otro lado and acro-yoga

One of the most special, and surprising, parts of our trip has been studying yoga with Ronit and Gilad, a couple from Israel who, like us, have been visiting Ecuador for a few months. Ronit is the teacher, and Gilad helps with corrections and translations. They are both beautiful, generous, fun, talented people. I'll have to devote a whole other piece to just them.

Their home base is downriver from Banos, in a hut of sorts on the other side of the Pastaza River. It is only accessible from the main road by a rugged hike down and across the river. The property is called El Otro Lado (The Other Side) in honor of its tucked away location. They usually teach in Banos, but last Thursday we were invited to their place for a daylong special workshop about designing your own yoga practice.

The idea had been hatched by a small core of their regular students, including Rebecca in the pic to the left, who owns a beautiful eco-lodge just outside of Banos. But by the morning of the workshop, word had spread. When our transport pulled out of Banos,  14 students were crammed into the diesel saturated truck bed.

We called from the road to to update our hosts on the size of our group. They have no cell signal at home, but Gilad was waiting for us at the bridge--the one spot where they can get service. He ran back to their house to let Ronit know, so she could adjust her plans and he could prepare more lunch.. . no small feat seeing as they have to plan all their shopping ahead of time.

When we got to the bridge, Gilad was nowhere to be found. Another man informed us that the little wooden 'no more than 5 at a time' structure was closed for maintenance. We protested that we had an appointment on the other side, but he stood firm.

The cables were gooped up with pink petroleum moisturizer; it's encouraging to know that these bridges do get some TLC. This bridge is a popular destination for viewing the Pialon del Diablo, apparently voted the 7th prettiest waterfall in Ecuador. A bus load of school kids, with a shockingly low adult to child ratio (actually, I don't think I saw any adults), were swarming around as we tried to convince the guard to let us through.

I think the children's field trip was thwarted by not being able to go on the bridge.  Instead of crossing, they streamed into the cafe (see building to the right in the pic). But we would not be deterred. After a few moments, the children cleared out and the guard wandered off. We made a mad dash (more of a bit by bit dash, to avoid overtaxing the structure), hands resisting grabbing the slippery cable-railings. 

My uncle, Jim, was part of our group. I wasn't sure how he would feel about our renegade behavior, but he gamely scampered across with us,  after stopping to take some pictures. Many of us yelled,  "Hurry, Uncle Jim!" because the guard was starting to follow us with a stick. When we breathlessly reached Ronit and Gilad's place, Gilad explained that the "guard" is a disgruntled ex-employee of the property who likes to make a fuss and exert power he really doesn't have.

Ronit and Gilad were as warm and friendly as always, even though it was clear that our numbers posed some logistical challenges. Every inch of floor was covered in mats, but there was not enough room or mats for us all.  Some of us volunteered to practice without mats. Others offered to practice outside, on the  porch just off the main room.  We crammed in, elbow to elbow, and proceeded.

I love the way she always arranges us in a circle. It feels more intimate and collective than having the teacher in front with neat rows of students behind.  In these particularly tight quarters, every sun salutation brought the tops of our heads into hair mingling proximity.  I think the closeness loosened us; there were more chuckles, groans and empathetic asides than usual. This was not each person on their own yoga mat island. We worked as a group, and when a gigantic butterfly zipped across the doorway, causing Ronit to pause and exclaim, our heads turned as one.

We ended the morning session with a brief introduction to acro-yoga, which involves one person acting as a base to support their partner in various flying-type poses. After she and Gilad demonstrated, we dutifully broke into groups of three (you need a spotter to prevent a crash landing). My trio struggled a bit, but with Ronit's help, we were able to take off. Gilad, being quite tall and strong, was pressed into service as a base for other struggling groups. It was a blast, and reminded me of younger, more adventurous days of dancing and performance. That's Uncle Jim below, looking like he has just flown in through the window.

After that, she led us through a meditation and then it was time for a feast, including delicious,  homemade baba gonoush. I feel guilty relegating the meditation to a phrase, especially as Ronit reminds us to not cut short the meditation, breathing and relaxation aspects of our practice. She joked that people will devote time to the physical practice of yoga, but when it comes time for final relaxation, it's easy to be called to or distracted by competing obligations. But the mental work is as important as the physical.

After lunch--glowing, relaxed, and full--we crammed into to the main room for the afternoon session on doing your own home practice. This was mostly some frameworks via Ronit talking, doing demonstrations and referring to the hand outs she had made for us. They included some dear examples that remind us she is working  in a 2nd (english) and 3rd (spanish) language. My favorite: the "worrier" pose. (that's so me!!!)  Also, the sequence of poses in the handouts moves from right to left, as a Hebrew text. Gilad's spanish is a little stronger than hers, so he often translates during the classes. But her spanish is getting so good that she can lead a class in spanish too. It's inspiring and humbling to meet so many truly multi-lingual people.

Looking forward to tomorrow's yoga with kids workshop!!