Key West Florida 30 Aug 2010

Key West Florida 30 Aug 2010

My last weekend was pretty intense. I went to the most famous southern part of FLorida where the Cubans used to cross over the ocean in order to look for better life. Thousands of them died during the storms and floated ships. There is a memorial dedicated to their tragical death due to sicking for better condition of life. The majority of Floridan population in general come from Latin America, so the mostly spoken language is Spanish and the most characteristic cuisine come from South America. I keep discovering each time different meals such as Peruvian, Chilean, Columbian, Argentinian, Mexican, Cuban, Uruguayan. On the way to Key West (http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&safe=active&client=safari&rls=en&q=key+west+florida&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=Key+West,+FL&gl=us&ei=Swl8TOeeDNKGnQfH_NicCw&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCMQ8gEwAA)
2 days ago I visited the national park of Island, when I went on canal and sea tour by canoeing. It was really pleasant to row while being refreshed by the gentle wind breeze in the hair and drops of water absorbed by skin. After 170 miles drive through the all little islands belonging to the long key west track I got eventually to the pick point of this track - Key West. Its such a touristic place that I could't stand for too long. After having a nice sea food lunch in Island (crab cake, egg rolls with lobster, carpaccio of tuna, platanas - bananas, potato croquettes) I had got 3 different type of key lime pie. This particular pie is very characteristic for the whole FLorida, but originally comes from Key West. Key West is a town consisting of hotels, guest houses, bad and breakfasts. The main attraction of such a common place is: shopping, eating, parting. I spent there a couple of hours and it was time to leave. I've got back home at 3 am and fell a sleep from exhaustion. The next day my wife didn't allow me to be lazy and just lie down on the couch and indulge my laziness moment. She took me to the opposite south beach side hotel to participate in the happy hour swimming pool party. Actually we've never managed before to get there as we were extremely busy during weekends with different forms of entertainment. Eventualy we've get there, have a lobster cessadilla offered by my wife and few glasses of promoted moet champaign and goose vodka fruit drinks. After our few minutes reading we had to make a move back home and get ready to go out. I went to the brazilian dance company performance which fuses the brazilian folk, capoera and contemporary dance (http://brazartedance.com/). It was a 10th anniversary of the company's existence and they celebrated it at the Martin's art theatre of Miami (http://www.manuelartimetheater.com/pages/default.asp) by 2 hours performance. It wasn't too bad, the combination of music, wavy fabrics and folk dance was really well emphasised. I wasn't impressed by the contemporary dance choreography and the dancers movement quality. All these dancers with some exception were the resent school graduates taught by the choreographer Robert Diaz. The only one dancer was exceptional. The way she moved was sensual and meaningful, she was telling the story and being passionate about it. She moved the way I would expect the Brazilian dancer to move. I think that the strongest choreographic point was the folk dance. I would make fusion of folk, capoera and contemporary dance in way that all the dancers would merged their skills and styles into one choreographed dance piece. The performance was lacking of this connection in my opinion. Nether the less some of the acts were more touching and expressive than the others. After that I went to the Chilean place recommended by my Venezuelan yoga client to have as an appetiser: empanada de mariscos (sea food pastry/fried damping), lime conch salad (delicious) followed by incredible sea food soup (la supa de mariscos). The soup was really exceptional. The next day, means today I couldn't wake up, my body wouldn't allow me to move its limbs and lift my bum up of the bad. When I've finally managed to get up and go for 2 hours/5 miles swim just after the storm I completely lost the time orientation. I practised some yoga after fully energising swim in in the middle of hudge ocean waves and I realised that it must be over noon and I am late for the appointment with my wife and a butterfly. Somehow without using the mobile phones and wondering around south beach barefoot we got together and went for lunch to Starbucks near by ocean. Even thought we were supposed to go to Persian restaurant chosen by our special guest - Butterfly - somehow we ended up in regular caffe chain place. Any way it was such a nice experience to share our thoughts and opinions with a homeless person who's got an incredible education background - such as postdoc in nuclear engineering (considering that's true). We weren't sure what was the reason she reduced her life to such a stage where she lost her home and lived on the beach of Florida. She admitted also that she was still actively working in her field as a scientific researcher and publishing her articles for related journals. Her aim was to become a professor, and as far as she told us she was, but we don't know what really happened. What has brought her to such a circumstances....We suspect she is schisofrenik as my wife saw her in a state of mind while she was arguing with herself.
I am back to my duets now and advertise my workshop....which is up soon (3 weeks time)....hasta la vista;) In Europe is cold and rainy, over hear looks like it's also an Autumn, but once you get out of AC'ed place you become aware that you're still in tropics!!!!!!Yeas I am....and I appreciate it;)

well...could be worse...there is still a lot to learn.....

