Tsada Yoga Community
Chinook at White Lotus
The White Lotus teacher training: Day # 1 The Inception. Met another trainee @ LAX. A very fit woman from Canada - blonde - with 3 kids - all boys. The oldest os 18She gave birth to her eldest son when she was 40 years young. We shared a taxi to the center. We hit it right off. She told me she owned a Spa in Vancouver. I told her I used to be a cabby & if da cabby tries to over charge us that I wasn’t riding with him. He should give us the rate that was set up w/ da White Lotus foundation. She agreed. But this cabby was honest. Actually he didn’t overcharge us. We actually saved money. Da winding ride up da mountains was exciting & beautiful, steep ride. Beautiful steep w/sharp cliff hanging turns, Brigit (woman from Canada) said Santa Barbara was somewhere she could live. Da cabby then (he’s been a cabby here for 20 yrs) said da homes here averaged a million dollars & da small homes averaged 900,000 & up. Brigit said /well I guess I won’t be living here’ :-) we laughed. The White Lotus foundation is really beautiful. Feng shui, natural, zen, clean, high, high, up, up, up in da mountains. They have beautiful real lotus flowers growing in a pond with a little water fall. We arrived an hour earlier than we were supposed to.We met two other arly bird trainees. 1 asian woman who cam all da way from China. She looked 19 but she told me l8tr she is 37. Met another woman who said she came from holland.
Dinner that nite (with 32 of us & 1 more arriving tomorrow) that preceeded da orientation was da bomb! (Barb - you & Jenny P & Suzanne would love da incredible delicious ALL HEALTHY chow here)! This place is really clean. How clean is it? Check this out….along with da indoor restrooms there are very nice outhouses here :-) How nice? The one outside my yurtis all natural wood with this big window in it that overlooks a huge mountain cliff facing da ocean & has a sign on it that says ‘loo with a view’
Day # 2 This is truly a yoga healing university! They are teaching the real deal here. It’s no joke & no faking. It’s a higher learning school. I resonate with the teachings so far 100%! I have experienced both teachers now & their teaching assistant Swen. They & I teach uncanny parallel teaching styles. But I/m also learning tons of new healthy, healing stuff to share with everyone. Ganga & Tracy have talked with me quite a bit already. They’re real & wise (& that’s a nice combo of attributes to have). Had my 1st asana’s and philosophy classes w/em 2day. They are da only teachers at a workshop ever who’ve taught as many safety precautions/options in one class that come even close to the number of safety variations similar to how I usually teach. Maybe da reason why is Ganga has fractured his back & injured it many times also. Once he fell down some stairs he told me. He said it took him yrs to heal it after that one.
Hope our All Pro substitute teachers & wonderful members are doing great. And I hope our members are supporting these wonderful teachers. Hit you again soon. People were asking me before I left “was I excited?” Now I’m excited! Peace n bunches - from Chinook.
