A BINGO railway ride!

On an old train, we choo-choo on the railway towards north for x'mas... its getting colder by degree as the sky was getting dark and gloomy; everyone was busy settling down, and snacking to keep warm.
A woman with a young boy arrived later and sat opposite us, sharing the same table. Not being well equipped in foreign tongue, i decided to keep quiet--- and started playing BINGO with my friend.

The little boy was curious and peeped in a while, and overheard his conversation to his mum. Though i did not understand most his words, till i heard him whispered, " Its BINGO". I looked at him and asked if he knows the games in very simple English; a sweet smile with a keened face, i showed him my game paper.

With a set of pen and paper, we played trio-BINGO! And so, we started chatted with his mum, a Polish. She offered to help in translating our orders for drinks; and about how she celebrated X'mas in Polish tradition--
(That during X'mas eve, a family starts eating only when they see the first star in the sky!)

It was a memorable and nice railway trip; though we speak different languages, we managed to chat for hours till we reached our destination! That makes the whole conversation really interesting:)

As my teacher once said, " When the meaning is caught, the words disappear..."

Where to practice in Vienna?

Ah! Today was a great day to start off with--- yoga practice! We hit the morning freeze before 6am to the station and stepped towards a yoga studio--- YogaWerkStatt. Opening a huge metal door, walking through a garage area; there stood a box-like studio in white.

I could already hear the ujjayi breaths behind the door, which sort of excite me a little.
 Finally, i got my muscles and joints heat up, as the sweats started welling from my pores and dripping. That my cells are activated and the energy started circulating again, woosh! Revive and alive; and oh! i can see the sun over my head:)

I seriously reckon that too much travelling in the cold is pulling my body condition down. I find myself either sitting too much ( on trains) or walking too much. My toes are like 'ice-pops', my shoulders are duper tensed from carrying the weighty sack.
Though i strapped a yoga mat with my travel, don't we like surprises when the room space is just enough to sleep?

Coldness makes us slough and hunch, very much. That i instantly crouch inwards every time the cold wind blow by, as i am shutting my heart center. I could slowly feel the dullness crawling in, just like the weather--- dark clouds.

I mean of course, the fun from the travel still occupies most of my attention:)

If you're in Vienna, do not miss a chance to check out this space: http://www.yogawerkstatt.at/
Give them a call, a friendly voice on the other end is more than willing to clear any doubts. Their Ashtanga Vinyasa- mysore style starts as early from 6.30am; the teacher will start coming in for adjustment at 7am.

The body. Our holy home.

As these words run along: Our body is like a temple. Keep it clean for the soul to reside...

These days have been amazing, stepping into churches to cathedrals and to domes. On one random day, it was pouring, even a breeze could nearly freeze my finger tips. Quickened my steps and entered into a cathedral; A surge of warmth 'hugged' me ( yes, literally too), and it was nice. I sort of find this feeling familiar.

I sat down, and stared in blank at a huge drawing in front of my eyes. Everything slowed down, my mind slowed down its streaming, thoughts settled down a little, my breathing was extended as the warm air blowing against my upper lip. I stopped blinking, any movement was ceased.

Something sat down inside, rested. And this particular feeling, i'd experienced it in Savasana
( Corpse pose: a relaxation pose assume at the end of a yoga practice). I could feel my body warming up, just like a flame from within rekindled and warming up every corner of coldness in my muscles.
Like a child resting in the arms of a mother, simply comfortable!

Our body represent the holy place ( temple, church, cathedral, mosque..); we want to keep not only the body, also our mind clean for our soul to reside, rest and heal.
A home, where we can return at the end of the day.  

Unknown

They say:

The mind, is us not;

The body, is us not;

Those thoughts, are us not;

Those emotions, are us not;

These senses, are us not;

These feelings, are us not;

Then, i ask:

Who are we?

What are we?

One last trip to Grow & Glow!

2011 has been very colorful to me, one of the years with lots of travelings. I kicked start the year with an inspirational trip to Nepal; and a string of yoga- related travels, eye-opening yoga conference in Hong Kong and our first attempt ( with Satya Yoga) for a yoga retreat to Angkor Wat; and some unexpected personal trips followed on.

This year is indeed a year of lessons, be it in work or personal; some lessons appeared to be so urgent that it kept chasing after me till i actually take some time to absorb them. Some lessons are stalling time, needing my patience to step till the right time strikes.
As each month was passing by, its almost like am sitting on a roller- coaster ride. So many events were happening, too fast; i feel my physical, mental, and emotional zooming up & down; it can be quite energy draining. Also to understand that none of these belongs to me, those were surge of experiences.

I've been reading a lot of articles, chapters, podcast by great teachers to at least be spiritually sane; as much as not to got lost in the world of maya within myself. I'm glad to be able to squeeze out my morning time towards the last quarter of the year, to visit my teacher in his classes.

It's time to take some time off for a little space for a breather. I'm off for a closure trip for the year; to a space to grow and glow:)

Thanks Shirly for taking over my workload:) I'll be back to take over with 100 Plus charged!

Gazing beyond boundaries. Moving beyond fears.

I like gazing at the big night sky, dotted with twinkling spots in random. Whenever i get a chance to just get my head lifted up, i felt the whole world had sort of transform into something else--- like i am in another space.

Suddenly, a surge of fear injected into me; that i shrink into mini-size in just a snap.

No doubt the sky is beautiful; the magnificence can be quite intimidating. A line of question always come hitting in my head, " Who am i now?". The fear, makes my want to cry. A fear of insecurity, because i can see not boundary in that dark, dark sky; as if i will be swallow by some kind of energy anytime. 

We all like to do things and live with limit, limiting and setting a certain boundaries and rules for ourselves. Because, by setting these limits, we feel secure and safe.

We see the end before we even start, we know how much we're going to fall even before the falling happens. Though playing games within the limits provides us a sense of securities, it can be very suffocating too.

Though looking at the dusky night sky does make me feel uncomfortable; but i still like to stare at it blankly. While i allow the darkness to engulf my world, understand that no matter how frightening; i am still part of the universe. 

That neither our mind nor our thought is us;
neither our body nor our emotion belong to us too.
There are like stars, that burns inside us by moments; sometimes so brightly that we lost our self even. 

That though seeing no boundaries and setting no limit may send us a huge surge of fear, we learn how to let our hands off and allow the nature to take it course--- accepting whatever comes to us. 

Because we want to see beyond the limits, we live in moments of taking our breaths away.

i still shudder a little when gazing up; but i still do it. This quiver actually inspires me--- that there are things more important than fear.