Wilkommen! We have arrived at our first stop in Germany – Berlin.
This is a new kind of trip for us, and not just because we finally made it to Europe. We are here with no agenda, no work, no auditions… just exploring and experiencing. (This is our honeymoon after all!)
Some of our favourite things we did:
Schloss Charlottenburg – with the softest lawn and spring flowers (and then the seriously full-on decorated interior)
City Centre walking tour – the Berlin Wall, Brandenburg Gate, Holocaust memorial etc. Such a humbling feeling to physically stand in locations with so much history.
Local food – Currywurst, lots of bakeries and Cakes, Ka De We food hall (so much chocolate!) Also local strawberry and asparagus shopping at market stalls.
Walking/taking a boat along the river Spree – so nice to take a break along the water and watch the locals enjoying their ‘beach’.
Museum Island to stare at a lot of mind-blowingly old stuff (including Egyptian artefacts) at the Neues Museum.
The architecture and sheer age of some of the buildings (and also what it has taken to rebuild what was lost)… Particularly amazing to us Australians.
The biggest thing we came away with was a huge admiration for how far Berlin has come since the wars … Some of the ‘before and after’ pictures over the past century are truly incredible.
Traveling helps to open your mind; seeing how people live and understanding their history makes us more open, compassionate, and tolerant.
We are so grateful to be on this adventure! Bis später!
“Today, I am fortunate to have woken up. I have a precious human life, and I am not going to waste it.” – The Dalai Lama
Four weeks of Yoga have flown by. We had our graduation ceremony, which was blessed by a Balinese priest, and received our certificates surrounded by flowers and incense and incredible people… But we gained so much more than any qualification.
We are so glad we chose to come to Ubud to study… Bali has an energy that cannot be explained. And as for our experience studying yoga? With the teachers and healers, the lectures and events, the food, the new family of friends… It was even more than we hoped for. It can’t be written in words.
This is just the beginning. We have a lot to think about, and soon we will be flying across the world (Germany, we are coming!)
“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.” – AlbertEinstein
We wanted to get outside into nature again on our day off at the end of week three. We spend a lot of our time in the beautiful Lotus Studio at Yoga Barn, practicing and learning… But it was nice to break out from the bubble and walk in the sun (and rain!).
We went for a self-led rice field hike. We began by walking straight up Jalan Kajeng (near Ubud Palace) past all the little shops and home compounds… until we were following the water channels into jungle and rice fields!
We like moving at our own pace, taking photos and exploring on side trails. There were lots of interesting butterflies, bugs, and birds. The rice fields and water flowing through the land is a fascinating setting.
Eventually we climbed up a bank and walked back to Ubud along the route that passes Sari Organic (a well-known organic farm and cafe). We stopped there for lunch and it was so yummy and so beautiful!
It did rain a bit (and the ground was muddy) but the skies looked beautiful and weather was cooler. For us, it was a perfect day off.
One of our favourite things we did during the week at The Yoga Barn was attend a 90 minute Sound Healing. We had never experienced anything like this before… And it was amazing!
We were in an acoustic room, lying on the ground, whilst two people created a soundscape on around 70 instruments – from gongs to didgeridoos. They moved around the room as they played, so it sounded incredible. The vibrations of the instruments resonate with vibrations in the body, creating healing and deep relaxation. If you are ever in Ubud we really recommend giving it a try!
Still so much to experience… It is hard to believe we have reached our last week of training. Next post, we will be graduating.
“Remember, it doesn’t matter how deep into a posture you go – what does matter is who you are when you get there.” ~ Max Strom
It is hard to believe we are already half way through our training. The first week was quite overwhelming – new people, new teachers, new location and a challenge to our ideas of who we are. But now we feel like we have come out of the energy dip and things keep getting better!
Our days in the course are long, but full of amazing information and physical classes… there is so much to take in.
Here is an example of what our schedule is like:
6:00am – Leave our hotel, watching dawn break over the rice fields and walk to The Yoga Barn
10:30-12:30pm – Lectures (in week 2 we studied Anatomy, Yin Yoga, Pre-natal, Meridians and more…)
Lunch!
2:00-5:00pm – Posture Clinic (breaking down poses and practice teaching)
5:00-6:00pm – Yoga Nidra (yogic ‘sleep’ to help expand our consciousness) Or Yin Yoga
Dinner and home time!
