如何可以愛上上海

最近上海好像還蠻熱鬧的, 除了伍佰剛唱完演唱會, 五月天也要來開唱, Patrick也來了, 是的是Pure的一哥, 在上上星期來上海開weekend workshop. 我沒去, 因為在消極的“抵制”中！ 雖然我很想去, 且朋友都還很奇怪我怎沒參加, 但是一堂課要450RMB, 等於2250台幣, 這是他在台北workshop的兩倍價錢耶, 而且一堂課還是1.5小時的. 我實在覺得太誇張了, 上海真是個瘋狂物價的地方, 有人敢喊, 也有人敢買. 這是個瘋狂的城市. 我還是堅持的, 抵制中！ 雖然我知道派哥的課很爽．．．但是，瑜伽搞成這種價位，真是有點 “不瑜伽”．．．

Anyhow, 要講到重點, 台灣算是很早期帶起Ashtanga的老師董老師Ming也來上海! 昨天很偶然跟著這裡的台灣朋友和他見了面, 我聽過或看過很多Ashtangi對他的討論, 也知道他剛出了書, 但是從沒上過他的課或見過本人. 本人真的很有趣, 可以很明顯感受到這個吃飯快, 說話快的人, 擁有豐富的情感和熱情！他說剛來上海, 他就很喜歡上海了, 他還走了些觀光客行程去看了宋慶齡故居和一些老房子. 他甚至還找了信義房屋, 要求帶看房子! 看來很積極想要留在這個城市. 我其實對他對上海的好印象很質疑, 但是他說的點醒了我, 他說, 上海好太多了, 比起印度的大都市, 像孟買或他去過的新德里.

是啊, 若是這樣的比較, 真的, 上海真的好太多了. 雖然我還是覺得上海有許多的改善的空間, 甚至住在上海還是有那麼些無法適應的風氣, 每每跟所謂的 “境外人士”朋友聚會時, 大家總是會討論起上海的一些奇怪的地方. 其實仔細想想, 這些的抱怨, 好像也都無能為力, 只是激起煩惱. 我們還是要住在這個地方, 生活還是要繼續. 可以變得只有自己的心態. 心境的轉變才可以讓自己日子好過一點, 也是對自己的一種慈悲, 當然也是對這城市和在其中的人們的一種慈悲! 帶著本位主義去看任何事, 都只會看不順眼, 給自己找麻煩! 所以, 那些抱怨最好就當做是笑話, 大家笑笑就好.

我記得在 Marianne Williamson的書 “A Return to Love”說到, 上帝並要你到世上來不是要你來當警察的, 上帝是要你快樂的. 但是你可能說, 難道我要跟著一起墮落嗎？不是的, 我們要更可以堅持著我們自己的本性，才不會迷失掉自己！堅持內在，但是軟化外在！呵，很像是Anusara說的, keep steadiness inside and soften outside! 這讓我這篇很難下標題耶, 可以說, "如何可以愛上上海"的秘密嗎?

6/30 TT

Today is led by John. John talked about more systematicly about arm balancing. Tho we did yesterday, but maybe there are too much to cover, so we didn't go thro how to get into poses. Arm balancing is always not easy for women, but once you get it, it would enpower you a lot! 可以有出去砍人的氣勢....
＊pranayama practice: first we do kabalabati. and Nadi Shodana at the end of the practice. This time John guided through, I think it's better for ppl to understand.
＊Asana practice: Prep for arm balancing, hip opening and abd work are still key. Began with sun salutation Lots of launge poses, Parsvokonasana,launge with elbows on the floor hip opener, needle eyes pose, baby cradle, pigeon pose, malasana. Abs work, with block between thighs, dolphin pose for core power.
* Arm balancing pose: crow, Eka Hasta Bhujasana, Astavakrasana
John is really good guiding ppl into pose, also provide many variations, good for teaching!

6/27 TT, 6/29 TT

6/27 TT
Today's Sat, for teaching practice. First hour John gives some hilight on the teaching skills again. He mentioned about to bring heart quality into teaching, this is the key element of Anusara to differenciate from other style. Also could differenciate you from other teachers. But, this is much advanced, that me myself want to learn more of this. How to make this work is not easy!
Then began the teaching practice. Each group began their first teaching practice. It's fun watching ppl doing that, coz I have been there! I still need to learn more!!
It was vismay's last day, she has to leave China back to JP. Sadly! She is very devoted yogini, you could tell from how she set up herself, her practice and her energy! We have dinner together just to say good bye with her! Dinner is in a mid-east restaurant, with belly dancing. It's fun with hang out with all yogis!

6/29 TT
Monday, today is also led by Ben.
*pranayama practice: Kabalabati and Nadi Shodana. Ben mentioned the Kabalabati, it's necessary to release the belly after every exhale draw in belly. Otherwise, cannot really go long for this practice, you will be out of breath! Also, the belly draw in is just slitely draw in, not too much. If too much, your abd will be too tighten to release in next inhale.
*Asana practice: topic is arm balancing. So work a lot on hip opening and abd work, to prepare for the arm balance. Always it's hard for women to do all those fancy poses! Ben said "hip" should be open enough first to get into the pose, then ppl could feel the core power! Core power also bring arm balance into next new level, like from crom pose just leg resting on the arm, and from there straight arm and lifting from core is a great lot different!

肩胛骨的動作

肩膀這個部位是很神奇的, 它全身關節活動度最大的, 所以也是最容易受傷的, 我就是其中一個傷患, 我想幾乎大部分的瑜伽人都多少有肩膀的問題或傷, 或者總是認為自己肩膀不夠開！ 因為這會影響你的許多瑜伽動作！/

肩膀是個複雜的部位, 有三個骨頭組成的多重關節, 肱骨, 鎖骨和肩胛骨. 其中的肌肉和韌帶也是很複雜, 這篇我可不想詳細討論這些肌肉, 只是想討論關於肩胛骨在瑜珈動作該怎麼動.

