the yoga circus

2009-11-03T12:40:00.000-08:00

Halloween 2009. What a great time we all had, especially Evan was very excited. He and Ayesha charmed the neighbourhood.

2009-10-24T19:43:00.001-07:00

Back on the blog....it's been a long time and lots has happened since Evans haircut. We said our goodbyes to Florida and the friends we made there on September 15 and headed back to California with way too much luggage. The flight was smooth and easy with a very happy and easy toddler on our hands (Evan rocks!).

Back in Palo Alto we were hoping that the house we were about to move into would be ready (they were doing complete renovations on it) but it wasn't so we had to stay put at our small home that was getting smaller and smaller it seemed with every day (probably because I was getting bigger and bigger ;-).

Finally after 4 weeks and a lot of hard work on our side as well the house was ready and we moved in. It's been 2 weeks now and we are extatic about our new home. This is our home and we feel so good about it. Our kitty felt at home immediately, Evan loves all the space and having his own room and we are just happy. We even have a seperate (beautiful) yoga/stretching room and lots of space in the garden. Ahhh such bliss.

In the past week Adarsh's uncle stayed with us to train me in a massage technique called Japanese Restorative Therapy and that was quite amazing. I enjoyed it very much and feel that I have found a new outlet for my talents and found talents I didn't know I had :-). It's so great!

So we've been busy rebuilding our Yoga teaching business here: http://www.ashtangapaloalto.com/ , Adarsh started his new AIS business: http://www.smartstretch.com/ , we moved house, I've become a massage therapist and all that while evan is growing steadily and our baby girl is developing inside. Lots has happened in the past month!!

But now I've finally managed to get some pictures together and here they are: a few of my growing bellie, some play at Carmel beach and Evan practicing for Halloween with his friend Aiden.

2009-09-08T10:00:00.000-07:00

A little while ago I gave Evan his first haircut. He had developed a proper mullet as you can see in the pics. I cut adarsh's hair all the time but this one was quite different as I was pretty sure Evan wouldn't sit as still as dadda does. He turned out to be a trooper though and it worked out very well. The cut isn't perfect but it looks much better :-). It's almost time for a second cut because everything grows so fast with that little boy.

To the Beach

2009-07-16T09:59:00.000-07:00

Due to the massive Coral Reef surrounding the islands, the beaches here are not exactly world class, but not completely lacking either. We live very near to the Founders Park in Islamorada(click here for pictures) which is a kids and family paradise. The small man-made beach has white sand and very shallow waters. Evan confidently wades out into the warm waters all by himself. The Park also serves as a marina where some folks are living on their own boats, an amazing skate park which reminds me of my own days on the board, Olympic pool, baseball and soccer fields, dog park and walking track round out the amenities.

The best beach in the Keys is Bahia Honda (about an hour drive). The natural white sands and views are postcard perfect and the waters are bath-like. Bahia Honda is a state park and has that park vibe: serene, clean, and quiet. For a journey to the other end of the spectrum, you must pay a visit to Miami Beach. Again, the sand, water, and views are gorgeous with added bonus of people watching, many of whom smoke which equals lots of (cigarette) butts in the sand. Ahhhh, there's nothing better on a hot, humid day than a refreshing cigarette!

Oh, the next time you see Heleen, you have to ask her about her Sunday afternoon alone on South Beach!

Eat!

2009-07-01T06:13:00.000-07:00

The Upper Keys offer some really good restaurant selections. Being a vegetarian in a fishing community is not always as an easy fit, but it's no problem when you've got Num Thai! (no website, you can yelp! it) Whenever we are coming home from a day out in Miami, we hit up this tasty spot in Key Largo - I’ve gotta get my Panang on. And since they are sensitive to our vegetarian palates, everything on the menu can be prepared Buddhist style.

I should add a few more dining choices to #8. We have quite enjoyed the kid friendly Morada Bay (private beach for the kiddies and live music.) Recently, we enjoyed the art, ambiance, fantastic service and delicousness of Spanish Gardens Café.

