Tag: #Polwaththa

Already one month in the jungle… still staying strong 💪👊😜!

littlemissyoga on
Planted an abony tree 😊

Yes, I am back again with a new, short update from 1 February until 10 February 2020 . I hope you like it, please comment, like and subscribe to keep updated 🙏🏻 😊.

1/2/2020: Another Dutch invasion
17 million people in that tiny country, they need more space, let’s all go to Sri Lanka 😉.

Today 2 Dutch families checked in, 2 of them took part of my Yin class 😊. One family stayed for 3 nights, and they didn’t have a planning for 1 day. I told them that if they would like to have some spare time, I could do a bit of kids-yoga. Not really easy with a 2-year old daughter and a 4-year old son. The girl was so cute, the boy was more into building a castle with all the yoga props 😉. The mom was there as well, the dad had finally time to read the news paper with being disturbed 😉. I am not a certified kids-yoga teacher, but after my second ‘class’ kids-yoga I am seriously overthinking to take a training. Even though I can find a lot of examples on YouTube, I am more into taking a proper course (also not an online one) to feel, experience, to share ideas with others. If you have suggestions, let me know 🙏🏻👍🏻.

4/2/2020 – 10/2/2020: 2 Yoga retreats in a row 🧘🏻‍♀🧘‍♂🙏🏻😊
After the Dutch invasion left, a new retreat started on February 4 (Sri Lankan Independence Day, 4-2-1948 by the British Government; the Dutch had already left the building 😉). This time 5 people, 3 singles (well not here with their partners) and 1 couple. 2 of them were officially yoga teachers (1 recently got her Ashtanga-certificate, the other was teaching for about 1,5 years). It was a mixed group, mixed nationalities and also mixed levels. A challenging one, I can tell you that! It was hard for me to keep the ‘group-mentality’; after the 2nd day I gave up on that. Some of them came here to relax only, and do yoga on the side 😉, so they took their ‘me-time’. Also good for me to discover how I am reacting and responding when the group is so divers. To set my boundaries and take my position as a yoga teacher. Normally, a group takes the last morning class, has breakfast altogether and then they go. This group had 3 different check-out times, so I had just 2 people in the last morning class. But it was a fun and great class 😊!

Let me share one experience with you I had with this group. One of the ladies was quite poshy. When I told her about the second-class train and that it was really good, she said: ‘Oh, I only travel 1st class here. And I also don’t take a TukTuk, only a taxi. So gross, a Tuktuk, and all the dust, I get dirty. And it is just a few dollars, compare to my place it is so cheap.’ My face was about to do like this: 🤨🤔😳, but I managed it to stay like: 😊🤐. No judgements😇😅. If I am not teaching, I am a human being, and yes, I judge! The sentence ‘compare to my place’ was heavily repeated in many more conversations. I mentioned that maybe it was a good idea to be in this moment, and to look around and to enjoy everything around her, including the frogs in the toilet and the gecko poo on the bed. I added on that these things probably didn’t happen in her place, so now she was creating new experiences. She didn’t appreciate my comment, the rest of the group tried not to sniffle or laugh 😅. This is just one example, I can write a whole book about it 😉. But that is a new project 😜.
The good thing is, we planted a tree, for the project of Reforestation💪👏👊👍!

In between the retreats I went to Digana with Nell, to buy some sweet snacks, and oats, nuts and raisins for my breakfast (one of my struggles, the breakfasts here barely contain fibers, so I am hungry almost the whole time, and a little variation is welcome 😉). Then we had to go back, because new people were coming and they wanted to do a Yin-class. I rushed myself to get ready, but the guests arrived late, so no Yin-class that evening. The next morning, 7am, we had the kick-off. I decided to do a meditation on the veranda of our ‘honeymoon cabana’, the view over the lake is amazing and also the energy there is lovely. And it was full moon, that made it even more special 😊. These two girls loved it! They were lovely to have in the retreat, especially after the previous group 😊. They were so grateful and happy with everything, so easy going. For yoga I had to do a bit easier class, both weren’t quite experienced, and that was also good for me.

