Rejeki

Sejak serius menekuni dunia Yoga, banyak keajaiban yang terjadi di dalam kehidupanku, seperti mimpi yang dikabulkan, diberi kemudahan, diberi fasilitas tanpa harus membayar, dan lain-lain.

Memang rejeki setiap orang itu berbeda-beda. Beda orang, beda rejekinya. Beda orang, beda usaha dan kemampuannya kan. Jadi janganlah bandingkan rejeki kita dengan rejeki orang lain. Kalau membandingkan, terasa sekali bahwa kita tak menghargai rejeki yang diterima dan yang datang pada kita.

Lompat-lompat mencari celah rejeki itu tidaklah salah. Wajar dan diharuskan, karena lahan rejeki itu luas, ada dimana saja dan dalam bentuk yang bermacam-macam.

Rejeki itu tidaklah selamanya soal berapa uang yang kita terima atau dapatkan. Rejeki bisa berupa dan datang dalam bentuk uang, kesempatan, kemudahan, fasilitas, dan lain-lain. Tergantung bagaimana cara kita melihatnya.

Rejeki tidak pernah salah alamat dan tidak pernah jatuh ke tangan yang salah. Kalau tidak dapat, ya berarti memang rejeki itu bukanlah milik kita.

Bila kita bisa menghargai berapa pun dan dalam bentuk apa pun rejeki yang kita dapat dan terima, maka bersyukur adalah rasa terima kasih yang paling jujur.

Namaste.

Kita dan Semesta

Semua ada karmanya & karma tinggal menunggu waktunya saja. Semesta tak buta, tak lupa & tak pernah tidur.

Semesta itu tak memiliki agama, namun terus memberi berkah pada manusia tanpa pandang agama. Apa kabar manusia dengan agamanya?

Tuhan pun tak beragama, namun curahan kasih sayang-Nya ke manusia tanpa pandang agama. Apa kabar manusia dengan agamanya?

Terkadang, lebih nyaman untuk tak beragama, namun menghormati proses di alam semesta ini. Kita menjadi lebih bijak & ramah terhadap sesama.

Seburuk apa pun kita memperlakukan semesta, matahari tetap terbit di timur, tetap tenggelam di barat & pohon-pohon tetap tumbuh. Semesta tak beragama ini memang cantik.

Aku cinta kepadamu, Tuhanku yang Maha Baik & Semestaku yang cantik & dermawan.

Namaste.

My Journey at Yoga Energetics Teacher Training 2012

I have been practicing Yoga since 2007. (http://astridamalia.blogspot.com/2008/12/yoga-breath-of-my-life.html)
After a while, some people asked me if I was interested to join Yoga Teacher Training. At that time, I was not sure if I had the teaching sense in me.

In 2012, after I attended Bali Spirit Festival 2012, I started to search for Yoga Teacher Training nearby. I didn't know why I did that, but there was a call from the inside of me to do that. And I felt like the Universe had prepared everything for me to do the journey that changed my perspective on life. It started from the people I knew when I attended the Bali Spirit Festival who became the people who helped me on the rest of my journey. Then when I searched for Yoga Teacher Training, many schools offered that. After I made some selections, there were only three schools on my list. I dropped the first one because I didn't know the teacher. I dropped the second one too as it was too expensive for me, and the time of the training was not right as I had to attend my best friend's wedding. The only thing that was left on my list was Cat Kabira's Yoga Energetics Teacher Training. But the time was ticking as I was about to register for the training three weeks before the training started. I knew it was a bit too late, but then I thought maybe I could try. When I contacted Cat Kabira via Facebook, surprisingly I could still register. Who! And that was the start of an interesting journey in my life.

Before I flew to Bali from Jakarta, I was confused about the place to live in Ubud during the training. But a friend that I met when I attended the Bali Spirit Festival offered me to stay at his place. Thank you, my dear best friend. So, I flew to Bali a week before the training started to get used to living in Ubud.

At the opening ceremony of the Yoga Energetics Teacher Training, Cat Kabira as the leading instructor in the training welcomed the students and introduced the other teachers, like Kari Jacobsen and Lindsey Wise. The number of students was 22 people, and I was the only Indonesian person in the training. Yeah, Indonesia, you had a representative there!

The training was held from the 13th of May to the 18th of June 2012. Five weeks, from Monday to Saturday, from 6 AM to 6 PM. Very intensive! The training was intensive as it had to meet the standard of 200 hours of Yoga Teacher Training from the Yoga Alliance in the United States of America.

The curriculum of the training might be the same as other yoga teacher training, like Yoga Philosophy, Pranayama, Meditation, Yin Yoga, Yoga Asanas, Prenatal Yoga, Kids Yoga, Yoga Nidra, etc. But from my own perspective, the experience and the journey in this training were amazing! It was a magical experience that happened to the 22 yoga students that came from every corner of the world!

Every morning, Cat Kabira led the Morning Yoga Asanas. She taught her students to concentrate more on our core as the center of our emotions. Usually, people think with their brain and their heart. For Cat, it is not enough to think with the brain and heart. Cat said that we have to include our core in every aspect of our decision-making process. Whatever the brain and the heart think, if our core doesn't feel comfortable, then we don't have to do whatever plan we want to do. I really could feel this method of “back to core” decision-making process at the Fire Walking Ceremony.

