Yogini Dee is Alive and WELL!

It's been a week of yoga, meditation, yoga nidra, practicing non-attachment, and eating delicious vegetarian foods, all amongst other yogis who I've quickly grown to adore. The weekend workshop dedicated to non-attachment was fabulous and created a deeper understanding of the concept for me. The best analogy given about this concept was regarding non-attachment to money: A bank teller will deal with loads of cash all day long, counting, giving, and receiving. They are not attached to the money going through their hands during the day, but after work, when they are at the grocery store and they realize the food they have selected will cost over $100, they cringe and react to their feelings of attachment. Simple concept, but very difficult to implement into all situations. One of the non-attachment concepts that I've been working with during the past year is my appearance: my clothes, my style, my hair. On the second morning of the workshop, I thought about what it would be like to shave my head and release my attachment, literally, to my hair. The idea spent the day swimming about in my thoughts, and the following morning I decided to do it. After I asked Atmabhava, one of the yogi residents, if he would like to shave my head, he said, "There's nothing like the present!" I believe he took great pleasure in using the clippers on my head, perhaps too much pleasure! There is a wonderful photo of the event on my camera, but I am having issues with downloading at the moment, so I'll insert the photo later. It was an interesting experience. I saw all of my hair on the ground by my feet, and it felt invigorating! I stood up, felt my head and thought, "Wow, I did it!" A beautiful woman there said to me, "You are radiating! Do you feel it?" I certainly did. Lightness. Openness. Radiance. How delicious! It was five hours later before I looked at my reflection in a mirror. At first, it was just really strange, but the feeling instantly turned to a peaceful acceptance, and I noticed my face was much brighter. One of my friends, Sagar, said that a happy baldy is a really happy baldy and an unhappy baldy is a very unhappy baldy. In other words, there is no hair to shade or hide the face, so emotions come across very clearly. Lucky for me that I smile most of the day! The rituals and schedule of the yoga retreat is exactly what I was looking for. I am up at 5:30 AM every morning to do yoga, breakfast at 7:30 AM, some karma yoga for an hour (usually a bit of cleaning and office work), yoga nidra (deep relaxation) at 12:00 PM, lunch at 12:30 PM, meditation at 5:30 PM, dinner at 6:00 PM, and then I usually pass out with wonderful intention at around 9:00 PM. This schedule suits my body and mind very well. With the realization of the fit between the jobs required at the yoga retreat and my skills (from computers to photography and even to chainsaws!), the owners have invited me to stay at least a month. I am happy to be here and am excited to stay for more of an extended time period. It feels like I've lived there a long time. I belong here for now. It is a wonderful and engaging place to call home for the time being. I have much to learn from the people here, and I feel I have a lot to offer as well. A beautiful match. This weekend, I've left my humble abode 700 metres atop the mountains in Golden Bay and have come back to sea level in Nelson for the Festival of Opportunities For Body Mind & Spirit. And to my wonderful surprise, my friend Brian is here in Nelson this weekend too. We met two months ago in Ahipara on the North Island, and he's been riding his bicycle all over the country while Beth and I were burning fumes... It's really great to see him again. I'm really happy right now, and am enjoying being here, in the moment, in what appears to be my element. And I just finished the most excellent hazelnut treat square from the local market. MMmmmmm-mmmm! .... but I'm not attached. [big smile] This week, I'll try to fix the photo issue (I think I know the solution), and then next time I'm in Nelson, I'll post some photos of my new hair style, or lack thereof, and pics of the Anahata Yoga Retreat, and evidence of some seriously fun kite flying in the fields with the sheep, the sunset and the view of Golden Bay. Hari Om!