After these ladies no upcoming retreat, a lot of regular guests and one is here specific for yoga, but he didn’t book a retreat. So, non-stop teaching for the next 3 days. Oh, I had a local lady for yoga last week. She told Nell she practiced yoga before. It appeared to be 20 minutes (altogether 😜) on YouTube. But yes, she practiced😅. We did more or less a Yin-class, she liked it. She texted already she will be back next week 😊, maybe with some friends.

New place for teaching… yes/no/yes/no…
In my last blog I mentioned about Rukgala, a yoga retreat centre nearby my current place. It took a while before I got a response, they are now looking at one of their other centres to station me there (close to Negombo). The last message was 4 days ago, still waiting for a reply about the exact starting date and what they will offer. Keep you posted!

Already the last paragraphs 😉😇
So, that’s it for now, I try to keep the blogs shorter for you. I hopefully can post a new one soon, it was a bit hectic and busy here, I even had to postpone my online Dutch class, because of the big groups here (and none of them did yoga😠). Furthermore, a new article is on the way! Focussing on spring time, opening up and letting new, fresh energy in 😊.

Thanks again for reading, you can leave a comment if you want to share something with me as well 😊. And maybe you have some tips for me for kids yoga (in mean time I am checking if I can find a teacher training for it, suggestions are highly appreciated 😊🙏🏻).

💜💚 With love 💜💚                                              
littlemissyoga


P.S.: I had the hardest job during planting a tree… taking pictures🤪😇.

Extended update (perfect for reading on a lazy Saturday or Sunday 😀😇)

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‼⚠ Warning: long update ⚠‼

17/1 – 19/1/20: British invasion (trying to escape Brexit 😉)
A big group (9 people and 1 guide) checked in, 8 were British, 1 was Irish. Remon told me that they were here for hiking, so probably no yoga. Uhuh… let’s see! I talked with them after dinner, 3 people said immediately yes, 4 said maybe for the Yin Yoga for the next evening. And I also had 1 Dutch man. Could be 8 people in the class… and I got them all! 8 people, 6 were completely beginners for yoga, but they all loved it. And for me it was a great pleasure to teach these lovely group! That’s the thing in here, sometimes I have no one and then I have 8. That’s my maximum until now, and that’s enough cause I don’t have enough props yet whehehe 😜😅.

On the 19th all British people got Brexit😜, Nell and I went to Kandy by bus. Well, the first part by car, so we didn’t have to hike back (it’s a high slope from the bus to here). Kandy is a city, about 15 kms way from Digana. She just needed underwear, I just needed chewing gum and if there was a good bar of chocolate, then chocolate as well 😉. Well… we bought a lot more whehehe 😂. I bought clothes (I have to send back other ones, ones I don’t like wearing, because they don’t fit well), bought chocolate with 70% cacao (afterwards still too sweet for me) and I bought a bottle for hot water. I immediately tried the bottle when we came back; the bottle got hot on the inside and outside! The water kept warm for less than 2 hours instead of 12. The bottle came with a free pouch, to carry to bottle with you. Or was it to protect your hands for burning 🤔?? Anyway, I will try to return or swap this bottle soon, hopefully it works without a receipt (while writing this, I have another one, Nell went to Kandy with her son and swapped the bottle, this one is ok yeah 😃)  

Oh and, we had an Indian lunch, which is so nice, something different than the curries with rice 😊😇. I already asked to make chapati, but unfortunately, they can’t do it (probably they can but they don’t want to do it😉). So another type of lunch once a while is really lovely.

