Sati's Ashtanga Immersion Workshops at The Yoga Shala

The Yoga Shala's very own Sati Chmelar will be working her Ashtanga Yoga magic again in April. Don't miss out on this fabulous workshop series - immerse yourself in the Ashtanga Yoga Practice!

Sati's Ashtanga Immersion Series
April 10th and April 17th, 2010

Ashtanga Immersion Part 1: The Beginning (3.5 hours)

Saturday, April 10th 11:30am-3:00pm ($35.00)

This is a very thorough introduction to the tradition of Ashtanga Yoga with an in-depth lecture on the history of this lineage, its founders, practice protocols and underlying philosophical foundation. The lecture will also lead students into the practice of the breath of this tradition (ujjay pranayama) as well as the internal muscular locks (bandhas) and gaze directions (drishti). There will be plenty of time for dialogue with students and questions will be encouraged. After this initial section of the practice, there will be a step-by-step breakdown and practice of the asana of the primary series. The level of the class will inform how far into the series we cover, but it usually to go Janu Sirsasana A.

Ashtanga Immersion Part 2: Seated Asanas (3.5 hours)

Saturday, April 10thth 3:00pm-6:30pm ($35.00)

After a short introductory lecture and Q&A, there will be a short, guided asana series to warm the body up. Afterwards we will begin a step-by-step breakdown and practice of the asana of the primary series from the Janu Sirsansana series to Garbha Pindasana. There will be plenty of time for dialogue with students and questions will be encouraged.

Ashtanga Immersion Part 3: Maneuvers (3.5 hours)

Saturday, April 17thth 11:30am-3:00pm ($35.00)

After a short introductory lecture and Q&A , there will be a short, guided asana series to warm the body up. We will then enter into an in-depth exploration of jump-throughs, jump-backs, chakrasana, lotus-jumpbacks, and other fun transitional maneuvers in the Ashtanga Primary Series! There will be plenty of time for dialogue with students and questions will be encouraged.

Ashtanga Immersion Part 4: Reclining, Backbending and Closing (3.5 hours)

Saturday, April 17thth 3:00pm-6:30pm ($35.00)

After a short introductory lecture and Q&A, there will be a guided asana series to warm the body up. Afterwards, there will be a step-by-step breakdown and practice of the asana of the primary series from the Baddha Konasana to the final asanas of finishing sequence ending with Uth Pluthi. There will be plenty of time for dialogue with students and questions will be encouraged.

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

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.

Make time for yourself

I have a wonderful student visiting Orlando, Florida with her husband and children. She has a dedicated practice and has spent the last month studying daily with me at The Yoga Shala. She leaves soon and I'm going to miss her because she is a full time mother of two, but makes sure to find time to do her practice - a real inspiration to me! Just the other day she came to me after practice and told me she was feeling guilty - guilty for taking this time each day to drive to Winter Park, and do her yoga practice at The Yoga Shala. I simply reminded her how important it is for her to take that time for herself each day in order to be of benefit to her children. I truly believe that we must take care of ourselves in order that we can take care of others. If we don't make the time for our own well being, we will lose our sense of self...She smiled and said, "I needed to hear that today, thank you Krista!" I hope you hear my words too - do not let your job, your family, your obligations and life responsibilities make you feel guilty for taking time each day to feed your soul - THERE IS TIME FOR IT ALL!

Manju Jois Teacher Training and Weekend workshop at The Yoga Shala, Orlando, Florida

Kelli and Me 7 months pregnent :)

Manju's led class (maureen and alea doing their practice)

Manju

Saturday Led Class

Saturday Led

Led Batch in Navasana

Miss Sati

Led Practice

Monday Mysore - Hi Mona :)

It's been a great week with Manju Jois here at The Yoga Shala doing his teacher training. We have one more day of the weekend workshop - then Orlando bid's farewell to Manju until next year. I've got a couple really great photos of this week - hope you enjoy!

What's going on at The Yoga Shala

Happy Saturday :)

It has been a really exciting month at The Yoga Shala and March promises to be even more exciting!!!

For those of you who don't know much about us - The Yoga Shala is a traditional Ashtanga Yoga Studio located in downtown Winter Park, Florida (just outside Orlando). We are open seven days per week and offer classes to beginners and advanced students.

In addition to our current Morning, afternoon, and evening Mysore Program, our sunday night led class, saturday morning led class, and sunday morning Mysore; we have now added Level 1 Ashtanga Classes Monday-Friday from 9:30-11:00am; Level 1 Ashtanga Yoga Classes Tuesday and Thursdays from 6:00-7:30pm; and beginner series course Wednesdays 6:00-7:15pm and Sundays 2:00-3:15pm. Check out our full class schedule here

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

Anat Taggart

Jaime Shearer

The first week in March, The Yoga Shala will be hosting Manju Jois's teacher training and weekend workshop. Both events are sold out so it is sure to be a week of amazing energy in the Shala!