一般而言, 我們會說的肩膀動作通常是往上往後放下來, 這個動作是每個人或派別都會同意的, 其實,在Anusara中的shoulder loop 肩膀環 （這裡我翻作 “環”是因為這是能量流動的一個循環, 避免掉 “輪”這個字, 避免和脈輪搞混）, 這個環就是從上顎的位置, 往後往下沿著頸椎後方, 沿著肩胛骨, 在往前繞, 經過心的底部也就是橫隔膜的頂端, 往身體前方繞回到起點 “上顎”的位置. 所以這個環的動作呈現就是肩膀會往上往後帶, 頭會微微的向上. 這個動作可以幫助肩胛回到正確的位置, 所以你的胸口會打開, 可以幫助改善駝背.



上圖就是Anusara的七組循環走向

肩膀的關節. 肩膀是個球窩關節, 但是尤其是盂肱關節（連結肱骨）的球窩是如此的淺, 所以要穩定這部份需要許多肱骨的外轉, 再加上旋轉（Spiral）的方式,讓肩膀進入正確安全的順位. 但是這是另一個課題！

這張圖上的線條是所謂的肩膀的myofasia走向, 這是符合生理結構和運動學的能量走向. 可以看到肩胛的方向是彼此靠近且向下延伸的.

但是說這麼多, 我想講的是肩胛該怎麼動作, 尤其在plank pose 平板式或是Chaturanga這樣類型的動作. 在Anusara中, 除了shoulder loop之外, 老師會加上 “side body long” 身側拉長, 和 “heart melting” 心放軟, 心放軟這個動作其實就是要你將前方的胸口下沈一點, 這個動作會帶動你的肩胛彼此靠近. 但是有些人在做這個動作時就會變成 “翅膀張開” winging的動作, 也就是肩胛浮起來, 沒貼在背上. 這是Iyengar老師們所不希望看到的, Iyengar系統會要求上背部應該要平整, 不該浮起. Richard也說到這樣的肩胛浮起狀況是不健康的, 因為這表示該工作的serratus Anteriora在睡覺沒把肩胛帶回和前方的rib cage接觸．

奇怪的是，許多的Anusara老師會要求學生把肩胛夾緊, 甚至覺得兩個肩胛中間凹陷像個峽谷是可以的. 這是很confusing的, 至少我是如此覺得. 我覺得Jonas老師在這個問題處理比較恰當, 他說肩膀必須往上往下放之後, 肩胛應該再borden 張開來. 而不是夾緊夾死, 因為會造成肩胛中間的肌肉縮短, 甚至頸部緊張. 這些動作都應該做到一個 “平衡”！

我想, 也許肩胛夾緊的指令只是針對初學者, 因為大部分的人都是胸口縮短, 有些人甚至不知道怎樣去轉開肩膀. 所以這樣的指令是over correct. 但是對於已經有瑜伽經驗的練習者, 就是太多的. 因為目的只是要打開胸口, 而不是 “夾緊” 肩胛.

這張圖上的線條是所謂的肩膀的myofasia走向, 這是符合生理結構和運動學的能量走向. 可以看到肩胛的方向是彼此靠近且向下延伸的.

這是很重要的一點, Always remember your intention. 要記得做那些動作的目的是什麼？初衷是什麼? 要不然只是一樣畫葫蘆的口令, 反而會讓人受傷….

上海後花園-朱家角

最近因為朋友來訪, 我才比較有慾望到處去走走, 否則在這紛亂的城市, 出門其實是很辛苦的!
朱家角是一個離上海市區只要50分鐘車程的景點, 主要是去回味古鎮風情!

聽說這裡可以算是上海人的後花園, 比起其他所謂的古鎮景點, 這裡算是很近的. 我們搭上巴士直達, 中午才到, 依舊進行我們優閒的行程, 慢慢的逛古鎮, 找午餐的地方, 午餐後又悠閒的找地方喝咖啡！真實的"慢玩！"

古鎮的範圍並不大, 且在古老的房舍裡, 賣的到處可見的觀光紀念品. 我們是週間來的, 所以沒有擾人的人潮, 逛起來到也悠閒！

雖說百年老店, 但我們問當地人, 他們都說這裡沒有百年老店, 最老的只有五十年左右.

寄件者 09June朱家角

大街的另一邊比較不商業化的一區, 江邊每家都有擺桌椅, 就地就辦起餐點或是喝茶的生意了！

神奇的古鎮裡的小馬賽克桌燈工作室,好像應該在義大利的古鎮才會看到的工作室吧！

可愛的茶店招牌

神奇的youth hostel, 一夜200rmb,有現代化的內裝, 可以住古鎮裡的老房子, 對我來說還蠻有吸引力的！

喝咖啡的地方,很大, 真的像是古裝劇裡的客棧規模!

TT 6/26

TT 6/26
Almost half way through the training. Today is also led by Ben. We did a little reagrrangement, to let ppl listen to my translation sit closer to me in a group. This is good, so I don't have to yell, becuase they like to sit in the back, so I sometimes have to yell while ppl talking in my translation. I believe this would work well!
Today's topic is sequencing. Ben uses the pattern in Anusara manual.
*Asana practice: Ben tries to give a full spectrum of poses. But he missed handstand! Anyhow, standing poses always are important and usually take a lot more time. Then, comes backbending. So Ben let ppl do 3 times Urdhva Danurasana, and adding on some more advanced variation. one legs up and into Dwi Pada Viparita Dadasana. Then mild twising at the end. Tomorrow

TT 6/25

TT 6/25
Today is also by Ben, we begins with your favor form of Surya Namaskar. I just enjoy watching ppl doing her own practice. You could really see the energy flowing.
*Begin with Uddyianan bandha practice. Ben ask ppl not to eat anything bfr class to prepare for this practice. But anothing issue is that, almost half of the class cannot do that, coz in period! So only few ppl get to practice. I did drink some honey water in the morning, but I still do the practice and trying to help ppl to understand how this work. I personally still need to practice on this. Ben then show the poping and turning for Nuli. That I cannot do. To be able to do that need to be able to isolate each abd muscle.
*Today's topic is Backbending. John also showed up for more assiting in back bending. Ben talks about for back bending need to work on opening at should, upper back, core and front thighs. So we do prepare for this.
*Basic suyra Namaskar, add on more launges with shoulder opening and front of thighs. Also work on streching on psoas. And while in vinyasa, work on cobra in details. Also a lot of abd works. ppl are all whining.
*thigh streching, two ways: half frogs and shin against the wall.
*Danurasana, really works on spread little toes, activate the outer shin, so again shins in and inner thighs apart. This could prevent the knees pain.
*Setu bandha: John did the demo. 1) with elbows bending and against the floor, also head push down to the floor, to bring chest open and lifting. Shoulder on the floor. Hips still on the gound. 2)bring hips up, hands clap on the floor, and then lower hips to doing a lot of inner spiral. Inner edges of feet down and even bring outer edge of feet up. 3)keep this big inner spiral, to get into the pose, w/o tuck tailbone too much, or stick tail bone upward to jam the lower back. Need a lot of leg work!