20/1 – 23/1/2020: Showers echoing on the roofs ☔💦😉
It is raining, paths are slippery, clothes are feeling moist, it is cold. I realised once again I don’t like rain, especially when you can’t get outside to do the things you want to do. So I turned inwards, I wrote about it in a previous blog, if you haven’t read it, herewith the link:

Inspirational thoughts thanks to the rain (unfortunately, it’s not raining men 😂😅)

Luckily, I had good company, Bas, from the Netherlands and Gisene, a German lady. They took some yoga classes, both had such a nice energy, it was so uplifting for me. Still grateful for that 🙏🏻💚. I learned a lot from Bas about Pranic Healing and the combination with chakras. I love to share my knowledge about chakras in my classes and connect asanas to it, especially in the Yin-classes. I am still learning more about the chakras, it is so interesting. New plans about this topic are already in my head 😊.

23/1/2020 – 27/1/2020 Norwegian invasion, 3rd yoga retreat  
The first Norwegian I met in Sri Lanka, Vilde, checked in for 3 nights. A powerful, strong lady, with a lot of energy and she loved yoga, so she joined my classes. Allisa checked in a day later for the yoga retreat. We had such a good connection together, that we did most things together. Vilde told crazy stories about her travels (put in jail in Morocco due to overstay, got out the jail by just asking the right person, discovered she had still marihuana in her bag so she couldn’t get to Spain, smoked the whole pack and entered Spain still stoned, we laughed are asses off 😂😂😂, ). She was also the one who told me that they are looking for another yoga teacher at Rugkala Resort, about 30 minutes away from here. I sent them an email, had an application interview on Jan 29, and will have a try out lesson on Feb 2. They are looking for a teacher for at least 1 year, let’s see after the class if I like it, if I am the one they are looking for. This resort is super-duper luxe! It is almost the opposite of where I am now 😅😎. If you are curious, here is the link to the website: https://rukgalaretreat.com/.

The retreat with Allisa (and partly Vilde) was lovely. This time I didn’t join the cooking class, so Charles, the master-cook 👨🏾‍🍳, could use garlic in all the dishes 😊. Allisa loved the classes, especially the Vinyasas in the morning, some were really challenging, even for me sometimes 😜😅. Always good to challenge yourself 😉.

It is nice to have people here for a yoga retreat, it is also quite challenging, because I have to host them more or less. So, I am quite busy all the days. But at the end, it is really worth it, to give them a good experience, to give them a really nice yoga class, to see that they enjoy their stay here. There were a few guests during the retreat, one came from Poland, he joined all classes during his stay here 😊. And, I got 1 Dutch guest, he took his first yoga class, a Yin class, he really liked it. His mom was a yoga teacher when he was young, but he never practiced any yoga. Well, who knows, he will start practicing yoga when he is back in the Netherlands 😉.

28-1-2020 until 31-1-2020: Dutch/Belgium invasion and the 4th retreat
We had a few couples/families from The Netherlands the last days. And also some Belgian people. And 3 persons for the 4th retreat, 1 was from… The Netherlands, the other 2 were a couple, now living in Australia. She was mixed Sri Lankan/Aussie, he was from Brazil, moved to Australia when he was 12. I think this group had the most dynamic, positive vibe! They left together on Jan 31, they became close friends😊. I think this retreat was the best one; we did crazy stuff during class (I did my malasana – bakasana – headstand, at least I tried it while I was explaining… I fell super hard on my chin, result: bruised, now it’s blue/purple, it will turn green and yellow soon I think 😅, welcome to the world of being a yoga teacher 😉), we were laughing during Yin classes (normally these are quite serious), we even did a photo shoot before the Yin class and I took some pictures during class (it was ok for them… new privacy policies 😅).

Ok, that’s it for now, you are all updated, today (1-2-2020) is a relaxing and recharging day, tonight I will teach Yin to 2 French people 😊. Today I will get ready for the class at Rukgala, maybe my new place to work as a yoga teacher 🙏🏻🧘🏻‍♀. Next update will follow, this will be a more personal one 😊.