And we have been given the most amazing gift: My dear friend Alea has done a life size painting of Gurjui on one of the walls of the Shala - it is truly incredible to do your practice every morning in his presence :)

Happy Valentines Day :)

Good morning from sunny Orlando, Florida ;)

It's about 6:30am and I'm sitting in my cozy apartment with a cup of decaf coffee in my pajamas ;) Kwang is snoring in the bedroom, no sign he'll wake anytime soon. It's Sunday, February 14th - both Moon Day and 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!

We had another ultrasound on Thursday too - posting pictures here of Kaiden at 19 weeks, 22 weeks, and 28 weeks :) enjoy!

Kaiden James Park - 19 weeks

Little Man - 19 weeks

Kaiden - 22 weeks :)

Kaiden - 28 weeks!

My little Angel - 28 weeks!

my last friday in mysore

Today has been a really wonderful day! I did have a bit of trouble getting up this morning – my body is tired from the week and I definitely slept as long as possible. Plus with it being led practice today, my mind was very difficult to convince to get out of bed. But I did, and I’m glad I did. It was a rather good led practice; as good as they can get for me at this point in my pregnancy…

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…

Manju Jois Workshop and Teacher Training

I've been very busy preparing for Manju's coming visit in March. He'll be at The Yoga Shala March 1-7th. I am really honored to have him visit us, and eager for my students to get to experience working with him. Details are below :)

Manju Jois Teacher Training & Workshop
March 1-7, 2010 

TEACHER TRAINING: In this intense week-long training, Manju will introduce and teach powerful healing elements and techniques that make up the Ashtanga System, including:

•The traditional Ashtanga Yoga practice, a series of asanas (postures) known as the Primary Series of Yoga Chikista (Yoga Healing), followed by the Intermediate Series entitled Nadi Shodhana (Nerve Cleansing). Daily Practice of the asana purifies the mind and body while also healing the nervous system.
•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

Manju Jois’ dedicated life long mission is to provide training for students and teachers in the ancient traditions of authentic Ashtanga Yoga. He is honored to offer guidance to all who wish to learn and benefit from Ashtanga Yoga’s ancient and time-honored practices. By the end of this week, each student should be able to present the Primary Series of Ashtanga Yoga in the traditional form (using Sanskrit commands) as well as teach some of the fundamental pranayamas and chants.

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.

COST: $750 

WEEKEND WORKSHOP: March 5-7, 2010

Friday Evening: 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm Ashtanga Introductory Class (light practice), Pranayama, Chanting, Discussion / Questions & Answers

Saturday morning: 10:00 am to 12:00 pm: Led Class, Primary Series; followed by 1-hour lunch break

Saturday afternoon: 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm: Pranayama, Chants, Discussion / Questions & Answers.

Sunday afternoon: 12:00-2:00pm - followed by a 15-minute break - Mysore Class (Manju will assist with postures)

Sunday afternoon: 2:15-3:45pm: Pranayama, Chants, Discussion / Questions & Answers / Farewells & Pictures

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.

COST: $175

If you opt to do the teacher training and weekend workshop you will receive a $100.00 discount.

Week Long Teacher Training and Weekend Workshop will both take place at

The Yoga Shala

927 North Pennsylvania Avenue

Winter Park, Florida 32789

407-506-4626

www.theyogashala.org

My usual ramble

It's nearly 4:30pm Thursday afternoon here in Mysore. My morning students should be up by now getting ready to head to the shala :) My fiance is surely sleeping deeply in our bed at home - Thursdays are his days off so he doesn't even move a muscle til around 10:00am. I am personally quite exhausted today, both mentally and physically. I think its been a long week for me here and I have a lot on my mind getting ready to head home in a few days. I am certainly looking forward to the day of rest of Saturday - my body needs the break and my mind craves a lie in ;)

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

a few days left

I'm tired! It's a few minutes after 7pm wednesday evening and this day has been quite full. I had a wonderful practice this morning - not only got a great spot in the shala in the very back row next to the wall, but then randomly the person to end up right next to me was the fabulous Chris from Scotland (my dear friend who will be subbing for me in orlando while i'm on maternity leave) - this is a random act you understand, and one i won't quickly forget. Today was one of those days when the mind - the thoughts just keep coming - monkey mind as some call it...I knew I couldn't stop it, so I consciously decided not to allow it to ruin my practice...Instead, I allowed these thoughts to come and go like the wind, like the inhale and exhale of my breath...and by doing so i didn't hold on to any single thought, just kept breathing, kept moving from asana to asana - and before I knew it I was in the ladies locker room doing my finishing postures..

