Vacation Pics, Yoga Workshop

Here are a couple more safari pics, which took place on a 4,000 acre private game reserve near Richards Bay, located on the SE coast of S. Africa.

Twice a day, 8:30 am and 4:30 pm,we would jump into the Range Rover with our Ranger Host, Ken and drive around in search of any animals. Sometimes it felt like we were driving ourselves into harms way, not knowing what we would come across and feeling somewhat vulnerable in an open but covered jeep.

There were lots of animals to see, nyalas, kudu, hippos, wart hogs, zebras and elephants, but there were also some animals that were hard to find, such as the leopard and black rhino.

I'm not a big animal or zoo fan, but I did find it rather interesting to observe animals in a "natural habitat" interacting with each other and with the funny humans who would be sitting in this noisy and stinky vehicle.

In the giraffe picture, you'll notice that the one on the left, George, has dark spots compared to the shorter and younger one. George is 29 years old and about 18 feet tall. Because their spots darken as they age, George is a senior citizen in giraffe years. He seems to be doing well though. George and his buddies lumber through the park looking for leaves and water and when they spot you from a distance they track your movements closely since they can see from so high up. I should also mention that they often have these blank, somewhat dopey looking expressions on their faces as they're chewing away on their breakfast, similar to way I look when I get up in the morning.

In yoga news, I was able to slide into the final week of adjusting workshops that the Diver was teaching. It was fantastic! He's so knowledgeable and creative in his adjustments. I was particularly interested in seeing what the hell he was doing when he adjusts me in class. He started off by splitting the group of about 14 in two. Half of us would be "doing" the practice and the other half would be doing the adjustment. We would rotate adjusters while the practitioners stayed put. It was really helpful to try the same pose on different bodies and also be more confident in our adjustments. Feedback from adjusters and practitioners were encouraged after exercise so that we were forced to observe and feel how the students were responding without an exchange of words.

A few key points in my own words (some may sound obvious, but he expanded on them): Observe and listen. Start with the stance and look at their feet and work your way up. Adjust decisively and firmly while being sensitive and compassionate. Choose your battles and decide on the one thing you're going to focus on. Be aware of the student's edge. Get close to the student. Use your legs, arms, elbows, sternum before you adjust with your hands. In Vira 2, he showed us how to hook the elbow under the student's bent knee before placing the fleshy part of the thumb and "slicing" the crease of the hip and rolling it out. Your free hand can roll out the other thigh. (Ugh, it's probably easier to show you with pictures. I'll have to grab Laks from home confinement and get her to demo this.) Anyway, it all takes experience and intuition which I'm still developing. The two-hour class went very quickly. I'm looking forward to seeing what we do on the last class.

More later!