All up it was a fantastic week. We really feel like we are getting in the swing of it now. We have inspirational teachers every day. We have have made 30 amazing new friends, from all different backgrounds. So many new concepts and seeds are being planted in our minds. It is going to take some time to let it all settle in and see what grows… it is exciting.
Fortunately we do get a break from all that thinking to enjoy Sundays off. The perfect time for exploring Ubud!
Last weekend we had no energy (massage time!), but this week we felt great, and took a walk up the Campuhan Ridge. Campuhan (Cham-pu-han) Hill is a hill that is just off the main road of Ubud. It is a 2km walk that goes up the hill and along the ridge and at the top there is a nice cafe overlooking the rice paddies.
In the little village at the top there are a few art galleries. We talked to a man who has been painting for 25 years (the knowledge passed down from his family) and then bought two pieces of art from him.
Another really cool thing about the hike was the number of locals also taking the walk. There were so many couples on romantic strolls and groups of friends just hanging out. It was nice to see the inhabitants of Ubud just being themselves.
The walk up the hill took us about an hour but we went very slowly. From the cafe at the top you can continue along the road which takes you through another village and back to the main road but we decided to just go back the way we came.
Every day is a gift and we are so grateful to be here. Two more weeks to go. Namaste!
Our first week of training in Bali is over – and it has surprised us.
First of all – our yoga course. It sounds crazy, but we think it has already changed us. Courses like this are often said to be ‘transformative’ – but it is still hard to believe until it happens! We didn’t expect to get information that is so motivating. It is truly widening our perspective on yoga and on life.
Just a few things we focused on:
How every moment, thought and action has an affect on your life force. Working on self awareness.
Learning what it takes to ‘strengthen your internal world’, so that you can manage the challenges of life.
Yoga helps you achieve a balanced state – not worn out or tired, not stressed or anxious. Your natural balanced state!
Amazing insights into meditation and breathing… and actually trying it.
There is a lot more to the art of Yoga than poses. A lot.
And yes – we meditated at dawn, did headstands during ‘reggae yoga’ and sat around a fire chanting sanskrit mantras. We even got a string of mala beads. Total yogis!
…there is so much more. We could write pages!
Our yoga teacher training course is with TheSchool of Sacred Arts at The Yoga Barn. We are having an amazing time. Even if it finished now, we would be satisfied – and there is still 3 weeks left!
Oh, and secondly – Ubud is a wonderful place to visit. You should go.
Great things about taking a rejuvenating trip to Ubud! :
Amazing food – local, organic, raw, vegan or pretty much anything else… All at very low prices.
Yoga classes – the Yoga Barn alone has an amazing selection of classes, not to mention awesome stuff like ecstatic dance and healing music concerts.
All kinds of talks/lectures/healing therapies available… It is easy to do something for yourself and try new things.
Lots of cheap massage/spa treatments /reflexology etc to calm down your day.
Live traditional Balinese music and dance – presented in the evening at many temples around town throughout the week. You can really feel the spirit of Bali!
The scenic rice paddies – escape the motorcycles and go for a walk or hike into the green. It is so peaceful and beautiful out there!
Lots more! …local shopping on the narrow and busy streets – locally made yoga related clothes and jewellery – Balinese sculpture and art… The list goes on!
What an interesting and different holiday this could make for so many people! Open your mind. Do it for yourself. Find your balanced state! (Plus the rest of Bali is right there, waiting to be explored…)
We have a lot more to say, but thought we would start with this overview of our experience.
Sometimes in life you just need to leap off into the unknown.
We have already made some big changes this year… And the adventure is just beginning. Being dancers is an amazing gift, and we want to take it further. We want to take time for ourselves and to enjoy life! We thought that taking a break was long overdue, and so here we are.
First of all, we got married (finally!) in March and our wedding was probably the best day of our lives so far. It was a massive amount of work in only 2.5 months, but it was a dream come true. (We are working on a wedding post for you, but we are waiting on our official photos and video!)
And now, we have just arrived in Ubud, Bali, to begin our Yoga Teacher Training Course with the School of the Sacred Arts at the Yoga Barn. We begin on Sunday. We are nervous, but excited. How amazing for us, after all our dancing experience, to start at the beginning and learn something new… not just for our bodies, but for our minds.
