Woo Hoo

Riding down huge hills on a shitty bike with bad breaks!!! Luckily I am in a small town 3 hours from Chiang Mai and there is very little traffic. No traffic means no pollution. No pollution means happy Daniel. I guess you all know this already because you've studied algebra.

So far it has been an aw sum weekend! Friday I did my first acroyoga class. OMG it's the best thing ever! The class was cool enough but afterward of the the teachers put me up in the air and "flew" me around for god knows how long. All I had to do was relax, Adam and gravity did all the work. It was all about trust. At one point he told me to straighten my legs and I thought "that's impossible" surely I would fall, but I did it anyway... Next I am in the most intense backbend I have ever done, one that I would not have been able to do if I were alone and he said I could grab his ankles for a more intense stretch and I thought "No, Bad Idea" then I relaxed and did it anyway... OMG. Then I gave him some Thai massage. Being able to offer a massage after what he did for me felt so good, and he was very appreciative. My commitment and enthusiasim for both asana and massage grew tremendously that night. One of my near future goals is to study acroyoga and get teacher trained!

Saturday
I went to balance ball class and Hiro (the teacher) had me demonstrate one of the most difficult postures for the largest class I have been to... Not so good. After 2 tries I kinda did it... I woke up late that day and was not ready to show off. :(
Afterward I went to play go. Vi who is a 1 dan told me to take 6 stones. I was not so sure. I did preaty well up to one point when I let my corner get into a tricky position. I could play a big move else where and give up, but could I win if I did that? No. I could try to make life, run, or attack. I decided best to attack to get loose and then run. Attack attack attack! Almost free! Then he played a move I did not see and I thought all was lost. I stared at the board untill Vi fell asleep in the chair across from me. Put down my stone. Vi looked at the board, looked at me and smiled, and took two stones from his bowl and placed them on the board and said "resign". OMG I was so happy!

Next I went to kirtan at my new favorite place in Chiang Mai. The "wild rose". It is run by Rose, a totally hot older woman who has the greatest wardrobe ever. I forgot how I get at kirtans, I want to be able to understand what I am singing so that I can layer imagery with sounds, concepts and stories. When I don't know something I get frustrated. I am getting better though.

Now I am in Pai. I took a long bike ride on the winding mountain roads, had the best Thai food since coming here. Tonight I will be staying in a really cute bamboo hut by a river!

Pictures and more to come when I get back to Chiang Mai!