Since we prepare most of our meals at home, we have not yet ventured out to the highly recomended Green Turtle or Kaiyo. Oh, and I should throw a shout out to the Midway Cafe (especially since the owner is now taking yoga.)

That's that for restaurants, if you want to really get your grub on, you simply must go out and pluck your own star fruit, lychee, or better yet MANGO!

Visit Yoga Friends

2009-06-29T07:56:00.000-07:00

The yoga scene in Florida is really growing. Quite a few people were initiated into Ashtanga when Guruji opened the Shala here in Islamorada last year. And it seems like yogis all over the state from Tampa to Jacksonville, Orlando to Miami are getting hooked. We've met a lot of new yoga friends and have enjoyed hearing about traditional shalas and practice groups carving a path. The weather is certainly helpful. It reminds one of South India down here below the Coconut Line.

We have especially enjoyed visits with old yoga friends such as the crew from Miami Life Center and a day at the beach with Ashtanga Yoga Miami. I am very impressed to see the community that has grown and flourished around these teachers and shalas.

Due to the surge in popularity of yoga over the last 15 or so years of yoga in this country, it has allowed teachers and studios to "specialize" with different styles. It shows the maturity of yoga in Florida that studios dedicated to a traditional practice like Ashtanga can offer students an experience beyond a generic yoga class.

Road Trip

2009-06-27T12:48:00.000-07:00

Road Trip!

Admittedly, one of my apprehensions in (temporarily) relocating to the Keys would be The Road. The “Road” refers to the Overseas Highway (Hwy 1.) that connects the Islands from Key West up to the mainland. Most of the Islands that make up the Keys are quite small. You could pet an iguana on the Gulf Side of our Island then walk the maybe two miles over to the Atlantic side and bathe your feet without breaking a sweat. (Well, you would break a sweat because it is Summer time and the temperature is rising. Luckily I'm native to this part of the world and feel a little iguana-like myself. My dear wife on the other hand is from Northern Europe where the only sun they see is on "holiday" in Greece.)

Landmarks here are determined by the nearest Mile Marker. Key West begins at 0 and goes up from there. When folks ask where we live, we say, "just off 88." That's 88 miles north of Key West. The Yoga Studio is at 82.3, less then 6 miles from the house. Luckily the nearest beach is at 86, so we could even walk or ride a bike.

We’ve gotten used to The Road. There is not much land here and one road is enough. Most people are traveling by water craft anyway. Occasionally the traffic backs up, usually when the Draw Bridge at (MM 84.5) is letting the big boats through. But that is the thing about the Keys, the speed limit is 45MPH and life is slow. When out for walks, we've had people stop and chat with us, real friendly like. We like that.

And who cares that the land mass is limited. People are here for the warm blue water anyway!

Overseas Highway from the air

Islamorada by beach

Vacation Home

2009-06-22T06:56:00.000-07:00

I'll have to get back to my post on the "Florida Keys Top 10" as we have journeyed home to the Golden State this past week. The temperature has been 7o on the coast and 78 inland, no humidity....not bad!

We are only here for a week, though. We have been so graciously welcomed by friends here in the Bay Area and Monterey where we spent the weekend. I had the opportunity to teach a workshop in Salinas, always lovely there.

The only real negative is putting Baby through the travel. Our pediatrician told us he is in the "no-fly-zone" age of 1.5-2.5 years, no kidding...The up side is the he is universally adored by everyone he is in contact with, with the exception of fellow economy class air travelers...

With many social visits, yoga practices, and new baby meetings all coming to a close, we get ready to climb aboard the Great Bird for our Summer in Florida! I'll post my Top Ten very soon. We are officially online!