Following our month long course, we will travel to Germany – sort of a big finale to our ‘honeymoon’. We are not sure yet where all these adventures will lead us, and our future is open and unknown. It is a little scary, but at the same time, we are open and free.
There is so much to see and do, and so much to give and share… We will be posting updates along the way so you can follow us on our journey. From the rice paddies of Ubud… Namaste!
This weekend is the premiere of an independent theatre show ‘The Soldier’s Tale’. ( http://www.ticketmash.sg/soldierstale ) A unique performance combining live musicians and dancers, to be ‘read played and danced’ in two parts. Timothy Coleman has created the choreography for this brand new production in Singapore, and shares his experiences behind the scenes…
What is unique about this production?
The original production was a Russian folktale to be “read, played, and danced”. We thought we could tell the story in a modern way through dance and interaction with live musicians, as well as narration. In the performance we have seven live musicians, three dancers, a narrator, and a conductor combining to tell the story.
What was the choreographic process like?
I didn’t start this project with a clear knowledge of what it was going to become. I just sort of let it evolve. This was a very different approach for me as I usually like to have everything planned out before I start.
I wanted to each of the characters to have very different and unique styles of movement. I selected pieces of music from different genres to come up with a movement repertoire for each of the characters. The Devil’s movement began from experimental- electronic/techno music and the Soldier’s movement started out to a recording of army marching drills. With this as a basis I started trying to fit it together to the incredibly difficult music by Stravinsky.
What makes this music challenging?
The music of The Soldier’s Tale is composed by Igor Stravinsky. If you are familiar with his music you will know that it can be a little ‘different’ to listen to – let alone dance to. Most often we dance to music that has fairly regular counts. Stravinsky’s music however is not like this at all. It jumps all over the place – sometimes a ten, followed by a six, then a thirteen. This means that the dancer has to learn the steps AND a seemingly random sequence of numbers. For some of the dances it took me hours of sitting and listening to figure out the most logical way to count the music.
What has the rehearsal schedule been like?
Finding enough rehearsal time has been a bit of a challenge! The dancers and I work full time with Singapore Dance Theatre and therefore have worked a lot of evenings and weekends to get this project finished. It has took about three months to complete. I haven’t been adding up the hours we’ve spent but let’s just say that creating choreography can be a slow process. I am so thankful that the dancers have been so willing give up their time for this project. They have been fantastic.
What was it like working with the musicians?
One of the biggest features of this production is the way the live music and the musicians themselves are part of the story. One of the most important aspects is the Soldier’s violin, so it has been great to bring the violin out of the ensemble and have him ‘dance’ with the Soldier. It was a lot of fun to choreograph a duet for these two performers from different disciplines, and watch them become comfortable sharing the space together.
You are only a couple of days from opening night. How has it all come together?
In the last week we have rehearsed the dancers together with the music ensemble. When you have a live group of musicians the music itself becomes variable and alive, so it is a big change for the dancers, who have been working from a CD recording. Dancers are very sensitive to small changes in tempo. Just 1% can make a noticeable difference. I have worked with Adrian, who is also the conductor, and the dancers to make sure all the cues are right and everything works together as it should.
In the end it has all come together very well and I think we are all set to bump in to the theatre. It has been a long process but an enjoyable one. We are all really looking forward to this weekend. It will be great to finally perform The Soldier’s Tale in front of an audience!
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Don’t miss out on the opportunity to see this show! Tickets are only $20.
15/16th November 2014, at the Esplanade Recital Studio
All the label said was “Pulasan”.
They were dark purple and about the size of an egg, with strong short spikes all over them. What was this weird sea-urchin-like mystery fruit?
Having wandered the Singapore supermarket aisles for nearly 4 years now, we have tried most of the local produce… but this was something new.
For National day this year we needed a project to get us in the Singapore spirit of red & white! We created a homemade Watermelon Kueh… made healthier using brown rice!
This is a new kind of trip for us, and not just because we finally made it to Europe. We are here with no agenda, no work, no auditions… just exploring and experiencing. (This is our honeymoon after all!) 
Traveling helps to open your mind; seeing how people live and understanding their history makes us more open, compassionate, and tolerant. 
All the label said was “Pulasan”.
