Showing posts with label Italy yoga retreat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Italy yoga retreat. Show all posts
Friday, June 20, 2014
Midsummer Night...
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Here is what I have...
"The body is like an earth. It is a land into itself. It is as vulnerable to overbuilding, being carved into parcels, cut off, over mined, and shorn of its power as any landscape. The wilder woman will not be easily developed by redevelopment schemes. For her, the questions are not how to perform, but how to feel.
The hips, they are wide for a reason, inside them is a satiny ivory cradle for new life. A woman's hips are outriggers for the body above and below; they are portals, they are a lush cushion, the handholds for love, a place for children to hide behind. The legs, they are meant to take us, sometimes to propel us; they are the pulleys that help lift us, they are the 'anillo', the ring for encircling a lover. They cannot be too this or too that. They are what they are.
There is no "supposed to be" in bodies. The question is not size or shape or years of age, or even having two of everything. But the wild issue is, DOES THIS BODY FEEL, does it have right connection to pleasure, to heart, to soul, to the wild? Does it have happiness, joy? Can it in it's own way move, dance, jiggle, sway, thrust? Nothing else matters."
Can my body move, dance, jiggle, sway and thrust? NOTHING ELSE MATTERS.
After class we did a journaling exercise and wrote a poem based on one by Ntozake Shange. Shanges' goes...
HERE IS WHAT I HAVE...
POEMS
BIG THIGHS
LIL TITS
&
SO MUCH LOVE.
To write your own....
Line 1: "Here is what I have..."
Line 2: Insert noun (yoga, dances, knowledge, etc)
Line 3: one body part (that frustrates you)
Line 4: one body part (that you love)
Line 5: &
Line 6: blank
Line 7: "and so much <insert word>"
My poem was...
Here is what I have...
Yoga
Big ass
Huge smile
&
So much fucking joy.
Namaste beautiful people !!
Wine Tasting!!!
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Siena and Aperol Spritz!
Golden Buddha Yoga ITALY RETREAT June 2014....SIENA.
Today our group of 14 split up and cruised the streets of Siena. We were on our own for lunch, so Cass, Sarah and myself stumbled into a side street restaurant and ordered ourselves a meat plate, a cheese plate, and some porcini mushroom risotto. We sipped on Aperol Spritzs which came with a "warm appetizer"....a soft chewy bread, rolled with delicious ham and fried. GAH. Heaven.
Rolfing and Flying.
Monday, June 16, 2014
Monday, September 30, 2013
All week long I had the group shouting "I AM A GOLDEN BUDDHA!". What seems cheesy proved to be totally moving and transformational...what you think, you become. Shift your internal dialogue and you shift into a powerful space. I was inspired by this simple affirmation when reading the final chapter in Gabrielle Bernsteins' "May Cause Miracles". Yesterday in Rome, I got a necklace made up that read "Golden Buddha" and I wore it with a smile, thinking back on the amazing week that was had!
Golden Buddha
In 1957, a group of Tibetan monks was informed that they would have to move their sacred shrine because a highway was being built on that land. A focal point of their inhabitance was a huge clay Buddha, which also had to be relocated. Moving the Buddha was no small feat. The monks arranged to have a crane move the Buddha to their new location. The moment they started lifting the Buddha on the crane, the clay began to crack. To make matters worse, rain was pattering down, deepening and widening the cracks. To protect the Buddha from further damage after it had been moved, the monks covered it with tarps overnight. During the evening, the head monk went under the tarps with a flashlight to check on the clay Buddha. Upon shining light on the Buddha the monk noticed golden shimmers of light radiating from the cracks. He brought back his chisel and hammer to chip away at the clay and uncover the shimmer from within the Buddha's frame. As the monk chipped away at the clay Buddha, he realized that it was not clay after all– the Buddha was made of gold. Surprised by his discovery, the monks were eager to determine the heritage of the Buddha. They learned that many centuries earlier, their predecessors worshiped the Buddha in its golden form. These ancestral monks got word that the Burmese army was coming to destroy their community and attack them, so they covered the Buddha in clay to protect it. The monks were killed in the attack, but the army placed no value on the clay Buddha and therefor left it unharmed.
reason for this story… "Inside we are all Golden Buddha's, but we grew to believe we were made of clay. Our ego's false perceptions led us to grow into a belief system that covered our inner light. We've spent years, maybe decades, masking our truth. Now it's time to embrace our light and reconnect with our Golden Buddha within." – Gabrielle Bernstein
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Roma.
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Stella
Stella was our horse at the estate. She would wander the property, walk into the house if you forgot to close the front door, and would post up on our patio to enjoy our shade on the daily. On this morning she interrupted my cup of tea to have me pull some figs off the tree for her. Naughty horse...
Goddamn Gelato.
On an encouraging note though, the whole crew was hungover this morning and watching them all defeated, dehydrated and delirious made me happy that I'm off the booze. As my mother reminded me, Rome has been around for a LONG time- so I'm sure that it will still be here, serving up delicious gelato when I return.
We cruised on foot, meandering without any specific destination in mind. You can't help but to stumble across amazing architecture and breathtaking sculptures, fountains and monuments. This city is magical, with its cobblestone streets and cozy back ally's. We popped into a restaurant on one of the romantic side streets and had a proper Italian meal. I thoroughly enjoyed my no-frills grilled squid- which was seasoned only with olive oil, lemon juice and a touch of salt. Perfection.
Tomorrow they are calling for 80% chance of rain. Meh, what to do? And so it is. One more full day in Italia before I start the journey home...
Golden Buddhas
Slow paced living, and fast car driving. That's how I'd describe Italy. Everyone and everything is pulled together in the most elegant yet simple way. The meals are never ending, but the dishes are honest and fuss-free. "Content" is a word that I keep hearing from everyone, and it makes ME feel content. Someone said to me recently, "So, you get PAID to make people feel good? That's pretty awesome". Yeah, you're right...it IS pretty awesome. This trip has been all about healing- the mind, body and spirit. We have meditated, screamed affirmations, explored kundalini yoga and booty-popped our way through a vinyasa. We have eaten...again...and again...and again. Stories and laughter are present at every meal we share, and slowly everyone has emerged from their clay exterior to settle into their true "golden Buddha". Years ago, one of my teachers Laura Wharf, looked me in the eyes and said, "Cailin, what is your sva dharma [life purpose]?" And I replied, "to help people enjoy their life." Thanks to Paraiso Adventures for bringing me on board to make this happen in the most delicious, elegant, relaxed and exotic way! I am so excited for all of the joy that we will bring to others through this partnership and I'm already counting down the days until our Colombia retreat! It was sad to say goodbye to all of these Golden Buddhas (or "golden boo"s as Larissa would say), but I know that ill be seeing them again soon...
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