Yoga Retreat continues...

Hey everyone! Been a few days since I have written a blog entry - feels like a lot has been going on on the inside, probably more so than on the outside...

Yoga practice continues - Petri is an amazing teacher with a keen sense of awareness - obviously evident by his assistance when you're practicing, but did you know that he also is an energy healer? He gave a workshop on energy healing and how to connect with another person using only your mind to assess issues both physical and emotional. He even demonstrated in front of the class and was quite accurate - this one girl was having some pain or soreness in her shoulder and a section of her lower back. While she was lying down, Petri stood near her a few centimeters, stared out into space, and started to "feel" where her energy was being blocked. He pinpointed it quite well. Anyway, I'm really enjoying my morning practices with him...

As well, I have been sick for the past few days. Actually I think I know where and when it started, so based on that observation, I feel it is related to being overheated, not having enough water, but more so, I've not had a chance to "let go" of all the shit that I've been dealing with over the past few months. Even when I was in Mumbai, I had to go go go, go see the next thing, go meet for lunch, deal with the enormity of the place, the touts, the traffic, the pollution, etc. But here in the Yoga Retreat, I finally have some period of true rest, true release and reflection time. It has been emotional, and I think my body just shut down for a few days. I had a bad head cold, blowing my nose, sneezing, coughing, all sorts of nastiness. And practicing when you feel like that just plain sucks - you can't breathe, you can't hold bandhas (especially when you're also not eliminating properly), etc. But as I write this, I think I'm much better and I'm on the fast track to feeling better :-)...

So what else - the food continues to be phenomenal! I have been eating so much at the retreat but all of it is really healthy stuff (well, 95% of it, still have some really great desserts and sweets :-) ). They even held a small cooking class, which I took photos of and posted on Facebook. I went to the nearby town of Mapusa (pronounced "Maps-ah") to check out the market and get my mobile SIM card so I can have a mobile in India and do SMS. Let me tell you, it was an adventure to get that SIM card - there is an UNBELIEVABLE amount of bureaucracy that you have to go through. They need a copy of your passport and they need a passport photo. Getting the passport copy wasn't as hard (thankfully I already brought one with me), but getting the photo? That took almost 2 hours. Basically, went up and down the entire market and plaza looking for a place that did all 3 - took the photos, copied the passport, sold the SIM card. I even found one shopkeeper that tried to convince me that Vodafone SIM Card (a mobile brand popular here in India) only worked for Indian Residents, and Foriegners had to get another brand (for which they would receive commission)...

Finally found a Vodafone store proper, but they don't have the necessary equipment to do the photos.... Ok, they say go down the street to the photo shop place but we couldn't find it! Then, after asking around, we found another photo shop - complete with enormous development machines to produce the photos, people in white lab coats, etc. Guess what - they cannot take passport photos! WTF??????????????? Go to the place upstairs in this little dirty alleyway - find a small shop that will finally do it. Wait 20 minutes - I have my passport photos. Go back to the Vodafone store, start filling out the enormous amount of paperwork, and I still don't have everything I need. The sales lady says I should call the yoga retreat place to get their address (as they need that piece of information for some reason), and I'm like "LADY I don't have a SIM Card! How can I call when I can't use my phone???" UGH - I was really frustrated that day. However, it all worked out in the end, and now I have a prepaid phone in India!

But there are so many more good parts to this trip - can I tell you that I have met the most amazing people and have developed this small group of friends with whom I hang out a lot with. Petra from Slovenia, Katja from Finland, Arttu from Finland, Sarah from the UK, and myself - we spend nearly every meal together and stay up very late laughing and chatting. I am having so much fun with them! Today we all got a taxi and headed out to Old Goa and a Tropical Spice Plantation - it was fun, I'm glad I did it, even though I have the Man Flu, as I'm told by some people here... hehe... Don't ask :-)

Ok that's enough - it's time for dinner. Pictures on Facebook ya'll :-) Namaste!