6/24 TT

6/24 TT
Today is led by Ben. He starts the warm up already bring in many poses. Again, focusing on Universal prinicpls. So already beging generate heat for ppl. In lecture, today's topic is standing poses.
*why standing poses is fundamental in yoga practice. It bring strenghth, stablity, sense of balance, wake up the mind, bring self confidence. The most important is to bring prana flow, it helps on Apana vayu. With widening pelvic floor, where generates prana. Also bring your breaths more into your body! That's why Ben said the legs connect with breathing! With nice inner and outer sprials, you could acctually breath better!
*Tadasana. From Iyengar, you could find Tadasana in all poses!
*Ben's adjustment on the neck in Trikonasan is new and nice to me! Because he mentions, ppl have wrong neck position, ususally is not with neck, it's with tight hamstrings, hips, shoulders. So his adjustment will be asking student really extend the back foot down, from there with balance act of inner and outer sprials, then bring chest to open, and then neck could easily come to nutrual position!
*questions about how much kidney loop is enough in WII. In WII, the spine should be nutural, meaning maintain natural curves, so have to find the subtle balance.

6/22 TT, 6/23 TT

6/22 TT
Today is led by John. Starting this week begin to talk about "teaching", the role as teacher. So John went thro the key things but most of them is mentioned in Anusara manual.
*teaching quality: soft heart/ Sharp mind/ vibrant body. I like this. And should always keep this in mind. Also in Chinese, 慈悲與智慧, always need to cultivate it!
*John's Asana practice is fun, he will bring something other than yoga posture. I think that's because his background on PT, as body builder. He works more on abd and building on strenghth on arms and legs. So usually is harder work than what Ben will teach. But I think it's helpful for gals!
*He clears one thing about what Richard said about exhale while pushing or lifting. It's about the purpose of the practice, for Richard, his point is out from anatomic way, so he would say exhaling while pushing or lifting weight. But it's different from yoga purpose, especially while we are working on movement, or flow yoga. That's good point, exactly what I said on the day while talking with Jade about this.
*the pranayama practice is interesting. Ham-sa pranayama. Breath in with ham, and breath out with sa. This is more up rising energy practice.

6/23 TT
Today is also led by John. Continue with teaching elements: setting of room, organization, opening of class, yama, niyama.
*Asana practice begining w/ Surya Namaskar A and add on variation, which I think is powerful and fun. Really works on hamstrings and quadceps. also the one with block between hands and lift it over head, straight arm, then lifting knee close to chest, this is so tiring for my shoulder, especially, my left shoulder. Sore and sensational!
*prep for hip opener: john use a very funny way like stip dance to work on strong inner spiral to work on inner things. very funny, but I think it works!
*Hip opener: John introduced a series by Rodney Yee. It's dynamic yoga, so not like flow or vinyasa, it just keeps moving beween poses, but no vinyasa as connection. Sometimes will stop at one pose for a while. This series is one beath one movement. Badha Konasana is the center pose, and links with Pachimotanasana, Upavista Konasana, navasana. This goes for 20 mins. Add on Janu sirsasana, baby cradle, fire log pose, navasana,and lolasana. Then working toward on lotus and Badha konasana forward bend! Again, always focus on groins back, big inner spiral to bring knees down!!

6/20 TT

6/20 TT

Class begins from 3pm~8pm. so finally could get up late in the morning, I even took a nap before class!
Today will cover a lot: Chakras,Nadis koshas, Bandha, pranayama, and meditation. Class begins at the lobby, noisy and hard to focus! I even sometimes yell to make ppl hear me clearly, but I like the feeling we all sit in circle, so get reaction from ppl easly.

*3 Bodies & 5 koshas

1.physical body: Annamaya Kosha

2.Astral body (this is new to me, how they call this "astral", it's "spiritual"!): where optimal blue print located. Pranayama Kosha/ Manamaya Kosha/ Vijnamaya Kosha

3.Causal Body or Karana Sharira(因果）：Anandamaya Kosha. this body is all about Karma, Samsara, and Samskara. Karma is the action, samskara is why you do that, and Samsara is the 輪迴. I translate Samskara into 銘印,印記, I hope I didn't get it wrong. So to remove karma, need to remove Samskara first.

*7Chakras: It seems like different naming in China than in Taiwan, especial for the first 3 chakras. What I learn is 海底輪,生殖輪,臍輪. They name here something like 根輪腹輪臍輪. Need to check again. Then bring Kundalini into this topic. I like John said about shakti is in the bottom and shiva is on the top of head, what we do is to bring them together!

*Different from Kundalini or other yoga tradition, Anusara's perspective on chakra meditation is to purify, not to awaken the Kundalini. So we only do mild meditation, not powerful one.

*then John guide a meditation with relations w/ colors and chakra. I thought we will do the chakra meditation with the sanskrit letter. That one I feel more powerful!

* Ben begins talk about prana and pranayama. then two practice, one is let ppl sit behind and with palms on the shoulder blades, this would bring awareness to breath in the back. I feel a lot, I now could bring into my back easily. I could feel ppls' hands moving with my breath! the other one is laying down with heart lifted and head supported, to feel rib cage expend!

*Ben demos the jalandhara Bandha. That's the new thing, he use several breaths to really expand his chest and rib cage, so eventually his chest is closing to his chin, not bring chin down to his chest, that's how we usually know. In his way, the neck is free and no tension!

*Ben tries to get ppl to do Uddyiana Bandha. But i don't believe ppl would get it! Need more talk and practice on this!

