WEEK 4: ASSESSMENTS, THAI MASSAGE AND GRADUATION
Week 4 consisted of assessments and my mother arriving!
On Monday I had my 25 minute teaching assessment and I was shitting it. See my next post for the theme of the class. I enjoyed doing it and got some good, constructive feedback. I have a nice, kind energy with a calm voice, I was present on the mat and had a nice flow with nice quotes. I just need to talk more whilst in the poses about the energy lines etc, and explain how to get into the pose before saying the name.
On Tuesday I had my meditation assessment which was nice and easy as we were allowed notes and we had done it a thousand times. So after Tuesday morning I was done for the week ready to start studying for the exam on Friday but more importantly, my mum was arriving on Wednesday morning! Last minute dot com, she booked her flights, got her visa accepted, got her jabs and flew out to Goa within 5 days! Absolute madness.
On Wednesday lunchtime I went to find my mum, in her jet lag dazed we sat on the bed together. She found it very weird to see me on the other side of her hut door and I found it weird but strangely normal to have my mum in Agonda! The weird moment was when I had been with such a familiar face to return to my newly familiar faces after lunchtime within the space of 5 minutes. That took a while to get my head around.
On Thursday we had a Thai yoga massage workshop. Me and Carolyn were in a pair. Carolyn was the masseuse first. I wanted to feel what it was like so I could do it on her and add anything. We did a short 30 minute sequence, and it felt so nice so when it came to my turn I was looking forward to it. Half way through you have to ask your partner to put their hands on the back of their neck, when I asked Carolyn she looked like she just woke up haha! So I must have been doing something right. She said she definitely nodded off as she can only remember me doing one particular move on one side of her body when I definitely did it on both sides. This workshop made me want to do a course on it, Birame recommended that I did the course in Thailand as it’s another skill I can have back at home and anywhere in the world.
Friday consisted of a group assessment and then the dreaded exam. The group assessment wasn’t too bad. Picking an asana name out of a hat and having to demo the adjustments and point out the key and aim of the pose. It was a lot easier when it wasn’t your own turn though. Then after breakfast we were all sat down ready to do our exam. It really wasn’t that bad at all but definitely had to have studied. A sense of relief came over everyone and now it was graduation time. Seeing everyone dressed in white again and having my mum there was really special. Alice had her parents there too so they hung around together.
When we were sitting in the circle I was looking around at everyone’s familiar faces. Comparing it to the opening ceremony where I was looking around at the same faces but as strangers. Elena’s boyfriend sang a song on his small guitar (can’t remember the name) and just like the first time I heard it, it pulled at my heart strings and started to make me cry. I was sat next to Alice asking her why on earth did I put mascara on??? I truly believe that these past few weeks have helped me become the person I have always been. Obstacles and life have gotten in the way but right now I feel so content with myself and always have that special place to go to… Yoga. The same old Indian man was sat in the middle of the circle with the fire burning so group by group we went up and threw the same sawdust into the fire throwing away negative energy. Deepak invited my mum and Alice’s mum upto the fire with the karma yogis, that was a special thing to see! One by one we were called up by Deepak who made a few jokes with people’s names, we received our flower garland from Sudhir and our TTC certificates from Deepak, then having a photograph with all the teachers. Deepak invited my mum up to have a photograph with me which was really special!
We then headed to the beach for more photos with the sunset. It was such a special time to be surrounded by everyone having such lovely photos and celebrating our hard work and dedication in graduating in something so special and life changing.
The night ended with us all letting our hair down at Saxony beach huts on the south side of Agonda beach. There were a few bottles of prosecco and Moijitos involved and lots of dancing and talking. Seeing everyone let their hair down in different ways was so great to see! We had such a laugh. At about 2am some of us decided to call it a night whilst the remaining 7 headed off to Leopard Valley with Deepak and co! I woke up the next morning still drunk. What a difference after these few weeks haha!
These short blog posts can’t even begin to describe the journey I have taken. There were tough parts yet most of the time I couldn’t have been happier. I have made friends who are from, live and travel all over the world that I’ll know forever. We cleaned up our asanas together, we pushed our bodies beyond our limits, we studied philosophy and asked why together, our energies everyday helped getting up at 6am and having classes sometimes until 9pm feel worth it as we were all in this together itching to learn more about yoga and ourselves. Unexpected friendships are the best kind. It has been one of the best months of my life and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.
