second week of school

greetings from haad salad!

well, i am here in our favorite internet cafe called smile at our local beach of haad salad where they gives the yoga students a discount.  i have had a very relaxing weekend of exploring the neighboring beaches that i can walk to because i have not been adventurous yet to rent a motor bike.  one of the girls actually got injured last weekend when she was thrown off after hitting a pothole on the many dirt roads around here.  i am going get some practice runs in first before i commit to a bike but i am sure by the time i leave i will be a pro.  so far i have been quite content with the beautiful beaches here in the area and i actually enjoy the walks to them as well.  yesterday i had a nice lazy morning in my hut, reading in my hammock and doing my yoga practice on the porch.  eventually i made it over to had yao to check out the scene over there.  every beach really has its own feel.  it is also nice to be at the beach and not run into other student every two seconds when you want some space.  i brought my books and got some good studying in since we have our first test on the 1st chakra on monday.  after some lunch i stopped by one of the many massage huts right on the beach and got the best massage ever for only about $7.  it was amazing and she worked over every single muscle, joint, and spent tons of time on my neck and shoulders where i hold a lot of tension.  i just watched the sunset for a while in a dreamy state until i decided to head back to my home beach before it got pitch dark.  of course ran into some people and chatted the night away with some internet in between.  today i got up for a yoga class in our smaller pyramid that overlooks the water and it was wonderful.  lots of good hip openers which i totally need.  then had coffee and studied a bit more with my roommate until another girl wandered by and said she was going to the next beach over which we hadn't been to yet and so off we went on a nice walk over and down the hill the other way.  this beach is called haad mead and has a cool little island that you can walk out to on a sand bar.  we did a bunch of snorkeling around and sun bathing.  we were going to try to make it back for the sunday night chanting circle in the sound dome but we had ordered pizza and it took forever but was so yummy.  we were too lazy to walk all the way back so we just hitched a ride and pretty much everyone with a truck stops and lets you climb in the back.  i hopped off at haad salad and here i am but i have to go home soon to do my nightly ekadasi breathing technique that we are doing right now to clear our nervous systems of any unconscious emotional blockages.  i haven't noticed anything strange come up so far but we aren't even halfway through yet so we'll see.  so i am really settling into my little life here.  i look forward to the weekends just for the free time to explore but i can tell the weeks are going to really fly by because we learn so much in one day and it is all very interesting.  we are starting on the second chakra next week and i am looking forward to moving on and moving some energy up since we have been doing so many poses to engage the first chakra.  i will let you know how it goes.  i guess that is all for now.  i hope this entry finds all of you well and happy. 

namaste,

melissa