TT 6/19

6/19 TT

Today is led by Ben. I finally got a good night sleep last night, so got early and get into class earlier to practice. I sweat a lot already even on my way to class, and after just 10 mins practice, I sweat like have been doing 1hr practice.

* review two highest intentions of practicing yoga:1) Rememberance or co-create in the art of life. 2)realize and awaken to our divine nature, Ben put it the realization of Cit-Ananda. Then we review 3 A's. The Attitude tie in with intention. Setting intention will make yoga practice a lot different. In John Friend's training, sometimes work on just setting intention for a whole week class.

* ppl asked about the "optimal blue print". You may say it's already in you,so everyone has the potential to acchieve. That's why we call "Universal" Principls, coz it works for everyone. But you just need the "awareness" to realize it or acchieve it! That's what we want to develop in the practice.

*Also talked about the different between Natural breath and Ujjai breath. For Iyengar, they tends not go for advance pose, coz it will make breath short and tense, so Iyengar focus more on "full" breath. Anusara is from Iyengar, so the breathing in Anusara is more like the way Iyengar asked. In Ashtanga tradition, focus on Ujjai breath. But not many teacher really teach the technique throughly.

* Asana, meaning to sit. In traditional yoga, most poses are sitting pose. But marden yoga works more on standing.

*Asana practice. Again, Ben focus work on all 5 principles into practice. Asking the sanskrit name for the poses today. And asking the focal point of the poses. We also have handstand and add on back bending. In Urdhva Dhanurasana and drop back with assist.

*Drop back, ppl who assist really need to 1st look at the practioner's wheel pose first. See if they could really get into pose on their own, otherwise, don't get into drop back. If the practioner's quit flat in wheel pose, assitant need to stand wilder, and really make the back leg steady. Assist on hands on the sacrum and upper back, and help lengthen these two apart. Another way, is kind of new to me. Assistant with both hands on the thighs, and help practioner work on inner spiral a lot, practitioner goes one back down to floor and come up. With such help, practitioner could do even 20 drop backs and ups easily. And if with this kind of practice, it would transform the back bending a lot! I want to try this! This must be helpful for me!

Dristi要看哪裡

Yoga Space的TT課程的解剖學的課是由一個上海執業的body worker- Richard Brown所上的課, 我很難得可以偷閒不需當翻譯, 可以當學生. 這週末是兩整天的課！這個老師, 本身是學武術的, 所以除了知道死人骨頭的解剖學, 他對身體movement上的認識也是很清楚, 在加上他本身的body work經驗, 課程在他的中心上的, 很舒服的醫療環境, 有許多的”刑具”, 那種像pilatis的大型器具！Richard本身很有趣, 上起課來不嚴肅, 說話很慢, 試著很清楚的讓大家了解. 我們還有大George陪伴, 所以可以很清楚的看到骨頭, 和每小組有小George可以將肌肉用粘土建上去！

Richard的課收穫不少, 因為除了本來就知道的這些肌肉名稱, Richard也有武術和瑜伽的經驗, 所以可以給瑜伽人真正想要知道的！我們談論到四個主要的所謂Local Core muscles 區域核心肌群, multifidus, 橫隔膜, TA (腹橫肌), 和骨盆基底群. 這些肌肉跟呼吸有極大關係, Richard甚至給呼吸下了的定義, 正確的呼吸就是核心肌群的控制！這些肌肉都是深層肌肉, 深層肌肉主的是穩定的工作, 但是大部分的人們這些肌肉都沒在工作, 而讓原本主要是在做”活動”的淺層肌肉去執行這些工作, 所以才造成身體的不平衡, 肌肉的壓力和酸痛！所以, 對Richard而言, 那些要求做核心訓練的人, 該做的就是找回正常的呼吸！

另外, 有提到Ashtanga裡的三個重點之一, 就是dristi, 目光焦距點. 其實我之前所了解的dristi主要就是讓你可以練習可以專注！但是Richard解釋了生理上的理由！將你兩手手指放在枕骨, 在往內找的兩側會觸摸到的小窩窩, 手指放在這個位置, 不用力下壓, 閉上眼睛去, 然後試著去轉動眼球, 往上下左右轉動, 你會感受到腦杓後手壓的位置有很輕微的肌肉跟著眼球動作！這就是Suboccipital枕骨下肌, 這裡是有fascia連結到眼窩的, 所以眼睛的使用就會影響這肌肉, 而用眼過度就會這裡肌肉緊張, 就會影響到肩頸, 甚至也讓Multifidus緊張, 這就是用電腦長時間工作的人幾乎都會有肩頸痛的問題！

而眼睛的視覺是影響動作平衡的一個重要因素, 除了內耳平衡外, 視覺和腳底的接收器控制我們的平衡感！但是說到Ashtanga的dristi, 如在下犬式裡說到的dristi要求的是看像你的肚臍, 這是適合每個人嘛？Richard說到除非你可以到達你身體的順位, 也就是兼背可以不緊張伸展, 骨盆可以rotate, 那麼才有可能看到肚臍的位置, 不然是不可能的.所以每個人適合的dristi都是不一樣的！ 而像是後彎的動作, 重點就在要進入後彎的過程中, 視覺隨之移動是幫助身體可以順暢的進行動作的重點. 所以, 我問了Richard問題, 所以有所謂的general rule for dristi嗎？他的答案是能夠讓你的頭可以回到身體脊椎的正確順位的位置, 就是適合你的dristi! 這是很值得研究的問題. 所以你的視覺既是主動也是被動的配合著你的動作！找到適合你的dristi也就是找到你身體的正確順位了！

TT 6/17 & 6/18

6/17 TT

tiring latly, coz a friend visit me, I have to show around and so went to bed late. Need more sleep!
Today is led by Ben. Begin talking about loops. This is hard to translate into Chinese. I heard Chop use "輪", but I think it's very easily to confuse with Charkas(輪脈), so I use "環" "循環" in stead. Anyhow, I hope there will be a better name. Ben went thro the loops by just discribe the location and how they run in direction. No excise to let ppl understand.

*in the begining of class, Ben explain the Anusara Invacation, which I think it clear and I have to develop my own explaination in Chinese. This is hard!