Sometimes we ask ourselves whats wrong with us. Why aren't we just the way others would accept us to be? Why aren't we in their shoes for change to experience their own pain and needs. Why do we have to go through the same all over again in order to meet the same expectations and the abilities to destroy the emotions that occur us. Why aren't our feelings more straight forward and ready to talk for us and save us? Why our dignity is put on trail and has to be tested each time we are about to get what we really want. Why aren't we equal so the man-man, the woman- woman and the man - woman can carry on with their own wishes and aims without faking the reality. Why do we become judgmental when it comes to intimate feelings. Why do we expect the physical contact if we can only give and receive the spiritual one? Why are we attached to someone if we are lonely anyway. Why do we restrict each other if we are free to do whatever we feel. Why do we make others suffer without any purpose, especially when we really want to do the opposite. Why aren't we loved the way we are. Why should we change for any reason someone or something which is not belonging to us? It's enough to be restricted by political, social and economical reasons, that's why we don't want to be prisoned by any other issues which come from the closest person so important to us. Why before the sun shines the clouds cover it and bring the grey shade on our life. Isn't it just the image of being poor and frustrated, isn't it just an excuse from opening our soul and heart..... I live my dream life without any major limits, I want to offer the best of me to the universe and not expect any think in return. That would be fantastic if we all could do that. We get trapped by our possessive thoughts and don't let them go. They make us slaves of our selves, of our material and mental imperium, of attachment and addiction to whatever is material and can be easily destroyed and detached. When we fall a sleep or read a book, watch the movie, we realise that we can easily detach from the possessive thoughts which make us prisoners of our own desires. What about getting rid of the desires and just purely live the moment in loneliness or in the company of pure energy gifted by the ray of sun radiating on our face into out heart. What's wrong with our self - defence system of becoming addicted to our ego which doesn't let us go when we become sensitive and fragile. We want to control the whole world but if the intention is not pure, we are not going to succeed. Instead we'll be frustrated and miserable because of the rejection. The rejection is the weapon to prove the character strength. We all get familiar with that feeling of luck of acceptance, love and warmness. We have to be aware that if one person goes away, another will come and all over again... There should not be any fear of being left by ourselves because we are lonely anyway, but we are surrounded by beloved people who can share their love with us if we only open ourselves to it. Being in Florida means being exposed on all possible temptation which lead to loose the track of our destiny. Every day we have to remind ourselves what are we here for and if we keep rolling on the same rode nothing is going to district us from the path we are walking on.
My wife just came back yesterday from West Virginia, from the meditation. She spent few days in Monastery to reflect on her life and purpose of being here. She detached from the surrounding to clearly see her path she discovered a time ago. Unfortunately sometimes we loose this track for a moment and we need consciously bring ourselves back on it no matter happens. The little distractions are highly recommended in order to break down the on going series of factors which are leading us nowhere. I am still involved in yoga teaching and dance performance. On 18 and 19 September there is the 'Earth dance' festival in Miami Beach I am going to be a part of, by doing the martial arts / contemporary dance performance http://www.earthdance.org/. Then on 26th September I've got the yoga dance workshop which I am working on right now. I've just started editing my yoga on boat film and as usual don't have enough time to focus on it. I've re injured my knee which swollen like a ball and can not really move. Just lying down on the couch and working on line on outstanding duties such as time table for my classes in London once I am back. I' feel overwhelmed by meeting new people and going out. I want to reset my mind and body. In fact my knee definitely is telling me something....

