Wild Geese

You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile the world goes on.

Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain are moving across the landscapes,

over the prairies and the deep trees,the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,are heading home again.

Whoever you are,

no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese,

harsh and exciting — over and over announcing your place in the family of things.

from Dream Work by Mary Oliver

Yoga Massage Circus in Greece

"Join the circus! Are you crazy?"

Well, this is no everyday circus: There are no clowns; well, there are, but none with red noses and painted faces; no acrobats, but we do fly and practise acro-yoga; no tents, except for the tents of the brave souls that wanted to be one with nature and rain instead of staying in a room); no animals, other than Valentine, Stella’s dog who manipulates all our mats and the mountain goats……

The “Circus” comes from the Greek word Kiklos which actually translates into Circle. The circus is actually a sangha, a community of yoga teachers, massage therapists, energy healers and what some might call “New Age Hippies”, who have gathered together to practise with each other, learn from each other, sing, dance and just have fun!

Massage - Cobra (no 4), ITband / boomerang work, eeerrrr dream beach massage??

Dance

Flying Techniques

Capoeira, acrobatics, yoga, Qi Gong, Martial arts....

It was started by the disciples of Asokanda, A German monk that brought Thai Massage to the west by marrying this ancient practise with modern day methods and techniques. Asokanda did not teach massage as mere bodywork, but as a holistic practise using the pillars of yoga and meditation.

So, here I am, in an eco-lodge in the mountains of Crete with 19 other circus members and 6 senior teachers. The knowledge of all these people put together is extraordinary; Osteopaths, physiotherapists, yoga teachers, martial arts experts, zero-balancing therapists……..

We studied very hard (look at how serious Sylvie looks!!). Not only do we have to understand the body anatomically, we have to understand it energetically; Thai Energy lines, Chinese Meridian points.......

Go slow to go deep.....

Baba, our life skeleton!

We discovered our bodies

The practise is quite intense. We start the day at 6am with Vipassana meditation followed by yoga at 7am. There is a short break for breakfast after yoga then we do massage from 10.30am till lunch break at 1.30pm. Siesta is till 4pm then we re-start with yoga and massage till dinner break at 8pm. Some evenings there is meditation or chanting from 9pm to 10pm. Then it is “Noble Silence” from 10pm till 8.30am.

Ringmaster Arnaud working on Adriana in side position

I had planned to put one post a day about all the wonderful techniques I am learning but it has not been possible. Anyway, one of the most important lessons I have learned so far is to be present in the moment. Writing a journal (in this case, in the form of a blog) is very therapeutic but I don't think it falls into the realms of living in the NOW!

David and his precious oestheo techniques that kill the fingers!!!

Prenatal Class....... (and the cigarette-to-the-little toe technique is to induce birth!)

We also mucked about alot...



and had loads of fun!

The month has flown-by and it has been amazing; I am completely body-worked out! Yoga, Silat, Caipeoro, Yoga Dance, Acro.....

I highly recommend the circus to anyone who is remotely into bodywork. (And Arnaud, this is not just to earn brownie points with you!) It is truely a unique and enriching experience.

Energy and Koshas.... Very difficult class for me.

Oh, I wrote a poem (my 1st ever) and it is about the circus, so here it is.

It is dedicated to all the wonderful teachers at the Circus.
Arnaud – The Ringmaster
Kaline – The flying acrobatic dancer
David – The Lion Tamer, who is really more a Lion than a Tamer… But I thought I'd try to refrain from calling him an animal lest there are repurcussions in class tomorrow!
Itzhak – The philosopher-thinker, but since they do not any of those at the circus, he can be the tight-rope artiste (cos they look so earnest)
Anasthasi Babaji – The contortionist yogi pretzel
Takis – I couldn’t decide between clown or flame-thrower, so he can be flame-throwing clown
And the visiting teachers Biff, Terry & Jonas.
But most of all, my fellow circus-mates because learning is mainly done on the mat through practise.


The Circle
A meeting of East and West
Where science and art become one
Dancing to the rhythms of Shiva and Shakti
The Sun and the Moon
Itha and Pingkhala
Yin and Yang
Coming together to find that gentle balance
that brings us just a little closer to God
Searching yet without strife
Surrendering to the sweet embrace of mother earth

This is our Sangha
Playing and praying
Singing and dancing
We feast on the scrumptious buffet of fascia latas and koshas
Crying out the names of Krishna, Jesus and Buddha
In unison
We are one
Like lotus flowers
We rise up above the murky depths to lie above the water
Basking in the glorious rays of God’s sun

In mindful meditation
We play with each other’s bodies
Prana flows to the music of the massage
and the melody of the dance
Vibrations ripple through the body
The triumphant symphony awakens
Giver and Receiver are one
The gentle imprint of each embrace marks the body and touches the soul

Alas, it will soon be time to say our Good-byes
But Good-bye it will be not
For when the church bell rings and the temple gong sounds
We will stop and pause
Inhale, grateful for the moment
Exhale, sending love to one another
And until we meet again
In this life or another
I pray brothers and sisters that
The blessing of God be upon us
Flowing through us
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti