Stillpoint Yoga, Upper Moutere

Arrived yesterday. Flew into Nelson where I was picked up by Tony, the shuttle driver who does transport for the yoga place. Weather absolutely gorgeous -- hot and sunny. About a 40 minute drive to Upper Moutere -- lots of farmland (sheep, of course, and horses) and wineries. Stopped at the village store so I could pick up some food as it is self-catering at Stillpoint Yoga. Arrived and settled into my room. I thought I would be sharing a bathroom but I have a room with a double bed and a large en-suite bathroom -- very comfortable. I sat in the sunshine and part-shade reading the rest of the afternoon. There was no yoga to do yesterday so just pure relaxation.

Met the other people here for the retreat. Kay from Australia, Hadie from Tasmania, Mayo from Tokyo, Bevan a New Zealander who plays cup rugby in Germany and Andrea from Germany. Lucy and John spent the day working on the landscaping on the property while we all settled in.

Here is my room from the outside...


Here's the building that houses the kitchen and lounge area as well as the yoga room...


Decorative doors to yoga room...


A view over the property with a pohutukawa tree in the foreground -- otherwise known as the New Zealand christmas tree...



This morning was up around 6:30 to shower and have some yogurt, oats and honey before yoga started at 8:15. The yoga class was great. John did an introductory talk basically, to simplify it, about finding balance and utilizing action and desire rather than strategies in order to move forward. I am, of course, not explaining that well but that's what I got out of it. We then started the pratice mysore-style, each working through the series at our own pace. There are only six of us in the class and with two teachers, John and Lucy, the attention is very good and the class was filled with so much insight and personal assistance. I was nervous going in and it's hard mentally to try to work on poses and not get caught up in feeling like you have been doing the poses wrong. I got a lot of inspiration from the class and am looking forward to tomorrow morning. My favourite part was when I was doing 'Prasarita Padottanasana A' (wide-legged forward bend with hands on the floor) and John said "Head on the floor as well, Janine". I laughed and said "Maybe one day!" and he said "No, today!" Sure enough, he got me to bend my knees a bit and he stood by to balance me so I wouldn't tip over or fall on my head and break my neck and for a moment I got my head down. Just to know what the full pose is supposed to feel like was a real buzz. Anyway, I left the class feeling like there was limitless potential. And as that was part of John's introductory talk I feel like I caught on to a moment.

After yoga I made some toast with Nutella (someone had left a jar behind and I can't let that go to waste) and a cup of tea and relaxed for a bit. Kay has a rental car so she, Hadie, Mayo and I drove into Mouteka, stopping at a nice little organic fruit and veg shop called "Toad Hall". Mouteka is a nice little bustling summer town. Picked up some more groceries there for the week and walked around a bit. The yoga place is not far from the water but is a bit inland and up in the hills. Kay drove along the coast and we stopped at Ruby Bay and walked in the water and collected rocks and shells for a bit.



Kay and Hadie have been here already for a week and Kay has been here before a few times for teacher training with John and Lucy so she knows the area quite well. We had to stop at the car rental place (which is just a farm that does bed and breakfast and rents a few cars and campervans) as the renters wanted to exchange it for another one as they needed the car back as it had a hitch on the back and they needed to haul some sheep (only in New Zealand!). It was a nice afternoon. Came back and read for a bit and then made some spaghetti with pesto for my dinner.

I have no cat pictures today. I did have a little cuddle with Raf, one of the three cats here, but didn't have my camera with me. Mayo said that Raf slept in her room with her last night so I have my door open now just in case! John said the cats don't get along together and they are looking for a lap to curl up in. There is also a very nice black lab here (of course, I don't think there are any black labs that aren't nice, are there?) named Buzz. He likes a really good pet and a good stomach rub.

I also have no wine tastings to report on as I had a wine-free yogic day. Yesterday afternoon I did have a couple glasses of a "savvie" from Orinoco Vineyards. I bought it at the village store yesterday as it was a local wine and today on our drive we passed the vineyard just up the road! It was quite nice and the remainder of the bottle is chilling in the fridge. Perhaps I will allow myself a glass tomorrow.

Now I must post this and sign off. I have homework to do tonight. I have to draw stick figures showing all the vinyasas in Suryanamaskara A and Suryanamaskara B. I also want to try to learn the opening and closing ashtanga chants.

Until next time...