15 August 2010

I am in the middle of my holiday time in Florida, one and half month more to go before heading back home to London;( It's been such an amazing experience so far to be here. Even if my days are more or less pretty the same, each one brings something new and special. Whenever I wake up and go for swim to the beautiful and peaceful ocean after my 1 hour swim I either contemplate for a while floating on the surface of the water or just lying down on the edge of the ocean. The water keeps me up and moisturise my skin when it dries and gets hot. I'm lifted by this soft and salt liquid which allows me to let myself melt and be cared by the mother nature. In the morning the ocean usually is very calm and in the evening gets a little bit more ruff. But usually both the morning and evening are exceptional, give me a unique felling of being the part of the whole universe and being a drop in the water.... meaningfully. Whenever I deal with any sort of problem I get myself down to the basic and immerse underneath the water which resets my body and mind. The ocean is the best healer after the yoga and dance or maybe they are equal. The meditation in motion (movement meditation) is the best experience ever. Let my mind connect with the body and the other way around on the level of total abstraction. i can attach and detach whenever I feel like. I go with flow, relax my limbs, joins and muscles, open my mind to unknown and i am already drifted in the fluid of thoughts and images spread around. I take them away when they come back and all over again I keep the same pattern.
After I came back from West Palm Beach and Boca Raton (Mid...North Florida) where I stayed with my friend. I lost my mobile and Ipod, and I haven't found them since then. I am not rushing to get them back as I know it has happened for a reason.... It's so nice to be disconnected from outworld and get in touch with it only when I really need it. Of course I've still got left my mac so I can communicate with an entire world but it's my choice when I want to do so. Somehow having less and less makes me feel happier and lighter. I realise that I really don't need that much. Every time in my life, either spiritual or physical experience give certain meaning to my existence and the way I want to live. Somehow I am not a person who like a common life style, the family, house and car. I've never been bonded to this sort of life, even if I really wanted. Somehow my path is different, and I love following my wild instinct and intuition of researching unknown. I open myself to the life and I let it in in the right moment. It doesn't matter where I am but definitely the beautiful and warm nature says for itself. Somehow it's so therapeutic for my mental and physiological state, I am addicted to the nature, ocean, sand, sun and moon. i could be in the forest, mountains, river and sea. i could be an animal, bird, butterfly. i could be the air, earth and water, and I am the fire. I've recently read at friend's place this astrology's book about signs in relationships of the couple. And I obviously checked out sagitaritus-sagittarius correlation. And I found out that we are the perfect couple I mean both Sagittarius (me and my partner). First of all we would never get bored because we love challenging each other no matter it is. When we get upset with each other we struggle to apologise but we get over it as soon as we finished to fight. We just behave again as nothing has really happened. The only issue we should take on board while being together is never get separated, as we can easily forget about each other. I feel like I want to be with my second half wherever i go in order to share the beautiful moments with him. However if it's not the case because of different reason I find it also really rewarding to explore our own worlds for the time being we are not physically together, but our hearts are still next to each other and they beat with the same paste no matter where we are;) this is me, I miss my second half, but I also know that it's there and waiting for me whenever I need it.
I facebooked on the public wall my friend who was on his way to pick me up and had to turn back in the middle of his way as I postponed the meeting. Of course I shared it with the whole world as I wasn't sure what I was doing on my Ipod. And guess what? As soon as my partner found out about it called me telling how sorry he was for the guy....
The next day concerned by what happened I went with my friend to this typical american fish restaurant (http://www.rusticinn.com/index.html) where they serve lobsters, crabs and all related sea food. We had got some fish and crabs legs, really delicious. The night before I dinnered with my friend and her family in their house (Boca Raton - very porch jewish area in Florida) and we were treated with huge american lobsters. Really incredible experience. It's not that i've never tried lobster before, as I had lots of them in my life, but each place has got different lobsters species and this was really great.
A couple of days ago I went to yoga studio 'Synergy's event where took the place the meditation, arc yoga demo and belly dancing performance. This is the place where I actually teach yoga dance and other yoga classes, I am also preparing the yoga dance workshop: (http://www.synergyyoga.org/yoga-teachers/joana-puchala/)
Joanna Puchala

Joanna is a passionate contemporary dancer and yoga practitioner. During 10 years of yoga, pilates and dance practice she created her own technique which fuses all these stiles. Her classes consist also of different yoga types such as Ashtanga, Hatha, Trance Yoga Dance.
Her contemporary dance background allows her to incorporate different ways of movement in yoga practice. Her classes represent flow, release and dynamic movement with emphasis on strengthening core muscles and releasing back and shoulders tension. Yoga practice enriched by the music and dance gives a unique experience to the participants, make them revitalise the energy and stimulates their mental and physical activities.
Yoga styles:
Yoga and Dance
Class schedule:
Fri. 6:30pm


I met few people there and one of them was a martial artist. We met up the net day and spent half of it on sharing the martial arts on the beach, thai chi and chi conodo, then we proceeded with the energy transfer between both channels through the massage and reiki. Today on the beach we are going to try to do the contemporary dance fusion with martial arts (sticks. kunkwu) and acro yoga (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0w-yB20UKY&feature=fvw)
In the meantime this morning after I finished to swim and I was drifting on the water's surface I opened my eyes and I saw a very big size human being who started the conversation. It turned out that he's been a world champion in king boxing for 12 years and he is still competiting (http://fredtheiceman.com/html/iceman-bio.html).... just getting to be ready for the next comeptition in Las vas in 2 months time. And later on after my skype conversation with my american best friend we found out that it was the same person who was asking her out some time ago. He'd got a hang over after last night out, as he is not used to any kind of alcohol, after six martini based cocktails he almost passed out. He was dealing with his hung over while he invited me for breakfast. So we had got a hudge breakfast on Lincoln road and we agreed that I will join him while he is training as I need to do work out on my knee and get ready for my dance training after 2 months of break. I mean I still keep actively training myself but it's not as efficient as it should be. I need to have at least 6 hours training a day and I do half of it now. Mostly because of my knee problem, which is keeling me now. Even if I ice it every day after the work out the pain is great. I need to find the way to heal it. Yesterday's energy exchange was really good to relief the pain. After that I reached an incredible flow in the movement and flexibility without using any strength. It's like a foldenkrais technique. After las tnight yoga own practice I watched this wonderful movie recommended by my friend to me and to all of you who read it. It's a mastery piece of art: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WR7yzPLXNAM&feature=related
Whenever you feel like disconnect from the hectic life turn on this wonderful movie 'ashes and snow' with the animals, water and human in motion. It's an experience to watch it, you clear your mind and relax your inner self. it brings you to a different dimension.

