All's Well In The World

Pushin' and a Shovin'

It's amazing to me how many times I can step outside this country and come back in to still experience culture shock.  It's mild to be sure but there no less.

I was in Asia for a mere two weeks and come home to be startled by the level of aggression at which people operate here.  Just walking to my man's house in the quiet suburb of Evanston had me jarred.  One guy races past another honking, just as I am crossing the street.  The other guy revs his engine and races past him.  A kid jumps a fence right by me in the dark and another car comes careening down the street.  All in the matter of a moment. 

A woman gets herself caught up in the turnstile exit leaving the train station and turns back to me, waiting to get through behind her, with a growl as if she is about to attack.  In the grocery store people push past as if I were a lifeless  Bozo the Clown bop bag.    I'll just pop up after you push me down, no need to say excuse me or otherwise acknowledge the presence of a human.

Welcome back to the USA where people simply tune out so they needn't really be aware of what's going on.  Marvin had a point way back there in the 70s.

K.  I'm done.  I don't mean to be complaining but it is truly fascinating sociology.  We easily assimilate to our culture, whatever it is, and don't realize how balanced or imbalanced it is unless we have something to compare it to.  It brings to mind this statistic on the number of Americans who own passports.  Check out this site:

http://www.gyford.com/phil/writing/2003/01/31/how_many_america.php

Now that I have that off my chest, I'll get to downloading my pictures and sharing more stories of Singapore. 

On My Way Home

Singapore has been an absolute delight all the way round.  I am so very thankful to everyone here for having made it all so pleasurable.  So many stories to tell, but they will have to wait because although I'll be doing nothing but eating chocolate and watching movies for the 20 hours it takes to fly home, I need to go lay my spine down horizontal while I can.

Quan Yin, Krisha, Aura photography and Arab St.

The Quan Yin Temple is currently under construction.  Workers crawled around on scaffolding that covered half the temple and the deity herself but devotees still filled the room.  At this temple, one can get a cylinder full of wooden sticks and two red plastic shell like thingys to ask The Goddess of Mercy a question.  Each stick in the cylinder has an answer written on it.  You shake it until one stick falls out.  To confirm that this is the right answer, you throw the two red things.  If one lands up and the other down, the answer is good.  You have three chances to get this confirmation or else you just aren't supposed to know the answer right now.  I asked two questions and for both got immediate and sure answers.  One good, one bad.  You turn in the sticks and are given a piece of paper with the answer on it.  You can go look it up in a book for further explanation and there are also interpreters outside who will further reveal its proper meaning.  This will cost you a dollar.

A Sri Krishan temple is built right next door so we also  went to him. Since there are two major temples right here, there is also a lot of other "stuff" including aura photography.  I'll see if I can scan it and get it on here when I get home.  It was all good.  Spiritual and peaceful with a very bright future but I could use a little rev in the digestive fire.

In the evening we went to Arab St. to lounge on pillows and snack on middle eastern delights.  Someone even thought to wish me a happy Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving

My first Thanksgiving abroad I was about 18.  I was going to school in England.  As we all know, Thanksgiving is a big deal so I was a bit shocked to learn the Brits didn't give a rip about it. (This was the beginning of the crack in my Ameri-centric world view that would later split my head apart)  In fact it was found somewhat bothersome as they were on the other side of the conflict in which we gained independent nation status.

Never the less, two friendly Brits we had met hitchhiking treated us to a very fancy "Thanksgiving" dinner.  We had crispy aromatic roast duck at a Cantonese restaurant in Leeds. I remember it well.  It was one of the most exotic dinners I had ever had thus far in my young life and I was tickled to my toes that even though it wasn't a turkey, it was still a bird.  Very thoughtful.  These were the same guys who took us to the venue where Live At Leeds was held (that big Who concert -'member?).  That was another special moment.

