Tree Prose

I started the first month yoga course at Agama Yoga just after the New Year. It was an intense introduction including morning meditation, 2-hour asana practice, another 2-hour, afternoon asana practice followed by an evening lecture…everyday, for a month. Over the course of the last month, I gained accurate information and practical experience regarding the chakras, yamas and niyamas, bhandas, mudras, kriyas and much more which i can’t possibly include in this blog…and this is just the beginning. This month has also been full of making new friends and becoming part of the community of strong, clear, vibrant, empowered men and women who support Swami Vivekananda’s work. Anyone who is interested in learning more about the school, can go to agamayoga.com.

Ironically the last day of the course and our final ceremony was on my birthday, February 3rd. I started the day with meditation and an inspired asana practice and was greeted by two friends at the end of class with a big bouquet of wild flowers and roses…beautiful. We went to my favorite restaurant, Big Mountain and feasted on chapati, hummus, salad, french fries, pizza, vegetable spring rolls and chai tea! yum! Then Ashley treated me to a pedicure and my toe nails went from dark purple, almost black, to gold! gold, I mean, what better color to celebrate with…I wish I had a picture…it was pretty then, but now…yikes.

I took her back to her home and picked up a bag full of homeade, raw chocolate, Bliss Balls…Ashley is an herbalist and specializes in aphrodisiacs:) I chomped down two of them by the time, Arnaud, a gorgeous, French man came to my door to pick me up for an afternoon at the herbal sauna. We met up with loads of yogis and bathed in the hot steam, chatted and drank herbal tea for several hours. Rushed home and got ready just in time to make it to the final ceremony. All dressed in white, an Agama tradition, I received my certificate and the first blessing of the night from Swami.

Immediately following the ceremony every month is a talent show where students read poetry, sing, play guitar, dance, do tai chi, tell jokes, etc…at the end of which, Ashley stood up and demanded that in the tradition of her friends and family at home, when it is your birthday everyone must place their hands somewhere on the birthday person and OM together. So more than 75 people gathered around me and blessed me with their voices and loving energy. It was so magical I didn’t have to breath and my voice was pure and clear from all of this love.

Just when I thought it was over, Swami reminded us that in Agama tradition, when it is someone’s birthday, they must come to the front of the room and receive a blessing. So then I had to stand in the front of the room while everyone, this time including Swami sent their loving energy my way…can you imagine how high I was feeling! Not to mention the Full Moon in the sky! What a day. What a blessed life.

So for all of you whose birthday’s I have forgotten this year and the years before, I am sending you, right now a special birthday wish full of love, light and laughter!

BIG kiss and hug,
love,
tiff

The main beach on Koh Phangan, Haadrin, is infamous for Full Moon Party and every month somewhere from 6-25,000 people inhabit the island for 24 hours of sex, drugs and rock n’ roll…or techno in the case of modernity. Upon Maggie’s arrival, she made it clear that we would definitely be attending this party. What choice did I have?;) We got all dressed up, took a taxi, which is really a pick-up with benches in the back, to Haadrin. My Mama, the kind +65 year-old woman from whom I rent the house, was worried sick. She called Pi-Pat several times, etc. etc. While it was a very big party, danced until sunrise, we made it home from Haadrin just fine.

However, while I was standing in the kitchen the other night, doing dishes from our girls’ dinner party, (black bean hummus, spanish rice, beautiful salad—chocolate, of course:) Maggie says to me, “Tiff, there is a very large, winged bug coming underneath the door”. I said, “Well don’t let it in…swat it out, do something!” It was too late!…about midnight, in fact.

I walked into the ‘family room’ and sure enough, this very large, winged bug flew right into the bedroom and landed on a curtain. I looked at Maggie and said, “well, you let it in, what now?” As she got close to it, it took off again, and we both went screaming out of the house for the first time that night.

Slowly we walked back in, Maggie grabs her green beach towel, with a palm tree design and puts it over her head??? She walks back in the bedroom searching for the bug and finds it on the ceiling…proceeds, after a little prodding, to take the broom and try to swat at it- not before taking a few practice swings in the family room, of course…so towel covered broom in hand, she convinces me to ‘back her up’. At which point, I of course cover my head too, duh!…and we go into the room together, heads covered, the escape route planned, she gives it one good whap and we go running and screaming out the front door!

God love Mama. She must have heard the racket because from the dark of night we heard, “Tip, Tip” which is the Thai version of Tiff. She appeared on our doorstep with a flashlight. We tried to tell her it was a bug. However, the large flapping motions I did with my arms, must have made her think it was a pterodactyl because she turned around and reappeared in moments with Papa and a 6′ wooden stake.

Maggie then remembered she had taken a picture of this lecherous beast and showed it to Mama. Mama, as kind as she is, could not help but cover her face and laugh for a few moments. She said, “Not dangerous. No worry.”…Maggie said, “We don’t care, not dangerous, can’t sleep here”…So Mama and Papa go into the bedroom and shake out our bed, clothes, pillows, curtains, packs, you name it…no bug to be found.

Maggie and I, still standing in the family room, in the corner, with our heads covered, decide to go in and look too. Everyone is looking and this bug can’t be found anywhere. Papa went home. He laughed so hard when he saw the picture, I thought he’d pee…Mama had almost convinced us that the bug must have flown outside, when I spotted it. Guess where?…sitting right on top of Mama’s shoulder. I said, “Mama, the bug is on your shoulder” and pointed towards her right shoulder. She didn’t understand ‘shoulder’ so she spun around a few times looking for it, behind her, above her, on the opposite shoulder, etc.

Then Maggie, who had heard me when I said, ‘shoulder’ saw the bug too and said, “Mama, OUTSIDE”…just like that, Maggie was pushing our Mama out of the door, repeating very firmly and pointing outside “Mama, OUTSIDE”. When Mama had cleared the door frame, walking backwards and wondering why she was being pushed out, Maggie locked the door and waved goodbye. I kept saying, “Mama, your shoulder” and pointing to the bug. Finally from behind the glass window, we could see that Mama found the bug. She took it in her hand and said, through the window, “See. Not dangerous. No worry.”

We put our hands together in front of our hearts in prayer pose and both waved goodbye. There was no way in hell, we were opening that door up to hug Mama goodnight. The next morning, when we saw Papa, he was still laughing. We went to meet Pi-Pat on the beach and she was laughing. She had already heard the story and insisted we reenact it. The good new is, we were still laughing too!

Enjoy!

Love,

Tiff, Mags and The Jackajan (aka. Cicada:)

Geesh! Don't be fooled. While rumor has it that tantric yoga may include some sacred, sexual practices, Kashmir Shivism, revered as the essence of tantra, is intensely philosophical and directly, at least in the beginning, focuses on the ... [Continue reading this entry]

Now in Koh Phangan staying near Haad Yao at Rock Garden-very simple, very cheap and it came with a kitty cat who can't get enough lovin'- the best kind. ...very quiet here but the tantric yoga school is about to begin ... [Continue reading this entry]

So, We had bets going on the airplane regarding whether or not we were flying east or west to beijing from chicago...the guy behind me said, "i'll bet you your uneaten pretzels that we are flying over the Atlantic"...i thought, but ... [Continue reading this entry]