YOGA & REIKI ~ mind~body~soul~

    Namaste!

Palolem beach in the South of Goa was absolutely amazing! It certainly fulfilled its role in my/our spiritual quest here in India. The beach itself was even more beautiful than the North with the surrounding palm trees, river, crescent beach and hidden gem islands. It was wonderfully quiet and serene, the perfect setting for some soul feeding after the fun and noise of Northern Goa!





Des and I practicing headstands on beach

We stayed for nearly three weeks in order to get in some quality Ashtanga yoga and in order for me to do my 1 week second degree Reiki course on nearby Patnem beach. Our yoga sessions were brilliant and our teacher was amazing--much better than the yoga classes we did in Mcleod Ganj where the teacher was way over the top and tried to act like a guru telling us in a high pitched, drawn out voice that the poses we were doing were "eaaasssssyy" and we need "miiind cooonntrool." Des is really good at it and seems to have a natural ability--he nailed the headstands and handstands the first day---I am happy to say after day 2 with lots of concentration and many wiggles to find my center I could do a headstand on my own too. The teacher was very encouraging and hands-on (he told us we were yogis in another life--haha ya right, my flexiblity, or lack-there of it, would be reason to disagree!) and the setting was beautiful, outside looking up at the palm trees in the heavy heat of the late afternoon under the blazing sun 2 minutes away from the beach. 



Des studying Ashtanga poses



Des and I have never sweat so much in our lives and the only time I had ever been so sore was after the beginning of Huskie soccer season training camp where there was something wrong if we weren't suffering!--- but my oh my what a euphoric feeling we would have after each class! We would start and end each class with meditation so I loved the physical excursion side of the Ashtanga as well as the spiritual side he incorporated. We will definitely be continuing it back in Canada!



Des outside our hut on way to yoga



My Reiki class was unbelievable and I am so so happy we stayed the extra week in order to do it! I did my level one in Ireland but this class was miles above it---it brought Reiki to a whole new level for me where I can now get into the "Reiki zone" and experience all the energies without trying so hard for it--it seems to come much more fluidly, genuinely and naturally and I feel like I'm doing so much more than going through the motions. I walked from Palolem beach a half hour away to Patnem beach each morning where I would meet my group of 4 lovely and VERY interesting people doing the course with me. The location of the Harmonic Healing Center where I did it was absolutely beautiful up on a hillside overlooking the beach and ocean with the sounds of waves directly in our ears. We practiced outside for 4 hours each day, learning different symbols for immediate and distance healing.We recieved 2 initiations or "attunements" from Charu, my teacher and I have never experienced anything like it in my life. The energy literally felt like it was encircling me and my body felt like it was swaying back and forth and then around in the same circular direction as the energy---when I explained this feeling to the group, the teacher and reiki 3 student that was sitting in on the class, said my body reacted very strongly and I was in fact moving like this.




 

They also said I have a very high vibration and my teacher said in all her years of Reiki she has never experienced an energy like mine, stating it felt almost angelic and fine and positive---she said she thinks my healing will benefit people who need to be elevated or brought out of whatever problems they're having into "the light." The 3rd level student said she thought my energy was very "fragrant" and that it felt like thousands of little light stars were surrounding and showering down around me---interesting perceptions and I felt pretty chuffed with their reactions as well as the girl who has had a lot of trauma and problems in her life when I did a practice healing on her and she said she felt immediate protection and trusting of me (which she normally has troubles with) and a strong sense of love filling her up. I actually felt such overwhelming love (from whatever energy I was tapping into that wanted to heal her trauma) that tears started running down my face. It wasn't out of saddness but was out of love and joy---it's difficult to explain. Anyway, the group was really beneficial and my teacher was wonderful. She lives at Amma's Ashram (the hugging mother guru) in Kerala where she devotes every day to energy work and meditation so she definitely had a lot to offer! Des and I also stayed in the Ashram for a couple nights but I will write more about that later!

Me and my Reiki group

When we weren't doing Yoga of Reiki we ran along the beach, went sea kyaking or rented bicycles and cycled to nearby villages. We had some delicious food and I had the most delicious and spicy prawn vindaloo!

Prawn Vindaloo--wooo! Nearly blew the head off me!

We had one particularily beautiful day where wee packed a picnic and took out one of the many boats lined up along the beach. We saw loads of wild dolphins 10 meters away from us (Des and I jumped in thinking they might come up and swim with us to no avail). We then heading over to the secluded Butterfly Beach which at times we were the only people on. We had a bottle of Indian vino and a picnic (including of course cashews---they are plentiful here with the cashew crops and I have never tasted such delicious ones in my life!) and went for lots of swims in the bay. Des gathered wood and built a fire (using his special waterproof fire starter that he has been dying to make use of since we arrived in India) despite the fact that it was 35 degrees outside. In the early evening the boat picked us up and we went fishing while the sun set---thank goodness I didn't catch anything, I wouldn't know what to do with it (or want to do anything with it for that matter). We used little pieces of square plywood that fit into the palm of our hand and tied fishing thread around it and a hook and bait at the end---we then let it dangle over the boat---no one caught anything that night---the area is dangerously over-fished with atleast 5 HUGE fishing boats a day coming in and sweeping up all the fish in one-go---they don't stand a chance. :( It was a beautiful experiece though as the dolphins swam around us and the sun set!



Butterfly Beach












We had one big night out in Palolem with our Swedish friends Linnea, Ester and Christian where we went to a silent disco party where everyone listens to a different station on their headphones and dances to their own beat (it's silent outside the headphones so quite amusing to take them off from time to time and take it all in!) It was quite fitting for the place and great craic! (The pina coladas over sunset with this gang another night was lovely also).

Our coco-hut here was on VERY long stilts but was set amid a beautifully tropical plant setting and a 30 second walk to the beach. We deliberately got a high one to ensure no mice but instead were visited by a frog in our bathroom every night---mom you would have lost your mind! (she hates frogs). This wasn't any ordinary frog, we would take it far away outside every single night and like a homing pigeon, it would make its' way back--very bright frog! By the end, I resided to the fact that the bathroom was its' home more than mine and therefore let it stay.

Frog on mirror ledge



Frog on toilet





Frog on towel rod



We spent our last couple days in Palolem getting a beautiful Aryvedic massage and then left for our overnight train to Kerala, arriving 14 hours later in Alleppey.



Water buffalo and cow traffic jam



For Theresa! x