That's the pattern in my life right now, traveling. Again and again. I am currently on a train to West Palm Beach to meet my sensitive drummer sailor friend Ben who I sailed with a couple of months ago. The one with the soon to be ex-quazi girlfriend. As soon as I arrived home from the retreat I got a text from him asking me to take a train to West Palm Beach where he would pick me up and I would accompany him to Key Weird (sailor lingo for Key West) to deliver a sailboat. Once there he would pay for all drinks, food and accommodations. Some may wonder why these sailors keep offering to pay for my trips to neat locations and no, I'm not sleeping with him. We're just friends. Sailors are just fun people and I guess they happen to like having me around. He also mentioned that he needed a party partner because he didn't want the Key Weirdians to hit on him.
It may seem strange that I accepted the offer, considering I just arrived home from a super spiritual health retreat and I must admit, my first instinct was to say no, be grounded, stay the spiritual course. But how can I resist an almost all expenses paid trip to the keys? I'm just not that spiritually evolved yet. And since I won't be settling down for at least another five or so years (per the advice of the vedic astrologer who also told me I would be able to give birth well into my forties - sweet!) - I can keep going. And going. And going. It's just what's in the cards for me right now. New places thrill me, and visiting old places that seem like home fill my soul.
So here I am, taking the AmTRIPPYtrack train to sunshine and blue water - two of my favorite things in the world. There is something to be said about trains. As WEIRD as they are - well - the trains themselves aren't weird - just the strangers who inhabit them. So anyway, as I was saying, as weird as they are - it's such a great way to travel. Yes it typically cost five times more than a flight and takes five times longer, but there is a sense of freedom that one feels while venturing the countryside by rail. I wish we had a system like Europe. And maybe a cart devoted to stretching - or a gym cart or something. Ooh! And a shower cart. OK, so there are some things lacking in the Amtrak system. Yes, your muscles do feel atrophied, like that of an eighty year old woman after a three day trip of immobility and truly terrible food, and we don't won't to talk about the smell. Lets leave that one out. BUT! The cool thing is that right now I am sitting in the dining car drinking a cup of coffee, my computer is plugged in and sitting on the table before me and as I'm writing to you, forests of pine and oak are flying by. Ok, and there's this really strange guy staring at me. He's kinda creeping me out. Ok, still staring. Annnnd I wish he'd stop.
Ok, so trains are weird. But I like them. Even though freak boy is still staring.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Or Maybe Not...
Maybe I won't go to South America. Let me know if you get tired of following my brain map around the world, but this is the evolution of my life right now. A constant bubbling of ideas that I myself can't quite keep up with. They come up so quickly and then just as quick they return to the place whence they came. I promise you! I have a really good reason for not going to South America. But let me start at the beginning, at least, the beginning of THIS particular part of the story.
I talked my mom into going to an ayurvedic retreat instead of the weird north carolina thing she wanted to go to. This turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life.
For those of you who don't know what Ayurveda is, it's the ancient indian system of medicine that yogis have been using for 5,000 years. And it's pretty powerful stuff. It is based on the five elements of fire, water, air, earth, and ether (whatever that means) and the therapist determines which constitution you are by feeling your pulse and basically checking you out. There are three Dosha types: Pitta which is fire and water, Vata which is air and ether, and Kapha which is earth and water. Pitta people tend to be firey, intelligent, irritable people (guess which one I am). Vata people are airheads, ungrounded, friendly, fast moving types, and Kapha people tend to be heavier, more grounded, slightly lazy people. They believe that imbalances in the body lead to disease, so besides determining what dosha you are, they also determine what your imbalances you have and recommend treatments and nutrition that will balance you out. They believe that opposites are balancing. So if you have a vata imbalance for instance, it's good to eat warming, grounding foods such as soups, and stay away from things like coffee or alcohol that exasperate the airiness in you (guess which imbalance I have).
