Back In The Alps

I am again loving every minute of this charming place except for its cold, cold weather. My body aches for the sweat and the yoga practice that it is used to. Though I am still able to insert a practice here and there in our hotel room, it is the type of practice wherein it tests my own attachment of not completing the primary series. I held up well. My acceptance has made me detach from this thought. No matter how many Surya Namaskara A's and B's I do, it is still physically impossible for the muscles and joints to get "oiled" up in this freezing weather.


One consolation I look to is that I am aware that the the body burns more fat in very cold weather. With this in mind, I try my utmost best to control my food intake over here so I use up more of the fat in my body as opposed to adding to them. Food here is dairy, bread and pasta based. Carbohydrates overload to help keep warm. Though very yummy and are absolutely one of my favorite dishes, it is not very good at all for my "agni." I am desperately calling it my "controlled cheat week," eating at least a little bit of everything except meat. Thankfully, I still tread on the consciousness of what goes inside my body-- which is more warming foods and liquids.

A Healthy Holiday Treat

This week has not only been an advanced teacher training for me, (on a different aspect this time called prenatal yoga), this has also become a healthy retreat for both Angel and I. While here, we love the fact that we awake to the view of the beach everyday, we love that by walking it only takes 15 seconds to get to the retreat center and the beach. And best of all, we look forward to waking up to a delicious and sattvic buffet for brunch, dinner and even dessert!


Having to take this "add-on" course, just made me relive my Greenpath yoga teacher training experience all over again. With the same outline, it was so easy to get comfortable right away.


So, for a week, my day starts out at 7am everyday for meditation and pranayama. Then from 8 to 10am, a mysore class with other fellow ashtangis (who are here for other reasons), follow. Then I eat, swim in a salt water pool or the beach, and get to chill with hubby for 3 lovely hours. Then, starting from 2 until 4pm, my classmates and I start our prenatal lecture with Sonja. Then, from 4 to 6pm, our course practical. And 6pm onwards, swim, eat and chill all over again. This has been our schedule for the whole week. How good is that? :)


While my darling Angel lets me be in my quest to learn, he too has been maximizing his stay. To regenerate himself and wash away all the negative build-up, he has taken on relaxing his mind through long walks on the beach. And on his own, practices some deep breathing and meditation. Not only that, I am so proud he gave the effort to join yoga restorative classes, and even prouder for avoiding meat for the whole duration of his stay! I know that things will go back to normal once we leave this place, but at least he was able to detox in some way and breathe in new life once again before the 2nd half of his golfing season starts.
Go hubby! :)

Ahh, the bliss of it all here in Yoga Thailand. I am so grateful and thankful for this amazing opportunity. Not only do I feel blessed to be taught by Sonja Rzepski, our wonderful guru, she has also become our friend and mentor. Meeting new, and international friends is also another boon to be thankful for. And because there is only 7 of us in the class, there is much more of a personal connection involved.

How one week just flies. Our training has now come to an end. To finish with a bang, we designed our blueprint for a class, followed by a written exam (which we all aced) and a mini graduation on the beach! :)



Learning and at the same time restoring. This certainly was a holistic treat for the both of us. Healing from the inside out gave us a renewed sense of inspiration to keep on improving on our physical, emotional, and spiritual well being. This yoga retreat has somehow also restored our impaired view of many things, and has given us some sort of inner clarity with ourselves. In a way, we are reminded all over again on our journey towards self-awareness, love and acceptance. And most of all, this has recharged our batteries to take on once again the challenges of the chaotic world.

For Angel and I who have somehow turned into health conscious travelers, we will try our best to always make it a point in our lives to continue with our wellness adventure. This has taught us that it really is best to take some time out, and breathe, and make life anew.


I am grateful for all things around me and most of all I am forever thankful to my beloved husband and his eternal support of me in all the things I do. This blog is for you. I love you! Your patience and kindness never cease to overwhelm me.

A Peaceful Week

The tree of love and light

Nothing beats going home to our province in Iloilo to spend our Holy Week. It is a time of reflection as we joyride to seven different churches to do the Stations of the Cross, or Bisita Iglesia. This is the time we pay homage to the passion of Christ. The best part of it all, is the scenic view of the blue briny deep, the company of my family, and the freshest food we could eat: organic white rice, clams, crabs and fish straight from the sea. How was your Holy week? Hope it was as blessed and contented as mine..

Miag-ao church


Anini-y church



Our joyride view all the way!




No Meat Day lunch!


Our lunch with chickens!

Life's A Beach

On a whim, Angel and I decided to spend the weekend in a place called Punta Fuego in Nasugbu, Batangas. We were so in the mood to breakaway from our usual weekend routine that we wanted a seascape for a change. Lately, we have been craving nature and we thought what better way to indulge that feeling by spending time on a beach? We longed to feel sand on our feet, the sun on our faces, and we yearned to take in the salty wind. Also, we wanted something that was close by and did not entail for us to fly. So it was perfect that this getaway was only a 2-hour drive from our home.

We stayed at the Peninsula part of Punta Fuego. We really thought that there weren’t going to be that many people since “holy week” was still next week. I guess we weren’t the only ones thinking that early of a much-needed escape. So much for some peace and quiet, it was quite happening during our short stay in the place. But all in all, we got what we wanted and that was relaxing on the sand on a beach.

The moment we arrived, we hit the first beach we saw right away called the "Lower Beach." It was just great seeing grainy white sand and clear water, that we were so eager to jump in right away. But the moment we swam in, there were just too many stones and corals underneath the soft sand that they just scraped the bottoms of our feet. It was a very short swim as we got out limping. Since it was early, we chose to lie on the sand under the shade of a tree instead for a couple of hours and just savor the moment of just being there until it was time for lunch. What also made up for our short swim and stinging feet was the good food we had at the Italian restaurant called the il Jardineto that was just beside it.


After a delicious and satisfying lunch, we still felt our swim was cut too short. So we headed out and drove 15 minutes more to get to another beach that was still part of the Punta Fuego area and is called the "Terrazas. "When we got there, it was the complete opposite of the rocky, white beach we came from. This time the sand was dark and powdery which made the water look a tad murky. But we saw that it didn't stop a lot of people so we thought-- what the heck! No stones and corals at all so no point in kicking a fuss, we just wanted to swim! So we dove in right away.

After much frolicking under the sun, we went to the juice bar to cool down with our mango and coconut shakes, a book for me and an i-touch for Angel to keep us busy as we waited for the sunset. As soon as it came, Angel took pictures of me doing some yoga finishing poses along side a beautiful background. I felt it appropriate to juxtapose since the day was also ending. Linking yoga with nature, I remembered one of the quotes of our yoga teacher and was reminded to me by my yogi friend as well: “Breath is carrier of prana. Prana means life force, which we get from the sun.” So, it only seemed fitting to use these poses as a kind of a “good night” salute to the sun for giving us its life energy.

Thank you nature for being good to us. We promise to always find time away from the city to bask under the lovely sun, take in the fresh air, swim in the briny deep and to wholly enjoy God's beautiful blessings.

Have a blessed Holy Week everyone and be safe!!