I had asked Cat and Kari about this ceremony since the first day of the training. With a smile, both of them said that I didn't have to do it if I felt so afraid of it. And on the day when this Fire Walking Ceremony really came, what happened was magic! The ceremony was led by Cat Kabira and Dan Glynn. The ceremony was divided into four stages. We began the ceremony by praying that the ceremony would go smoothly, setting the fire on the woods and the coconut, and singing some happy songs.

In the first stage, we learned to calm down our ticklish feeling when someone tickled our feet with chopsticks. At this stage, I could not help myself for not laughing when the other students put the chopsticks on my feet. Yeah, I am so ticklish, what can I do?

In the second stage, we learned to defeat our fear by bending construction steel that was placed at our throats. So, two students placed the steel at their throats that had been protected by a piece of paper and walked towards each other to bend the steel until they could hold each other bodies. I wasn't afraid of this, but I felt a little bit hurt in my throat. And I did it two times!

In the third stage, we walked on broken glasses from bottles. At this stage, fear started to come to my mind. But as the other students could walk on the glass, then I asked myself to forget about the fear and started to walk. When I walked on the glasses, amazingly I felt so good! It felt like having reflexology treatment. And I did that many times!

At the final stage, that was about time to walk on the fire. At this stage, I felt so afraid and planned to run away from the ceremony. My brain kept telling me that the fire was hot and that I should not walk on it. I also kept asking the other students who bravely walked on the fire how they could do it. The other students told me that I would be ready when I was ready and that I had to listen to my core. So, this was the real training for me to listen to my core. So, I waited until my core was ready and started to gather my will to walk on the fire. When I finally walked on fire, I felt like I had conquered the fear in me. And I did it so many times. I felt like getting addicted to it!
The lesson I can learn from this is that if I can be peacefully calmed and relaxed, I can concentrate myself to turn the impossible to be a possible one. No matter what the brain and the heart say that I can't do it, if my core is calm and relaxed, then it is always possible for me to do it!
Thank you, Dan and Cat, for building strength and confidence in my core!

Cat Kabira also taught us to respect nature, especially on the New Moon and Full Moon. That's why the training also held New Moon Ceremony and Full Moon Ceremony. Based on the research, 80% of the human body consists of water. And we know the effect of the moon on the water in the sea and the ocean. Based on these facts, there's a belief to honor the New Moon and Full Moon and how they can affect our bodies and our feelings. At the New Moon Ceremony, we burned a candle and set our intention by writing it and making a mark on the candle for every intention we set. At the Full Moon Ceremony, we went to a villa in Gianyar that has spring at the bottom of the area. We walked down to the spring from the villa and washed our bodies with the water from the spring.

We learned about Anatomy from James Newman. It was a hard subject as I was not familiar with the name of the body parts, but it was a useful subject as I learned a lot about some injuries that might happen to the human body. If I can detect the injuries and weaknesses in someone's body, then I can suggest the proper yoga pose for my student and give a proper adjustment to my student. The amazing part was that James found some weaknesses in my body and suggested some adjustments to my yoga poses to cover that weakness. And it worked! In the past, I learned the wrong way to headstand and James told me about the correct trick for it. And guess what? Yes, I finally could do a headstand perfectly for the very first time. Happy!
Thank you, James, for adjusting my yoga poses and training me to work on my weaknesses.

We learned about Acro Yoga from Bex Tyrer and Carlos Romero. Acro Yoga is about doing yoga with a partner or even more than one partner. I have written about Acro Yoga in my previous story in Bali Spirit Festival 2011 - 2012

In this class, I challenged my own fear to be the base. With my small feet, I was not confident enough to lift someone with my feet. But after several Acro Yoga classes, I finally could lift someone, even for a minute. I could feel that the guides from Bex and Carlos and the support from the other students really built my confidence in myself. After all, Acro Yoga is about partnership and working together with the community. I love the philosophy!
Thank you, Bex and Carlos, for teaching the sense of togetherness and the motivation to spread love and compassion to others.

We learned about Yin Yoga and Yoga Nidra from Kari Jacobsen. Yin Yoga targets the body's deep layers of connective tissue through a sequence of passive held-floor postures. For me, Yin Yoga is like having an acupuncture treatment in the body without needles.
Yoga Nidra is an exploration and refinement of moving through different levels of consciousness. For me, Yoga Nidra is like traveling without moving.
In my own opinion, both Yin Yoga and Yoga Nidra can slow down the busy traffic in the body and give a sense of peace to our body. After practicing Yoga Nidra and Yin Yoga, I fell asleep so tightly.
Thank you, Kari, for the softness you taught on the yoga poses. The softer we practice, the stronger we become!

We learned about Kid's Yoga and Prenatal Yoga from Lindsey Wise. Kids Yoga is about introducing yoga poses to the kids in a fun way. We used songs, cards, and games in this Kids Yoga.
Prenatal Yoga is prepared exclusively for pregnant women who still want to practice yoga.
Thank you, Lindsey, for sharing the beautiful lessons.