*

Online (not quite)

2009-06-12T12:19:00.000-07:00

Did you know that we have not had an Internet connection in our home for the past 3 months? This is unheard of for residents of Silicon Valley. Well, we are almost there. Since we are staying through the Summer here in Florida, we've put in our order with Comcast. Soon the equipment will arrive and we will officially connect with the outside world again. I can see it now. Buying those needful things from Amazon, little Huggie checking his email, Heleen updating her status on facebook and me posting blogs from time to time. In fact my next post will begin our Top Ten Things to Do in the Florida Keys

Stay tuned!

2009-05-27T10:13:00.000-07:00

We've had quite a few adventures in the past months so I thought I’d put up some pictures:

Yoga Shala reception area

We made a spontaneous trip to New York to practice with Sharath in his second week there. I took the primary led and Adarsh the intermediate. That way we could swap Evan and it worked out Perfectly. We stayed at a hotel that was just a 3 minute walk away from where the classes were. For a family with a small kid it was the perfect hotel as it had a seperate bedroom. We could put Evan down for a nap easily and also at night we didn't need to tiptoe around being in the same room. It was all perfect and for me it was bliss to practice without interruptions for a couple of days.

Reading the Subway Map

Adarsh and I had both been to New York on several occasions in the past (before we knew each other) but this time it was all different with our little man with us. We went to an art exhibit of one of Adarsh’s favorite artists and visited a few of the known Yoga studios in town. Some touristy stuff completed the week beautifully and before we knew it we were flying back to Miami.

That same day Evan and I continued to travel to Holland to visit my family and friends. It was the first time for Evan to go over there and I was very excited. On the 10hr flight there Evan was THE baby on the plane that no-one wants on it. The poor little guy had the roughest flight ever, 3 flights in one day was just too much (doh!). But we finally arrived at the airport to smiling faces of my sisters who were soooooo nice to pick us up. From then on Evan adapted beautifully to his new circumstances.

Later that day he ploughed through my sisters garden and played with his friend Pelle who is my dear friends first son. Pelle was such a good boy in taking care of Evan. He has a small brother who is 2 months older than Evan so he had some good practice there. They had a good time together and Ihad a thoroughly wonderful time watching them.

Dutch kindren

Evan also took a special liking to his cousin Marieke whose hair he totally fell in love with. My little dutch boy already knows how to flirt well....

kissing cousins

The week went way too fast and soon we were on the plane back to Florida. This time we were pleasantly surprised by having an extra seat for Evan. The journey was much smoother and he was his old travelling self again.

Back home I was getting ready straight away for friends from California who'd arrive the next day for a visit for a few days. It was Evans best friend Jakey who came with mom and dad. We all had the best time. Off course we took them to our local beach where the two boys enjoyed the sand and the water, we had the best day out on the boat (although Evan wasn't so sure...) where we all snorkeled away and we closed the visit off with a fantastic diner on the beach. Perfect, little ones playing in the sand while we were enjoying good company and good food. We looooved having friends share our time here in the Keys.

Oh and talk about adventures...on my first day back from Holland I went to get something out of the car. I opened the door and felt something on my foot. I thought it was kitty as usual and tried to kick him off my foot. After a few kicks it didn't go away though so I looked down and saw a big snake crawling up my leg. I can't tell you how fast i kicked to get that thing off me but I surely screamed loud. Phew!!! Hope never to have that experience again.

Yesterday (Tuesday) was our day off and Adarsh, Evan and I went to a beach further down south which looks like a postcard. Evan is extremely comfortable in the water and wants to be his own man. He has no fear and just keeps walking in until he notices he’s gone too far. Oeps, busy times for us keeping him from going under ;-)

More to come soon…..

Heleen

Update from Florida

2009-05-03T14:12:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe that it has only been 6 weeks that we left California. We have had so many changes and adventures, where to start? I guess I should begin with the present and work backwards. I'm sitting on the front porch of our rented house all by my lonesome...Heleen and Evan have left two days ago for a trip to the Netherlands. I am a little jealous that I do not get to see Spring time in Holland through Evan's big eyes. I am not jealous, however, that I did not get to take the 8 hour flight....All reports say that the little fella did just fine.