💜💚 With love 💜💚               
         littlemissyoga


P.s.: I found cacao powder in the kitchen, I finished this update while sipping some of my cacao milk (well, basically cacao powder and boiled water, next time I will try it with coconut milk 😋😋)

P.p.s: You can leave comments below, if you want to keep updated, subscribe yourself. I heard that sometimes it doesn’t work the first time, please try again 😊 (I can’t figure out where the bug is 🤔)                         



Inspirational thoughts thanks to the rain (unfortunately, it’s not raining men 😂😅)

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Finally, wearing my rain coat :)

This whole week is rain the main ingredient of the weather. And as many of you know, I don’t like rain. At night it makes a lot of noise on the roof (a metal roof, made of plates), especially the leaves and all other things or maybe even animals that fall on it. In the jungle there are a lot of trees, there’s a good thing about them: when it is raining, they give you shelter. But when it doesn’t rain anymore, they start dripping, so you get wet anyway. Happy I brought my raincoat, for 2,5 months useless in my backpack, but now I wear it daily.

The rain makes me always a bit sad. It is always changing my plans, e.g. going for a walk and take pictures changes into relaxing in the hammock, read a book, type something and listen to the raindrops on the leaves and roofs. The rain is slowing me down, making me accepting the current situation and forcing the things to do I am postponing for days, or even months. Working on my plans, catching up with online studies, read about yoga, practice yoga, dive deeper into my ideas about my future. And because I didn’t sleep well due to (or because of) the rain, it is good to slow down. To turn more inwards. The same as Yin Yoga doing with my body, mind and soul. I don’t practice Yin a lot, but during teaching these classes, sometimes I practice the poses during the class, I feel such a massive calmness, stillness and peace entering my body, my mind and my soul. It is telling me that I am ok as I am, that the present moment is so beautiful and powerful, that I should enjoy every little bit of it. And that the past and future shouldn’t take away this moment. The focus on my breath helps me to stay present as does the sensation in my body when the pose sets deeper into it. This wonderful stretch, the opening, the power of gravity, the capacity of my body, the power of the breath, the power of the now. Eventhough I am quite a Yang-person myself (a lot of masculine energy), I am slowly opening my softer side, my Yin-side, the feminine side. Gentleness, kindness, softness, self-love and self-care, acceptance of what I am, all of myself, the good things and the bad things, all these things make me the way I am. Like Christina Aguilera sings: “You are beautiful in every single way”. Or Lady Gaga: “I am on the right track baby, I am born this way”. As a teenager I was always inspired by female singers, especially gothic singers. Not only the beauty of their voices, but the way they perform, they act, the power they have to show the world their qualities and after all: their message in their songs. I wasn’t jealous, I saw these people as an inspiration, an example; I told myself: one day I will also stand on stages and show people (without showing off) my qualities, my power, my enthusiasm for that one special thing. Maybe I don’t have 1 thing to focus on, because I like a few things very much, but there is 1 thing in common: I love to share my passion and enthusiasm about it with you, to inspire you to follow your path, to do what you really like. And I do this in the way of teaching. I teach yoga, I teach students (helping them with difficulties they have with some subjects at school) and I write blogs and articles and put them online, so everyone can read it. By sharing my knowledge, my vision (I try not to judge, which is hard, cause it is planted in our instinct) I hope to inspire others – direct and indirect – to take a look at their lives and give them the courage to change if they need a change to find their way to happiness. Happiness should be the journey, not the destination. And to discover, explore and experience happiness you will go through rough times, periods in which you feel unhappy, even more disconnected with yourself than before, this is part of the journey. Sometimes the best chance to happiness comes in disguise, e.g. as a blockage, an obstacle, a disease. So even when you are on your lowest point (as far as you can tell at the moment), keep on breathing, surrender to it, open your heart, listen to it and remember: you have all the answers inside you, you just need to ask the right questions. And hell yeah, you will ask yourself questions which aren’t the right ones immediately, but they teach you a lesson, they give you the knowledge you need at that particular moment, before you can carry on. It’s that simple 😊. Although the experience at the moment doesn’t feel that way…hold on, you’re closer to your goal than you think. So don’t give up! Lift up your head, look up, then you can see where you are going to, which direction you have to go. Every little tiny step forward is a step forward. Even standing still is a good thing. Time for contemplation, reconsideration, reconnection, gathering your powers back together, recharge yourself. Only then you can continue your journey. And soon enough you will discover that you have reached your goal, the summit, the peak, and you realise: you made it! Look around you, look down, see the long way you have been taking, maybe it looks like you just finished a trail run of 85kms, and you have reached the finish line! Imagine how that feels! Can you feel it already? How does It feel? Feels like you want more, doesn’t it? Enjoy that feeling, embrace it, inhale it, put it in your body, mind and soul, feel the power of it and let that power flow through your entire body, let it enlighten your soul, let it fill up your mind with bright new ideas, new goals. Even small goals, small ideas are perfect; never underestimate the power of the little things, e.g. doing the laundry, or washing up, or finish your last push up of your 3rd set of 15 push ups. Feel this victory, celebrate it with every cell in your body (and you got millions of them, what a big party it will be!!). And keep this in mind; it will give you the will power to continue, to keep on climbing that (maybe difficult) road; once again if you have reached that top, you will even feel better than the first time.