The training also taught us how to teach a yoga class. Of course! My first experience teaching a regular yoga class in the training was a disaster! That time, I could not say anything as my voice was stuck in my throat. I didn't know what to say until Cat Kabira asked me to say “Utkatasana”. Oh my God! This experience made me learn that teaching a yoga class is the hardest part to do. We really need our own charisma to make the students do what we say, our strong memory to remember all the yoga sequences, our own willingness to share our knowledge endlessly, and our own loud voice to let the students hear our voice.
The second experience of teaching Yin Yoga Class was a bit better than that. I could not forget how silly I was! I brought a note, so, I didn't forget my cues and set timers just to make sure I was on time. Silly but useful for me!

The third experience of teaching Kids Yoga was fun! So, some kids from the orphanage were invited to our class. As yoga teachers, we needed to introduce them to yoga. The kids were so cute and funny, and I had the joy to tease them. I teased them, ran to them, and chased them. It was amazing to know that the kids played along with my games. They so happily teased me too! Yay! The kids were enthusiastic to follow the Yoga Kids poses. The most touching moment was when they sang three songs to thank us for teaching them Kids Yoga. The kids choose me as the first person to listen to their songs. I was so touched! I didn't know that I could leave a deep impression on their minds. Dear kids, I love you too!
And the best teaching experience was at the Final Assignment to teach a regular yoga class. For this final assignment, as I didn't want to repeat the same mistakes in the previous teaching class, I practiced my own yoga sequences very hard. I even asked my friends to correct my sequences and to listen to my voice and my timings. Some feedback made my sequences better. But even after I practiced the sequences very hard, I was still worried that I would not teach very well. One day before the final assignment came, I let go of my worries with a mind that I have practiced my best. So on D-Day, what happened was amazing. Finally, I could teach smoothly! I was so calm and relaxed, and my voice was better, even louder! Very loud! That time, I was still nervous, but I turned my nervous feeling into some jokes that made other students laugh. And when it was time for the teachers (Cat Kabira, Kari Jacobsen, and Lindsey Wise) to give some feedback on my class, I felt like being a brand-new person. Yes, I still received some feedback, of course, I was not that perfect, but they said that I made great progress, and I was great. I was so touched by the compliments from my teachers. I hope they knew that I did my best not just for me, but for them too. I was honored to learn yoga from them!
I also received some great words from the other students to picture my personality in the class. Their words are unique, motivating, firm, playful, great volume and clear voice, wonderful adjustment, creative poses, focused, great energy, powerful, encouraging, a great blend of hard and soft, dominating, lighthearted and loving way, and great ways to make complicated poses to be easy. I was just happy that they enjoy my class and that my personality made them laugh and smile. So, fun and joy are in my soul. Another happy moment!

We also learned about Craniosacral Therapy from James Newman and Cat Kabira. Craniosacral Therapy is a subtle and profound healing form that assists the body's natural capacity for self-repair. There's no channeling or putting in of energy, as Craniosacral Therapy works with the energy already present. So, as a therapist, my job is to facilitate the receiver of the therapy to heal themselves. In the beginning, I didn't get it. I didn't know what to do in class. But as I kept practicing increasing the sensitivity of my hands and my heart to listen, I started to understand about this therapy. It was really a nice experience to “hear the energy” of the receiver and be accepted by the body just to check on it.
Thank you, James and Cat, for increasing the ability and the gift in me through Craniosacral Therapy.

There were also other subjects in the training, like Kirtan Yoga by Edo and Jo, Singing Bowl by Awahoshi Kavan, Channeling by Jana Johnson, and Yoga Philosophy by Emil Wendel. Thank you, Edo, Jo, Awahoshi, Jana, and Emil, for sharing your knowledge.

Update: I feel so sad to know that Jo has passed away in October 2015 from the stomach cancer she suffered. May you rest in peace, Jo. Amen.

And... After five weeks of training, it was time for us to graduate. And I know that it was not about the certificate that matters. The most important thing is that all of the students were born again with brand new souls and new knowledge.

I would like to thank Cat Kabira as the head of the training and the rest of the teachers (Kari Jacobsen, Lindsey Wise, James Newman, Bex Tyrer, Carlos Romero, Dan Glynn, Jana, Emil Wendel, etc.) for the lessons and the advice you shared. All of you are rock stars in a big rock band! You rock my world! Thank you very much for everything. From the bottom of my heart, I love you all.

Aho!

BALI SPIRIT FESTIVAL 2011 - 2012

Tri Hita Karana.

Harmony with God.

Harmony with the community.

Harmony with nature.

Bali Spirit Festival is an event for the Yoga lovers, dance and arts, where they can practice and get the science of Yoga from the Yoga teachers from all over the world, dance with various music and arts from various countries around the world.

I have joined the Bali Spirit Festival in Ubud, Bali for two times. 

Let me share my personal view about the event. Excuse me if any of my views is wrong.