They left on Friday which is the day that we all returned from a spontaneous trip to NYC for a week of yoga with Sharath. Wow, that was something! It had been years since either of us had been to Manhattan (first time for Evan). That kid fit right in though. He was making friends with everyone on the subway.

The yoga was good. I've always enjoyed Sharath's slow steady count through the series. And I got a lot of help, I guess I was looking a little stiff! Sharath gave a talk on Wednesday evening at the Sri Ganesha Temple. It was a inspiring discourse on the Guru tradition. I love to hear Sharath speak of his grandfather. He is so sincere. After visiting different yoga schools and guru's throughout India, the one thing that has always struck me about Pattabhi Jois and Sharath is certain elegance and integrity that is there. It seams so pure, so clean. We left New York inspired and grateful.

We have enjoyed the perfect weather in Islamorada. This is the part where you get jealous! We have been in shorts and flip flops everyday since we arrived. Most days the temperature is in the 70's. It has not been overly hot at any point and so far no bugs. Our cat has had a ball. He is chasing lizards, birds and the various wildlife. Dude, there are even wild iguanas roaming the streets. It was shocking the first time I saw one. I was leaving the yoga studio and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a creature run by. I thought to myself, "that ain't no squirrel..." When I went over for a closer look, I could not believe this giant iguana.It looked like this creature was on steroids - I mean he was ripped! Nothing like the lazy overweight iguanas that I've seen as pets. This guy was wild looking. Hopefully they do not eat cats...

According to my guide book, the Florida Keys has the largest coral reef in North America. That means this is the place for diving and snorkeling...and dolphins! Several people have told me that they have encountered pods while out boating. We visited a facility near the yoga studio where one dolphin got a little fresh with Heleen.

more later,

adarsh

Snowball

2009-02-22T14:29:00.000-08:00

Enjoy the Slideshow (to the left) with Evan's first trip to see the snow!

a short walk

2009-02-08T14:03:00.000-08:00

It's your Birthday!

2009-01-19T19:12:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Evan! It's already been a year. And happy birthday to mamma too! You both did it...We all did it, we made it a year.

We tried to explain the "blowing out the candle" thing, but he didn't quite get it. Instead, my one year old tried to catch the fire....

This one is called "Baby's first sugar." He thought it was pretty good. The real fun is in cake sculpture. The boy is an artist!

Okay mamma, you try some

Christmas and out and about

2009-01-12T08:12:00.000-08:00

Evan celebrated his first Christmas and wasn't so sure what to think of it...

Evan vierde zijn eerste kerst en wist niet goed wat hij ervan moest denken...

Who are you??
Wie ben jij??

_________________________________________________________

We went for a walk yesterday and since Evan took his first 10 steps in the morning we thought he should be able to stand on a stomp by himself as well. At first he wasn't so sure...
We gingen gisteren even wandelen en omdat Evan zijn eerste 10 stapjes had gezet dachten we dat hij ook wel alleen op een boomstronk kon staan. Eerst was hij er niet zo zeker van...

But then....
Maar toen.....

Ik ben een Hollander

2008-11-15T08:38:00.000-08:00

We are Dutch! At least when it comes to our favorite mode of conveyance. We found a company online that manufactures Euro style baby seats for the bike. Most parents cycle with their little ones in a little trailer fixed to the rear of the bike at street level. According to the guy at the bike shop these are quite safe but it always seemed a little odd to us.

So, in the tradition of the Netherlands, we've attached the Weeride to Daddy's bike and awaaaaay we goooo!

As you might expect it is a cute situation....Especially with Evan's helmet!

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Wij zijn nederlands! In ieder geval tijdens onze favorite form van transportatie. We hebben een bedrijf gevonden die Euro style baby sitjes maakt voor op de fiets. De meeste ouders fietsen met hun kinderen in een klein wagonnetje die door de fiets wordt getrokken, ter hoogte van de straat. De fiets verkoper zei dat deze veilig zijn maar voor ons leek het altijd een beetje raar.