Milford Sound and all the way to Christchurch

The last time I wrote in this blog, I was saying how awesome Milford Sound was and that I would put up some photos next time I got online. Well, today is the day! It's picture time! Here's a sample of the drive up to Milford Sound from Te Anau. The weather was perfect and the scenery stunning... The super long, scary tunnel I described in my last blog entry is in the photo below. Bus-loads of people stop and admire both the entrance to the tunnel and the random birds looking for a free meal (guaranteed from the bus-loads of folks). After arriving in Milford Sound, I went for a run to take in some fresh (and cold) ocean air. It was so lovely to be there and breathing in the surroundings. This place has such a dramatic and deep historical feel. The following day, Beth and I took a kayaking tour around the sound. I would have preferred to take a couple of kayaks out without the guided tour, but it isn't possible to rent kayaks on your own in Milford Sound. Having been a sea kayaking guide myself, it was interesting to sit and be the tourist. We lucked out with amazing weather once again. The kayaking guide made us all put on wetsuit tops, thermal underwear and a waterproof jacket. I went along with it until 30 minutes into our paddle and took off most of the layers so I wouldn't sweat to death. There is a big waterfall just beside the 'town' of Milford Sound, and apparently way back when, some smart folks thought they would dam the waterfall at the top to generate electricity. The dam lasted for a short time before being blasted out by a surge in water due to one of the many, many heavy rainfalls. Our guide told us that it rains so much in the area that his job is usually spent trying to convince his kayakers that there are mountains around the sound... It would be so neat to see the area full of fog and rain, as I imagine it would have such a different mystical feel, however, I was pleased to be paddling under the warm sun on the calm water. Near the end of our tour, we paddled up the river to the tip of the Milford Sound track, under the bridge and through to this amazing little refuge. That was my favourite part of the kayaking trip. We made our way back to the boat dock and realized that it was only the early afternoon and that there was plenty of time left do pack in some more adventure for the day.... Back through the scary tunnel and out to a hike called Key Summit. I put my running shoes on and made fire tracks up the trail to the top in record time! The trail was awesome, and the views at the top were quite a nice reward. I think at this point, when I was smelling a little less than shower-fresh, the sand flies tend to stay away. Good times. Sometime during the afternoon, I realized that I had left our breakfast grocery bag back at the hostel in Milford Sound. We didn't think we could survive without our oatmeal and seeds, so we drove back through the scary tunnel to the hostel, rescued our grocery bag, ate expensive pizza at a pub in Milford Sound, and then drove back through the scary tunnel AGAIN. That's four passes through the scary tunnel within 24 hours. The novelty was wearing off, but it was still scary. We camped at a museum/campground that night and awoke the next morning to SWARMS of black flies. The sun was out and it was H-O-T, but I kept my long johns on just to keep the bugs out. Yikes! The little pesky flies were relentless in their search for fresh blood. We escaped the wrath of the bugs by hiking up to Marian Lake, which was pretty spectacular. The lake and surrounding peaks looked just like scenes from some of the hikes I've done in Banff National Park. Later that afternoon, we drove back down to Te Anau and checked our email and heard word from Becky that she'd gotten a hotel room for all of us in Christchurch. OOoooooh, a real big bed! After four nights of tenting, we were looking forward to anything besides hard ground. This became especially apparent after our crazy awful comping experience later that night in Cromwell, east of Queenstown. The wind was blowing so hard that it was lifting me off the ground. There was this huge light from the main building blinding me in my attempts to sleep. And there was the lingering reggae bass tunes from a van nearby. After hours of trying to get to sleep, I finally gave up and moved into the front seat of the car. Ahhh, peace and quiet... The next morning, I knew it was time to move on when I spilled my full mug of tea onto the floor of the car. This place is bad luck. LET'S GO! We selected a highway path that put us past some neat looking scenery including the plumpy mountains here: the patch of highway here: some cool clouds and landscapes here: and Mount Cook, in the background, here: Roadkill is ever present at all times. Mostly possums, but some bunnies and other random small animals. There are at least twenty or thirty seen per day. I can't really tell what this one is, but I almost stepped on it when I was taking some pictures of the Mt. Cook area. Mmm... I think SproutMan should be our mascot. He certainly serves up some damn good sprouts for our sandwiches at lunch time. Next to Mt. Cook is Mt. Tasman, and the Tasman Valley Glacier which is 29 kms long. Most of it is hiding under dirt and grit, so it looks like a normal valley, but when you look up close it's super cool. To get some perspective on how big the glacier is, and how big the river here is, just take a little looksie at the photo below and check out the tour boat speeding along and darting around chunks of glacier. Oh yes, did I mention that it was stunningly beautiful and sunny once again?? I'm pushing my luck here aren't I? The view from the glacier area back towards Mt. Cook township was beautiful. The valley is very similar to the Fraser Valley in BC, where the valley floor is flat (due to glacier movement from way back when), and the mountains jet up from the sides. Beth was driving for a while on our way out of the Mt. Cook area, and I took the opportunity to get lost in the clouds causing spontaneous smiles as I saw funny formations in the clouds like this two-eyed monster here below: The cloud gazing also inspired me to get a bit creative with my camera. Here's my self-portrait: The glacier lake stemming from the Tasman and Cook valleys was pristinely blue. It was like a trillion light blue crayons had melted in the massive lake making it almost thick in appearance. At the base of the blue crayon lake, you can look back and see Mt. Cook and Mt. Tasman. Pretty spectacular scenery, I say. As if it couldn't get any better, and then it does. The next lake along the road is even brighter blue in colour, and it's got a sweet little church perched on the tip. Church of the Good Sheppard: As I was creating photo evidence of this amazing place, Beth noticed that a wedding was about to happen at the cute church on the lake shore. We stuck around long enough to see the nervous bride and groom approach the church doors and await the formal ceremony. The tourists standing around were a bit tacky, but I admit that I was one of them.... I stayed long enough to get these two photos of the event, both of which I quite like and makes me consider doing wedding photography.... The remainder of the drive up to Christchurch was pretty uneventful. The landscape changed to resemble the prairies in a way; it was flat, dry and few curves in the road. Upon arrival in Christchurch, we settled down in our hotel room (so swanky, thanks Becky!), and watched some ridiculous television (this is why I don't own a t.v.). The town of Christchurch isn't particularly stimulating or interesting. It felt like Saskatoon, for some reason. Just a bunch of cement buildings and a bit of flare in a few spots to make it spunky, sort of. Anyway, we spent most of our time outside of Christchurch, with the exception of our walks to the hospital to see Johnny; we walked along the river and to Cathedral Square for the daily tourist market.