The first time was in 2011, where I just took the weekend program from Friday to Sunday. Since I joined only three days program, then I could only learn from some Yoga instructors at the time. One of the Yoga teachers who took my breath away was Cat Alip-Douglas, someone who comes from the Fashion world who switched professions to become a Yoga teacher. She has touched my heart with the teachings of Jivamukti Yoga. It is a very down to earth Yoga practice. The teaching is not only about the spiritual, but also about the things that are currently popular now. Starting from the music used in the Yoga class, from the Beatles to U2, to the teacher's own profile, a sweet woman with a body full of tattoos. So cool!

Even in the middle of the Yoga class, she had a chance to rub my shoulders with massage oil that made me feel very relaxed. Magic came from her hands! 

Another teacher at the Jivamukti Yoga class is Yogeswari Azahar. Her teaching is similar to the teaching from Cat Alip-Douglas. Her teaching is very impressive, and again, her hands made deep impression on my shoulders as she massaged it at the last yoga pose, Savasana.

In this Jivamukti Yoga class, it was the first time for me that I could do a headstand (Sirsana). Maybe because Jivamukti Yoga class has built the very strong muscle at legs, abdomen and shoulders since the very beginning. So, when we do the headstand, we can easily lift up our legs, and the abdomen is also working to share the burden with the shoulder. And I was ready to fly into the paradise of the world! 

Thanks a lot, Cat and Yogeswari!

The next Yoga teacher is Twee Merigan. She is amazingly pretty and sexy! At the Bali Spirit Festival 2011, Twee teaches Prana Flow where we can use what we have in our body, including our body heat, to build up our strength when we practice Yoga. 

At that time, Twee was 4 months pregnant and she was still good! The most amazing thing was, as Twee was pregnant, she still taught the Yoga class as usual, kept doing Caturanga, and even jumped from Caturanga position. Fantastic!

At the Bali Spirit Festival 2012, I could not get into Twee’s Yoga class, but it was predictable that she becomes better and better. The first thing is that Twee had given birth last year. Secondly, I think Yoga practice has made Twee look beautiful both inside and out. I am really impressed with the beauty of this Yoga teacher! Dear Twee, can I exchange my body with yours? Hahaha!

Another Yoga teacher was Denise Payne who taught Yin Yoga. Her Yoga is a very slow and gentle, very good both for beginners and the advanced Yoga lovers.

Yin Yoga is all about the flexibility of our bodies and how we have to let go and surrender ourselves to the earth and the universe. With our surrender to the universe, then we will be more relaxed with the hustle and bustle of the world that is increasingly chaotic. The movement of Yin Yoga is very relaxing, perfect for people who are already in a state of exhaustion. One can relax their tensed and stiffed muscles in this Yoga class. It means we massage our own bodies. Hahaha!

I also joined the Yoga class from Indonesian Yoga teachers. They were Pujiastuti Sindhu and Olop Arpipi.

Pujiastuti Sindhu is a Yoga teacher from Bandung who has written a book about Yoga as well. Yoga books she wrote was the first yoga book that I had. After buying a yoga book, we were in touch through Facebook and Twitter. And finally, I met her at the Bali Spirit Festival 2011. I was so happy to meet her! Her face was very gentle, and her smile was so sweet. In her Yoga class, I was amazed by her gentle Yoga teachings, her gentle face and voice. It felt like I was not doing Yoga practice, but I was doing the ballet dance on my yoga mat. Yeah!

Olop Arpipi is an Iyengar Yoga teacher from Indonesia who is also well known abroad. Olop’s  class was always full! And he taught Iyengar Yoga in his interesting way. For me, sometimes Iyengar Yoga could become very boring one. Iyengar Yoga poses are too detailed and sometimes, it needs us to hold on to one pose in a long period of time, which makes me feel bored. Maybe because I like the flowing Yoga poses like the ones in Ashtanga, Anusara and Vinyasa Flow which are flowing like water. But in the hands of Olop, Iyengar Yoga became something funny and interesting. And I forgot how long I held the Yoga pose! Yeah! 

This is where I learn that learning about the Yoga pose in detail is important, so we can do the right Yoga movement and avoid the injuries during the practice. Finally, I like Iyengar!

Thank you, Olop!

There were many other Yoga teachers in Bali Spirit Festival 2011 that I could not explain here, including Mysore Ashtanga Yoga class by Anthony Prem Carlisi and Heather Duplex Rada. Mostly because I forgot which Yoga class that I joined that time. Excuse my short memory, my beloved Yoga teachers. Hahaha! 

In 2012, I joined the Bali Spirit Festival again. This time, I joined the full program for 5 days from Wednesday to Sunday. And it is true that we should follow the whole program of the event, because the Yoga class of any Yoga teachers here will continue from one day to another like sequence of a cycle. There is the opening part, the middle part and the closing ones. 

In 2012, I found many new Yoga teachers who bring enlightenment in my life. I also discovered that I could have fun with Yoga! Yeay! 

