Day 1 – 3, 300 ryt

I’ve decided I’m going to share my experience with all of you through my Journal.  I’ve done this in the past and it is always kinda scary to let you guys actually know the me in me, but I think the sharing is part of the process.  Someday I want to lead a yoga teacher training at the 300 level so being part of my journey may inspire you.

AND Most nights it appears we are done right around 7 pm when the huge party starts in the town below and the bass beat with the dude on the loudspeaker goes until about 10.  So I’m stuck in an adorable little cabin named the “writer’s cabin” and what else is there to do sitting in bed with earbuds in drowning him out with my yoga music.  I’ll just get this part out of the way and try not to complain about it again, BUTTTTTTT the NAME WITHHELD may be a sustainable community, but it is not off the grid.  It’s a steep climb up the side of hill from a very busy resort town.  San Marcos La Laguna/Lake Attila. So the peace and solitude I so craved will not be found on this adventure and I so needed it.  The wild dogs having mass fights with the other dog tribes at 2 am I think I can handle, but that bass beat..  Oh…and obviously I have WIFI.  My phone works just fine.  Not off the grid.

So I will begin at the beginning…Thursday, 11/7, 10:17 pm:

I arrived at the NAME WITHHELD (lots of complaining about the above).  We aren’t (I don’t think because I’ve arrived in the pitch black of night) in a forest.  In fact, we are up a very steep rocky hill of about a 25 minute hike in the dark carrying luggage while hacking up 1/2 a strep throat lung from a resort town…it’s peak season).  Boy am I out of shape.  Needless to say I am drenched in sweat and travel smell.  I wanted to simply take a shower in the outdoor shower, but I got guilted into a sound healing journey as soon as I arrived.  I was the asshole who coughed all the way through the sound journey and ruined for everyone.

Now let me tell you though about my cabin.  It’s so cute.  It’s called the “writer’s cabin” and has a gorgeous built in desk and a big fluffy bed.  There is no chair for the desk (and I found out none forthcoming) but it’s pretty to look at.  I have a lovely blow up solar lamp.  Had I known we were not so off the grid and I could easily power all my devices I would have brought my laptop and got some serious work done.  Oh well.

The outdoor shower…Oh the joy of showering outdoors under the stars.  One of the showers appeared to not have any privacy, but the one close to my cabin has some. I’m easily the oldest human here by 20 years so no one is seeing me naked in the shower.

Dinner was great.  Vegan…lots of veggies.  Sticking to all things cooked just to be safe. So I’m pretty excited to cleanse with no coffee, no processed food, no snacks, no sugar, and no alcohol.  Yoga will be twice a day and I downloaded a workout without equipment app.

SPIRITUAL THINGS TODAY.    Well nothing.  I’m sick and I’m tired and honestly not a lot happens on that level when you aren’t feeling great.  A cricket did jump in my hair so I think that’s good luck.  The Sound Journey dude talked about giving and receiving.  I hope I didn’t give everyone a cold.  I miss Lance.

Day 2 in Guatemala, Friday 11/8

I woke up at 6:09 to the sound of roosters .  Finally I can see where I am.  Good news is the one armed man who stood outside of my cabin all night is a tree.  And the demonic white lettering on the ground outside my cabin is just the white grout in the walk.  Seriously, I spent some time trying to decode that message last night.

The compost toilet is visible from my room.  This morning was my 2nd use of it.  Last night I didn’t use it.  I know…I know… but I peed in the shower instead.  I was too scared to go in there in the dark.  This morning I slid the wooden cover away to be greeted by 20 of so flys or knats.  While peeing in the open air is liberating, I’m just not sure I can actually sit on that toilet with those knats and go potty.  I may have to hold it for 30 days, but that doesn’t really agree with cleansing.  Can you hover and go????  I once saw a woman on Naked and Afraid not go for 21 days.

I want to do the 7 am yoga class but I am feeling weak and coughing.  But the barking dogs are driving me nuts.  Meditation starts in 6 minutes…I’m sure once my mind settles it won’t bug me anymore.  Right?  I hate having the internet.  I haven’t checked my phone but the desire to do so is so strong.  Geez I coulda got so much work done here.  Why didn’t I bring my computer?  That’s all I can think at this point.