*Loops are subtle energy flow. Secondary to 5 Universal pricipls. 5UP works more mechanically, and physically movement are more obvious than loops.

*Asana practice: work more on handstand, head stand and picha maryasana. Ben mentioned, it's the kidney loop help to take off the floor. this really helps, but I also work on Uddyiana Bundha. I could jump both feet into handstand and stay in the air for like 3 sec. I could really feel the lightness!

6/18 TT

Last night, went to Xintandi, and didn't go to bed till 11pm. And woke up at 3 Am, and hard to get back to sleep till 4 or 5ish. And Honey didn't set the alarm, so we woke up at 5:30. I run to metro and luckly could catch on time! Today is led by John. Talking more clearly on loops and have excise to really feel the loops. Ppl start getting group of 3, assigned with 6 poses in each group. Ppl have to work on each pose's alighment cue, benifits, contra-indication, and modication and variation. This is a good homework!

*John gave everyone a sheet of peper with a body figure so ppl could draw the loops on this.

*John shows me the excise for loops on a sheets of peper he printed out! It looks like it's from someone's note in a workshop! I have been thro some of them, but some are interesting, I will apply them into my teaching!!

* Adjustment on loops always starting from down to up!

* after excise we have a very hard work power asana practice. I sweat so much.... w/ surya namaskar A, then add on surya namaskar B, WI, WII, reverse WII, and while standing back into Utkatasana, John want us into 太極馬步, and stay for long. Then into handstand, picha Maryasna, head stand. With head stand variation, I place my head on a block and just stay in parsvotanasana. That's good, and I still could get same benefits as in real head stand. And then Pigeon pose, and wile thing. and bhujanrajanasana, using the techniq like Lois taught, back bending and look down into belly, and back into back bending for more, move hands closer. Look down into belly again and then crul back again!

TT 6/15 &6/16

6/15 TT
Today is led by Ben. We were working on inner and outer spirals. Ben didn't talk to much in the first hr. we just go straight into practice, which I think is also very good, becuase too much talk at 6am, only make ppls sleepy and plus, all those things need to be felt in you body to be able to understand. So Ben just mentions a bit the key elements in inner and outer spirals.
*Sprials are energetic flow.


6/16 TT
Today is led by John. Since Ben on Monday didn't talk too much, so John helps to tell more so ppls could fill in the hand out!
*Inner spiral: 1)front of feet, legs and pelvic sending inward and apart.
2)inner edge of feet, legs and pelvic sending backward
3) widen leterally and expansion away from midline.
*outer spiral all opposite
*ansan practice:John's warm up is fun and a bit different, start with Surya Namaskar A, but adding variation. something from Utkatasana into squating and siting on the floor, and then roll over to the shoulder, w/o neck on the floor and roll back into standing. For several time. Also add on navasana, half, with low back sacrum on the floor. Really work on the abd.
* emphasis on inner and outer sprials at ansana practice

情緒

我們家的人除了我媽之外, 都是很ㄍㄣ的人, 我從前甚至不會在我父母面前掉淚. 因為都會ㄍㄣ住！也忘記在ㄍㄣ什麼？真正掉淚都是自己一個人的時候才會釋放. 在瑜珈後, 最近這幾年才發現自己很會掉眼淚. 我指的掉淚不是"愛哭", 就是容易受感動眼淚就會掉下來. 甚至最近連看電視有有人掉淚(當然不是煽情的那種）也會很容易的跟著掉淚. 是不是很沒用啊！？

看過Discovery頻道的一個節目研究打呵欠會傳染的的一各研究, 發現, 看到別人打呵欠就容易也打呵欠的人, 是比較有"同理心"的人. 在英文用的是"compassion"這個字, 當然"慈悲"的英文也是用" compassion"這個字. 所以難道這可以說明,情緒上容易受感染的就是比較同理心嘛？ 我們練習瑜珈, 覺知力也跟著增進, 或者至少也希望跟進, 所以當然會比較敏感, 但是這些情緒上的起伏呢？這是所謂的情緒化嘛？

達賴的慈悲, 當他在聽到丹津芭默跟他反應女喇嘛在修行時所遭受的不平等待遇, 也會因傷感而留下淚來, 所以達賴也是有情緒, 也是可以掉淚的!

掉淚不能和懦弱或示弱畫上等號, 可以只是單純的情緒展現, 因為有些眼淚不一定都是因為悲傷,恐懼,或是感嘆所產生的, 也有可能是因為快樂或是欣喜所產生的. 這樣看來, 掉淚的反應並無所謂的對或錯. 或是該不該. 所以, 常掉淚也不應該就等於是情緒化囉 ?!

我喜歡Matthew在上次workshp提到的關於attachment, 對事物的執著, 或是情緒的升起, 只要靜靜的去觀察, don't go down with it, 別被拖走.

這樣的情緒上的敏銳度, 我在yoga Journal中讀到Shiva Rea的一篇文章說到, 當然因為敏感和同理心,所以我們會有許多情緒, 但是若是讓太多的情緒反應, 反而是對你自己是太不慈悲的. 是吧！ 對別人慈悲也得對自己慈悲. 練習不執著或是練習靜心並不是讓我們變成對所有事麻木或不起反應. 沒有情緒, 我喜歡Tantra譚崔哲學說的, 可以活的更豐富更飽滿, 對生命的肯定,更能活出生命,是入世, 而不是出世! 所以擁有情緒不是件壞事, 只是如何還可以同時不被淹沒, 保持自己！Tolle在"一個新世界"中也提出情緒和小我之間的戲碼, 一切情緒都會離開的, 別讓情緒主導你, 就像奧修說的, 那些情緒和想法都只是過客, 你可以迎來這些客人, 但是他們只是過客,你才是主人!

奧修也提到, 真正的慈悲可以有情緒但不情緒化, 可以轉情緒為行動力! 也就是有建設性的創造性的去改善情況, 而不是只會一昧的陷在情緒同情裡.

所以不該為情緒的展現感到不自在或是去壓抑, 但是可以在同時保持內在穩定, 去觀察起落, 也可以積極產生創造力! 這樣聽起來, 熱血多了!