Now, I am the type of person, in case you haven't noticed, that is constantly questioning EVERYTHING. I think I learned this in college, in the QUESTION EVERYTHING 101 class. So when I walk into a place like this, and the cheesy yoga music is playing through out the house, and you hear running water somewhere but... where the hell is it? And the people are talking as if, should they raise their voice, the walls may crumble around them, I say to myself, "Really? Is this for real?" and I feel a certain level of discomfort as my new agey-phobia sets in. Now, if I'M feeling this way my MOM has got to be like, "Oh god, what is this place? Where has my strange, yet intriguing daughter takin me?" The discomfort was seething from my mother's pores which put me even more on edge.
The first thing we did was a health consultation with the therapist, Richard Masla. He determined quickly from my obnoxiously sweaty hands and feet and my sharp, cunning wit that I was a pitta person. He also determined after two seconds of listening to my current state of affairs that I had a major vata imbalance and recommended that I see an Ayurvedic psychologist. There it is. That WORD. Psychologist. Just the sound of it sends the heeby jeebies (is that how you spell heeby jeebie?) through my veins. But since it was an ayurvedic psychologist who wouldn't be prescribing me any tiny chemical deposits to cover up and drown my soul, I agreed. But what I REALLY wanted was a reading from a vedic astrologer. Vedic astrologers are different than our western astrologers. In India, astrologers are considered highly spiritual people and are respected guides. They are not considered freaky floozies and they mostly lead very yogic lives. So I inquired within and sure enough there was one available and a meeting was scheduled.
After our consultation we had our first Ayurvedic lunch which was amazing. Ayurvedic food consist of fresh, organic vegetables and whole grains cooked to perfection with some staple spices such as ginger, garlic, cumin, and tumeric.
Once my food settled I went in for my first treatment. It was a full body massage with a hot oil specifically prepared from a 5,000 year old recipe which consisted of many herbs and oils. It was fantastic. They even put the oil in my hair and massaged my scalp.
Feeling super relaxed after the massage, and not having anything else to do, I settled in on the upper deck and did some reading and writing. At six o'clock was my first yoga class. The type of yoga they taught was much different than any I had ever experienced. It was in no way, shape, or form athletic which I totally needed, even if it wasn't what I totally wanted. The soul purpose of the yoga class was to settle the mind and relax the body. To calm and pacify. Most of the class was done on the ground. We got up at one point to do a couple balancing poses before settling back down into Savasana. This was a TOTALLY foreign concept to me. But I surrendered and let things be as they may.
For the next few days we followed roughly the same schedule. We woke in the morning for yoga, ate a light breakfast, went to our treatment, then to therapy sessions, then my favorite time of the day: lunch. We had the afternoons off until our six o'clock yoga class. Then my second favorite part of the day: dinner. To end the day my mom and I would watch a movie in my room and pass out.
You're probably wondering what any of this has to do with my canceling my trip to South America. Having time to relax and think about things got me wondering if traveling south was such a good idea. I started thinking about what I want to do with the next portion of my life. I started thinking about how happy I was during my yoga training. How nice it'd be to open a GOOD yoga studio in Jax Beach. One with an Ayurvedic therapy center and a vegetarian restaurant. Well, when I had my session with the astrologer he got a very worried look on his face about my trip to South America. He said it would be a very dangerous time for me to go there. He saw a stalker, or even rape in my charts. He also told me that training would be a great way to use my time right now. He was so right on about everything else he said about me that I figured I should listen to him. So the session confirmed the feelings that had been welling up through my newly found clarity. It seemed heading back to Los Angeles and continuing my yoga education was the best choice for me at this time. Yes, I am disappointed that my travels won't be leading me any place terribly new and exciting. But I have a feeling that if I work hard right now, it will lead to more exciting and adventurous things in the future.
I talked my mom into going to an ayurvedic retreat instead of the weird north carolina thing she wanted to go to. This turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life.
For those of you who don't know what Ayurveda is, it's the ancient indian system of medicine that yogis have been using for 5,000 years. And it's pretty powerful stuff. It is based on the five elements of fire, water, air, earth, and ether (whatever that means) and the therapist determines which constitution you are by feeling your pulse and basically checking you out. There are three Dosha types: Pitta which is fire and water, Vata which is air and ether, and Kapha which is earth and water. Pitta people tend to be firey, intelligent, irritable people (guess which one I am). Vata people are airheads, ungrounded, friendly, fast moving types, and Kapha people tend to be heavier, more grounded, slightly lazy people. They believe that imbalances in the body lead to disease, so besides determining what dosha you are, they also determine what your imbalances you have and recommend treatments and nutrition that will balance you out. They believe that opposites are balancing. So if you have a vata imbalance for instance, it's good to eat warming, grounding foods such as soups, and stay away from things like coffee or alcohol that exasperate the airiness in you (guess which imbalance I have).
