Flowing with the Chakras

There is an incredible book called 'The Book of Life' that discusses the religion and society of ancient Egypt. Believe it or not, their practices are very, very similar to yoga practiced in India and The Sciend of Yoga that we are studying at Pyramid Yoga Center here in Thailand. Take a look. It's fascinating. For instance, we've learned that humans usually use only 10% of their lung capacity. Due to pollution, processed foods, lack of exercise, stress and lack of breathing, we do not have enough oxygen in our systems to function properly, i.e. deficient immune systems, poor circulation, high stress, anxiety, insomnia, fatigue, grumpiness, etc. The list goes on and on. We started this program learning how to breathe. For days and days, it seems like that is all we did. It drove me bonkers. But now that we have learned various breathing techniques and expanded our lung capacity by doing various asanas (postures), I can feel the difference in my entire body. I am more vital and radiant than I have ever been. Of course, being without work and exercising 2.5 hours every day helps, but I can really feel a difference by the increased amount of oxygen in my body. They say that one of the biggest causes of disease is oxygen deficient cells. So is it possible that if we breathed more, we could cure some of those diseases without medicine? In Egypt, the first thing they did with sick people was to isolate them for three days to do various breathing exercises. They then had the people fast or do enemas to clear their systems. They then had them meditate to connect with a higher power and to clear their mind of the internal clutter. Only after all of this was done would they try to establish what else needed to be done. Oftentimes, the cure was already exacted through these techniques.
It's an interesting prospect. The power of oxygen. I welcome your comments...
Let me go ahead and describe a typical day. At 5:30 a.m., I wake up with the sunrise and the jungle wakes up with me. I sleep with my windows open and hope that the mosquito net will keep all unwanted guests out of my bed at least. Before rising, I say five things I am grateful for and do a couple of twists. Before popping out of bed, I check for scorpions on the floor - haven't seen any yet. I have a backdoor that leads to a bathroom without a ceiling. My mom and stepfather sent me a goofy pink wallhanging (cotton) that says "life is good" with a beatnick looking yogi smiling broadly - that's the first thing I see when I open the bathroom door and it always makes me smile. Thanks mom and Eric - you guys are funny every morning! I check for scorpions and snakes as I desend the three steps to my cold shower (no hot water here) which I take under the dawning sky. I may have "a spot of tea" before throwing on loose pants and a yoga shirt with a scarf. Sometimes I grab a handful of cashew nuts on my way out.

I walk up two hills and then a jungle path to get to the Pyramid. Sometimes I wear shoes, sometimes not. If it's raining, I may or may not take an umbrella. It doesn't really matter as it is relatively hot and steamy and we have water tubs outside of the studio and bathroom to clean our feet. The walk up both hills takes about 15 minutes. The Pyramid is open air with the largest mosquito net of blue ever seen. The 26 of us meditate there from 6:30 - 7:00 a.m. with the guidance of teachers David or Marina. As of yet, I haven't been able to stop the chatter of the mind. The jungle is teeming with noises from all the creatures and curiously there is a karaoke bar down the road that blasts thai music accompanied by bad singing during those morning hours. There is a lot to listen to, but my mind is the loudest of all. At one point, I had a haze where I didn't really hear anything, but I came out of the haze saying over and over: "In the work of One, there are no others." I take this to mean that while I am on this path of yoga, I ought not to get involved romantically or to pursue other activities as they will distract me from this inner journey. Thereafter, it's all good, even better in fact, b/c I'll know myself better and will certainly love myself much more. This program is good in every way possible. It's as if I left a charade and am in a grounded, nurturing place that encourages me to look at myself, feel myself, find where I exist as part of this world and STOP just to listen and feel and create. It gives me vitality, life, inspiration and answers a lot of questions that I hadn't bothered to consider before.
After mediation, we have asana practice from 7-9:30 a.m. It's incredible to do these practices in flow with our inhalations and exhalations. In San Francisco, I attended dynamic, fast classes that told us when to inhale and exhale, but it was all so fast that I often didn't breathe correctly in order to keep up. Thankfully, we took a LOT of time to learn the breathing, so I am finally doing the asanas as they are supposed to be felt - a flow of body and breath. It's incredible! At 9:30, we go down to the restaurant for breakfast. Every day I have a cup of tea and homemade mueslix of coconut and ground cashew nuts atop fresh papaya, pineapple, mango, banana and raisins with yogurt and coconut milk (sometimes I had palm sugar also). Yes mom, you'd be in heaven. I love breakfast here - it's the best mueslix I ever had. All made here, except for the yogurt and raisings.
Thereafter, it's back to the pyramid. We sit on pillows in either lotus, cross legged or knees bent underneath us. The point is to keep our backs straight for hours and hours in these positions. It was difficult initially, but it's getting easier. We stretch at times, too. We then discuss the chakras and their effects physiologically, psychologically and spiritually. The first, manipura, is the root chakra - it is materialism, survival instincts. Very rooted. The second is more fluid, represented by water and covalence - this represents our emotions, social instincts and reflections of other ideas - this is also the sexual attraction area. The third, swadhistana is the fire energy, like the sun. This is where we create and are active and strong. It destroys things to create new things. It is action! The fourth is the heart chakra. Love in and out. Emotions of where we've been and where we're going. it also the repulsion element in that we extend beyond ourselves to provide. It is somewhat connected to the intuition element which we'll get to in chakra 6 - ajna - third eye. Details to come. We're on the 4th right now.
During these hours, we also watch movies, learn sanskrit chants, songs and names of asanas. We are learning Egyptian dance, Yantra yoga (yogic numerology), diet and nutrition, voice training, Bhagvad Gita, Indian and Egyptian philosophy and tons more.
I rented a motorbike finally for the rest of my time on this island. It's nice to have one as the Internet and civilization are down a very steep mountain. Now I can ride my bike down and not have to climb back up.
I get homesick for my friends and family. We have a terrific community in SF. There is also a terrific community here. Tonight, I am going to dinner with an English lady named Vicky. I hope you are all well. I am very, very, very happy to be here. Life is short. I'm glad I'm living it like this now.
Kisses and hugs and love!!!
Kyra