thursday....
I’m finding it more difficult to blog this year b/c of the extremely frequent power outages and the fact that I don’t have Internet in the flat this year. So my lofty desires to blog daily may not come to fruition.
I can say that I’m happy to be here in
I am truly enjoying every minute of this time though - it is such a special time in my life, and there are no words to express how amazing it is to be here in mysore and at the shala with saraswati and sharath right now. Although this trip is very short, I'm grateful to have this opportunity at all....and i get to look forward to next year's trip with kaiden in toe.
practice at the shala has been quite magical; all the energy of the other yogi's, my teachers, and the space itself....each morning has created a special memory in my head and heart to hold dear for a long time to come. Everyday is different on the mat, here as anywhere - but most days have been far easier than they are at home - that is the magical aspect of the shala here ;) I wish i could bottle it up and take it home with me.
i miss home, kwang, my friends, and my shala, but know it will all be waiting for me in a few short weeks when i return. i worry alot about the shala at home - it is such a responsibility for me and it is sometimes so scary - will we gain enough members to pay the bills - how will i make this work????? the questions and concerns go on and on and on....but i just try daily to put faith in the universe, faith in myself, faith in this practice that enough people will find us and fall in love with this practice that all will be ok.
Mona has just walked in to take me to lunch so I shall go for now. I hope everyone is sleeping soundly now and hope you have a wonderful Thursday ahead!
xoxoxox
krista and kaiden!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Tampons for the pregnant lady...
Saturday, January 09, 2010
mysore 2010
2009 was a real whirlwind of a year to say the very least. So many life changing things took place, and it all happened so fast I am just now beginning to truly understand the depth of these changes. All wonderful, amazing things – and all so precious in their own right. This is one small part of what I love about my trips to India – the ability to slow down and simply BE grateful for all that I have in life.
I left Orlando on Tuesday the 5th and flew Atlanta to Dubai, and Dubai to Bangalore…Ganesh had a taxi waiting for me in Bangalore to make the 3 plus hour drive into Mysore. I arrived around 7:30am Thursday morning. The trip itself wasn’t too bad; obviously not as easy as usual given that I’m pregnant. The only real discomfort with the flights was my inability to get comfortable on the plane. But luckily I had an aisle seat for each leg of the journey, which made my frequent bathroom breaks simple. I’ve never flown through Dubai before so that was a lovely new experience – much prefer it over London! The Dubai International Airport is quite something – clean, big, beautiful, and really organized. And, get this….When I arrived in Bangalore both of my checked bags arrived with me!!! I know, I know, its amazing J
I was somewhat disappointed when I got to my house and found it in not the best of shape…It was just really dirty and the energy here felt off. Ganesh and Anu kindly sent their help to come clean the flat for me b/c it was in real need of some tlc. After they came in and cleaned it was in decent enough shape for me to unpack and organize myself.
I registered at the shala on Tuesday afternoon…It was wonderful to step foot in the Shala and see Sharath. We spoke about my pregnancy and he told me to just do whatever I could with my practice while here. And I asked him about led classes, as I don’t so several seated asanas right now…He said to find a safe place in the shala and do as much as I was comfortable doing during led, and just leave out asanas that I’m not currently doing! I had to laugh a little at the thought of a safe place – safe from flailing hands and feet – I’ve been wacked many times in this shala during led class with various body parts of other yogis.
I had napped from noon to 4:30pm Thursday afternoon and then went to bed at 8pm. Jet lag always takes me a few days to overcome and this year is no exception. I woke for good at 11pm Thursday night and proceeded to organize things in the house, do some cleaning, and read. I got on my mat in my bedroom around 2am and I can’t begin to describe how amazing my yoga was! It was quite literally the best practice I’ve had in nearly a year. I tell you Mother India is such a magical place with an energetic magnificence that is beyond explanation.
After my glorious asana practice I showered, and waited til I could head out to Tina’s for some much needed FOOD! I had a lovely breakfast with some long time friends in Tina’s garden before starting my day of errands in Mysore….the usual, minutes for the phone, new pillow for the bed, gas for the cylinder, clean water, food from loyal world, a stop by the coconut stand J and then some emails at Anus where I ended up running into a few of my dearest friends! We sat and chatted for over two hours catching up on the last year.
I headed home around 5pm to eat something before passing out cold til 2am. It’s now 7:30am Saturday and I’ve had a lovely practice, shower, and started digging into Breaking Dawn, the last of the twilight saga L
I wish everyone back home a wonderful weekend ahead – I miss all my students and friends and family very much and look forward to seeing you again when I return from India. Just know Kaiden and I are safe, comfortable, and I’m in my happy place J
Xoxoxoxo
Krista and Kaiden
Saturday, September 26, 2009
The Yoga Shala - We are Expanding!



The Yoga Shala will soon have a brand new home! We will be moving into a 2,100 sq ft. facility close to 1-4, Park Ave, Rollins College, and the Winter Park Village in Winter Park. Our new shala will feature two yoga rooms, a massage room, mens and womens locker rooms, and a retail boutique!
GRAND OPENING SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11TH! STAY TUNED FOR DETAILS ON GRAND OPENING EVENT!
We will have two massage therapists on site to work with the students of The Yoga Shala - all monthly members and rollins college students will receive a 10% discount on massage services.
**If you have an interest in the Morning, Lunchtime, or Evening Mysore program PLEASE EMAIL Krista@TheYogaShala.org. - I would like to get an idea of how many monthly mysore students we can plan to see when doors open.
Saturday, August 08, 2009
Happy Saturday from Orlando
When I look back at my college years I think about how easy life was then; but I always laugh b/c I know that back then, I thought life was sooo much harder than it had ever been. And now, when I look back at even a year ago, I think about how easy life was then; but I laugh b/c I know that back then, I thought life was sooo much harder than it had ever been before! I see a pattern forming...Well I guess such is life, or the nature of things...I will be extremely grateful though, if the next few weeks can provide some clarity as to when I'll be able to travel back to India next year. Wish me luck ;)
On another note, I'm getting really excited b/c it seems Kwang and I are getting a little bit closer to figuring out what part of town we wish to buy our house, and if we are lucky we will find that house soon. Going out with the realtor again tomorrow afternoon. Wish me luck!
Also excited for September to come b/c I'll spend Labor Day weekend with my sister in Georgia! Haven't seen Kama in a while and it will be really nice for us both to get away together :)
Wishing everyone a gorgeous weekend! Hope you enjoy your practice tomorrow ;)









