April 28th, 2012
What an incredible adventure this has been already, and it’s only been 4 days. We have already learned some valuable lessons, and experienced some amazing and interesting things. To start, Mumbai is everything one imagines, and more. Busy, crowded, loud, dirty, dusty, smelly, and poor, yet also beautiful, friendly, and energetic. We spent the first two nights in Juhu beach, northern suburb of Mumbai, at Iskcon Ashram, a Hare Krishna Temple recommended by a friend, Revati, who’s dad stays there when in India. It is listed as one of the top places to stay in the affordable range here in Mumbai, and at 3500rupees/night, about $70. It was a great place to start, to get a slight grip on this somewhat confusing city, and to reset from the jet lag.
Our first day we wandered Juhu quite a bit, found the beach (not as inviting as ours at home), saw a few wedding processionals (which reminded me of a second line, but with the groom being escorted in an elegantly decorated horsedrawn carriage), and got a feel for the street life here. At night we ventured to Juhu Chowpatty, the beach which turns into a carnival at night. It was lively, loaded with children and families (kids just started a two month break), and there were vendors hawking everything from balloons to hair ornaments to all sorts of food.
Day two was a day of lessons. Our goal for the day, to buy our train tickets for Trivandrum, where we will set out for the ashram from. So, this only took us about 5 hours, 3 rickshaw rides, 2 cab rides, and 3 train rides, in addition to lots of money. First lesson, the taxis and rickshaws have meters in them, but unknown to us, the number on the meter does not refer to the price, but rather to a number on a chart which refers to the price. We did learn this on our third rickshaw ride of the day, when that driver was nice enough to tell us this and give us our own chart so we would no longer be ripped off. We also paid about five times too much for a taxi ride, but so glad that we learned this lesson early on and not days, or weeks, into paying too much. After arriving at one station, we were told we had to go to another, and upon arriving at that one, to another. When we finally got to the right place, we were told that a ticket could not be purchased without a passport, which Dore did not have on her, so we decided to learn to use the train line. Inexpensive and takes the same time as a taxi, and the trains have ”Ladies Only” cars, which are wonderful because Indian men will gawk and grope. Some very interesing things are hawked in the women’s cars on the trains, everything from bindis and makeup to kitchen scrubbies to coloring books and rubek’s cubes. After we finally made all the trips back and forth and got our tickets, we stopped in the neighborhood of Bandra. Basically, a huge street market selling all sorts of food, clothes, accessories, and other wares. It was very fun and lively, and easy to bargain here.
Day three, we moved to the neighborhood of Colaba, old Mumbai. The buildings here are beautiful, from a time of money and prestige, the time of British rule and before. Yet, they are also in decay, as are so many things here. In Juhu, we saw hardly any other foreigners, in Colaba, lots of them. We visited Leopold’s for lunch, an establishment from 1861, that was a central hangout in a book I just finished reading. It was packed with foreigners, and the food was very good, Chinese and Indian, as well as Continental, but the prices certainly reflected that we were in a tourist establishment. Also, the atmosphere was so different than I thought it was gonna be, I expected more of a pub, this was more of a tourist burn and churn. From there, we headed to the Gateway to India, a monument built in honor of King George V’s (I think)visit in the early 1900′s, along with the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel just across the street. Both beautiful monuments, but the reason we come here was to catch the ferry to Elephanta Island. The ruins of Elephanta are quite impressive. There are a series of caves here with statue carvings of several Hindu dieties and stories relating to them, including Shiva, Vishnu, Paravati, and Ganesh. I really enjoyed it for all that, the history, and the views. No one really knows when they were carved, but the first recorded history is around 600BCE (more or less). On our return, we decided to have a swanky cocktail in the Taj Mahal, and swanky it was at about 900R, $18, per drink, but we figured worth it. We hadn’t had a drink together yet, and know that we will be cloisted for the next month, so what the hell. It was fun, and very very posh, and drinks were good. After dinner and a shower, we headed back out to a club where we met a very nice Indian man, Narij, who then took us to a local dance club. It was as cheesy as any cheesy club in the states, with pulsing lights and mirrors, playing standard dance music, but still tons of fun, and probably one of the only times we will have an experience like this on this journey.
