my new home

my first week in Darwin has been pretty full. putting aside the undertaking of leaving Turkey, a place i called home for 10 and a half years, saying goodbye was not easy. to be detached is not an easy feat for anybody...but when there is support and belief that change is ultimately a good thing, the process has more flow. i have been doing my 'youth turns' as i call it, the tibetan ritual of youth. joined a yoga class with Sanjit Das at a scout warehouse in Darwin and did a hour and a half of pranayama. learned something that i thought was reviving- he had us do kapalbhatti facing south doing one exhalation per direction, left right up and down. he had us do it for around 2 minutes starting with the intention of honoring our breath in all directions. it was good fun and i felt great. Stu and i went to deckchair cinema to watch 'Yogawoman' an inspiring documentary about how women have shaped the yoga industry in the past 40 years. deckchair is an outdoor cinema where people can have vegetarian food and listen to the trees rustle while watching a movie on a massive screen. Stu at one point turned to me and said 'Don't panic, there's a possum' and wo and behold there he was big and furry with a long thin tail shuffling about through the deckchairs looking for a nibble. over the weekend Darwin had a Beer Regata where people collect their beer cans throughout the year and make a functional boat. pretty awesome! some make it some sink but it's a fun festival by the beach and folks come from all over. i loved watching the thong throwing contest, basically people throw their flip flops real hard and the one that goes the farthest wins a hefty prize of 250 aussie dollars! i am enjoying the atmosphere of taking it easy here, such a turnaround after istanbul! going to go for a quick swim to get the blood flowing.

After years of knowing that I needed to begin working out and becoming healthier, I finally decided to attend a free yoga class at my school. I had some knowledge about yoga from other classes that were also started for teachers, but no one prepared me for the likes of lovely Irem. I can honestly say that I realized for the very first class that I had finally found the way to get me moving in the right direction. Irem’s kind and forgiving attitude coupled with her vast knowledge of both yoga and the human body make a great combination. She explains every move before we actually do it. Frequently asking questions like “Do you have trouble with your ........? Well then you should try it this way” have made me feel secure in the class. I am not afraid of getting hurt and am actually motivated to try new and more difficult positions, learning to push my limits in a safe environment. After each class, the relaxed and content feeling I have is hard to describe. I am now much more physically active these days and I know that Irem’s class was catalyst that I needed. What better testimony can I give than to say that I have never missed a class? mws

kundalini yoga in new york

i went to kundalini yoga classes while i was in new york. in a fabulous tall building in Manhattan. everyone was in white, the guru was in town for teacher training so classes were full.

i started doing kundalini yoga last year in Istanbul. the reason why i love it so much is because the whole session concentrates on kriyas, cleansing through the fire breath. and with specific and repititious movements coupled with the fire breath one awakens the kundalini and divine awareness. the awareness is equivalent to what one feels after an entire day in a yoga workshop except the session does not go over 90 minutes. it is an intense spiritual and physical workout that is not comparable to any treadmill or pilates workout.

and after kundalini yoga class everything feels lighter and takes on an invisible glow.

darwin, oz

after istanbul darwin is a relief. the temperatures never change, the only season there is is the dry and wet season. this time around the wet season with its' thunderstorms, sheet lightning and lightning that "crawls" was absolutely hypnotic. and then twin rainbows...just magical.

bali

i missed india so much in bali. the offerings in front of every shop and home, the scooters weaving through traffic, the rains flooding the streets, the breeze that follows the rain...and the sunsets in the tropics never disappoint me.

kundalini dans ediyor

dun bombastik bir kundalini dersine gittim. bir kac aydir yogi arkadasim ozgur'le bu derslere katiliyordum. sivananda yoga'dan sonra kundalini yoga hocasi olmak isterim. insani oyle bir salliyor ki, gercekten varlik oldugumuzu ve insan kiyafeti giydigimizi fark ediyorum. ders sonrasi ve ertesi gun dusunmek yorumlamak uymak gibi otomatige bagladigim seyler birden yok oluyor ve beynimin koseleri bosaliyor! o bosalma hissi iste yasanmasi gerek, irem degil ruh ozgur bir sekilde lay lay lay dans ediyor.

you are what you read

it's strange that i started reading voraciously after the age of 16. some kids love to read at an early age and some bloom later :) but i agree with John Maxwell when he talks about how reading is essential in our growth if we have a growth plan. who you choose to have in your head and whom you choose to listen to shapes your thoughts which influence your behaviour and translates into the life you want to lead. i love underlining books because it makes it easier to go back and skim it and retrieve what you want to take away with you.

books i am enjoying right now

a new earth by eckhart tolle
thinking for a change by john maxwell
influence: the psychology of persuasion by robert cialdini
hayal avciligi by paul levesque and art mcneil
soul leadership by deepak chopra