Well, time keeps on ticking way too quickly for my liking!! I've now been in the UK for 2 weeks - and it feels like I never left!! It's been really great catching up with old friends and colleagues from when I used to live here. Edward has planned loads of surprises for me....so we've been pretty busy every day and night since I arrived!! The first surprise were tickets to see Tori Amos....touring her new album.....she was just amazing! Such a talented musician - playing not one but two pianos at once and singing with that spectacular voice of [View Full Entry]

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For another of the weekends during the Ayurveda course, I took a solo adventure down south to a little place called 'Kochi'.... and had SUCH an awesome time right from start to finish!!! I got the 5am train and met 2 lovely Indian ladies sitting next to me.....everyone was so nice to me all weekend.....I've never had so many smiles and waves from strangers!!! (I especially liked the old man who came running past me on his way to the fish market who gave me the most excited and happiest/enthusiastic 'good morning' and smile (with no teeth) I've ever seen! [View Full Entry]

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We get the weekends off from the course, so we decided to take a trip to the beautiful and lush Wildlife Sanctuary....... After about 4 hours of driving up windy roads through mountains, we arrived at our hotel and we all thought "ooooooh fancy & posh & nice"....... and we went to check-in only to find that we all needed passports and of course I hadn't brought mine ...... Minor catastrophe!! With all hotels requiring a passport from foreigners to check-in, we thought we wouldn't be able to stay anywhere and would have to drive back.....but luckily we found some [View Full Entry]

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To further my insight into the amazing ancient wisdom that India has to offer, I decided to do an Ayurveda & Panchakarma course...... Ayurveda ('knowledge of life') is an ancient system of holistic health science that has existed for over 5000 years. Panchakarma is a collection of purification/detoxification techniques that are prescribed for some diseases and periodic cleansing (rejuvination purposes). I learnt so many incredibly valuable and interesting things during this month......there was quite a bit of theory at the beginning but then mainly practical training, where we learnt am [View Full Entry]

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So the last month at the Ashram was pretty tough going.....ya know....we had to share a room, get up early, be completely silent during all meals, stick to a schedule, no electricity during the peak of 40 degrees etc etc.... So, to make up for that 'tough life' and everything we'd learnt about non-posessiveness, non-attachment and simple living...... Arrival at Manaltheeram Resort, Kerala ........ We had been dreaming of beaches, waves, lush forests, fresh coconut juice and palm trees...and that's exactly what we got! Our first stop in Kerala was at another Ayurveda Resort, 'Dr F [View Full Entry]

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So here I am in Nashik.....about 170km (6 hours) on a non-airconditioned bus from Mumbai..... The Ashram - Yoga Vidya Dham - is surrounded by such beauty.....mountains that resemble temples and such an expanse of beautiful nature. It's very sacred and spiritual land and you can feel the energy of the place!! The perfect setting to wake up before sunrise and start chanting mantras and meditating before a couple of hours of yoga asanas. After the asana class in the morning, we would have a few lectures then yoga nidra (the best relaxation I think I've ever had.....where you're 'riding [View Full Entry]

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What a luxurious entrance into India...living it up in style in the first class lounge in Singapore and then the good ol' 'In-laws'....I will start from the beginning... Had a good flight from Sydney to Singapore....where Kylie was waiting for me at arrivals....not only with an excited scream but with a ticket for us to go to the first class lounge!! Not being a regular 'First class Lounger' myself, I was very excited to see the huge array of lavish foods and beverages laid out for us!! Thinking this could be the one and only chance we'd have of palatial [View Full Entry]

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