These words are not only for you, they also are really empowering for me. Some people told me that they are so surprised of how much energy and positivity I have, time after time. Believe me, I can be the complete opposite… a real grumpy, angry and negative person. Sometimes I am afraid of myself when I feel that way; then I realise that I do need these emotions. To find the balance for my over-enthustiastic and over-energetic moods, I need to be low, it is my way to restore, to slow down, to recharge. The more aware I am of both sides, the more I find my balance, the less mood-swings I have and the happier I am. This process will never end, I will only become a better master when I observe it (hence sit back and let it happen), accept it and let it go. Sometimes it takes a few minutes, sometimes it takes a day, but as long as I am aware of it, I can make a decision, I am fully in charge to change it.

And during this writing I feel that I feel way more energized, not that tired anymore due to my lack of sleep. For me, writing this kind of inspirational words (based on my own experiences) helps me to get back my energy, my flow. I hope it also works for you, so that’s why I share my words, my thoughts with you. Let me know what these words did to you and maybe you want to share your experience with me, I would love to learn from you! In this life we are all students and teachers, no matter how old you are😊.

💜💚 With love & happiness 💚 💜    
                    littlemissyoga                  

P.s. I had the intention to post is right away, but as always unexpected things… 😇 The good thing is: the sun is shining again 😎 ☀🙏🏻!

My first week@Polwaththa Eco-Lodges, Sri Lanka

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I got here on January 3, by train from Colombo to Kandy, with the bus from Kandy to Digana and then with a tuktuk to Polwaththa. The sign says ‘steep climb’ when you got to the road and definitely, it is a steep climb! The tuktuk had a hard time to concur the steep climb, but he managed it! A few days later I walked that path, man, it was a hard climb. I think it is just 1 kilometer, it took me 15 minutes! I was even sweating, and I just walked, didn’t even run! A good workout, let’s say that.

I got a bit upset when I heard that I was finally about to teach at the 11th. But now, writing this, I am quite happy with this. I got some more days off, practiced yoga, explored the environment a bit, prepared a bit for the retreat, joined Silvia’s classes, relaxed a bit as well 😉. We first had to share a room, but that didn’t work out. I am an early bird, she slept until late (well… until 6.25am, then she had to hurry up to be in time for the class, 6.45am 😉). The first night in that room was strange, I woke up (actually I had a lucid dream); someone sat on me and was trying to choke me (sleep paralyses, black entities, had it before). It is always a struggle to wake up from that ‘dream’ cause you can’t move, that entity is taking over your body. I finally managed to wake up, fell back asleep after half an hour. Silvia hadn’t noticed a thing, luckily, but I had to tell her. She cleansed the room the next day; I slept like a baby, but she couldn’t sleep anymore. Also the next night. We asked for separate rooms, luckily they had rooms left. She slept better, I slept worse the first night in the new room. But now, everything is ok. I got used to all the sounds and dropping twigs, leaves ore jumping squirrels on the roof 😊.