6/12 TT

6/12 TT

Friday! but it's my first day in my period, feel not well, my body, especially my lower belly is like swelling to explode. Don't feel like movig around!

Today talk first about placement of hands, arms, feet and legs. Then talked about some foudational things like clothing, location, food and timing.

-- feet hip distance: means "inner hip" width. Draw a line from inner of ASIS thro thigh bones, knees, tho shins and till the mid of ankle. And line up with the metatarsal(蹠骨) of 2nd toe.

-- thighs should in line with shin bone, if not in a line, that means the twist at knees. Even in bow legs or knot legs, should still be in line!

-- From side view, should also in line. To prevent hyper extention on knees, knees should always go foward. Some teacher will say microbend, Ben would say, "the center of the knee foward, not backward". This ties into the loops concepts, shin loop and thigh loop works for knees microbend, so knees move forward!

-- hands, fingures point forward. The middle of the wrists in line with 3rd fingur, and if draw a line from mid if wrist will reach the outer shoulder.

--ppl w/ tight shoulders, fingures could point outward and wilder.

6/11 TT

6/11 TT

Today was led by Ben. Topic is Organic energy. This is the balanced energy of Muscular energy. I like the way Ben discribe the active and passive organic energy. Active organic energy is like star shining out, or like volcano explosure. Passive organic energy is like while you split a class of water on table, the water will spread out naturally by gravity or the shape of the table.

--Asana practice is not much, but work on a lot of dwaw in and extending out!

--we check on the elbow problem, like some have carrying angle problem. The adjustment is not the same as hyper extension. Teacher has to look very carefully bfr adjutment

-- head stand: focal point is upper palete, because head is weight bearing, not arms or shoulder. But while against the wall, body tends to lean toward wall so, it's f point is heart!

--Placement of head at headstand: Iyengar style adapts 12 fingurs wide from 3rd eye to top of crown (Sirsa). While Anusara style adapts 7 fingurs width, more closer to forehead, to creat a nature cureve at the back of neck!

--Finding Focal point: in Cobra, F Point is pelvis, coz if think about organic energy, it's hard to extend from heart to feet, it's better extend from pelvis. Bakasana, is heart! Vassistasana is pevic, coz heart is in higher position, and legs work to maintain balance. Wheel pose, is heart, heart is more weight bearing than pelvic, also pre into handstand, so it's heart!

TT 6/9 & 6/10

6/9 TT

Today also led by John. Topic of today is 3 A's and Adhicara. For 3A, Attitude is the most improtant! Because you could learn the rest 2 A's (alighment and action) from teachers, but still if you have to cultivate attitude by yourself! u could see everyone in the room doing the same pose, but what make the pose different, is the attitude! Attitude is the longing or desire to open a door. Alightment is like the alight the key to insert into key hole.Action is like the strength to turn the key to open the door. So it's like if you don't have the key, you still have the longing to open the door, you still could find a way to open, but you might break the door or use more effort. Adicara (I am not sure if i spell this right) is the studentship (This word is hard to translate into just one term). And five elements to match these five studentship, also reflect to 5 UP.

*Beginer's mind-Sky-Open to Grace

*steadfast to the diciplane-earth-Muscular energy

*fluidity, adapt to different situation-water-inner spiral

*burning of desire of excellency- Fire-outer spiral

*Creativity, apply what you learn into practice-air-organic energy

Asana practice: we do a lot of all these but more foucs on the first one open to grace, and a lot of movement on inner and outer sprial

6/10 TT

Today still let by John. Topic is muscular energy & focal points

3 elements on muscular energy

*draw in from perifery to core

*from outer form toward inner part

*to focal point

So key word for muscular energy is "isomatric" draw in! John asked student to wrap belt around thighs to get the feeling of the draw muscle from front, inner, outer and back.

*partner excise
I:A in low launge, back knee down, and B place hand against A's back thigh, while A tring to lift back leg up. Also,the other way round. A stand in high launge, and B place a hand on A's back thigh. A keep lifting back thigh not letting B push down.

II: A lie on belly, and flex knees. B pulls A's both ankles, and A tries to bring calf closer to thigh. This works on hamstring, just like in backbending.

III: A in Utthanasana,B hug A's shins in by B's calves. So B squeezes A's shins in, but A against by move upper thighs apart.

--Asana practice, work on only Worrior I, Trikonasana, and Parvotanasan. But bulid up one by one, by adding one detailed each time. In WI, work first on lifting back leg and lift front toes up. 2nd,hug the midline.3rd, drawn in both feet together (isomatricaly). 4th, hands and heart lift up and extend organic energy.
-- w/ inhale draw in, exhale extending out.

--Focal points all located in Shusumnan nadi. The main reason to have focal points is to direct energy more effectivly. With your mind notice the point, and visualization could help on moving energy. Brings "awareness" to these parts!!

-- in Setu Bundhasana: block between calf, between upper part of the knees.

TT day 3 & 5

6/5 TT

Today is day 3. I got full day job today, morning TT class and afternoon and evening for Lois class. Kind of exciting acctually, becuase Lois is coming!

John led the class, we are talking about pranayama.

--10 vayu, two are most important. Prana and apana vayu.

--Prana and pranayama.

--Ujai pranayama. Same length of in and out. same from the begining of inhaling till the end of the inhaling. (It's strange, John didn't mention any about the sound of Ujai)

--asana practice, work hard on draw in and extending out with breath.


Day 4 is Anatomy day


6/8 TT

Today begins the 2nd week! John led the class. Today's topic is "open to grace". So two key things in this principle: set foundation and open and soften! John want us to wrap a belt around the bottom of Xphoid process. And try to breath, with the resistance of the belt around your rib cage. Most of ppl will feel the feeling only at front. John want the breath on the sides and also the back!　"Breathe into back body!" In Anusara, back body reflect the Universe. So we have to connect more to our back body to connect the something bigger than you! so begins lots of practice and john talked thro the practice. He used what Richard said in Anatomy class on Sat (which I skip :P),the best practice is dynamic dynamic dynamic and hold. Richard said if your purpose is to create more flexiblity hold the pose 2 sec. or 2 mins. longer or less than this will just tighten up your muscle, you won't get the benefit of working on flexiblity.

