Eumundi & Noosa

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Eumundi is famous for one thing, and that’s its markets. There is a market every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. And we’re not talking an average kind of market – this is the mother of all markets. The big version is on Saturday mornings but even the Wednesday one, which we went to, was huge! We spent several hours checking out the many stalls and cursed ourselves for having eaten a hearty breakfast as there was an abundance of delicious food on offer. I couldn’t help myself and had an early lunch of chicken satay skewers and various snack and drink samples. In an attempt to get rid of a headache and stiff neck/shoulders, I went for a craniosacral ‘jaw aligning’ treatment. I’d never had one before and it wasn’t exactly what I had expected. Unlike manipulative therapies, CST involves the therapist placing their hands on you which allows them to tune into and balance out your energy (the equivalent of “chi” in Chinese medicine). Basically the therapist's hands shake when the energy is being realigned. I did feel something happen but I’m not yet sure whether it’s of much benefit me.Apparently it continues to work for a couple of weeks, so I will be looking out for subtle changes.

Once we were all marketed out, we drove on to famous Noosa. We spent some time here on Grant & Robyn’s honeymoon four years ago so it brought back many memories.

Noosa’s elite quality makes it popular with wealthy holiday-makers but there are also plenty beach types and travel bums like us. Noosa consists of three areas around the mouth of the Noosa River: Noosa Junction (the hub for shopping and transport), Noosaville (laid back by the river, with the Big Pelican...) and Noosa Heads (exclusive and very expensive). We started off at Sunshine Beach, a lovely and quiet resort around the headland from Noosa Heads. Dean had another go on his surf board while I went for a walk around the area. And wow, this place is very wealthy! There are countless luxury holiday apartments (think six-star, amazing architecture and gently lit swimming pools) with aptly chosen names: ‘Pacific Villas’, ‘Platinum Residences’, ‘Santa Fe’ etc. In the afternoon we made our way to Noosa Heads where we went for a stroll along posh Hastings Street.

The next couple of days were spent in the ocean at Noosa Spit Recreation Reserve and in the shops around Noosa Junction. And then the rain started! For the dry season, it really is awfully wet… so we’ve been spending a fair amount of time chilling out in the van. Today was mostly torrential so what better way to spend the day than watch movies in the back of the van (Dean) and do hot yoga before browsing the shops in Hastings Street (me)!

On our last morning in Noosa, I practiced Bikram yoga for the first time. It’s not dissimilar to my favourite hot Vinyasa yoga but, instead of 28^oC, the room is heated to 40^oC with 80%!h(MISSING)umidity courtesy of a humidifier and the sequence of poses is a little different. I was nervous – I actually thought I would die with the heat and humidity – but it actually wasn’t that bad. I became a bit dubious when the teacher wasn’t happy with me practicing an alternative pose in order to go easy on my dodgy knees as advised by my physiotherapist. Apparently “we don’t like physios”.After the class I did a bit of research into Bikram yoga and I really don’t like what I found:

It is a very young kind of yoga which was developed by Bikram Choudhury in the 1970s. Classes last exactly 90 minutes and compose of exactly 26 postures and two breathing exercises with no adjustments for injuries etc. Choudhury won the National India Yoga Championship several time and Bikram competitions continue to take place today. Choudhury has claimed and aggressively enforces copyrights on his serious of poses, charges fees to studios that practice them and has extracted legal settlements from a number of yoga teachers and studios. In one of his books, he claimed to have conducted medical university studies to validate the benefits of his 26 postures but, when he was asked to produce copies of these studies during one of the lawsuits, he claimed he could not find them. In the next edition of his book, all references to medical studies had been removed. He also claimed that NASA scientists had proven the benefits of Bikram yoga and that he had taught President Nixon, Indira Gandhi and Pope Paul VI (none of whom have confirmed this) but he is also adamant that he does not teach on a one-to-one basis, no matter how rich or famous a client is. With his millions, Choudhury now collects Rolls Royces and Bentleys as well as watches…

It just doesn't sit right with me that the sentiment behind Bikram yoga seems to go against all that yoga actually stands for: non-competitiveness and striving towards peace and unity rather than material gain. Aah well, I have had my rant!! :-)

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Comments

[Gina]

Hey Jackie, shocked to see you photographed with a pelican, (and posted for all to see)!!! But then I guess it's not a big carrot or donut. Kaitlyn wanted to know if it was real! ha ha ha

[TeamJD]

big pelican
Aah, only just saw this. Must check the comments section more often ;-) Yes, I don't know what came over me to have my photo taken next to a 'big thing'... I guess it was Dean's comment about it being an interactive/moving pelican! So cute re Kaitlyn's comment :-)