" title="Andrea James Lui"> Andrea James Lui

“We’ve gotta hold on to what we’ve got. It doesn’t make a difference if we make it or not. We’ve got each other and that’s a lot. For love, we’ll give it a shot…”

MAY 22 – BY PENINSULA
We’re halfway!!! We had a lovely lady named Grace in posture clinic the other day, from your teacher training and she says hello! We also had another from your group named Jill – she taught a yoga class as well and was fabulous – very insightful. Steve and I have both finished delivering our standing series… Hooray! But we’re still trying to keep ahead as posture clinics have kicked into high gear now. Bikram just got back after a couple weeks away, so we hear the classes are about to get longer too… but we’re onto orange icy poles for recovery now ;) Talk to you soon!!

MAY 24 – THE LUI FAMILY
Happy birthday, Pop-Pop!!

I meant to tell you guys: at the end of most yoga classes here, the teacher plays a song for us while we’re lying on the floor recovering. This week, one teacher played Orinoco Flow by Enya and it reminded me of the time I went to Bridlewood Mall with Mom and she had to ask the sales guy for that “sail away sail away” song so she could buy it on cassette tape!

Also, that same day, the next teacher played the What A Wonderful World/Somewhere Over The Rainbow medley by that big Hawaiian dude with the little ukelele – and that’s my ringtone for you guys!

It was a very nostalgic day. Miss you guys, so come and visit :)

MAY 24 – THE HAZELNUT
It’s raining today, so I’m learning yoga dialogue in the resort lobby… and waiting for a delivery of Indian food!

I haven’t touched a pole since I left. Not a single ounce of energy left…!

MAY 25 – THE HAZELNUT
We’re just about to start week 6 – not long nowwwww…

MAY 28 – THE HAZELNUT
I literally have no extra energy here. Sometimes Steve has to drag me around because I walk SO slow! It’ll be interesting to see what happens to our bodies when we get back…

Some people here are having massive weight changes – gains and losses. One guy has lost 27lbs. Another girl got sent home because she lost too much weight and started to lose her mind a bit. In a way it’s liberating to just eat whatever without regard for aesthetic, but purely for function… Otherwise we die in class!

MAY 31 – BY LYNBROOK
Hi! Things are going great now – the last two weeks have flown by faster than all the rest, so I’ve no doubt it’s just gonna go even faster from here. We’ve finished spine strengthening, so we’re definitely in the home stretch… but I’m not really looking forward to the end because I’m kind of in the swing of things here :)
How far in advance do you make up the schedule? Should we schedule something now? Really kick up the pressure!! Everyone here’s really pushing forward now – scheduling classes, planning travel – it’s all pretty exciting!
Let us know how your plans are panning out… Looking forward to what’s next :D

MAY 31 – THE HAZELNUT
3 weeks left. Full day off today, so feeling pretty good. Yesterday, I got a 90 mins massage by a Thai kick boxer – it was hardcore!! Today, took a bunch of photos, so finally got some fun stuff to post. Did my first bridges and elbow stands in weeks!

[We don’t do bridges in Bikram] – it’s always same 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises. It’s meant to be a beginner class, accessible to all ages, sizes, injured, sick… everyone! Funny thing is though – this class is way harder than the advanced Bikram class with all the crazy inversions and contortions because this one is extra hot and you hold every posture for a full minute!

Quite a few of our class mates are detoxing from alcohol… drugs… some are cancer survivors, some are battling depression or bipolar… It’s a total mixed bag here!!

MAY 31 – THE LUI FAMILY
Hey! Lemme know if you can see this video:

Every weekend, there’s a free shuttle to Khao Lak, which is the nearest town. It’s mostly us yogis, but there are a few actual resort guests. In the video, you can see Olga at the end and [the guy] behind her is ex-US military, a cancer survivor, and also won the scholarship for teacher training. Every weekend, [we meet him at] an Italian restaurant near the beach and eat burgers. He had to try quite a few burgers around here before he found these ones that are actually like what we know as burgers. Their pizza is also delicious. It’s amazing what you crave when you’re in another country. Our friend from Brantford Ontario, just bought some white vinegar to clean his water bottles and when I boiled some up to clean our bottles too, I nearly wanted to drink it. The only vinegar around here is used to squirt on jellyfish stings.

Today I got my first jellyfish sting – although it was hardly a real sting, more like we brushed against each other. Nothing compared to some of the others we’ve seen that wrap all around the legs. And of course, nothing like the Australian box jellyfish – those ones will murder you. Literally. In Thai, jellyfish is “man-kapoon”. There’s a guy at the beach towel station who teaches me phrases. I’ve also learned to count to 10!

Here’s some cool pictures we took at the beach[…]

[…and at the bowling alley] :)