-- begins with few practice of movement. standing pose with high or low launge. use the rooting power of the big toe mound pushing to the ground, to activate the back muscle of thigh. push to straighten and pull from big toe mound to bend the front leg.

-- hands on the floor, the foundation. index fingur mound= big toe mound. push down thro this point to draw power into your arm and core. So from table pose, draw from index fingur mound to core to get into down dog.

-- side body long. at all four, helped by partner, side body long, inner body bright, and melting heart. And keep this into downdog.

-- handstand

Lois老師來上海

這周末超及忙碌, 因為除了TT的翻譯工作之外, 還迎來了一位難得的Anusara Certified老師Lois Nesbitt來到上海! 在上海, 一直覺得孤獨, 因為沒有太多人知道或在練習Anusara. 認識的也只有Ben 和John, 他們也覺得there is no kula…很感慨! 所以難得的一位Anusara老師,還是資深老師來到, 真是令人開心!!

我在半年前, 就開始和Lois連繫,希望可以在此行幫忙翻譯, 她可能被我的熱情感動,因此也連繫上主辦的Y+,所以我很有幸和另一位也是從台灣來的Christie一起分攤翻譯工作!也才發現她之前也學習過Anusara, 很喜歡這套理論, 她可是上海老鳥, 來上海很多年了,但是也是覺得在上海沒法學習更多, 所以這次也很開心這位老師的到來!

星期五, 第一次見到Lois, 本人比相片上嬌小, 四肢很長很長, 上身很短, 她自己都笑說, 她到印度時才知道為何自己瑜珈可以做得很好, 因為她的身型就像是印度男人一樣! 難怪! Lois人很和善, 很有informative, 本身可是擁有文學博士學位, 她在許多地方旅行教課, 去年開始第一次到深圳, 這次來中國還會到北京和寧波. 這是很難得, 終於有Anusara Certified老師願意來道中國, 且願意來很多次! Lois本身還是還是Anusara協會裡的課程編排小組委員之一, 所以是很核心的人物, 她透露Anusara的師資訓練體制可能會再做一些改變, 會越來越嚴格…

周五的課大爆滿,滿到還有人旁聽, 因為也沒位子擺墊子了! 我台灣朋友, 還有特地從香港來的, 也有一些是在Yoga Space的TT課程的同學也來. 一位很開心說很開心是我翻譯, 因為她也習慣聽我的口譯了! 還好, 大家好像都很可以接受台灣來的口音! 課程開始,就感覺到熟悉的Anusara課程氣氛, 啊! 真開心, 像是回家一樣!

Lois就像所有Anusara的老師一樣, 帶起輕鬆活潑的能量! 因為大部分的學生也許都是資深的瑜珈練習者,但搞不好是第一次接觸Anusara的課程, 所以我有觀察Lois如何運用很多比較容易的方法,讓大家去體會到Anusara的東西! 這是我最大的收穫, 因為要面對Anusara的新學生, 第一堂課通常是最不容易的! 這是非常值得學習的, 身為一個老師!
第一堂是後彎的課, 主題是Lighten up, 可以翻作放輕鬆, 或是點燃點亮. 因為Key Words就是Inner Body Bright! 就是讓內在身體飽滿點亮, 我研究過這樣的詞語, 其實是帶有想像的, 因為你帶著讓你內在的身體亮起來的想法, 你外在實質的身體就會是一起正確的動作, 也就是身側拉長, 胸口上提! 這就是我們要的, 後彎準備動作之一, 接下來的重點就是上臂骨推回到肩窩, 肩胛骨貼回背上; 第三個重點就是所謂的kidney loop, 腎的位置飽滿! 也就是下背部填滿, 拉長你下背的空間! Lois帶的很仔細緩慢, 連我都覺得學到更深入的東西!!

第二堂課是講心的翅膀, 也就是你的手臂!尤其是上手臂的頂端螺旋進入socket的動作! 上手臂的外螺旋和下手臂的内螺旋! 第二堂排得很晚, 直到九點才結束, 再加上下課後的問題和討論, 經過清晨的課直到我回到家裡, 我連和哈尼說話的力氣都沒了….

隔天, 有空開始當學生, 由Christie翻譯, 有些學生還跑來問我怎麼不是我翻的, 她們很喜歡我的翻譯, 甚至Lois也告訴我昨天Y+的老闆有跑來偷看上課的狀況, 也覺得翻得很好, 呵! 真是開心, 讓大家滿意!! 我也很享受翻譯的過程! Christie也是翻譯得很好, 她說話比較溫柔一點, 我是這樣認為, 至少比我溫柔一點吧, 雖然我沒聽過我自己的翻譯. 我們在之前討論過一些用語的統一, 很開心她同意我的用法, 這樣可以讓學生的了解不會混淆! 第二天的課程是midline找到身體的中線, 和focal point能量集中點. 我很開心得當著學生, 可以不用說話去聽到自己身體的聲音, 真的去體會身體和心裡的覺知, 真是件幸福的事! 

第三天的課程, 講的是內旋和外旋, 這次我幫忙做調整, 去觀察不同的身體和動作, 是件很有趣的是, 這就是當老師的樂趣所在. Lois深入讓同學去體會怎樣在所有的動作中去做到內旋和外旋的準備! 這兩個動作和加上其他Shoulder look、Kidney loop動作, 其實就像是Lois說的, 是Anusara學生的秘密暗號, 在一般的瑜珈課中,你若看到有些人會用這些螺旋式的 “扭動”進入動作, 你會知道, 這些人都受過Anusara的影響! 是真的, 我常是這樣認出同好的!

Lois在下課後也和我們聚餐, 談論了很多, 她也表明希望常回上海來上課, 她也說過John Friend 祖師爺希望她就像是Anusara大使一樣的開始在大陸傳播Anusara. 她也希望開始建立Anusara Kula, 希望在每個地方有幾位當地老師可以持續Anusara的教課, 讓學生可以長時間的接觸Anusara, 之後再推出所謂的Anusara Immersion 和teacher training課程. 她對我們當地幾位也很支持, 她還自願要當我獎學金申請的推薦人! 真是個 “真正”的老師, 她關心也培養學生, 還送我一個小禮物, 不像哪種來 “沾”醬油賺了錢, 然後就走了的老師.