Today, day four, we found the Jewish Synagogue. Beautiful building with stained glass and gorgeous woodwork, as everything else, in need of some TLC, hosting 50 families, about 250 people. Only 5000 Jews remain in India, from what used to be a thriving population. We also finally ventured into the realm of street food. We followed the one rule of very busy places only, and then added in our own rule, where women are eating, as well as men. For 50R, $1, we had a fantastic lunch, are no longer scared of street food, and looking forward to exploring more.
We head south tomorrow, don’t know when the next post will be, but hope I will be able to include pictures. Until then, thanks for your emails and comments, keep them coming, because I do look forward to hearing from you all. Namaste.
Tags: beach, travel
Posted in travel | 7 Comments »
April 23rd, 2012
Three weeks in Europe feels like a whirlwind tour. London 2 nights, Paris 4 nights, Antwerp 2 nights, Amsterdam 3 nights, Linhamm 4 nights, and back to London for 5 nights. Today, is day 4 back in London. I leave for India tomorrow, and in addition to being incredibly excited for the learning and growth experience I have ahead of me, I am so excited to be in hot, humid weather again. Yet, that aside, I am getting ahead of myself.
My friend, Kari from Key West, met me in London 19 days ago, and the tour began. The first 2 days were spent in London with my cousin and his husband, Adam and Hector. They have been incredibly generous and hospitable hosts, opening their home in Wimbledon to us, and feeding us incredibly well. These first 2 days were spent exploring their town, and the night before heading to Paris, we went to the well known British gastropub, Fox and Grapes. It was a delicious meal, and Adam claimed that if I did a food blog on my trip, he would be sure to read it. Well, this is not going to be a food blog only, but I hope he reads it anyway. For my main course, I had traditional beer-battered fish and chips with mushy peas. It was delicious, but my favorite was Adam´s appetizer, a razor clam soup.
Then, Paris for my 40th birthday. This was my third visit to this amazing city, but it felt different as I was seeing it through the eyes of an adult. I could just walk for days and days in Paris, admiring the architecture, the parks, the sheer beauty of it all. And believe me, we did walk and walk for days. We stayed in a budget hotel just up the street from the Maubert Mutualité street market, which happened to be open on my birthday, so we bought a huge spread and headed to Luxembourg Gardens to enjoy. Fresh goats cheese, goose liver pate, apples, peas in the pod, and dried apricots, a mix of olives and bread, and a delicious bottle of Bordeaux. It was a wonderful way to spend my birthday, sharing great food with a close friend in a beautiful city. One could spend months in Paris and still not cover it all or see all of the attractions. We did do a river cruise, under the light of a full moon, and of course,¨The City of Lights.¨ I loved this. Each bridge in Paris was designed differently than the next. No two are the same. For some reason, I found this fascinating. Many of them are artistically beautiful, as well as architecturally. Other sights included the Pantheon, Champs Elysses and the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame (which we climbed to the top of for the most breathtaking views of Paris), the Eiffel Tower (which we did not ascend), Musée d´Orsay (one of my favorite collections of any museum I´ve visited), and a classical concert at St. Chapelle (the most gorgeous stained glass ever). And, for all who know me well, you´ll know that there was lots of eating and drinking, too. Favorite meals, street falafel in the midevil Jewish/Gay quarter and vegetarian lunch at Le Grenier De Notre Dame. Favorite drinking establishment, next to our hotel, La Lucha Libre, dedicated to the masked wrestlers. It was just lots of fun.
Next, off to Antwerp. This small Belgian city is delightful for a short visit. Famous for it´s diamond district, and it´s cathedral which adorns several of Peter Paul Rubens works, it also has several pedestrian streets lined with cafes and shops. I have to say that my favorite meal of the whole Europe trip (aside from the delicious homecooking of Cousin Adam) was at Fiskebar in Antwerp. Mussels in a white wine-shallot broth, king crab terrine with tomato-basil-green apple, and whole turbot (the best whole fish I think I´ve ever had) with fingerling potatoes and salad. For those who know Kari, you know she likes her thrift stores. We found an amazing thrift store in Antwerp which specialized in lamps, furniture, and accessories. Thankfully, we were not close to home because we both may have gone broke shopping in this place.