07/01/2020 Trekking: Dotalugala – 1407meters – leeches!
This day I went on a trekking with Shylo, a lady from the US, she was here with her close friend, who was sick unfortunately, so she couldn’t join us. We left at 9am, lunch box (noodles and veggies) in our rucksack. Namal was our guide, he is a good guide and knows so much about birds, he is more or less a bird spotter! If I had do the tour it would be something like: ‘this is a big tree and this a small tree. This tree has bi leaves, that one has no leaves. And this is a plant with pink flowers, that plant smells good. And there is a big bird, and over there… sat a bird, but now it had flown away…. A terrible guide I would be 😉. Next to birds, plants, trees and mosquitos we saw salamanders, lizards and a big iguana crossing the road on our way back. The tuktuk drive towards this spot took about 45 minutes, good moment to talk. The walk itself was 12 km’s, 4,5km to the top of the mountain and 4,5 back, 3km to see another viewpoint (all over the Knuckels area, a group of mountains more or less in central Sri Lanka). The trekking was a medium one, Shylo and I (and Namal as well) found it very easy. Namal was just wearing flipflops, we had our hiking boots and sexy socks, to prevent us from the leeches (for the Dutchies: bloedzuigertjes). And also a spray with a mixture of water and Dettol to scare these little creepy worms away (it really worked). The funniest thing is the way these little creatures are moving themselves. Like a guenon (stokstaartje), looking up to this victim, then throws himself on your shoe (or herself, I couldn’t see any difference between the sexes 😉) and then it tries to make its way to your leg or feet, to suck your blood. Luckily for us, no leeches had reached our feet or legs, thanks to the sexy socks. The lunch we had was noodles and vegetables and some fresh water from above…it started to rain quite hard just at the moment we were starting our lunch. Another nice experience 😊. The rain lasted for 15 minutes, the sun started to shine afterwards, we dried quickly and continued our trip. On the last part there was a whole crew to shoot some kind of movie, we asked them to join them but they were not amused… so, no 15 minutes of fame for me 😉. On the way back I did some shoppings (local snacks and incense sticks), I took a shower and sat back and relaxed.

08/01/2020: Another day off
A good day to walk around and explore the area. Well, yeah, I got lost. I walked a long way up, not to steep and after almost 1 hour I discovered that there was no T-junction or intersection where I could go left or right to create a loop. I checked Google maps, and it says: 7.3 kms… 1 hour and 45 minutes… that means: uphill and downhill roads. Ok… well, challenge accepted! It was a nice walk! I saw a lot of the beautiful environment.  Walking in the jungle is nice as well, but you see only trees,  plants and spiderwebs (do you know that feeling that you got them in your face all the time? Welcome to the jungle😉). The view of the rice paddies, hills and some small villages was therefore extra nice. Sometimes Google is not really reliable… I almost got to my ‘home’ and suddenly it says: 3 kms, go back. Go back? No way, I was almost there, just another 1 km… but I didn’t know wether I had to left or right at that T-junction. And suddenly I heard: Hi hi, you need tuktuk? Oh no, another tuktuk driver… the man repeated: you need tuktuk? You yogateacher Polwaththa. What?? Yes, that’s me! It was VJ, one of the employees who was on his way to Polwaththa! My life saver! Also because that last part is so steep to climb up! Man, I felt so happy! I was also lucky that I wore my hiking boots, if I had to do this all on flipflops… I would have taken a tuktuk from the moment Google said: 7.3kms 😉

