Thursday, January 29th, 3:08pm
Somewhere between Indonesia & kuala Lumpur; en route to Phuket, Thailand
My time in Indonesia served as a grounding foundation on how to travel by myself. I stayed at a comfortable hostel with good people & for the most part good vibes. Each day I practiced Mysore at the Ashtanga Yoga Bali Research Center under the instruction of Prem & Radha, direct students from Pattabhi Jois. I feel I had not received instruction like this in over a year! I will be back one day... For at least a month to study myself through their instruction.
In this first week, on all my solo time, I made an effort to keep a vigilant eye out; about my self and my belongings. I try to always keep a positive perspective, but the fact is; there are bad seeds out there, angry with life and themselves.... So they act out. I've had things stolen from me in the past & I have had people try to physically hurt me before.... So while on my own, I walk around with strength, awareness of my self and those around me... With the slightest assumption some locals are looking to sneak into my pocket. All while holding the gentle smile on my face when encountering locals. I'd say 98% of the time, each person I met was filled with love & excitement for life. Walking around with the mini LoveLiFE hanging out of my backpack wasn't a bad gig either ;)
Before leaving sweet Boulder, my beloved friends, megPow & joey burton offered me words of great wisdom. While traveling, feel no *should's* or *have to's*. they suggested I stick around in a community or city and get to know the area, the food, the culture, & possibly the language! By doing this instead of island hopping & exhausting myself energetically, I would be able to tune into the energy of a single place So I stuck around Ubud for a week and a half, the heart of Bali! Bali is such an energetic hub of reception. Things happen, manifestations come into being, and prayers are heard. Hinduism has a high influence on the city, filing the streets with beautiful statues of deities from the Baghavad Gita & local traditions.
Eventually, I learned my way around a motor bike.... (Sweet video at the end of the post!) and made new connections into the LOVEtriBE!
A few interesting things about Balinese culture...
1) almost everyone has the same name! 😯 let me explain...
The first name of each child is simply named wayan (M) (forgot the female name)... The second name is Maday(M) / Kadek (F); third is Koman (M) / Nyoman (F); fourth is ketut (M) & i forget the female name for the fourth child. Then after four children, the names return to the first! How interesting!!!! I asked everyone where this tradition spawned from... And no one knew?! life.... Weird sometimes eh?
2) the currency is rupiah. $100 US is 1,246,700 Million ruppiah...... HA! Got pretty fun to exchange things and get 10,000 change back.... Which is almost $1. Full scale meals ran about $6-18 bucks. $25 if I was feeling groovy for sweets! ;)
3) every homeowner, shop keeper, spiritual teacher, all property caretakers or even the less than fortunate pray every single day. They have offerings of flowers & incense to Ganesh, shiva, and Vishnu. every single day, morning or night; they find time for their ritual practice and asking for abundance. I asked my hostel owner what he prays for... He said three main things...1) giving thanks to spirit for this life. 2) the wellbeing of all generations 3) and health and happiness.
So simple & pure.
so here I am now, leaving Indonesia & making my way to my next destination: Phuket! Thailand!
The beauty of the first days here are quite phenomenal to me. Thanks to Instagram, a brother named Luis messaged me and asked me to teach yoga at his studio for 4 days! Which was in total alignment with the time it takes to get my diving certification in Phuket. So it shall be! Teach yoga, dive, meditate, eat, sleep, LOVE life in gratitude.... Repeat!
Travel days are a bit anxious for me.... Especially cause I'm currently flying Malaysia air.... BLESSSSiiiiiittt!!!!!! 😘 but I have tools to help me find center. I've been tying many malas on my trip. Here are a few:
Before I left America I brought around 800 Clear Quartz beads, 7 colored strings in accordance to the Chakra system, & 7 guru beads to match each chakra..... And I've been tying away, listening to the beads as I make connections. And when a connection tunes into the mala I am currently tying, it is a gift from me to them; through spirit!
Final pictures of this post were created upon finally arriving at my secluded hotel at the top of Kota (kuta?) mountain at CC's hideaway! off to sleep as I teach at 8am to hotel guests and yoga studio comers! Woah!
For some reasons the pictures will not loaD... Check back soon for a full post of pics!
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Enjoy this video :)
I'd love to hear what you want to read about.... This whole writing thing feels good! Yet it is quite foreign to me... So I do it in an authentic and natural way. How's it received? I'd love to hear <3
All my love!!!