By now I have spent plenty of Thanksgivings abroad and to be honest they go by like any other Thursday.  I've gotten used to the fact that no one else cares about our celebration -skewed as it is-and only make an effort to contact family to send love and well wishes.

This morning after my practice, Ibu offered me a Nescafe.  This is her morning drink.  She had hers hours ago but she enjoys the company and I love her stories.  As she presents me with the sugary sweet drink, she says she doesn't speak English well otherwise we could talk more.  We are still able to talk for about a half hour.  She, like many people her age, has a set of stories she goes over like mala beads.  This morning these same stories had my heart in my throat and tears welling up in my eyes.  There is so much heart ache in this world.  Anyone has experienced loss and listening to someone tell of theirs sends me into this pool of sorrow in which my heart breaks open.  A good practice.  She wasn't lamenting in any way, just recounting the numbers in her life.  She is number 10 of 11 children.  Three died as babies.  Only one other sister is still living and she is not with full mental faculties as indicated by a swirl of the finger next to the head.  She has two friends.  The rest have passed on.  In this compassionate state, I was deeply touched by her gesture of bringing her hand to her heart, then her mouth and then to the sky.  "Every day we Malay" and then indicated heart to God, prayers to God.  She reads the Koran every day.  She just finished it yesterday and will begin again today.

I am off to Little India to poke around and then Kai and I plan to visit the Quan Yin temple.  It is a landmark in Singapore and I visit every time I am here. Quan Yin is the Goddess of mercy and compassion.   I will give thanks for all that I have.  This too causes the tears to swell in my eyes.  In a world full of tears I have much for which I can bow my head in thanks. As Ibu would say, "Thanks to God."

Synchronicity in Singapore

Lots of wonderful experiences continue to manifest here in Singapore.  Yesterday I facilitated a class exploring Indian mythology through yoga as part of the Asian Children's festival.  There were more than 30 kids there along  with lots of moms.  The kids loved it and they were all so adorable.  I wish they were my students every week!  We were Virabadhra, the mighty warrior and a wish fulfilling tree.  We became Arjuna's huge bow that shot the arrow five times through the eye of a revolving fish to win fair Draupadi's hand in marriage.  When I asked the kids if they were ready for another story, they all shouted, "Y E A!".  Too cute.  The kids ranged in age from about four years old through eleven.  It was a nice mix of girls and boys.  An older girl approached me after class asking for my autograph.  I gave her my classic peace and love signature. 

I have been meeting lots and lots of wonderful people.  Everyone is so friendly and genuinely interested in what we are doing.  Last night I took Ana's Lindy Hop class.  It was so much fun.  Her friend Sunita loaned me these sparkly red sneakers to wear.  I felt like Dorothy!   We stayed up VERY late - past 11pm.  Class went to 10:30pm then we went by the food stalls behind her train stop for a late night snack.  They are open 24 hours.  I wish I could remember the name of the thing I had.  It was from the Indian stall but something I hadn't had yet.  Anyway it was fried and came with a spicy sweet sauce so it was good.  Since we were up so late, I slept til almost 7am and now I have to be careful about getting up early for our training this weekend. Just as I get acclimatized here, it will be time to go home.

Ooh, and I must tell this story.  This dear sweet little girl who used to be a big part of my life when I came to Singapore two years ago would run around saying, "Singapora". It was so cute the way she would sing it, "S i n g A p o o r a".  Well there I was at the table yesterday glancing down at a paper written in Malaysian.  Right there was this country's name written in its native tongue:  Singapura.  It really struck me.  Coincidence?  Maybe. Swami Satchidananda says there are no coincidences.  I think this little girl was just directly tapped in to Universal consciousness knowing this place's true name.  (Singapore was part of Malaysia until the British came in to colonize and has been an independent country since 1965).

Small World

Tucked into a beautiful historic building near City Hall on the third floor amongst elegant boutiques is Inner Yoga.  It is a lovely space we had considered as a location for our trainings.  I wanted to meet the owner and thank her for working with us.