After a couple relaxing days in Antwerp, we got back into the nonstop touring groove in Amsterdam. My fourth time to this city, and like Paris, seeing it through different eyes, but still loving it. To relate it to my life, Paris is like NYC. Bustling, lots going on all the time, loaded with tourists as well as residents; not a place I´d want to live, but I love to visit. Amsterdam is like NOLA. Laid back, much to do but at a different pace, not nearly as crowded; and a place I could see spending some time in. Add in the biking culture, and it´s got most of the things I really like; active outdoor culture, it´s on the water, and has great ethnic food. It´s easy to get lost in the streets of Amsterdam. The parks are gorgeous, the canals give it a feeling that is unlike any other Northern European city, and the people are so incredibly nice, friendly, and helpful. We stayed just across the street from Sarphatipark in a dumpy hostel, but it made no difference since we were out wandering the streets most of the time. The hostel was in the neighborhood of the Albert Cuyp street market, which was open everyday except Sunday. Our days began there with a fresh squeezed juice, and maybe some food, before wandering through the city streets. Aside from time spent in Vondelpark, cafés and coffee shops, we explored the Van Gogh museum, Dam Square and the Red Light District, as well as several of the cities other squares and markets. Favorite meals, Golden Temple for Indian inspired vegetarian fare and Sonny´s falafel near the hostel. Favorite watering hole, Rick´s Cafe.
Then, to Linhamm Ön. For those of you who are wondering where the heck Linhamm is, it is a subarb of the Swedish metropolis of Malmö (there is a little sarcasm here), and the home of my very dear friend Michelle, her husband Morten, their beautiful daughter Luna, and their precious pup Elly. It is also situated just across the Oresund Straight from Copenhagen. My first trip to Scandinavia was a wonderful visit with my friend I hadn´t seen in over three years. Yet, if anyone tries to tell you that it´s not cold there or that it´s not expensive, they are lying to you. The northeast wind is frigid, and we did experience snow flurries one day. All that aside though, it was interesting to explore a bit of this reserved culture. Linhamm and Malmö are very quaint, fishing communities. The highlight of Malmö is the Turning Torso Tower. It is an architectural feat, resembling a human torso, and is the tallest building in all of Sweden. Copenhagen is a cool city with lots of outdoor culture, including one of the largest biking communities in the world. 80% of it´s 1.2 million residents commute mainly by bike or foot. And Denmark and Sweden are leading Europe, if not the world, in their efforts to be ¨green.¨ The parks here are gorgeous, my favorite being the Assistens which doubles as a cemetary, or is it a cemetary which doubles as a park? Regardless, it is beautiful and several famous Danes are buried here, including Hans Christian Andersen and Soren Kierkegaard. Kari and I took a canal cruise from Nyhaven, which offered a really great history of this port city, and allowed us to see much of it we wouldn´t have been able to cover on foot. Statens Museum of Kunst is a wonderful free art museum, featuring centuries of European art from the 1100´s til present. Least favorite meal, sampler of herring three ways. To make up for it, a delicious burger with fries (split between us) and four beers for $80. Gotta love it.
Back to London to wind down the European tour and prepare for India. Kari and I spend her last 3 days here exploring the city. London is very beautiful, with history that spans 1000 years, and we walked for miles here, too. They are doing lots of work here in preparation for this years summer Olympics. The City of Westminster is archaically beautiful, home to the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, Westminister Abbey, and the London Eye. The river cruise down the Thames offered a wonderful history of it´s bridges, including the London Bridge and the Tower Bridge, of the Tower of London and it´s gruesome history, and of the commercial significance of the river. Amazing how the east part of the river, lined with what used to be shipping warehouses, is now home to renovated multi-million dollar flats. Oh, the price of waterfront property. The architecture is a true amalgamation of centuries old and modern influence. It can be quite breathtaking at times. We also explored the fun neighborhoods of Soho and Greenwich, and the Portobello Street Market. And again, we have been shown the most gracious hospitality from Adam and Hector, and fed incredibly well.