I started the Yoga classes at the Bali Spirit Festival this year by joining the class of Tina James from Jivamukti Yoga. Yes, I entered this Yoga class with my old memories about Jivamukti Yoga class last year. Before I entered this class, I had cramps in the stomach and wondered if I could do yoga movements or not. With great enthusiasm, I went into the class. Tina James led this class with a unique way. The Yoga teaching of Tina was flowing like water, from one Yoga pose to the other. And the surprise was that the cramps in my stomach were gone when I attended this class. At the beginning, my stomach was upset at me, but finally it became relaxed and kind to me. There were folding and twisting poses at Tina James’ Yoga class, but my stomach was fine. Was it the magic of Yoga or was Tina James a very good Yoga teacher? Or maybe is it both of them? And I believe in miracles!

Thank you very much, Tina James!

The next class I attended was Ashtanga Yoga by Danny Paradise. Danny always starts the class with a discussion about Yoga. This discussion is interesting, because the knowledge Danny share is something new. His class begins with breathing exercises to cleanse our bodies and make our bodies ready for the Yoga practice.

In the class, Danny was assisted by two Yoga teachers who helped Yoga students to do some difficult Yoga poses. And I was fascinated with the help from one of them, a beautiful yoga teacher that has curly hair (sorry I forgot her name). She could raise my confidence to do the difficult Yoga poses. She always asked: "Do you want to do the Yoga pose? Do you need my help to make the move? Please try and do not be afraid! "

From here, I learn that Yoga is also about sharing and helping others. Happy is when we see other people can do difficult yoga poses because of a little help from us. In our everyday life, we are supposed to help others and be happy when people are successful because of our little help. 

Thank you, beautiful Yoga teacher!

On the second day, I attended the Vinyasa Flow Yoga class by Les Leventhal. I started to fall in love with Les when peeking at his class on the first day. I did not attend the first class because I had cramps in the stomach. When I saw his class through the window, I felt there was a call to learn more about Les and learn Yoga from him. And in the class, I found out that Les is the man with strong body, but still capable of doing extraordinary things. His body is strong and full of muscles, but it is able to do flexible Yoga poses. 

This is where I learn that behind the strength, there may be some tenderness. And vice versa, behind the gentleness, there may be flexibility and strength.

Les is a very relax Yoga teacher. He can turn the class into a relax one and full of laughter. Les’ Yoga classes consist of classes for beginners to the very advanced level. And even in Yoga classes for the advanced one, when he teaches the very difficult Yoga poses, he can still make us laugh. He always asks about our breath, if we are still breathing during the yoga poses or not. “How’s your breath?”, that is what he asks. 

The other great thing about Les is that he can sing very well! His voice is heavy and will accompany the participants to sing beautiful songs in the Yoga class. Singing becomes one of the important things in the Yoga classes, because it can train our breathing for the Yoga practice and gives relaxing sensation after the Yoga class has end. And finally, the Yoga practice becomes something fun! 

Les also teaches us that we should give more attention and love our body parts that are weak and have been injured. 

Then I learn that in my life, I have to give more attention to the people who are weak and have been wounded and also love them with all of their weaknesses and all the injuries they had suffered.

Thank you, Les!

The next Yoga class is the Bliss Yoga by Eoin Finn. I fall in love with the way Eoin Finn teaches the class with his humorous acts. I can laugh even by looking at his face. He reminds me of Dustin Hoffman and his smile is hilarious. Eoin will make a funny movement just to make the participants laugh and be relaxed for the next Yoga poses.

Eoin Finn also teaches us that the Yoga movement is united with the universe. In the middle of Eoin’s Yoga class, he will tell some wonderful words about the universe. 

From Eoin, I learn that if we love the universe, the universe will be generous to us and find a way for us to go. “Follow your heart,” that's what Eoin will say.

On the third day, I attended the Purna Yoga class by John Ogilvie. Something funny happened to the meeting with John. This John’s class is the early morning class, around 8 o'clock. Because it was still early, usually I visited all the Yoga classes one by one to feel the aura of those classes, whether they fitted with me or not. When I was at the back of the John’s classroom to peek, John with his sweet smile invited me to join in the class and filled one section in front that was still empty. So I told him that I still wanted to look around at other classes. That's what I did then, walked around to other classes. What happened then? I went back to John’s class and joined it! And in which section did I practice? Right at the empty space that John gave me earlier. Ah, is this a miracle or a coincidence? 

I believe that if that place is our place, then there is nobody who can fill that place except us. In this class, I felt that the universe specifically called and prepared me the place. Believe it or not!

John’s class is very interesting! Everything is about technique! All Yoga poses must have the right technique, so that we get to the right Yoga movements.

This is where I learn that in my life, I always want to achieve what I want, sometimes I want to arrive at the destination very quickly. But sometimes I forget that everything has its own way and technique. If I do it right, my goal will be more meaningful. If I do it wrong, then the destination will be useless.

Thank you, John, for your deep philosophy in my mind. Thanks, the universe, for securing a place for me at John Ogilvie’s Yoga class!

The next class is the Forrest Yoga Class by Erica Mather. She is extraordinary Yoga teacher, because she teaches the participants how to do arm balance! Yeap, standing with our two hands only! So the hands become the feet, the feet become the hands! Our feet can fly anywhere we want! Fly, fly and fly! The class was really full of sweat, especially when Bali is under the hot sun. The Yoga class really encourages and challenges us to do things beyond our limits. Go ahead and fly! This is crazy, but fun!