We were there for about 15 minutes.  While there, one student walked in.  I was introduced to this student as being from Chicago.  "Do you know Priya Yoga?"  Yes, I said I knew its owner Jodi.  "She is my teacher in LA"  He responded.  Not only do I know Jodi but she was the hostess at the party where I met Paul.  Shortly after, she moved to LA. We just saw her last month when she was visiting Chicago.  Next time I see her I will have to tell her I ran into one of her students -the "tall, tatooed chef" as he describes himself - in Singapore.

It is a small world after all.  A small yoga world anyway.

Glitter Kittens in China Town

Ana, who is graciously hosting me while here in Singapore, is a journalist and a dancer.  Last night her dance group, the Glitter Kittens, performed at a street fair in China Town.  There are five kittens plus Brian the Glitter Puppy.  Their act was a delightful blend of Lindy, Charleston and hand jive with a distinctive Asian flare.   Ana has the perfect smile for a dancer, wide and bright.  They performed on a red stage underneath rows of paper lanterns. We were front row for the first set and back at the food stall tables for the next when a sudden downpour sent us scurrying for shelter scrambling to gather up all our street food.  We had traditional Singapore dishes including...now I am struggling to remember the names... One is carrot cake although it is nothing like the dessert we know and love.  It is more like a stir fry number.  The other one is called Paiah or something like that and is like a crepe/egg roll.  Very nice.  The weirdest to me was peanut soup.  It was this pale broth with peanuts floating in it and these scary gooey gluten balls with mysterious pastes inside that would ooze out once you were finally able to bite through the gooey gluten.  Potential contents included bean paste, peanut paste or yam paste.

I was too tired to go on to Arab St. to try a sheesha but hope to be able to stay up past 9pm soon so I can.  I am still off a bit, completely out before 10pm and wide awake before 5am.  I suppose that's normal for some people...

Family Yoga in Singapore

We just finished our weekend training focusing on Family Yoga.  There is a lot of interest here in wellness for families and yoga is becoming more and more popular.  We had a wonderful group.  The weekend began with Laughter yoga with laughter then threading through the whole weekend.  At one point I was doubled over with tears rolling down my cheeks while Paul, blindfolded, sculpted Kai into a very complex pose Ashok was modeling.  It was part of the Pose Sculpture game.  One person is the model and another is the yet to be modeled.  A blindfolded sculptor then feels the shape of the one pose and attempts to recreate it in the other person.  I had said that anything involving a twist made this task much more challenging.  Ashok decided Paul was up for the challenge so he held a bound, twisted lunge while Paul tried to figure out what it was by feeling the shape of his body.  Yes, this can be a little intimate and is why we use this game in family yoga -everyone is related.  Anyway, people know how to be respectful.  Having been the model myself, I can tell you how absolutely hilarious it is to have someone trying to figure out what pose you are in.  So the really funny part was when Paul was moving Kai's arms all over the place, having not quite figured out the bound twist part.  He actually did get it finally.  It was all too much fun.   

I am so thankful for everyone's participation.  It made a wonderful weekend for all.  After Ommming each other and a group hug to end our weekend together, Kai decided I needed a 'milkshake hug'.  In order to receive this, she said I must take out the binders holding my hair into pig tails.  This made me nervous.  I reluctantly responded to her request and closed my eyes.  I yelled the whole time the group briskly 'milkshaked' my head which resulted in quite a fancy hair do.  It was part scalp massage, part upright dry (what's that called when they flush your head in the toilet?).  I'll take it as some kind of initiation ceremony and am thankful yogi's don't have the same mentality as frat boys.  We then had some fun posing for photos.  I'll post them when I get home.