Dus, op zijn nederlands hebben we nu de "weeride" op papa's fiets en daaaaaar gaaaaan weee!!

Zoals je kunt verwachten is het een schattige situatie.....vooral met Evans helm op zijn hoofd (zonder helm is illegaal).

Recent Adventures

2008-11-01T09:54:00.000-07:00

Last week, we packed up the car and took a drive north, above San Francisco into Marin County. Evan likes to ride in the back of the car when he can (which is only when the car is parked...) He does fuss a bit when we lock him down in the car seat, but he does love to travel (not sure where he gets that from!)

Vorige week namen we de auto voor een ritje naar het noorden, boven San Francisco naar Marin County. Evan houdt ervan achterin de auto te rijden wanneer hij maar kan (natuurlijk alleen als de auto is geparkeerd...). Hij wordt wat onrustig als we hem in zijn auto stoeltje doen maar hij houdt erg van reizen (we weten niet zeker waar hij dat van krijgt!)

We drove quite a way up the coast, but Heleen and I both got car sick from the windey roads. I was even feeling woozy and I was driving. Luckily, we had some nice stops along the way. Above, Evan enjoys the tall grass as we hike out to Muir beach.

We reden een goed stuk langs de kust maar Heleen en ik werden allebei misselijk van de kronkelige weg. Zelfs ik had het en ik zat achter het stuur. Gelukkig hadden we een paar leuke plekjes om te stoppen. Boven zie je hoe Evan van het hoge gras geniet als we naar het Muir strand lopen.

On our way home, we stopped at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant in the City. They are always so friendly at Minh's Garden. The tofu was especially good this evening.

Op weg naar huis stopten we bij onze favoriete vietnamese restaurant in de stad. Ze zijn altijd zo vriendelijk in Minh's Garden. De tofu was erg goed die avond.

After a big day out, it's so nice to get home for a warm bath before bed.

Na een lange dag uit is het heerlijk om thuis te komen en voor het slapen gaan een warm bad nemen.

Good night!

Slaap lekker!

More Big Teef

2008-10-28T15:33:00.000-07:00

We'll be back soon with more pictures!!!

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Big Teef

2008-09-28T09:51:00.000-07:00

Recently, we packed up the family and moved house. Heleen, Evan, Kitty and I relocated about 7 miles north of our former residence to the town of Palo Alto. Of course, moving is never easy, but we were very lucky to have a strong baby for some heavy lifting. Below, Evan inspects the box:

Oh, and have we mentioned that the E-man is growing some teeth. He must take after his dad in the dental department because the teeth are big and gnarly looking. So far, two on top and two on bottom. Gone is the cute nickname "Gummy" that we once called him by. Now something along the lines of "Jaws" or "Chopper" is more appropriate.

He's making good use of those mighty incisors, below gnawing off his first taste of watermelon. Again, he takes after his dad as he loves the juicy red melon! Catch the new 'Watermelon" slide show to the left! Bon Appetite!

Sukha

2008-09-07T14:01:00.000-07:00

new slideshow: http://picasaweb.google.com/adarshwilliams/In_#5243397188222185282

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Fast crawling

2008-08-30T09:02:00.000-07:00

Here is proof of Evans fast crawling. It's hard to keep up with him nowadays ;-)

practice of a yogi mam

2008-08-15T06:13:00.000-07:00

This morning at 4am when Adarsh got up for his practice and I was wide awake after comforting Evan back to sleep, I decided to get up too to get my own practice in.

My sweet little man Evan is 7 months old now and since his arrival my yoga practice has seen quite a shift. There were challenges during my pregnancy and I heard stories of Yogi mams being frustrated not to get a practice in anymore, mams who gave up on yoga altogether or ones whose bodies had completely changed and no asana practice was the same anymore. Quite scary to look forward to. Well....I haven't been frustrated and I haven't given up but yes, my body (and a whole lot more) has changed quite a bit. If there was ever any ambition of getting anywhere with this Ashtanga Yoga, doing whatever series I desired, that ambition is completely out of the window. In a good way.

Instead of being tempted to focus on the physical bit I have learned to just be present with what is going on. Be it physical, mental, emotional or spiritual. In fact, my lack of physical ambition during all the years of yoga now finally makes sense. This is not why I practice yoga. I always felt like a bit of an oddball out within the Ashtanga practice because I truly never felt the urge to move on to the next thing. I wasn't pushing or working awfully hard. I would just rather practice every day rather than be too knackered one day to do anything. That wasn't always a good or bad thing but it did constantly make me question my goals of practicing Ashtanga Yoga. Now that it's more challenging to find the time and energy to get a practice in I have gotten closer to the answer to that question.

Evan his presence in my life has made my body more sore and tight but my mind so much more flexible. That has been such a blessing because now it all makes sense. I practice around 4 times a week now depending on sleeping patterns, Evans changes and my need for that one hour more rest or not. The length of my practice is never certain so when I do step on my mat I am fully present with every move I make. That sounds so easy but believe me it's never been more clear to me how important that "being fully present" is and also what it truly means. One of my main promises to myself in being a mam is to be fully present with my child at every possible moment. Quite the promise ha?! Yes it is. Especially for this girl whose mind is a master at living in either the past or the future. Now that I have given birth and gained a stiffer and tighter body, the physicality of Ashtanga Yoga makes me be more present in the moment. If I get to do some of second, wow! If I get to do the full primary series, great! Doing half primary, quite something! But doing the standing sequence and some of the closing sequence, now that is dessert! And if I get a savasana in as well I'm really on top of the world. Whatever the sequence I end up doing it's completely unimportant. Important is how I do the practice and with what intention. This helps me to be completely present with Evan during the rest of the day which is what is really important to me. One could ask; hasn't that taken away from your yoga practice? A full and complete No is the answer. I feel stronger and more flexible than ever in my life and that is quite and extraordinary feat for this rather uptight girl. The Yoga practice of being a mam has opened my heart and mind to a whole new dimension. It's been the most liberating experience for me and I am so grateful for every moment of it. The body is just the body but what lives in it is the key to a true yoga experience. I feel so lucky to have been given the practice of a yogi mam :-)

Heleen

It Eats!

2008-08-04T20:30:00.000-07:00

photos from our last days in Thailand

2008-07-17T08:01:00.000-07:00

Enjoy the new slideshow to the left or link here

Inspired and rejuvenated

2008-07-03T00:24:00.000-07:00

We have been so blessed to be able to come to Yoga-Thailand and teach at our friends beautiful dedicated Ashtanga Yoga Center. Our time here has been incredible; sharing yoga with wonderful people, having time with dear friends and meeting new beautiful souls.

Yoga-Thailand is going through a transformation at the end of the year as they are moving into their own purpose-build retreat center on the other side of the Island of Koh Samui. Paul and Jutima showed us the progress of things and it's going to be just beautiful. The story of how their vision has organically grown over the years is such an inspiration to us and we are so grateful to be spending time at their wonderful yoga home.

Life has been really good to us here which you can see on our smiling faces in the pictures below. Evan has charmed literally everyone and he has grown so much, we can't even believe it ourselves. He moves, he chats and brings so much joy! Lana, the residential teacher here at Yoga-Thailand has nicknamed him "Evan from Heaven" which says it all.... There are so many great pictures of him that it's hard to choose one but I picked one of him in the pool.

We are in the last days of our teachings here now and are flying back home next week. We look forward to that, feeling re-inspired, rejuvenated and excited about the next step in our lives: sharing our love and dedication of Yoga with fellow yogi's again back home, in a dedicated, well loved Ashtanga Yoga space. So much joy to share.