When Yoga Saved The Day

I was feeling quite down last week. As some of my friends know, the car got into an accident while it was parked when I taught a class QC. The damage was just small, and I'm lucky to have it still up and running very normally. I got ticked off a lot though because the driver who did the damage didn't owe up to his or her responsibility and just took off and left. There was no CCTV available so we weren't able to trace the culprit except for a few clues that it was a white car about the same height as mine or probably lower, like a sedan or something, from the paint and the location of the damage. The guards weren't even helpful though, and seemed to wash their hands off the whole thing and would rather have a lazy shift Sunday twiddling thumbs.  Ugh!

Anyway,  while letting insurance taking care of everything, I had to get back to real life so I maximized last Wednesday going to the insurance to have them estimate the damage. While it took only minutes, I was able to find decent parking too since I had some work in the morning (nope, not doing street parking this time, I was able to get a decent parking at a parking lot) and then stopped by for tea at a nearby tea place since I was way too early for my call time (30 minutes) and the studio was closed. 

Thanks for the message, Sip. I missed your real brewed teas (I had the sweetness adjusted and lowered to 30%) and your chicken chops are superb. Work finished relatively early so I transferred the car to Greenbelt then and waited for my next appointment there, anyway.

I looked forward for this next appointment though because it was the press preview of the Global Mala Project happening this September 26 at WhiteSpace Manila.

This is the largest unified worldwide yoga event in line with the United Nation's Day of Peace and the Fall Equinox.

This event is designed to promote peace and positive change through yoga as well as raise social consciousness and funds for noteworthy causes. This year's benefit happens to be Children's International.

Friends and yogis have been going to this event, which is like a yoga buffet with various classes ranging from ashtanga to power yoga as well as quiet and restorative yin yoga classes. There are also talks and demos as well as master classes, for yogis who would want to go deeper into their practices. 

The event is actually a private Vinyasa class followed by a quiet meditation class (like an extended Savasanna), a yang to yin type of class, something that I look forward to. I miss practicing in a class and this might be just what I needed.

Thanks to Manduka for all these mats we used to practice. Cushy for my wrists because we did an arm balance.

Leading the Vinyasa class is Nikki Torres of Beyond Yoga. Nikki is my yoga teacher and the class made me miss her classes a lot, even the DOMs I feel after. She teaches Vinyasa Yoga and Yin Yoga as well as Zumba and maintains a fitness blog - Pretty Darn Fit.

Nikki talks about connections, which eventually became important during the practice. Yoga is all about connection, and we also connect our poses to the breath. Most especially, the principle of connection became important during our peak pose, Bakasana or crow pose. I'm still not comfy with my own bakasana though but at least I was able to do a jump back.

Probably my favorite and most stable inversion ever, the shoulder stand.

Held this a bit longer than expected. Felt the effects on my tired legs.

A long savasanna was held after her very yang class and a meditation practice was done by Francois Flaviano of Bliss Yoga, leaving us refreshed and relaxed and a perfect way to end the day. My legs are happy with a slight burn.

Water to rehydrate after a class. Thanks Certified Calm for providing these! Love the steel glasses too I wanted to take the one I used home with me.

Glad to see these yoginis again. Hi Bri, Jane, and Nikki!

Yoga always leaves me hungry after a class and actually after this, instead of craving a big slice of cake or a greasy burger, I went to a Vietnamese restaurant and ordered a bowl of vegetarian pho, rewarding my body (and soul!) something good for it. I think I needed that flow and get in touch with myself (just as Nikki said about connection) and shake off the downy-dump vibe.