After the training, several people showed up to visit.  It was meant to be a family yoga class but all these moms showed up without their kids.  The kids were too knackered and it ended up being a very nice opportunity to visit with former students and get to know new ones better.  One woman I very much enjoyed talking with is another teacher at Bodhi, the place we are holding these trainings.  Her name is Iris and she also studies with the Mohan's.  Mohanji's daughter, Nitya, lives here in Singapore so I must go introduce myself.   She has been teaching children yoga since she herself was young and attending Krishnamacharya's Kendra along with her father.  I have been meeting lots of great people here involved in the Singapore yoga community.

First day in Singapore for our children's yoga program

The flight to Hong Kong was 14.5 hours long. I had the tremendous good fortune of getting a whole row to myself.  Three seats for the price of one.  For some odd reason, the flight was not very full and several passengers enjoyed this luxury.  Of the four movies shown, I only watched Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and My Super Ex-girlfriend.  Both very delightful.  Another short (3 hour) flight got me into Singapore at midnight.  I heard there had been an earthquake in Japan, my initial stopover, but for some blessed reason I was re-routed.  More room, no earthquake.

Slept well when I got here, had a good practice in the morning and met Ana's grandma.  A beautiful woman with a smile like the sun, she rolled the R in my name like a Spanish dancer.  She gave me a thumbs up saying, "good name".  She then leaned in to touch my chin and said, "and also pretty."  Holding up one hand for each attribute she said, "good name AND pretty."  She then raised both hands to the sky and looked up saying, "Thanks to God."

Ana then took me out for a day on the town.  I am staying with her in her family's home, even though I just met her at the airport last night.   Kai, who has helped us organize all this and is good friends with Ana, lent me her father's cell phone.  He never uses it.

Learned a new term, black collar worker.  This refers to someone in the creative industry. 

Had Masala Dosa for breakfast at about 75 cents, a rambutan icee midday and an avocado shake in the evening.  Yum.  Let me just say it again. Yummm.

The grace and abundance has just been pouring down from the very start of this trip.

And let's just take a moment to acknowledge the ever present total and complete synchronicity in the Universe.  We went to get our pedicures.  There were about a hundred colors to choose from.  I reached directly for one with out hesitation.  It was my color.  I flipped the bottle over to read the always clever name given to nail polish color.  Skinny dippin' in Lake Michigan.  Truth.   As  I dozed in the  lounge chair having my feet massaged and toes painted, a smile came over my face thinking, ya sparkly pale  pink is just the color of a skinny dipper in Lake Michigan.

Seems W himself has followed me here.  (I am not necessarily counting this in among the abundance).  The immigration agent leaned in last night as I handed her my passport and said, "Busy day tomorrow in Singapore.  Your president will be here.  It's a secret."  I almost surprised myself with the response, "my president?"  I guess technically he is.   A harried taxi driver picked us up in the afternoon and re-routed us to our destination because "your Bush" is here and has closed off major roads.  "He comes to Singapore and he thinks Singapore wants to assassinate him."  There was no warning for this city of 4 million.  They just chose a route for the motorcade and closed the roads right around rush hour.

This taxi brought us to the studio we will be  holding our training at.  (Back to the abundance).  It is beautiful and the woman running it is so warm and inviting. It will be an excellent place for us.  We feel very welcome.

So now I am off to sleep as much as I can, 'cause I like to sleep and have missed out a bit these last couple days -jumping that date line can be so jarring.

Yoga for Children in Singapore

The time is drawing near.  In a few days, I'll be heading off to Singapore to present our Global Family Yoga training programs.  We are so excited to be taking our first step towards creating a Global Family.  We have had much interest and lots of activities are planned while there.  In addition to the two weekend trainings, I will be facilitating classes and workshops.  I am particularly tickled by the chance to facilitate a children's yoga class and family yoga class at a studio catering to Japanese students.  The owner will be right along side me translating into Japanese!  I am already giggling at all the fun this will be.

Another fun class will be part of an Asian Children's festival.  We will present a class focusing on the Indian mythology that yoga springs from.  I'll be writing about it all week.