Now, I am the type of person, in case you haven't noticed, that is constantly questioning EVERYTHING. I think I learned this in college, in the QUESTION EVERYTHING 101 class. So when I walk into a place like this, and the cheesy yoga music is playing through out the house, and you hear running water somewhere but... where the hell is it? And the people are talking as if, should they raise their voice, the walls may crumble around them, I say to myself, "Really? Is this for real?" and I feel a certain level of discomfort as my new agey-phobia sets in. Now, if I'M feeling this way my MOM has got to be like, "Oh god, what is this place? Where has my strange, yet intriguing daughter takin me?" The discomfort was seething from my mother's pores which put me even more on edge.
The first thing we did was a health consultation with the therapist, Richard Masla. He determined quickly from my obnoxiously sweaty hands and feet and my sharp, cunning wit that I was a pitta person. He also determined after two seconds of listening to my current state of affairs that I had a major vata imbalance and recommended that I see an Ayurvedic psychologist. There it is. That WORD. Psychologist. Just the sound of it sends the heeby jeebies (is that how you spell heeby jeebie?) through my veins. But since it was an ayurvedic psychologist who wouldn't be prescribing me any tiny chemical deposits to cover up and drown my soul, I agreed. But what I REALLY wanted was a reading from a vedic astrologer. Vedic astrologers are different than our western astrologers. In India, astrologers are considered highly spiritual people and are respected guides. They are not considered freaky floozies and they mostly lead very yogic lives. So I inquired within and sure enough there was one available and a meeting was scheduled.
After our consultation we had our first Ayurvedic lunch which was amazing. Ayurvedic food consist of fresh, organic vegetables and whole grains cooked to perfection with some staple spices such as ginger, garlic, cumin, and tumeric.
Once my food settled I went in for my first treatment. It was a full body massage with a hot oil specifically prepared from a 5,000 year old recipe which consisted of many herbs and oils. It was fantastic. They even put the oil in my hair and massaged my scalp.
Feeling super relaxed after the massage, and not having anything else to do, I settled in on the upper deck and did some reading and writing. At six o'clock was my first yoga class. The type of yoga they taught was much different than any I had ever experienced. It was in no way, shape, or form athletic which I totally needed, even if it wasn't what I totally wanted. The soul purpose of the yoga class was to settle the mind and relax the body. To calm and pacify. Most of the class was done on the ground. We got up at one point to do a couple balancing poses before settling back down into Savasana. This was a TOTALLY foreign concept to me. But I surrendered and let things be as they may.
For the next few days we followed roughly the same schedule. We woke in the morning for yoga, ate a light breakfast, went to our treatment, then to therapy sessions, then my favorite time of the day: lunch. We had the afternoons off until our six o'clock yoga class. Then my second favorite part of the day: dinner. To end the day my mom and I would watch a movie in my room and pass out.
You're probably wondering what any of this has to do with my canceling my trip to South America. Having time to relax and think about things got me wondering if traveling south was such a good idea. I started thinking about what I want to do with the next portion of my life. I started thinking about how happy I was during my yoga training. How nice it'd be to open a GOOD yoga studio in Jax Beach. One with an Ayurvedic therapy center and a vegetarian restaurant. Well, when I had my session with the astrologer he got a very worried look on his face about my trip to South America. He said it would be a very dangerous time for me to go there. He saw a stalker, or even rape in my charts. He also told me that training would be a great way to use my time right now. He was so right on about everything else he said about me that I figured I should listen to him. So the session confirmed the feelings that had been welling up through my newly found clarity. It seemed heading back to Los Angeles and continuing my yoga education was the best choice for me at this time. Yes, I am disappointed that my travels won't be leading me any place terribly new and exciting. But I have a feeling that if I work hard right now, it will lead to more exciting and adventurous things in the future.
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