Was it a crow or a cricket?..It surely had a very strong voice and it knew exactly when to wake me up.I just got to Koh mak a day before and I was still feeling stiff and jet lagged.

After doing my Jala Netti and brushing my teeth, I rushed to the Shala..

Everybody had started practicing earlier, I have decided to be part of the second group : and that would give me the chance and pleasure to get in what I call "pre-ashtanga-vibe"

"pre-ashtanga-vibe" starts by me sitting in the back of the room : watching people going through their practice along with adjustments and "vibe" stands for the taste of "THE" energy before generating it myself.



A warm pulse was steaming the room. I could feel everyone’s vibes uniting together into a one powerful aura .

I felt like a watching cell, ready to homogenize with a bigger one.

I was just waiting for one of the teachers to look me in the eyes and show me where to start to become part of the corpse.

Petri told me where to lay my matt and I knew that, at that moment,I had to start forgetting, Forgetting about my past, my tomorrow, my loved ones, my unloved ones, my bank account , my car that is for sale, my cat, my lunch, my new Lululemon top that dissapeared.” I" didn’t exist anymore : only my practice did

Only my breath did: along with others; as if our breaths linked together in such harmony like a flying self sustained orchestra: feeding and receiving.

I let my mind wander on its own, in its own universe while my body and soul were going through the primary. When I got to the ending postures : my mind was already sleeping. Only my breath was still.

I woke up from my Savasana on Jacqueline’s laugh (my roommate ) added by the mumblings that were happening downstairs as the first group had started breakfast.

I rushed the awareness back to my body along with a bow to P.Jois, and jumped out and down to meet the new people and to check on the menu.

I felt like a child in wonderland : amazed by the amount of papaya ( my favorite fruit), watermelon, pineapple and dragon’s fruit along with Freshly brewed warm Soy milk and some other solids.

It was perfection in terms of Buffet. I could live here forever and eat only fruits!.

I took a seat near Jacqueline and started introducing myself to everyone ; an amazing melting pot !Yogis from all over the world have decided to meet up under the Siamese sun to warm up, practice and unwind: most of them were from Finland and Sweden. I(ts amazing how yoga joins people together)

Distracted by food and people, I turned around and realized that I nearly forgot about the magical ocean. This huge quadric-blue density softened by small foamy waves, that creates the most calming melody, was surrounding us. It was here enclosing the buzzing energy we were creating: reminding us that whatever distraction , astonishments, pleasures, emotions we might be living, a calmness will always be there to go back to.



After devouring breakfast, I headed to my cottage to shower and get ready for the rest of the day,

I have decided to take both workshops : The “Adjustments workshop “ given by Petri who gives himself the best ones in the world was a must to me as a teacher .

And the thing I really didn’t want to miss; was The “yoga sutras workshop” given by Mans Broo ( A man with a tremendous knowledge who happens to be the main editor of Ananda magazine in Finland ) .

My schedule got filled up but time was always there to stand still and focus on where I was; a little paradise!.

Those little moments of stilness have started extending day after day as my mind has started accommodating to a slower rhythm allowing me to enjoy longer my pauses

Until one day in the middle of that month time paused ; everything collapsed around me. I felt that nothing was going to happen anymore more then what had happened before; the only thing that existed that moment was the waves : each one rolling after the other was capable of configuring the moves of the universe into a little motion : a repetitive cycle each time different, with a different strength , a different shape, a different density, but a continuous motion.

I had to travel miles to be able to pause my mind that way !: to find that oneness in the motions, that unity in the people : different bodies, different shapes but all apart of the same ocean...


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Namaste

Catherine Chidiac