10 aug 2010

I'm in the hotel breakers in west palm beach. It's been built in 19 century and influanced by Italian atchitecture. It's such a wonderful place with incredible style. I'm not a big fun of luxural places  but sometimes it feels really good to be sorrounded by high quality and classy enviroment. But the women are fake as everywhere near by palm beach and talk about nothing else but clothes. how borring must be their world full of gadgets and money... I went for a bike ride along the cost and I spent wonderful time on the disert beach far away from sky grapers and croud. Along the cost of West Palm Beach are incredibly expensive proprieties. Each house has got a little house across the road on the beach. I found it really unique. Basicly most of midle class couldn't sureley afford the tiny house while the owners of west palm beach proprieties own both the mega residence and the little beach house. While I'm writing i am sitting in the most buetiful hotel breakers. 

I just got to my friends place and we watched the yoga ashtanga primary series, which we practiced next day. 

As soon as I woke up I did my swiming in the swiming pool and the 2 h yoga ashtanga practice with pritty good teacher. I and my friend are staying in a really nice place in Florida - Boca Raton just for a couple of days at least I am.  She needed a break from south beach and I followed he. I was supposed to come back home next day but somehow I felt like being lazy and just relax one more day. I've even postponed 4 yoga classes on its behalf. I wasn't earning any money anyway so I allowed myself to have a short holiday.
I am going to watch movie: 'Paris je t'aine' and read book: 'change your brain change your life'. 

1 august 2010

And here we go....it's been one month since I've arrived to Miami and I really feel like at home here. I run my yoga classes on the beach and in the studio, I might start collaboration in the dance studio by teaching contemporary dance. I've just got yesterday meeting there. I also might start working as a yoga therapist. I've rescheduled my timetable after I realised that I've got too tired after getting every morning at 7am, running to the studio or beach to teach and having only 1 or 3 people coming. I decided to structure my professional time in Miami Beach in the way that I can teach just few classes to cover my expenses and the rest of time dedicate to studies of yoga therapy for depression, anxiety, stress, anatomy and psychology. Whatever course I undertake in London from October it will be related to this field so better to take advantage of having a bit of time to study now. I swim every morning and evening, once a day I take a community yoga class in the miami studio (vinyasa power sweating like a beast) http://www.miamiyoga.com/index.html (3-4.30pm) with the future yoga trained teachers. I walk along the beach, read 'Women who run with the wolves' by clarissa pinkola estes and all bunch of books purchased by my friend for example:
*Full Catasophre Living-Jon Kabat-Zinn
Trauma and the Body-Pat Ogden
*Yoga for Depression-Amy Weintraub
Mindfulness in Plain English-Bante Guanaratana
On Becoming a Person-Carl Rogers
*The Relaxation Response-Herbet Benson
*How to Use Herbs, Nutrients, and Yoga in Mental Health Care-Richard Brown and Patricia Gerbarg
The Anatomy of Hatha Yoga David Coulter
'healing depression the mind -body way' nancy libeller, sandra moss
'the body remembers' the psychology of trauma and trauma treatment' babette rothschild
'traumatic stress' the effect of overwhelming experience on mind, body, and society; Bessel A. Van Der Kolk, Alexander C. McFarlane, Lars Weisaeth
'Cognitive Neuroscience' The biology of the mind, michael s. gazzaniga, richard b. ivy, george r. mangun

and watch fantastic anatomy's lectures on line:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv0VcUWAaQw&feature=PlayList&p=9A701D54E8896D0E&playnext=3

this is all I do here...;) and I am back to my happy and peaceful mind. I fully recovered from my previous break down assumed a couple of months ago in London.

A couple of days ago when we went out, on the way back from the unsuccessful night clubbing , during which we met average people, we bumped into the MIami University's Professor of Meteorology and Physical Oceanography - David S. Nolan, who researches the hurricanes, and his friend a doctor from Harvard University. No physical interest at all at least from mine and my friends prospective, the only intellectual stimulaters were pretty strong in order to continue the future friendship. Let's see what happens but it would be nice to meet them and talk about the since and medicine....;) I know that I am getting slightly pathetic but this is the ageing sign ;)