Kari left this morning, and I leave for India tomorrow night. As I stated earlier, I am looking forward to being in hot, humid weather again. And, I am incredibly excited to be doing yoga again. Aside from practicing myself, I have not done much since leaving Key West. It is hard to find here, and cost prohibitive. So, I am mentally preparing myself for Mumbai, which I expect to be the polar opposite of the European culture. Yet, we will all have to wait until I arrive to find out just how different it really is. In addition, we will have to wait for pictures because I have yet to figure out how to export to my memory stick without downloading to the computer I am working on. Sorry about that folks, but it´ll be worth the wait. Om namo…
Tags: gratitude, pay-it-forward, travel
Posted in travel | 6 Comments »
April 3rd, 2012
After a year and a half of planning, and a few weeks of parties and goodbyes, I am finally about to embark on the journey of a lifetime. Flying out of Newark for London in just a few hours, and so looking forward to the 3 weeks I will have in Europe with my cousin and close friends. Meeting my friend Kari in London, heading to Paris for my 40th birthday, then to explore Antwerp and Amsterdam. From Amsterdam, flying to Copenhagen and visiting with my lifelong friend, Michelle, in Malmo. Then, back to London to visit with my cousin Adam and his husband Hector, and meeting up with my travel companion, Dore. Dore and I will be flying to India for a life-changing and life-enhancing experience. Dore and I will head from Mumbai to the southernmost point (a geographical destination I am very comfortable with, eg. Key West) of Western India, Trivandrum, and take an hour rickshaw ride to the Sivananda Ashram in Neyyar Dam.
While I am very excited, I am also nervous, anxious, and sad to be leaving family, boyfriend, and friends. Even so, the excitement does trump the other emotions, as I step out into the unknown, into a realm of new experiences, cultures, and people. And new learning opportunities to expand my knowledge, practice, and self-growth.
So, friends, family, and bloggers, I bid you a sweet farewell. I look forward to connecting with you via the internet (a tool I didn’t have access to the last time I traveled extensively), to sharing my experiences with you all, and to hearing what is happening in your lives, too.
To view pictures from farewell parties, link here. I hope it works, this whole uploading photos for public view is new for me. The link will take you to one album, but if you go to my name, it will bring you to the other albums as well. Sorry, the only way I could figure out to do it in a pinch.
Much Love, everyone.
Tags: community, travel
Posted in travel, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
March 5th, 2012
Yesterday was a great day. I was given the opportunity to teach something new, a Partner Yoga class, and it was fun and creative and a pure pleasure to share. I had never taken a partner yoga class before, and I had only explored a few poses in various classes and yoga teacher training. One of my students, who is training to become a teacher herself, had approached me about practicing some partner poses with her. From there, the idea was born.
In conversation, I had mentioned to Nancy Curran, owner of Yoga on the Beach, what we were practicing. She needed a teacher for the themed first Sunday of the month yoga brunch class, and I was given the opportunity to, with Bonnie, create a partner yoga class to share with others.
We explored compassion together in twists, such as Half Lord of the Fishes. In a blustery wind, we learned to trust one another, in the balancing poses Eagle and Tree. We found strength in one another in Warrior poses, and we came to surrender in Child’s pose. All in connection to another. It was a really beautiful, heart-opening experience. 
I am grateful to all who joined us, and to Yoga on the Beach for the opportunity.
Tags: beach, community, gratitude, Health, yoga on the beach
Posted in Key West, nature, Special Events, Spiritual, Yoga | No Comments »
February 2nd, 2012
For those of you who have been following me, you know that I have an incredible journey ahead of me. 8 weeks from today I embark on the journey of a lifetime, and needless to say, I am incredibly excited. Even so, I am staying present in the moment, completely enjoying what will be my last season in Key West, for at least a year. We have had the most beautiful January I can remember in years. There has been a wonderful balance of work and play. My sister came for a visit. Paddleboard Yoga and Yoga on the Beach have been beautiful and inspiring, and classes at Parmer’s have been fun, as always. We are having an amazing season at Azur, I’m so glad the owners/chefs are finally getting the recognition they deserve. Things are great at Isle Style, where I’m doing massage 3 days a week, in addition to my private practice. I guess you could say that I am in the flow, or for you Abraham-Hicks fans, I am in the Vortex, baby. Life is grand.
56 days from today I fly to New Jersey to spend a few days with my family before heading overseas. Plans are made for 3 weeks in Europe. London-Paris-Antwerp-Amsterdam-Copenhagen/Malmo-back to London. I will meet up with my travel companion there, and then we are off to Mumbai where we have two days to figure out how to get to the ashram, which is about as far south as we can go. It will be interesting, to say the least, as well as exciting, adventurous, and full of fun.
If you’d like to guarantee that you get my updates, subscribe to receive my blog posts by email, which you’ll find in the upper right corner of any page of my website. I will love to hear from you all, too.