Sumner Surfing Community to Kaikoura to Nelson to YOGA!

We spent a lot of time in a surfing suburb next to Christchurch called Sumner. The waves were pretty good while we were there:But it sure was busy... Yes, all of those black spots are surfers, not seals. On one of our day trips, Becky and Beth and I went to Castle Hill, near Arthur's Pass. We found this place where you can go caving for free! Beth wasn't feeling well, so she sacked out in the car while Becky and I put on our long johns, turned on our headlamps, and waded in to the waist-deep frigid waters to walk the cave from one end to the other (approx. 30 minutes). Brrr... It was cold, and spooky, but SUPER COOL! After warming up in some dry clothes, we set our sights for some rock climbing. Near Castle Hill, there's this place littered with BIG BOULDERS. Apparently, climbers come here from far and wide just to boulder these rocks. We gave it a go and climbed up this rock pictured below. Becky was a pro! even in jeans! We kidnapped Johnny out of the hospital one evening and took him to a rugby match. The Crusaders vs. The Reds (i.e., NZ vs. Australia). It was a good game, with NZ coming out on top at the end. It was fun being in the big stadium with everyone else. Every time the Crusaders scored, these big flames would shoot out in excitement. The flames would also get a little excited when the cheerleaders were out dancing about in short skirts. The final goal by the Crusaders, just before time ran out, confirmed their victory over the Reds. As we dropped Johnny off at the hospital after the game, he mentioned a craving for a McDonald's hamburger (not his normal preference; we blamed it on the steroids he was on for his condition). I decided that a craving like that would not go away and that we should do a McDonald's run just for him. I literally had to run into the joint to get the burger and be back before the buses started beeping at Becky for parking in their spot. We all ran into the hospital on our mission, but were stopped just shy of the elevator by the security lady. Damn! But, after explaining ourselves, she granted us access and gave us a pass. We hand-delivered the steaming package to John, who loved and savoured the nz-beef burger. Yum, yum. The next day, Beth wasn't well again, so Becky and Johnny and I drove through this cool tunnel on the way to Lyttleton. Lyttleton (see below) was nice to look at, for like a second, but then we moved on towards Akaroa, further down the peninsula south of Christchurch, which was way better, but I didn't take any photos (yeah, I know!). Sumner is a sweet little place, with a cool pizzeria called the Ruptured Duck. The Red fish Blue fish store was my favourite with very random, strange, and peculiar gifts of all sorts... Johnny finally got released from the hospital last Monday, so the following day he and Becky went on their way to Australia for a few days to connect to their flight back home to Halifax. It was so great to spend time with them both. Becky and Johnny, I love you, and I'm going to come back to Halifax and cuddle with your dogs and pray that you don't have any wet noodles. Kaikoura was the next stop for Beth and I. We had a lovely, long chat on the drive up. Thanks for that, Beth. There's a trail at the end of the peninsula near Kaikoura. It's fantastic. Besides the stunning landscape of ocean and cliffs, there were seal colonies all along the rocks. At the other end of the trail is a fancy looking bridge connecting the trail to the parking lot. My friend Craig (from Nelson of "Hazel & Craig"), was the engineer for that project. Beauty bridge, Craig! Besides seals and birds, we saw sheep. Yep, sheep on the beach. Never seen that one before. He's quite camouflaged. Big, thick, tough sea weed. So different from the bull kelp on the west coast of BC. The next day, we drove north once more and spotted this beautiful luxury resort all made of tree houses! My brother Dave will love this! He writes all about tree houses on his website. I have a link to it on the side menu of this blog side (click on "Treehouse By Design"). So, here I find myself hungry and thirsty and have spent over $16.oo on internet time to update this blog. Yeeouch. But it's worth it! Beth and I are taking different paths from hereon in. She's taking the car to do the rest of the east coast of the south island, and I am taking the bus up to Takaka to go to a yoga retreat! I'll be out of touch until February 25th, and when I come out, I hope to be all relaxed and flexible. Maybe I should take a before and after photo of myself.... We'll see.