Sometimes, in my life, I really need to do the things beyond my plans and thoughts, and may seem crazy, just to challenge myself. I may get too tired to do the same thing every day.

Thank you, Erica, for the incredible energy you shared!

After that, I had a quick peek into Carlos Pomeda’s class.  Carlos is an expert on the Yoga philosophy. We must come to his class with an open mind, because the discussion with Carlos will be broken some of the common Yoga philosophy. The class from Carlos will make us think hard about Yoga and its true philosophy. Many interesting things reveal in the discussion hosted by Carlos, from the foundation of Yoga itself, to sex, and others. It is quite interesting for the people who are interested in Yoga, not only from its practice, but also the deep philosophy behind it.

On the fourth day, the first class was the challenged one! Yoga with Gina Caputo! In my impression, the personality of Gina is unique, open and cheerful. She’s funny and sometimes crazy! Almost in every Yoga poses of hers, there is always a joke that led to laughter. Not the usual laugh, but the laugh out loud! The energy from Gina is very high, so the participants can feel her energy too. I think by seeing Gina only, my body can turn to warm itself. Gina is hot! Hahaha!

In this class, Gina teaches us to fly with both hands resting on us. Arm balance! Yes, even the title of the class is: Yogi Airlines - Flight 1008. Fantastic! Hahaha! At the beginning, Gina will strengthen our core muscles first as the source of our balance. After that, then we can fly! Why can we fly? Because we have a strong core muscles! The ones that can make us fly, not only the hands and shoulders, but also the strong core muscles! We have to share the burden of our body at our head, shoulders, arms, abdomen and legs. Then, we can fly to nirvana! 

From this, I learn that one source of power is good, but it will be better if we have many more sources of power that can cooperate with each other. The result will be more amazing!

Thank you, Gina, for a very challenging class! And thanks for being a cheerful person. A cheerful person is sexy!

The next class is the West African dance class. At the beginning, I was hesitated to go to this class, but my friends forced me to join the class. Hahaha! First, I can’t dance. The coordination in my body is not really good, so that sometimes I can’t follow the movements of the dance. That's why I chose Yoga as my exercise! Secondly, I thought that I wanted to do yoga at the Bali Spirit Festival, so why should I have to dance? I just didn’t want to embarrass myself. Hahaha! 

But the energy from this class was very strong. It kept pulling me with its music that comes from the percussion and drums. Finally, I was in the class! And I swayed to the direction of the dance teacher, Aby Niang. My whole body didn't want to stop dancing. I danced following the rhythm of the music. Aaaahhhh! What a pleasure! My body was sweating and my feet were sore, but it was awesome and fantastic! Hahaha! The pain on my feet was just a pain, because I was happy to do the dance! Yeah!

The dance class was closed with the free-style dance by some of the participants. They went crazy with all of their own dance styles, but they were so good! Great dancers! Their expression is reflected in the dance that they did. Fun, crazy, and sexy!

Sometimes, in my life, being crazy and mad is fun and makes me happy. It excites the life in me and I feel alive. Yeah!

Thanks, Aby Niang and Hamanah Dance and Drum, for giving different sensations beyond the Yoga exercises. You guys are amazing!

Other classes are hosted by the duo AcroYoga, Pau Castellsague and Alexandra Ruiz. Ale is sweet and flirtatious, and Pau is a bit naughty and silly. Hahaha! But they make a great team! I think the couple really catches my eyes. Just the right combination! 

This class began with participants sitting in the lap of others, together in a circle. Since this is a matter of teamwork, then when a participant falls, then the other will fall too. Hahaha! 

The other opening session was that the participants had to drive the other participants by closing the eyes and pushed their partner around the grass field where we practice this AcroYoga. For some reason, because I thought it was funny, I laughed out loud during this driving session. And suddenly, Pau caught my ankle! I was shocked, then I opened my eyes and laughed again. We were both crazy and silly! Hahaha!

AcroYoga is an exercise for two people or more. The first person acts as the base and the second person acts as the flyer. Sometimes there will be the third and the fourth people that will take position as the guards, just to keep the first and the second people at their right position and do not fall to the ground. It is all about team work! 

Some people may think AcroYoga looks easy, but it's hard when we do it! The first person that acts as the base has to hold the body of the second person who rests in the first person’s hands and feet. While the second person must keep the balance in order to fly above the first person without having to give too much weight to the first person. Both of them must have good coordination and communication. If not, they will fall to the ground! Therefore, the third and fourth people are sometimes needed to watch over the first and the second ones. If the second person falls, then there are two people who will catch the person for not falling off to the ground.

For me, being the first person as the base is a very difficult thing. Because my ankles are weak and my feet can’t hold on to the weight of the second person. But since the other participants encouraged and motivated me to try both sides as the base and the flyer too, so then I tried both positions! As the flyer, it was fine. But as a base, I was a bit scared! But finally, I was able to do it, although my legs were trembling. It was because of the assistance from the others that held the body of the second person for not adding so much weight on my feet. Yeah!

