My second home as I call it, is a spacious timber floor studio nestled on the upper level of an old nostalgic shophouse, located in this part of town that is famous for food! Every afternoon I climb the long flight of stairs to be greeted by two powerful ceiling fans in a space dimmed out by partially drawn curtains. This is where I will be spending two hundred hours to hone my craft. It is not exactly what I had envisioned it to be, nothing like my air-conditioned gym with modern facilities to cater to creature comforts. There is no background "spa music" or the latest pop tunes. In this quiet and tranquil space, it's only the voice of my teacher and our occasional questions that break the silence.
Yet tranquility is exactly what I have come for, peace which I have wished to find. Never have I dreamt I could sit on this smooth wooden floor for four straight hours and practise two hours of asanas every day. Soon my special "throne" (a padded chair) would be removed as I learn to sit on the floor without any backrest. Me? Someone who can barely sit for fifteen minutes before boredom sets in and I have to get up, walk about and perform another task? A very good training indeed for me to learn to be still and just soak in the presence ... That's exactly what yoga is about - focusing on the present, not fretting about the past nor worrying about the future.
Lectures and video viewings teach us about the human anatomy and physiology from a yogic perspective. We learn how different organs of our body react to stimulations by certain asanas. What are the common injuries clients face and what postures to practise or avoid. Anecdotes and real life encounters of others and how yoga has helped improve their lives. Much is shared and the minutes and hours just fly by ...
To completely relax in the asanas is what I'm trying to achieve, whilst trying hard not to be distracted by the aroma of fried noodles rising from the coffee shop below! Yes, to shut off all sensory distractions and fully focus on balancing my pose. Yeah I'm getting the hang of it. To become a statue of a dancer! It's not that difficult, finding the center of gravity is the key to all balancing poses such as head stand or shoulder stand. Relaxing and focusing really helped too!
We end off the class after shavasana (corpse pose - gosh I nearly fell asleep!) with breathing practice (pranayama). Each day we learn a different technique to calm our breathes or awaken subtle engergy... and OM (aum to be exact)...Shanti...(peace) resonates...
Hey seven days into the course I did my first inversion and wheel pose (with some help)! Not too bad for someone who needed neck surgery. Tomorrow I shall perfect my dancer's pose, I'll try!
Julianne Lee
Julianne Lee
