Dear People,
Finally I found some rest again to write a little story.... Had some turbulent weeks behind me. It all began very comfortable, easy and sunny;) I left Singapore together with my mom (she came with me, how cool!) to visit our relatives in the Goldcoast for 1 week. They are Dutch-Indonesian people from the Netherlands, but moved to Australia since a very long time now. They have a beautiful house with amazing views over the fields & hills, lots of trees and beautiful flowers. Very peaceful & stunning (see pics). The Goldcoast-beach is nice & long, and a little bit funny with all these buildings behind. The closest yoga studio was Bikram Yoga Southport where I taught 2 classes and practiced almost every day :) Yessss, time to get back in shape again after Bali-Pleasure-Paradise!! Because I was with my mother, I was lucky that we hired a car so I could drive every day to the yoga-studio and we could do some trips (mostly shopping or eating, haha). It felt so good to drive again (though at the other side of the road, but I was already used to it from Bali). Just driving between all these beautiful hills and surroundings, amazing blue sky & sunny weather outside and the perfect temperature (28 degrees). I felt so lucky & free. But it was also very nice to be around family again. Of course, I've also met some new yoga friends which was a pleasure as well. Then, this lovely week came to an end and my mother and I said Goodbye to each other at the Airport of Goldcoast. She went back to SIngapore and I continued my journey to Melbourne.....
First impression: brrrrrr......it's not so warm over here :( ..... am I back in Amsterdam .... ? Ow no, this city is so much bigger than Amsterdam, it is huge!!! And public transport is not really obvious in some parts of the city. Some directions are not well connected, and what you would reach by car for example in 20 min, would take you by public transport some 90 min!! O my God, why did I wanted to come here? Ok, maybe my conditions were not ideal and I should have be better informed about it beforehand. I was living in a suburb, Sunshine (area is really not deserving this name) and working in 2 studio's. One was close to the airport, which was owned by a couple, and the lady approached me to come work for them. She was the one who persuaded me to come (when I was still on Bali) and to offer me a room at her father's house in Sunshine (100 AUD per week), and although connection by Public Transport was not so direct between house & studio, she said that they would try to drive us (another traveling teacher also living at her father's house) as much as possible. I was also working in another studio, which was more central and in direction of the City. This way, I could earn enough money to cover my costs and save some money for my period after Melbourne. The whole month November I had planned to do a mentorship-coaching arrangement in New South Wales. So teaching classes but in stead of payment I will receive full-time mentoring, accommodation & food (and lot's of yoga obviously). Anyhow, back to Melbourne; I ended up teaching 41 classes in 3 weeks, that's an average of 13-14 classes per week plus practicing myself 5-6x a week, so those were a lot of hours in the HOT-room. And then also divided by 2 studio's which were at least an hour traveling from each other.... After 3 weeks I was totally exhausted! But depsite the discomfort I felt working in Melbourne, I got a close view of 2 different studios, and I clearly could feel the different energies in both studio's. The owner's energy is inherent with the studio and that what makes the students come back to yours (it also defines what kind of students you attract of course). One of the studio's I worked for had really nice energy, I felt appreciated, empowered and free to be myself. I taught my class the way I like to be taught and I felt responsible for the studio and the students. The other studio I was working for had camera's (I always felt like Big Brother is watching me), told me exactly how I should teach the class because the students were used to their way of teaching (?!!!*#@%&!), gave me really hurting and bad feedback, were always checking and controlling me.... it became worse and worse the longer I was there. I kept telling myself, it's only 3 weeks, only 2 weeks, 2,5....2more... I was literally counting my days. It took a lot of energy to keep going on. Sometimes I had to sleep in the studio as well, because when I was scheduled for the morning class @ 6am, it was way too early (&impossible) to travel by public transport before that time. Those were the hardest days. They didn't even had a bed at the studio. I had to sleep on a couche in the lobby, but during the night it became so cold there so I just moved to the HOT-room, put some yoga mats on the floor, pillows/blanket and slept there on mats (at least it was warm). I was so glad that this was not the only studio I worked for, so I was always very happy to go to the other one :) And the owner was an Angel, complete the opposite. At this studio I received my energy back again (instead of losing it). But all in all, I learned a lot and it was a really valuable experience (but I'm so glad it's over now;) Too bad I couldn't enjoy The City Melbourne at its fullest (I was working&traveling so much), however I did some nice things during my time off. I visited a Dutch friend of mine from College (VU Amsterdam), Chantal, she recently moved with her husband and son to Melbourne. So one day we had a lovely bbq at their place (in Newport) and another day we went to a Wine&Cheese Festival in Williamstown. They always picked me up and brought me home by car, so sweet (!) and I had a really good time with them and their cute little son. I also went to a music-evening in one of the cozy suburbs of Melbourne (Northcote) with a student of 1 of the studio's. Very funny, I met him already when I was working in Bali, he came to practice and told me then that he was practicing in Melbourne in 1 of the studio's I was going to work for. So he offered me to show me around and bring me to some nice music & cultural events. Another time we went to a Spanish Folklore Evening, with Spanish Dance & Music. It was a fun & second last night in Melbourne. The very last night I had a lovely dinner with the Angel-owner and on of her best friends (BY teacher as well). It was so nice to talk with them about my experience of the other studio, and they totally confirmed my feelings and my observations. It's one big yoga-network in Melbourne, there are now about 20 BY-studio's (but only 5-6 are offering the real BY-only). If you ask me, it's hard competition there. I don't see myself working or living there (never say never of course.... and maybe my opinion is a bit coloured because of my experience) but the weather of Melbourne is so inconsistent and unpredictable, that alone drives me crazy.... So the last day was finally there... time's up, I'm leaving, joehooee (!!!).... but then what happened: I missed my plane to Sydney... arghhhh first time ever in my life I missed a plane! As if I could not leave Melbourne (like a curse, haha)... Ok, ok, I slept in, left too late and it took me almost half an hour to find the Tigerair Check-in, it was all hidden somewhere in an outcast-corner of the Airport. But worse things can happen, so I just bought a new ticket for the next best flight, re-scheduled my bus in Sydney to one shift later and told the next studio-owner (my future mentor) in Cobargo that I was coming 5 hours later than planned. It was all ok, no worries, I had some time to re-adjust & prepare myself for better times to come. I was very excited to go to this place because during my stay in Melbourne I've heard very good stories & comments about this teacher, mentor, coach: Amrei Newcombe. She participated one time in the Yoga Asana World Championships (2013) and after that year she has been the Australian Judge-Head and judging during following World Championships. She's being described by her yoga-colleagues as very competent, outstanding knowledge of the postures, talented coach&mentor, lovely person, amazing practice, experienced, teachers teacher.... yesyesyes --> that's exactly the person I'm looking for. So after rain follows sunshine, and that's always true, just remember that ;) Next time, i'll continue my Part II in Australia. (but I can already say, I am so glad to be exactly where I am right now, I'm all good now ;) Chat soon! XoX
(PS....Tako, where exactly in Australia are headstands easier? Would like to visit that place.... ;)

Geschreven door Lina.yoga