From this, I learn that I have many flaws, and I really need someone else to cover my weaknesses.

Thank you, Ale and Pau, for opening my eyes and show me that my weaknesses can be covered with someone or some people in my circles. Yes, again, it is all about togetherness as a team.

On the fifth day, which was the last day, I only did one class, but the class was the deadly one. It was called Yogamala, where participants were invited to perform 108 times of Sun Salutation movement that was guided by all the Yoga teachers in Bali Spirit Festival 2012 (Daniel Aaron, Gina Caputo, Copper Crow, Eoin Finn, Tina James, Govinda Kai, Les Leventhal, Simon Low, Leza Lowitz, Twee Merigan, Danny Paradise, Rebecca Pflaum, Louisa Sear, Ronan Tang, Daphne Tse, and Punnu Wasu).

To imagine how deadly the Yogamala class is, let me describe one round of Sun Salutation: hands up, fold the body down, then go to down dog (inverted V position), then go to the plank pose to push up, then to push the heart up front, then back to the down dog position, jump in, fold the body down, and raise your hand and close the round with the standing pose. That's just one round! And can you imagine to do it for 108 times? Yeah! Can you feel the pain on the shoulder, abdomen and buttocks when the class is finished? Hahaha! 

But, in the reality, the Yogamala class was not that deadly! Because there was music by John deKadt played at this class, and the Yoga teachers also make some funny coaching at the class and asked the participants to dance, so the class became a fun class! 

In this class, I did not stop doing the 108 times of Sun Salutation rounds because I did it with happiness to do Yoga, while dancing and singing too. Yeah!

The Yoga teachers dedicated their own Sun Salutation for their own wishes, hopes and prayers, starting from an appreciation to us, a present for our loved ones, and an appreciation for our Yoga teachers, and others. In the middle of the class, one of the Yoga teachers dedicated the Sun Salutation for our parents. Suddenly, I was touched and cried in tears. I also saw that the other participants next to me were crying too. Apparently the three of us were thinking about our parents. Yes, I love you and thinking about you, my Mom and Dad. And I really hoped that the energy of the Sun Salutation that I did could cure the sickness in my Mom and Dad. Amen!

This class was closed with the Chakra Meditation and Healing Mantra Circle by sitting around in a circle and singing with the live music played by John deKadt. For the participants who thought that they had the ability to heal, they were welcome to sit and pray while singing and asking for the healing for anyone who is sick. For the participants who felt sick or wanted to become the connector for the treatment for their loved ones who are sick, they were welcome to lie down in the middle of the circle to receive treatment from the people who sat in a circle. This ritual was very emotional! We did not know each other, but we tried to heal each other and didn’t refuse to accept treatment from others. It was magically amazing!

In this session, I saw a participant who rested her stomach on her knee like a baby. Suddenly, I was motivated to give a massage on her shoulders and head. She didn’t refuse to accept my treatment and enjoyed it. I felt very flattered by the acceptance. Not everyone will accept such treatments. It is all about trusting and letting go. 

The very end of the session in the Bali Spirit Festival 2012 was the Thai Massage class by Gwyn Williams. In this class, we have to massage the other participants using the Thai-style massage. We have to give the massage with compassion, love and prayers to heal the person. There should be a trust that the massage will cure the person. In this session, I was asleep! Maybe because I was so tired and enjoyed the massage. Hahaha! 

From this, I learn that sometimes we need to learn to let go and surrender, and trust the treatment from the others. We also need to be sincere when we give something to others! The art of surrender is that we have nothing to worry. How wonderful! 

The Yoga Teachers I mentioned in this story are only some of the Yoga teachers in Bali Spirit Festival. I can’t mention all of them because I don’t remember the details anymore. I think five days for practicing Yoga is not enough to gain knowledge from all these great Yoga teachers! They all have their own expertise and uniqueness, so it's not fair if I compare one Yoga teacher with the other ones. What I can do is to open my mind to recognize and accept the teachings from all of them. And I feel grateful and proud to learn from them!

Thanks to all the Yoga teachers, both in the past and the present, who has taught me all things about Yoga and all the philosophy behind it. Yoga has turned me into a better person and I became more aware of who I am and what my strengths and weaknesses are.

One of the Yoga teachers that I forgot the name said that Yoga is fun and should be something fun! Yoga should not be taken too seriously, because Yoga is supposed to make us comfortable and bring happiness to the practitioners. If anyone wants to be serious, they should go back to the office and do their job there or maybe deal with their tax problems too. Hahaha!

Yoga should not be something that harms and forces us. If we can’t do the Yoga poses today, we can try it tomorrow or the other days. Don’t push ourselves too hard! We must always listen to our bodies and how our bodies feel. There's always tomorrow to practice the Yoga poses. Try and try again!

The whole series of experiences in Bali Spirit Festival 2011 and 2012 make me learn that I should give back what I took. I've learned the Yoga practice from many great Yoga teachers and I have to give more to others, maybe by doing something good for others. Or maybe, someday, I will be a Yoga teacher for others. And I hope that I can become one someday.

Namaste!

