Dompak House, Ubud

This past week there has been a regular torrential down pour of rain that starts anytime in the afternoon and runs pretty much up until night time. We have settled in to our pet friendly hostel room and I've somehow become equanimous with the smell of cat poop. Even though it's in kitty litter this little kitten is an absolute shit storm. Like a giant never ending toothpaste bottle that's being slowly squeezed, the poop river runs deep. Luckily Beth's cordially volunteered for the admin involving the cat but I find myself fussing over her here and there as well. The Ashtanga sequence is befriending me more and more and I am truly enjoying sharing this with Beth and working within my own shallow limits of mobility. The plasticity of the body over time is a remarkable thing. Over time everything you do or don't do creates a functional boundary and quality of movement. Certain muscles disengage, become lazy, over compensate and become hyper toned, thus creating who you are today. So many of my clients have asked me why is their body like that and how is it creating pain, looking for a quick fix with treatment. So from now on my answer is just to do Ashtanga and you will figure it out yourself along the way.
There are plenty of other beginners in the class so I don't feel behind or noob sensitive. We have done some day trips here and there but have spent most of the time chilling and planning the next couple of months as next week we move on to New Zealand. The Balinese "island" lifestyle is quite infectious which means that the high point of the day is drinking a cup of our favourite butter coffee or coconut latte with cashew nut milk. I know right, I have turned into a coffee snob ahaha.
In certain areas of Bali there are literally more temples (over 20,000) than people so wherever you go you will pass by numerous statues and structures peppered in between shops and schools. Most of the heavily regarded tourist attractions are governed by a mobs of locals all standing at the entrances demanding entrance fees and payment for the alleged "guides." Apparently in some areas including the Besakih temple the locals have been very aggressive to foreigners who show up and don't want to pay and the situation has gotten pretty uncomfortable so the foreigners left. Even at some beaches the locals walk up and down interrupting you demanding that you go to their shop, in which we laugh off politely. So we have steered clear of those areas and we are both ready to move on. I am getting tired of fending off the taxi drivers who constantly hound me wherever I go as it has begun to wear on me. I think these are all symptoms of being somewhere for too long, but on the plus side it has engendered a hunger to go out and explore again.Read more