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!

Leaving too soon

This week has flown by faster than any other since I arrived here in Mysore. I cannot believe it is already 5:30am Saturday morning! I also cannot believe I fly home in a little over a week. I’m really sad to leave Mysore so soon, my shortest trip ever! And while I always knew it was really important to stay about three months, always wanted to and always have stayed three months per visit, it really becomes apparent why it makes all the difference to stay here that long. One month is a real tease – you get here, get over jet lag, get settled, and then you are packing to get back home. Whatever, I’m beyond grateful for this month ; )
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 : )

Enjoying Mysore

Just before Saraswati began guiding us through the Led Primary Series, Sharath said there was one announcement: “Do not miss a class…anyone who misses a class will be fined 2,000 rupees, which will go to the charity.” People started to laugh and Sharath said, “I’m serious!” I smiled from a place deep within, I WISH I could say that to my students when they miss class ; )

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…

___________________

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).

_______________________

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!

happy friday

Yesterday as I was leaving the shala, Saraswati came over to me and asked how i was doing? how the baby was doing? She's so sweet and gentle, I wanted to hug her and not let go. She walked outside with me and we chatted for a few minutes. she gave me lots of advice about my pregnancy...put oil on my body daily, eat cool foods, not spicy to keep heart burn at bay, have ghee by itself, drink cold milk with saffron....she also asked me if i was planning to see a doctor while i was here and I said i was, and asked her if she had any suggestions as to which doctor i might should see. Her eyes widened and she smiled, and told me she knew a wonderful doctor i should see while i'm here. she told me she'd give me the name and address tomorrow. i thanked her and smiled as i walked away....

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

If you have nothing nice to say, dont say anything at all...

I had a rough start to my Wednesday - it all began at midnight...I wrote a very long, detailed blog entry about it, and by doing so I feel better. I even read it to Mona and she had a good laugh. I had all intentions of posting this entry about my shit start to today...But then my mothers voice sounded in my head, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all!" So I've erased that entry and am sorry to leave you guessing as to what it was about....But this is better - b/c by erasing the entry I have let it go :) and that feels quite good!

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 monday

I’ve just finished a delicious breakfast at home…Practice was lovely today, but no thanks to a good nights sleep – I slept awfully last night. I came home after conference and had a little bit to eat, took a shower, and read for a bit before dozing off pretty early. But my night was endless, I woke up because of the need to go to the bathroom a million times (quite usual), woke b/c Kwang called, woke b/c of mosquitoes, woke b/c I was hot, then cold, then hot, then a tummy ache, then just plain uncomfortable in the bed, etc……it went on and on and on until my alarm sounded at 4am. Ugh, not felt like such poo in quite sometime. I had a brief thought that I should just stay in bed and try to get some decent sleep, but that passed very quickly when I realized in was in mysore and itd be awfully sad to miss a day of practice at the shala when my days of practice at the shala are so limited this year. So I drug myself from the bed and into the bathroom for a morning shower. En route to the shala I called Kwang and spoke to him for a few minutes. It is always nice to talk to him – he had a lazy Sunday as its one of his days off work – he works really hard these days so he really enjoys his off days to do a whole lot of nothing. ;) He loves to tell me he did a lot of work around the bed, and got up at the ass crack of noon ;)

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….

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 India, and here you are sitting at Anu’s in Mysore and you can only think of leaving India and returning home!” I just feel a little helpless here b/c I can’t do as much of what I’m used to here, and I have my shala back home that I worry over daily. I’m grateful to have subs there and certainly Kwang, who is going above and beyond to take care of many things I do when I’m there – but there’s a feeling of no control that has me at a loss; and no one does things as you do right – so that too is gnawing away at my thoughts…Rachel says that I’m going through so many changes and all so soon that it is natural to feel in this place of limbo….she may be right but I’d like to be comfortable where I am right now…anyone who knows me though knows I am not a person who relaxes easily or just chills and hangs out…its not natural for me, so this is a lot of work on my part. Some parts of the day are much easier than others; of course practice is the highlight of the day, eating is pleasurable too (always has been for me but especially now feeding Kaiden too), and reading brings a lot of enjoyment. Doing paperwork from far away and dealing with emails and voice messages is quite different from India – certainly not impossible, but somehow not as enjoyable or as thorough it seems. I realize that it is good this trip is so short; its sort of an introduction to how to handle trips to India with a shala back home, and preparing me for when I bring Kaiden next year; in that it won’t be about me or things I need to or want to do but will be about practicing in the morning and keeping him busy and happy the rest of each day. I for one am so looking forward to that!