Day # 4 It’s rained everyday so far. The man made red orange dirt, rocks and stone road are muddy. But this morning we woke to see the most beautiful, vibrant colorful rainbows. There it is - the Dao of life. No rainbows w/out rain. Ha! I live in yurt village # 3. Keith (from Tsada/NFL footballer/yogi), Trevor (da youngest person here/just 20 yrs old) & me. Yurt # 3. We nick named ourselves da Y-3 crew! Ha! Trevor (da 20 yr old) a true bohemian, vegan, 6 ft, 140 lb, soccer player (& he’s a ‘Player’!) is here to straighten out his life after a little run-in w/ da authorities over some other plants (...not Oregano) :-)
The classes here are 3 and a half hrs per class on average - 2 times a day. This is not an asana school but a true total life, total human beings, total health & wellness university. The classes are in depth, detailed, open, clear 7 insightful. We cover history, philosophy, anatomy, biomechanics, pranayama, styles, theories, psychology, teachers, asana,sequencing & much more. Ganga, Tracy & Swen all combo teach daily. Tarcy s beautiful & petite but firm & confident in a real cool sort of way. Ganga is humble & REAL DEEP! But funny. He reminds me of Dharma Mitra. He’s a saintly renegade :-) He lived & worked w/ Krischnamurti for many yrs. He said his teachings inspire him as much today as they did yrs ago & maybe more. I haven’t been able to shake my ‘cold’ that I came here w/(it’s maybe gotten worse). Starting to scare me. Beverly told me da food here will heal sickness. I believe her (it will in time). I like Beverly a lot. Ganga gave me some herbs for ‘colds’ that I started taking yesterday. Hopefully they’ll kick in in a couple of days. Did my karma yoga yesterday (assisting inda kitchen). Today I do my scholarship karma yoga w/Adam. @ 3:20 pm. I miss everyone @ Tsada & Big D. Please tell Melody Tarver that I’m using da journal that she gave me for my birthday to take notes (it’s awesome!) ‘Om Shanti’
The sun finally peeped out for a short time yesterday. This place is magnificant. Breathtakingly beautiful! I counted da steps from our yurt to da top of da yoga center (477 steps). Da trek up is steep, literally cutting thru da cliffs. & I mean CLIFFS! W/ giant natural winding stone walls. By da time I reach da top i;m breathing a little heavy & I feel it in my chest, legs & glutes. Today I woke to da sounds of owls & other animals. The ‘Sheneral (my new name for Tracy) is a beautiful woman. Still looks just as goddessy and vibrant as she did in da 1st video (1984) I seen her in. I call her the Sheneral because she’s a compassionate teacher but she’s no wimp. She teaches more like a General than a Valley Girl. She taught the most beautiful restorative class last nite. And then surprised us the next morning with a quasi-trance dance warm up to the music Black-Eyed Peas (BoomBoomBoom & Tonite’s Gonna be a Good Nite)! & challenging vinyasa flow that immediately followed da dance celebration. She showed us some really cool new asanas, transitions & sequences. Ganga started @ da beginning of class w/ a sacred Native American stick meditation. Pretty much a group voluntary testimonials sessions the blew everybody’s mind. Da group has already bonded beyond belief! WOW! It has already transformed me & others & we still have 11 days to go! LIVE!
Sent Saturday, October 23 ~ Yeay Rangers!! We haven't seen nor heard any Football or Baseball scores since we got here. No TV,no cable,ESPN nothing. We get our 1st free day 2morow. Keith,me & some of the others are going to town to a sports bar & get our grid iron(football)fix : ). Are the Rangers really in the world series???? If they are. Wow!
New as of Tuesday 10/26/10
We got our 1st day off yesterday. We went to da beach 1st to drop off Linda & Zana. On Sundays they have a big market. Many artist.& da beach is clean,beautiful & packed w/ people frm all over da world. Linda saw 6 dolphins playing for a while near da shore. But here's da Yin & Yang again...a boogie boarder was attacked a few days ago up da coast by a great white shark. Someone got da victim to shore but he lost too much blood. He died. Once again shows you how sacred each decade,yr,month,week,day,hr,minute,second of your life is. Da young person who died was only 20yrs old. Aslo downtown Santa Barbara is this odd mixture of very rich & many homeless(squatters).& they are all over. One squatter I passed on da crowded sidewalk sarcastically said out loud to everyone who passed by: "you wanna help out a lazy person"?: ) & another squatter I passed had a cardboard signed that read: " I'm ugly! old! Helpless! & pooney & broke. Another one had a sign that read: "hungry need money for food or weed to smoke. Anything green will do!" (and he was having a conversation w/ someone about how he needed money for medicinal marijuana : ). And Trevor told me he saw a comic strip that said: a squatter had a sign that read: "Need money to get drunk!" a guy walks up to him & points to him and saids: "like your honesty dude"(& gives him money). After da guy leaves da squatter goes & buys a Hamburger HA! : )..…