09/01/2020: A short trip to civilisation!?
Today, after my self-practice Nella asked us to join her to walk to Digana, the small city close by. Silvia, Nella and I, we walked down through the jungle (short cut) to the bus station. We had plans to walk all the way, but time was ticking, so we decided to take the bus. I asked to buy some candles and also some muesli, to put over the fruits. Even though the breakfast is great, it is a bit boring already. The pancakes and milk rice are too sweet (which I like sometimes, but not all the time), the typical Sri Lankan breakfast is not my type of breakfast (it is a curry with stringhoppers (a kind of noodles), quite savory, I prefer a bit sweet in the morning), I don’t want to eat eggs (but I think I have to, because I feel less energized, because there are barely vegan replacements here such as legumes, tofu, nuts), so I thought: muesli on top of my fruit gives me some fibres and stuffing. I didn’t expect that muesli and rolled oats were that expensive and it is not even the real muesli, it looks more like cornflakes. Anyway, it is a bit more bite in the morning 😊. Silvia and I didn’t want to go in the first place, but there was no electricity, so no Wifi. We both needed Wifi to work on our laptops… then shopping is a good alternative. Normally, the powercut is just a few hours, this one lasted the whole day. It was because they were cutting the branches of the trees and it is a policy to switch off the electricity so no one gets electrocuted. The power was back around 6pm, the time that it becomes dark here.

Before we jumped on the bus to Digana, we went to the weaving ladies. They are making sarongs and saris, completely handwoven. 3,300 rupees for a sari (circa €16,50) and 1,600 rupees for a sarong (almost € 8). Really cheap it you think about how many hours it takes to makes these clothes. If someone is interested, I can take some pictues of the sarongs and saris and send it to you (my backpack is too full to take it with me all the time).

The shopping in Digana was just for 1 hour, it was enough, this trip to civilisation (I don’t know if it is more civilised than the life in the jungle 😉). We found what we needed, and we were just waiting in the bus back home, when Nella called her son; he was in Digana by car, he picked us up and we drove back altogether. Yeah, no uphill climb for us (woohoo!!).

Oopsie… again quite a long blog. That’s my problem, once I start writing, I keep on going. Maybe I can start writing a book 😉. Or creating an E-book, you just have to listen while you continue your other things 😉. The next blog will be posted soon 😊. And feel free to comment on the blog, I really appreciate that 😊😊!

💜💚 With love 💜💚   
littlemissyoga

                                           

        

2020 – A beautiful new year has begun!

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Hi all!

Finally, I am back with an update, but first of all best wishes for 2020. Have you set up a whole list of resolutions? Or maybe you already forgot about them? I have definitely resolutions, but I keep them simple and small, so I make sure I will keep them and make it happen 😊. One of my resolutions (or maybe I better call them goals) is to set up retreats. I have never done that, so I don’t know where to start yet. The first retreat I will teach is  at Polwaththa Eco-lodges in Sri Lanka and I saw that one of my yoga-teachers friends wants to set up retreats as well! So, that is good news. By the end of this year, I might have reached my goal! But that’s enough about serious business, let’s update you about my travels 😊.

Luang Prabang – Laos
After my 2 months teaching in Vang Vieng (VV) I went to Luang Prabang (LP) for 2 days. I got there on December 30, got a free pick up to my hotel, checked in and went for a walk. Luang Prabang is a cute little village, protected by Unesco. It feels like you are in a movie, it doesn’t feel like a real city. It is quite touristic, but despite of that it doesn’t feel like that. The food is amazing! And when I walked around, I met a couple which practiced yoga with us in VV 😊. It’s a small world after all!

In the evening I met Shara, another yoga student. We met in VV and there we found out we were both going to LP on the same day. So, that’s why we met each other there. We booked a tour on the 31st: Waterfall, Bear Sanctuary and The Butterfly Garden (this is run by Dutch people). The waterfall (Kuang Si) was beautiful and cold! I swam in it, the water was pretty chilly (like the pool in Silver Naga 😉), but after a few moments it was really nice. In the Butterfly Garden they had a pool with the Dr. Fish fishes, the ones that eat dead skin of your feet. It’s a funny feeling, especially when a big one becomes really greedy and tries to eat a big piece 😉. I have so much dead skin on my feet, that if I had to wait until all was done, I probably would have been there still 😉. And we just had 2,5 hours altogether to do these activities, then we headed back to LP. We walked through the city, went to a temple to chant with the monks. The chanting felt like a mental cleaning on the last day of 2019, releasing all my sins 😉. The swim in the waterfall was the physical cleaning for me. After the chant we had a nice vegan meal on the night market. Ready for a party, you all think. Well… we were sooo tired that we got back to the hotel. I packed my bag and went to bed at 10.30pm, because I had to wake up early the next day to go to the airport (7.30am take off to Vientiane, to continue to Colombo – Sri Lanka). So, no New Year Party for me. In Laos they don’t celebrate it, so I didn’t miss a thing. I had a good sleep and was ready for the next adventure: Sri Lanka.