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 Mysore practice till Friday of course, and I’m looking forward to that even more b/c I find my practice more fulfilling when doing Mysore at the shala. I always have b/c it allows me to get lost in my breath and bandhas and really get the most mental and physical benefit from my yoga, but during this pregnancy it has given my gratitude towards Mysore style a whole new perspective…simply adds to the limitless reasons why I love this practice, this tradition, this family so much. I wish everyone could, would embrace this yoga and allow it to seep into their lives, their hearts, and their souls.

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 Orlando has to offer :) I am excited about the idea of sushi Sunday in Mysore though.

Sharath announced this morning that there is conference at 4:30pm. Sunday has turned out to be a rather fabulous, jam packed day!

Moon Day Friday

I’ve started keeping a personal journal for my deeper thoughts…the ones about my baby, my family, myself. I used to a lot of journaling when I was younger, and it was such a wonderful way to express myself, get things off my chest, work out issues I’d be mulling over; and all in very private ways. As I’ve gotten back into it more recently I’ve been wondering why it’s been so long since I last journeyed – and I realized that the amount of free time I’ve had these last years has been far less than when I was in college. So I plan to enjoy this month in India as I don’t know I’ll have time to do much journaling again when I return home.

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....

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 India during my pregnancy, although it certainly is more difficult simply being here…

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!

Tampons for the pregnant lady...

Mona arrived yesterday morning, which totally made my day! She's gonna be staying in the house with me this month. I've been looking forward to seeing her for so long and it was such a delight to give her a big hug when I returned from practice yesterday morning. After a bit of catching up we walked to Tina's for breakfast, enjoyed time with Faith and Rachel and then made our way into gokulam and then the city to run a ton of errands for Mona and myself. After we took care of her phone at the little shop off the main road we stoped into the pharmacy so I could get some tums b/c Kaiden is giving me a great deal of heartburn - I swear this little man loves to make mommy burn with indigestion!!! So I walk up to the pharmacy and ask the gentleman for some tums for heartburn. He looked at me for a moment and then went to get my items....meanwhile Mona and I chat about our day ahead....He comes back with a box of TAMPONS! I nearly wet myself laughing. Obviously the poor man misunderstood my request for tums as tampons, but with my six month bulging belly i couldn't help but find immense humor in the situation :) I looked at him with a smile and explained that I had no need for tampons, but needed something for heartburn...He blushed and walked away to return with chewable calcium for me....

mysore 2010

I was unaware how long it has been since I’ve posted a blog entry. A great deal has happened since then….Kwang and I got engaged last year, The Yoga Shala opened October 11th, I am now 25 weeks pregnant with our first baby – Kaiden James Park ;) and I’m now sitting in my room in India counting down the next thirty minutes til Tina’s opens and I can go have some roti’s and eggs.

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

The Yoga Shala - We are Expanding!

I WANT TO SHARE SOME VERY EXCITING NEWS :)
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.

We are expanding the Mysore program. Beginning October 11th, The Yoga Shala will offer a Morning, Lunchtime, and Evening Mysore program.

With the additional yoga room we will also offer a Beginner Yoga Series on Monday nights, and we will offer two Led Primary Series classes per week. This is the schedule starting October 11th - but as the programs grow we will be able to offer even more great Ashtanga yoga classes.

Private and Semi-Private instruction will still be available.

The Yoga Shala will be hosting Manju Jois' 2010 teacher training and weekend workshop. And we are excited to have Tim Feldmann visit us in November 2010 and Govinda Kai in early 2011!

Laura Daniel is making a gorgeous new website for The Yoga Shala - it will be our online home where all students can go to view the schedule, news and events, purchase classes, and soooo much more. We hope to have that up and running early next week!

Our GRAND OPENING will be Sunday, October 11th! Please stay tuned for Opening Day Events :)

**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.

**We are also looking for some additional funding. If you know you will be partaking in any of the Mysore programs, are in a position to pre-pay for six months or one year of your membership, and wish to help in the start up funding efforts, please contact Krista. OR, if you have a desire to help and wish to make a donation of any sort, please email Krista.Thank you for your time! I look forward to sharing this wonderful shala with all of you!

Krista Shirley

The Yoga Shala

http://www.theyogashala.org/

mailto:krista@ashtangayogini.com?subject=new%20shala

407-506-4626