Tags: Florida Keys, gratitude, travel
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January 3rd, 2012
It is very exciting to introduce the Key West Yoga Pass as we enter a new year. This is a unique opportunity to practice yoga and attend fitness and dance classes at 9 different locations in Key West and the Lower Florida Keys, all on one class card. What a great way to experience the variety of yoga and teachers we have here in our island community.
$75 gets you 5 classes to use at any of these locations:
Ashley Kamen Yoga
Coffee Mill Dance Studio
Key West Yoga Sanctuary
ommPeace Yoga & Massage Therapy
Paddleboard Yoga Key West
Phoenix Rising Yoga Key West
Stay Fit Studio
Yoga Key West
Yoga on the Beach
Looking forward to seeing you on the mat in this new year. May it be a happy, healthy, and joy filled year for you.
Tags: community, Florida Keys, Health, Key West, Yoga
Posted in Health, Key West, Yoga | No Comments »
November 30th, 2011
This is a wonderful letter, author unknown, but know that we are One Human Family. Hope you will take the time to read.
Tags: consciousness, dharma, karma, love
Posted in Spiritual | No Comments »
November 12th, 2011
Giving yet another voice to the movement, this letter was written by Ethan Nichtern of New York and Michael Stone of Toronto, as ”An Open Letter from Buddhist and Yoga Teachers and Leaders in Support of the Occupy Movement.” It reads:
“As teachers and leaders of communities that promote the development of compassion and mindfulness, we are writing to express our solidarity with the Occupy movement now active in over 1,900 cities worldwide.
We are particularly inspired by the nonviolent tactics of this movement, its methods of self-governance, and its emergent communities founded in open communication (general assemblies, the human microphone, the inclusion of diverse voices, etc). These encampments are fertile ground for seeing our inherent wisdom and our capacity for awakening…We share in the thoughtful calls to address massive unemployment, climate change, the erosion of social safety nets, decaying infrastructures, social and education programs, and workers’ wages, rights, and benefits…Most importantly, we believe that individual awakening and collective transformation are inseparable. For members of spiritual communities, mindfulness of the situation before us demands that we engage fully in the culture and society we inhabit. We do not view our own path as merely an individualistic pursuit of sanity and health, and we believe it would be irresponsible of us to teach students of mind/body disciplines that they can develop their practice in isolation from the society in which they live. We are inspired by the creative and intellectual work of the Occupy movement as an essential voice in facilitating a more compassionate and ecologically grounded basis for practice…{to read the whole letter}.”
Thank you, Ethan and Michael, for communicating it so well.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
November 5th, 2011
Check out this great video on KarmaTube.com. It’s about a pay-it-forward restaurant, Karma Kitchen, with locations in Chicago, IL, Wash, DC, and Berkeley, CA. I love the idea of a gift economy. So inspiring to see that it has been working for 4 years, and counting…and can’t wait to see more things like it come about.
Tags: dharma, gift, gratitude, karma, offerings, pay-it-forward
Posted in Health, Spiritual | No Comments »
October 25th, 2011
Hello, Yoginis! I hope this message finds you well after a wonderful summer.
Yoga classes will resume next week, Monday, October 31st, at
Parmer’s Resort on Little Torch Key. ommPeace Yoga is expanding this season. We will be offering 4 classes a week this season. Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings, 8:30-10:00, Vinyasa inspired, and Monday evenings 5:15-6:30, intermediate.
I am excited to introduce you to Claudia Gukeisen. Claudia will be teaching on Monday & Wednesday mornings. A little more on Claudia:
Claudia has an M.A. in Education from NYU and has been an educator for over 15 years. It was as a Montessori teacher that she began to bring yoga into the classroom and find how transformative it can be for children.
Claudia completed her yoga teacher training with Yoga on the Beach in Key West. Her classes are Vinyasa, Hatha and Kripalu inspired, including Kripalu’s Yoga Dance.
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I will be teaching Monday evenings and Thursday mornings. The evening class is going to be an intermediate class, with a focus on more inversions, backbends, and binds. If any of you are ready to expand your practice in this way, I will look forward to seeing you there.
Classes remain $15/class, a block of 5 classes $65, a block of 10 classes $120 *NO Expiration*
If you’d like to stay up to date on schedule changes do to weather, holidays, events, please LIKE ommPeace Yoga & Massage Therapy on
Facebook.
Looking forward to seeing you on the mat.
Tags: asanas, Florida Keys, meditation, vinyasa, Yoga
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