Louisa one of the other guests and I headed out in the afternoon to the luxury hotel near Kovalam called the Leela for a bit of an explore and light snack. The hotel is located on the grounds of a former palace, now deserted. Lush and green with gorgeous views of the ocean below. Apparently the Indian government sold the land to the Leela and is...

Weather Hot, 94 degrees, humidity 90% Today after breakfast, Tea & Toast (No cheese sandwiches here) we set out for the beach, a long journey of about 15 yards.. Obviously tired from the experience we laid down to sleep. Cmon.. sleep, dont be daft!, the sea is warm and inviting, time to show the Indian world my physice.. gerrinthere..... Now I l...

9th - 16th June '06 (Summary) Well the World Cup started on the 9th and I followed the intention to watch as much as possible. I won't go in to details regarding the matches, I can't actually remember much of any one match since I watched so many! For England's first game I strolled down to the beach and watched it in a restaurant/bar by the nam...

Wednesday 31st May '06 (Summary) Good night's rest in the GTDC hotel in Margao - up and out by noon and down to the station by rickshaw through the rain. Train was due in at 12.35 an impossibility in my opinion but nevertheless one had to be there on time, just in case a miracle happened and the train that was chugging down from Delhi arrived on...

Kovalam used to be the place for hippies to hangout in Kerala, now it's turned from a quiet fishing village into a budding package resort....still nowhere near as touristy as Goa...but getting there I think. The beach is pretty, palm trees and a lighthouse on the rocks, the restaurants are spread along the front overlooking the sea and are varia...

"Rhonda's Haircut: Free Time Plus Loaned Salon Tools" sweeps the Boscars!! Clips from the documentary now available! The Academy apologizes for the delay, due to Kovalam style internet connection. Thus the clips appear on Stephanie's blog instead of Rhonda's, which may soon exhibit before and after pictures as well as local reviews of the docume...

The January schedule has exhausted me - this month the full moon occurred on a Saturday and the new moon is the the 29th, the last Sunday of the month. Normally, the ashtanga rest day schedule (Saturdays, new and full moon days) creates alternating weeks of six and five days of practice. This month, the planets aligned so that all four weeks are...

My practice time has remained at 6:30am for a couple of weeks, a perfect hour for me. Staying in bed past sunrise is a luxury. This week especially was very crowded - I am one of the last people to start before the practice space is full (about 30 people). He moves people forward as more students start; I do my sun salutations in the back row, a...

Most of the Atlanta domination still remains in Kovalam. I have enjoyed spending time with Lori and Sylvia; I never expected to connect with any Atlanta people while in India! Nice to have people who won't laugh when I say "y'all" and can help explain grits. (For the record, one person told me that they sound horrendous. Foolish :-) Like Thanksg...

Yoga remains beautiful here in Kovalam. Patanjali defined yoga in his sutras as the cessation of thoughts, something that Lino emphasizes all the time. He is fond of saying, "No thinking, you do." Last Sunday we had a short workshop, just covering basic things like bandhas and breath. I appreciate those reminders, amongst all the focus on postur...