The Practice today:  Friggin hard.  I had to sit out much of it.  We did do a nice meditation:  “Forgive Me.  I’m Sorry.  Thank You.  I love You.”    He called Table Top “4 points”.  I’m stealing that.  And he did more sound healing at the end which I needed.  He gave us a 10 minute Shavasana, but I took about 20 because I was too weak to do the practice.  Lots of partner yoga too which I don’t like.

Breakthrough moment:  Normally if I have to sit out of any yoga class I think there is something wrong with me.  I noticed I have transcended that karma.  I now think there is something wrong with the class and why would the teacher do so much shoulder work after I told him (he asked) that my shoulder was very sore and weak due to that silly dislocated rib not to mention carrying my luggage up a steep climb last night.  So that’s progress if you ask me.

I ordered coffee.  Technically TT doesn’t start until 4 pm.

Day 3 in Guatemala, 11/9 First Full Day of TT

So the compost potty is a problem.  If I use it I have to take a shower.  I just can’t shake the fact that Bill Gates is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to provide clean sanitation world wide and I’m stuck with this disgusting outdoor potty made of wood.  I think plastic would be better.  Wood absorbs stuff, right?  Ick.  Yesterday was a bad potty day so I simply had to use it today.  Sigh.

Teacher training:  There are 14 of us.  1 man, the rest women.  Over the 14 only 2 of us are mothers.  I’m the oldest by 15 – 25 years. Mostly young unmarried women between 27 and 35 that seem a bit lost traveling the world.  Biggest concern is not having purpose or partner.  Gosh I already love them.

My words for the training are Consolidate, Concentrate, and Communicate.  I thought it was a nice way to say I wanted to lose weight, get in shape, meditate, be in solitude and speak only when spoken to.

Writing this at night with the big bass beat and the dude on the loudspeaker.  I know I said I wouldn’t complain, but I can’t describe the noise.  It’s like if you were standing in the parking lot at a high school football game.  

I miss Lance and Marley.  The dogs here are cute but I won’t touch them.  Strays. Cats too.

Anyhoo.  We had to come up with a vision statement for our group.  Niki (my new best friend) and I came up with “Embodied Oneness”. It’s so good.  We loved it so much when we got with the greater group to agree on a group vision statement we wouldn’t let it go until Everyone agreed with us.  It’s pretty perfect…to embody oneness.  That’s the ultimate goal of yoga.  At first you think about your self and you are really into “I am.”  You have to do this in yoga to dive into your duality and befriend yourself.  You then move to “I am not.”  This is a clarification of process to stop self identifying.  And finally you move to “Thou art that”. That is the ultimate teaching of the Vedanta…not this, not that.  And then you know oneness.  I think it’s perfect for a 300.  I’m going to use it for ours in the future.

So this training…they decided:

• Eating Vegetarian is a Cleanse.  So…no cleanse.
• No fasting.
• Only 1 yoga practice a day.
• Only a 10 minute meditation at night.?‍♀️

errrrgggggggg.   So I’m self cleansing only eating cooked veggies, lentils, and bit of rice.  Niki,, says we can fast every Monday.  And she invited me to hike up and down the rocky hill every other day to help me get back in shape.  Nothing I can do about the 1 yoga practice Because our days are packed 6 am to 7 pm but I’ll just get up at 5:30 every day and have 45 minutes to meditate alone.  I really wanted to meditate in a group.

Complaining warning….It’s silence from 9 pm until 10 am.  Right now I’m typing at 9:21 with my music filled earbuds to kill the bass beat below and yogis are running all over the cliff side with flashlights screaming.  I can hear them through my earbuds.  Hmmmm…maybe there is a bear.

SPIRITUAL THING OF SIGNIFICANCE TODAY:  It was really an admin day.   One thing I did read on my own from the Upanishads is “Where one sees nothing, hears nothing, and understands nothing is the Infinite.”  Basically that is the Supreme Brahman (or God).  So…Not this or that.  Embodied Oneness