Daily Life In Bali

I'm often so inspired to write about the deeper issues that have crossed my mind while I've been in training that I sometimes forget about describing daily life here. I will remedy that today!

Without further ado, here's what an average day is like in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia, for a yoga teacher trainee:

5:35 am: My alarm goes off. I grab my journal and write down my dream before I forget. My beautiful and wise friend Kelly of A Bridge Between Two Worlds was so right when she said my dreams would be more vivid here in Bali.

5:45 am: I stumble out of bed, turn on the hot water for a shower (it takes awhile to heat up) and start thinking about what to wear (these yoga pants or those yoga pants?) and start putting things into my bag for the day, like extra tea bags, my phone and my room key.

5:55 am: Post shower, I spray bug spray all over myself, throw my hair into a pony tail, put on my yoga pants and a semi-coordinating tank top, shove my feet into flip flops and walk out the door. We practice silence in the mornings because the early hours of the day are sacred. In the stillness of the morning can come wisdom and peace if we don't clutter it with unnecessary junk, like checking facebook, the news, small talk, etc. It is somewhat difficult to practice silence in Ubud because even at 6:00 am there are friendly Balinese around who always greet me with a cheerful hello. It's about a 7 minute walk from my hotel to our studio.

6:10 am: get to the practice space, spread out my mat, bolster, blanket and blocks. Fill my water bottle, make a cup of tea. I sit on the ledge overlooking the reeds and a buddha statue while I sip tea in silence.

6:30 am: We start meditation and then pranayama. The meditations are guided by a teacher, or in the past week, by a student. Pranayama is breathing techniques to calm the mind, gain energy and focus. Ask me about alternate nostril breathing!

7:15 or 7:30 am: The vinyasa practice starts. This is an hour and a half of yoga. By the 20 minute mark, we're sweating and don't stop till the end.

9:00 am: Break for breakfast. I come back to the hotel with two fellow students (Swiss and Australian) who are also staying here. Breakfast is included in our room rate. They don't have many vegan options on the menu so I bring my own granola and soy milk. I always order the fresh fruit platter and ginger tea as well.

10:30 am: Class starts again. There are a variety of lectures in the morning on things such as the origins of yoga, nutrition, ayurveda, energetics, the art of teaching, etc. During short breaks in the lecture we practice different poses. Today I practiced crow and headstands.

Me practicing crow as my long-legged friend does a handstand photo bomb behind me.

12:30 am: Break for lunch. Usually I go to the organic cafe on the Yoga Barn compound but I'm getting kind of tired of the same old things so I occasionally wander off to try some place else.

2:00 pm: Back to class for another few hours of lecture. The afternoon classes are usually but not always posture clinics where we spend a lot of time studying 2 or 3 postures in great detail. When it's not a posture clinic, it might be a yin yoga training. Throughout all of these classes we are sitting on the floor. The first day my back was killing me! I ached everywhere. Now I am much better at sitting on the ground for hours at a time. Getting to sit in a chair feels like a real luxury.

5:00 or 5:30 pm: Usually this is a yin yoga class, though sometimes it's not. Yesterday we had a kirtan, which is a type of spiritual singalong. The coolest part of the kirtan was when we got to do some Cherokee chanting.

6:30 pm: Finally! Twelve hours later, the day has ended! Time to grab a quick bite to eat at one of the many organic vegetarian restaurants here in Ubud or if I'm really tired I'll order delivery to my room. The other night I ordered in eggplant walnut enchiladas...delish! Most nights I have dinner with my friend from Switzerland, though sometimes we go out as a bigger group. Last Wednesday was my friend from Australia's birthday and we went out to a nice restaurant to celebrate. I ordered a raw vegan burrito and the raw brownie with vegan coconut ice cream on top for dessert.

8:30 - 9 pm: I'm back in bed. I read for about half an hour before lights out. I listen to the chirps and croaks of Balinese animals as I fall asleep.

I keep this schedule 6 days a week, though Saturdays we're done by 12:30. Last Sunday I went for a drive around the island on my day off. Tomorrow I'm going to the beach with two of my girl friends. I'm exhausted most of the time, sweaty most of the time, happy all of the time.