Astrid Amalia di LensaIndonesia.com: Wanita Karir itu Harus Juga Bisa Kembangkan Diri

Link: Profil Astrid Amalia di LensaIndonesia.com

LENSAINDONESIA.COM: Ramah dan menyenangkan itulah gambaran sifat dari Astrid Amalia, semi finalis kompetisi wanita karier BII IN WOMEN’S LIFE & FEMINA beberapa waktu lalu, saat ia dikonfirmasi LIcom tentang keikutsertaannya dalam kompetisi itu.

Ia sempat ragu. “Awalnya ditawari oleh pihak femina untuk ikut dan saya sempat bertanya apakah saya memenuhi kualifikasi? Karena Femina itukan standarnya tinggi sekali, tapi mereka menyemangati saya dan akhirnya saya coba ikut kompetisi ini semua syarat saya kumpulkan mulai dari cari rekomendasi, data esai dan sebagainya saya isi dan saya kirim,” ceritanya.

Astrid yang sebelumnya memang beberapa kali jadi narasumber untuk topik yoga, kesehatan dan karier di majalah Femina ini mengaku puas mengikuti kompetisi wanita karier ini.

“Setelah menjalani tes, wawancara dan tes-tes yang tidak hanya melelahkan tapi juga benar-benar mengeringkan otak, membuat saya tahu bahwa kualifikasinya sangat bagus sekali. Karena bukan sekedar memilih orang tapi mereka benar-benar menilai kemampuan kita. Walaupun capek tapi puas banget ikut kompetisi ini, kalaupun menang atau kalah itu memang karena penilaiannya jujur bukan hanya dari kegaulan, posisi dalam profesi kita tapi bagaimana sisi psychologis kita juga. makanya begitu selesai saya tenang-tenang saja karena saya berfikir tidak akan terpilih karena pesertanya

hebat-hebat. Jadi waktu mengerjakan test dan interview itu santai sekali anggap saja buat lucu-lucuan, nggak nyangka kemudian d hubungi bahwa saya masuk ke 30 besar semifinalis walau tidak masuk ke 10 besar. Buat saya sampai di jenjang itu sudah oke banget karena saingannya banyak dan hebat,” lanjutnya.

Ia mengakui, banyak hal yang diperoleh dan dipelajarinya dari kompetisi itu. Bahkan menyadarkan dirinya bahwa ia punya banyak kelebihan walau selama ini ia merasa banyak yang kurang dalam dirinya. ”Setelah awarding night itu kita semua diberi penilaian dan saya baru tau beberapa orang menganggap saya cerdas jadi kenapa tidak saya explore lebih banyak lagi kekurangan dan kelebihan saya serta memperbaiki diri nggak nyangka orang berfikir seperti itu tentang saya. Seneng sih,” ujarnya lagi.

Alumnus Fakultas Hukum Universitas Atmajaya ini menjelaskan bahwa sosial media itu banyak dilirik oleh brand dan juga perusahaan karena di sosial media mereka melihat peluang besar, banyak orang berkomunikasi disitu. “Sosial media itu baru, karena saat ini masyarakat lebih senang dengan yang mobile, seperti facebook dan twitter yang awalnya hanya hobbies tetapi disini para brand dan perusahaan sepakat menggunakan sosial media yang akan ada dan terlibat dengan keluarga, teman, karyawan, klien dan pelanggan. Mereka melihat ada peluang besar banyak orang berkomunikasi disitu dan bisa digunakan untuk menjual,” tegasnya.

Sebagai Social Media Manager, Astrid menjelaskan perbedaan antara sosial media di indonesia dan di luar negeri terkait budaya, manusia dan konten.

“Bukan membandingkan antara Indonesia dan luar negeri tapi di pemikiran orang indonesia di sosial media itu mereka melihat angka mereka tidak mau tau target mereka hanya dalam waktu beberapa bulan follower mereka harus sekian tapi mengkesampingkan konten. Berbeda dengan di India misalnya buat mereka yang paling penting adalah konten yang menarik dan follower pasti datang dengan sendirinya,” jelas dia.

Jadi kontradiktif juga antara lokal yang hanya peduli follower dan di luar negeri yang mengedepankan konten baru follower, tandas wanita karier ini.

Menurut wanita kelahiran Pontianak ini wanita karier adalah wanita yang tidak hanya bekerja di kantor dan berprestasi. ”Tapi bagaimana mengembangkan diri disekelilingnya. Terkadang mereka berfikir hanya bekerja dan merasa nyaman dengan pekerjaannya, saking nyamannya mereka tidak mau mencari pengembangan diri. Wanita karier buat saya adalah mereka yang tidak pernah berhenti mengembangkan diri, belajar, mencari pengembangan diri, pekerja keras dan mendapatkan hasil positif untuk dirinya dan sekitarnya.

“Sukses itu bukan hanya pintar dan cekatan tapi juga karena pergaulan, bergaul itu membuka pintu apapun, jadi bergaulah dengan orang yang lebih baik dari kita. Pintarlah buat diri sendiri,orang lain dan sekitar. Dan ambillah kepintaran dari orang lain dalam konteks yang positif,” pesannya sekaligus mengakhiri obrolan dengan LIcom. ad/rere