Staying in Thailand!

So readers, friends and family, it's been a while since I have posted about how hard beach life is and how living on a island you have plenty to choose from!

I have some news so thought it worth a blog post, plus will try to endeavour to post more frequently my thoughts and musings even if my day does mainly consist of yoga and beach.

EAT, YOGA, BEACH REPEAT.....

Back to the news - I'm staying in Thailand! I've handed in my notice! (for those of you who remember this little yoga jaunt I'm on is officially a sabbatical) After some deliberation I decided that my life right now is here on the island and that for the same reasons I requested a sabbatical I cannot return to my life as a lecturer/curriculum leader in rainy old Gloucester City.

I have had some amazingly rewarding times at GC and loved spreading my love for dance and the theatre to the young people of Gloucestershire, but the way the education system is currently set up in the UK is frustrating and life became more about retention and whether a student was attending a Maths or English class than whether indeed they could have the skills to give them a future in performing arts. This sad fact and the fact that after 9 years I had had enough of working in a low pay public sector role have made the decision to stay on at the Yoga Retreat a very easy one.

As I sit here writing on my new balcony (Thai version of living room) after my morning Mysore style practice I can hardly believe my luck of where my life is today.

Home for now

Being at the retreat I am still getting the same gratification of seeing people's lives change for the better, and that is the rewarding thing about this job. That and the sea view. And the beaches. And the healthy amazing food, ok so a little more than the gratification of helping change peoples lives!

Sophie the cat assisting me in one of my Yin Classes

I'm on the most part a sociable person so meeting people from all over the world is a wonderful daily activity. Hanging out at breakfast with guests, the talk is often of yoga, which is fine but also we have lots of laughs and giggles at other random topics.
My free time has now just gone up a notch as I have moved into my own little bungalow on the hill overlooking the beach at Haad Salad.
The sea view reminding me that whilst I deeply miss the folks back home this experience is what I was seeking, the ease and simplicity of island life. The shedding of the ego and material wants. The being content with what you have, and where you are right now.

View through the trees to the sea (trees give good shade means cool house!)

My yoga practice is getting stronger, and this in turn is making me a better teacher, more on this in next post :)

So, dear readers, those of you that are friends and family it would be amazing if you could start saving up your coppers and come over to visit, take a course, maybe a detox, or simply just hang out at the beach to catch the greatest show on earth....with a ice cold beer of course! Come and visit me, cause I'm not sure when I'll be back!!

The Greatest Show on Earth (that I didn't choreograph!)

Beach Life

Sooo, I'm living on one of the most beautiful islands in the world, I'm working but still have lots of free time....and I'm a BIG fan of the ocean, so what better way to spend the last few weeks than exploring the many stunning beaches of the island.

Here's my potted guide to the beaches so far:

Haad Salad

This is my local beach, just a 10 minute walk or 3 minute bike ride downhill from my house and the Yoga Retreat

North End

taken from Haad Salad Resort decking

very quiet today

There is lots to love about Haad Salad, it is on the west coast and therefore is a wonderful sunset beach. It is very quiet, even though the resorts are plentiful nowadays. It does attract families with small children as the water is shallow, still and safe. You can snorkel further out to sea, but at this time of the year it is very shallow, so it's not a swimming beach, it's more of a paddle out and lie or sit down.

Some Haad Salad sunsets....

Haad Khom

North facing, alternatelvely known as Coconut Beach, this is a beautiful setting, very quite and has a little more breeze than the west facing beaches, and a little more trees to sit under. - Obviously you are taking the ultimate gamble when you place yourself under the coconut trees though!!!!

outlook towards west/Choloklum

outlook north, towards Bottle Beach

I liked this beach for a read and felt in solitude here, the water was also still shallow but you can swim out to snorkel and sometimes the serenity was spoilt by snorkel boat tours going past blaring western music out. You can also catch a small fishing boat here to Bottle Beach, but I'm saving that trip for a day off.

Secret Beach

Not so much of a secret as there is a big sign on the main road here saying so, but this is still a very quiet beach, mostly populated with a younger crowd, possibly as the beach bar shack plays awesome music all day long. The sea here is not the best, again shallow, but has more of a clay based base, but I really like this beach and I like the music aspect of it.

I'm also mentioning here Koh Raham, not a beach itself, but a really cool bar and restaurant which has many rope swings, hammocks and steps down from the end of the venue into deep water where you can swim (yay!) and be joined by many many tropical fish, so fab for snorkelling too.

from Koh Raham looking back onto Secret Beach

loving the hammocks 

sunset props 

Haad Chao Phao

So wrap up this post, I have to mention possibly my favourite beach bar (so far) which is awesome for sunsets - I think I'm going to have to post a sunset post all of it's own! 

The bar is called Pirate Bar and it is just tucked away in the south end of the beach, almost hidden by the rocks. It has a lovely little deck that juts out in the sea, so you feel like you are on a boat, and it is directly opposite the sunset at this time of the year. 

Later on some evenings they have DJ sets here, and they have a sand dance floor and a huge wall of speakers. I've been to a couple of parties, but being the diligent yogi that I am I have left them early before they have got too busy or too raucous! 

SO WHEN ARE YOU BOOKING YOUR FLIGHTS?????

Sawadee!

So, I'm now into my third week at the fabulous Yoga Retreat, in Koh Phangan.

My good friends Teresa and Kes started this retreat in the stunning jungle location near Haad Salad beach in 2000, and since then have been working hard growing the business into the thriving retreat it is today.

Shala with jungle views 

They very kindly offered me to come over to the Island to teach the Hatha/Vinyasa classes at the weekends, with the added bonus that I can continue my practice with an authorised teacher.
I am also helping out at the retreat by covering the managers shifts and trying to raise the profile on social media (as you know I'm such a big fan of social media!)

Some pics of the spaces on the retreat:

So the last two weeks have been settling in and getting to know the set up here, meeting all the wonderful guests and of course practicing Mysore style daily.

I have also been exploring the wonderful beaches of the west of the island, each beach coming with it's own USP - beach bar music, coral reefs, solitude, swings, the beaches have it good here!

The retreat offers daily drop in classes or for the more serious or people with more time to develop their practice, we offer 5-30 day courses and detox programmes.
The Mysore classes and lectures, pranayama and meditation is lead by Shelley Smith, who is a Level 2 Authorised teacher and soon will be assisted by Kes who just got his Level 1 Authorisation in Mysore with me last month.

I am teaching my Vinyasa Flow classes at 4pm on Saturday and Sundays, and for the moment I am also covering the Sunday morning half led primary series class!!!

The retreat attracts people from all over the world, it has been lovely making new friends and chatting to people from different walks of life, all with the common goal of improving and developing their yoga practice, health, diet, minds and working on the other limbs of Ashtanga aside from the asanas!

At this point I am not sure how long I will stay, but it will be hard to leave that's for sure!
Next post....the beautiful beaches!