...Day #9.(more about our off day). We had been studying for 8 straight days & evenings(8:30am til 7:30pm). We needed a little break so Keith,Janette & me found this big sports bar called da Santa Monica Brewing co. w/ more than 10 TV screens. 4 different NFL games on at once. We were in Football heaven. Slowly 1 by 1 the other W.L.T.T. students found us. So we had a big festive group. Ahhh! Total escapism. We've had intensive classes on Thai massage, head & shoulder stand, plough pose,back bends,fundamentals & safety precautions, anatomy, spinal care,asana adjustments, seqeuncing, pranayama, Bandha's, pain, suffering, injury, injury prevention, rehabilitation, history, yoga aphorisms, 27 books recommended, Sanskit, meditation, W.L.T.T. flow yoga group practice teaching. ..... One class Tracey demo-ed her own intuitive(free flow) yoga flow w/ Ujayyi breathing. We all sat there totally enthralled. It was so powerful. She's a small woman but the energy from her personal practice was amazing. From her Ujayyi breaths It literally sounded like we were at the ocean. Super strong but peaceful. Her deep audible breaths & energy totally permeated the entire area. I must admit that the main draw for me was Ganga but each day I respect & appreciate Tracey's teaching and delivery more & more. They are a very potent team.... Sometimes we have 'movie night'. So far we've seen 2 movies: 'Food Inc. & '2012' (a new documentary about world change & various scenarios & prophecies). Ganga & 'Sting' are in it. It should be in movie theaters soon....
New as of Friday 10/29/10
Day#13...Ganga & Tracey's teaching assistant Sven is a beautiful human being. He has the most ultra effective critiques of any person I've ever met. His offerings are a major asset to everyone. He is masterful in how he speaks. Never ever harsh, hard,or rhetorical. But definitely no 'yes man'. He's always super positive. He's a historian & expert. @ dinner he's always lights up what ever table he's @ talking,joking & helping. His smiles are geniuwine. Thi s is a dynamic trio of teachers here. It's very nice to see the head instructors & Sven work so well together....
Day#14... Ganga White is a modern day living national treasure. He is a anti-matrix spiritually elevated human being. He is a spiritual civic renegade, authentic, innovative & original. But never preachy. He's been on the cutting edge of the yoga movement since 1968 & still pushing the envelope. He studied personally w/ B.K.S.Iyengar, Pattabhi Jois, Krishnamurti, Swami Vishnu Devananda & many more. In the late 1970's Ganga created the "double yoga" (partner yoga ) system. He opened the 1st Sivananda centers all over North America. And 5 yrs later left the organization & studied w/ many great teachers in India. Ganga's a very humble guy but has this great intensity & focus when he's listening & observing us. He nods his head down & blushes & gets a little embarrased when he laughs. He's truely a giving free hearted loving soul. He cares. He's taught all of us here in this teacher training valuable unforgettable lessons....
New as of Wednesday 11/9/10
Last nite we were treated by Sven & Beverly(White Lotus office manager)to a concert. Sven jam w/ the guitar & Beverly jam w/ percussion & everyone sang a long. I passed my written test & rocked the group teaching test today.....
day#15. Winding down now,on the home stretch. We had our written test yesterday. I passed(no problemo : ) Today we do our class teaching test. 30 of u s will be split into 2 teaching rooms & 2 groups of 15 people. We have 10min each to teach. Will take about 2 & a half to 3 hrs for everyone to teach.... He's cleared up many of the misconceptions,myths,fallacies,superstitions & fears associated w/ yoga. Our latest studies have been on: Mudras,yoga aphoris ms,uncooperative students,teaching methodology,Tantra,sound healing,Kundalini,Chakras,"Guru busters",how to respond to a person w/ a emotional release in class,rest & recovery,good pain bad pain,nerve injuries,sciatica,student critiques,private teaching,tax breaks,insurance,partner yoga & much more. & I'm bringing all this knowledge back to ya soon.
Where do we get those delicious ORANGES?
Often folks ask where I get the juicy fresh oranges that sometimes show up after class. I finally decided that it would be so easy to introduce you to BENNY & CLAUDIA of RUBIO'S PRODUCE. Find them in the SHED 3 at Dallas Farmer's Market.Tsada Calendar Yogis & Yoginis
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Namaste'