Trip to Colombo – Welcome to Sri Lanka
5.45 am – the taxi picked me up to go to the airport. After my check in I called to Holland (oh, officially The Netherlands😉) cause is was New Year there. The flight from LP to Vientiane went well. But then… I booked my ticket from Vientiane (VTE) to Colombo via Kunming (China), baggage should go straight to Colombo, lay-over 1 hour 50 minutes, perfect! Well… at the airport of VTE I was being told that I had to check out and check in, get a China Visa (temporary one). Uhm… 1 hour and 50 minutes to have baggage, Immigration, check in, Immigration, security… Long story short, I made it. Together with another passenger we could get through the priority lane 😊. That was a big relieve! After landing in Colombo, I took a taxi to bring me to my hostel. Then I went with Yogya, she stayed in the same hostel, to have some dinner at the beach. Hard to find something vegan at the beach… all with fish, meat or eggs. After the dinner (something Sri Lankan vegetarian food, really good though, I was also really hungry)… straight to bed, tired of the whole trip.

Colombo – Another big city
The next day, I was awake early, getting ready for my visa extension at the Immigration department. Too lazy to get a bus, I took a tuktuk to get me there, handed in some papers, went from one room to the other, waited a little and within 2,5 hours it was done! Way faster than some websites mentioned 😊. While waiting I saw another person of the hostel, Thomas from Swiss; we went back to the center of Colombo by the public bus, walked around, acting as tourists 😊. It was good to spend that day together; we both agreed that Colombo was just another big, polluted and too crowded city. 2 Nights in this city was more than enough. We saw some beautiful spots though, like the Red Mosque, small allies, a big parc and a smaller parc, some temples and we went to the beach to get some snacks as dinner (we had a big Indian lunch). The next day we walked together to the Fort train station (little girl, too big backpack, I really need to ditch stuff). I bought a ticket to Kandy (250 RP is like $1,50 or so), he went to another place in Sri Lanka.  2nd class, not reserved, which means that you can get packed in the train. I was lucky, got a seat 😊. That’s the way it goes with traveling, you meet people, spend some time together and then you are going your own way again.

I was ready to teach, then I got a message from Polwaththa, the other teacher would stay here until January 10, so I should start teaching on the 10th instead of 5ht, as we had agreed. I already prepared everything for the trip to Digana (the name of the village where Polwaththa is), I didn’t want to stay in another city just for killing time. I told that I couldn’t change my program; the owner agreed on it, I could come this way and share the room with the other teacher. She didn’t know that I was coming… all was a big mess and miscommunication. Now I will start teaching on the 11th, until that day I am just doing nothing… like self-practice, joining the classes (if we have people), walking around in the jungle (we are almost in the middle of the jungle!), do some trekkings, writing a blog, reading a book, annoying the staff 😉 and enjoying the good food they cook here! Really amazing! Sorry for LP and Laos, but Sri Lankan (vegan) curries, vegetables and the breakfast are amazing!

We have 3 bookings for yoga retreats and regular bookings for the upcoming days, hopefully these regular people will join my yoga classes too😊.

Well, that’s is for now, it’s a bit longer than I had in mind. Next one will be shorter 😉.

💜💚 With love 💜💚   
     littlemissyoga              

P.s: I uploaded some new pictures, check the gallery :).