這是也讓我真的接觸了上海的瑜珈圈, 這裡的老外同學真的不少, 當然還有更多的當地瑜珈人, 還讓我認識到更多的瑜珈人! 我在下課時常被問到, 我在哪教課, 這表示大家在這次Anusara體驗後還想學到更多的! 真是開心, 不再感覺哪麼孤單囉~ 瑜珈把大家連結起來!

TT day 2

6/4 Day 2

Today is led by Ben. I almost overselpt in the morning, so was like rush to the class. Luckly, got there 3 mins before class. Sorry.... this wasn't me...

Today beings with "Yoga" definition. Of course, there are many. Union is the popular one. I like the other one "Yoga is esctacy!". "Samadhi" this sanskrit name also means esctacy, Patanjali use this term in Yoga sutura. He brought a book today, "Yoga Tradition". It's a very big and thick book, but I flip over, and I know I will get one. This is also by Georg Feuerstenin, the same author of the book I am reading, "Tantra- the esctasy path". The book gives Yoga histry and philosophy a comprehensive intro, very worthy to read! This is the book I am looking for, to bring the pieces I know together! Highly recommanded!

Then, brief intro on Universal Principles. It's fun to look at ppls' faces, they all look confused, while Ben introduce this. Anusara language is different, only listen or read it in written, you will never understand. Until you could only feel and expeience in your body, u would understand it! So, then we start Asana practice.

some highlights
--Open to Grace:one need to cultivate "beginner's mind".

--From ben's experience, he thinks of all 5 principles, "open to grace" is the most important. Because, most ppl are already very tensed from life, so they draw in without "open" first. (I remember, Andrew talked about the most important one he thinks is different from Ben, but i cannot recall, will check the preivous notes.)


--muscular energy: the point "shins in, and thighs out", which I still could understand fully, personally. But I think Ben give a great tip. Lift the pinky toe up, to activate the outer shin muscle, so it help outer shin close to each other, and keep inner thighs back and apart. He kept repeating this thro whole class.


--outer spiral, he use the different term. He mentions more specifically "end of the tailbone" down, to discribe the outer sprial action.

開始瑜珈翻譯~Teacher Training begins!

今天開始幫一個200小時的師資課程當翻譯, 這是一家上海的Yoga studio叫做Yoga Space! 教室在熱鬧的酒吧街衡山路上,當然酒吧都是晚上九點才開始的,Yogis大部分都是晨間動物,日出而作日落而息,所以瑜珈館在這種地方一點也不奇怪!這裡已經算是靜安區,路旁都有梧桐樹,這區也很多老外出沒,進到studio布置得很舒服,休息區也不小,可坐可臥,氣氛很yogic!


這次的teacher training 是兩個美國人, 一位已經是Anusara Inspired老師,另一位是我也是清邁上immersion的同學John. 兩位老師都是很資深的瑜珈人,而且剛好我們都是學習Anusara的, 課程會利用Anusara的所有原則來教導,所以我好像又"剛剛好"適合這個課程的翻譯! :)
今天是第一天開始, 課程是每天周間的早上6~9點, 所以我有開始我的早起生活.今天五點起床,準備上學去,這讓我想起那時在清邁也是要早起的一個月師資課程,早晨的空氣真是舒服,路上也很少人,這在上海真是難得的景像啊! 早上的課程開始,同學也是來自各國,當然也不少是中國人. 課程開始,再一次我又開始通電了,就像是"上身". 下課後聽到不少同學很開心有中文翻譯,甚至是本來就懂英文的同學,因為再一次聽到中文解釋可以了解甚至可以再次確認自己的了解有沒錯誤!


我會開始也Journaling自己上課的心得, 正好可以做highlight一些我新學習到或是感受到的,不會是全部, 也許只會用英文. 打字比較快, 哈!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

6/3

First day of the training. I was kind of exciting back to the yoga field, I mean back to studio to meet the community in Shanghai! John is leading this morning. He speaks slowly and clearly, which is good for me to tranlate! In the beining, he guides us thro a warm up, not the tradition Yoga warm up, but fun. Basically, we just move thro main joints from top. I start feeling again my left shoulder cranky, at the anterior part of detoid and also at the infraspinatus. This is just basic warm up, and my left shoulder is warning me! I should treat it gentler...

Then, we start with Ashtanga style Surya Namaskar A and B. John brings in more alighm't in Wrist, shoulder, and knees.

--press down the mound of the index fingures,this would activate the upper arm muscles, to protect the wrist

--arms close to eacher, to hug the mid line, to create the microbending, so not hyper extending elbows. It's like you are squizing the side of your mat together!

--knees, while bending, such as in Parvakonasana, try to in line your front knee to 4th toe! help not to collaps knee inward and stay aligh!

--"muscular energy" is the key to keep you safe in the practice!

--the intention is important, also helps you to practice safely. Your higher intention would help you not just trying to "do" the pose, w/o working on the alighment.

--we practice Yoga to "heal", not to "hurt" our body!

瑜珈廣告

每天信箱都會收到Yoga Journal寄來的E letter. 也許不會有時間認真看, 到是email中的廣告有些真是抓的住我的眼球.
這是我近期看到讓我噗嗤出來的一則

看到了嗎? "Yoga Candy with no Bad Karma" 哇!該怎麼翻? "瑜珈糖果-不會有報應的糖果". 連糖果都可以跟Karma連在一起?!太有創意啦!

我在清邁的室友是個澳洲妹, 我在浴室看到他擺的一瓶保健品,也是整個讓我噗嗤出來, "YogaBody" strech專用,標籤說可以增加柔軟度,和縮短身體修復期,純素成分,提供胺基酸,維生素和礦物質補充. 我看了一下是美國製的.這是strech專用,想必一定還有可以strength專用.搞不好還有針對不同體位法系列的產品,如手平衡不累專用,猴王式不痛特效,後彎恐懼強效.... 我亂猜的...

美國的瑜珈市場算是已發展成型的大市場,各式各樣的商品,十分有創意! 連Yoga Journal雜誌社都有在賣保險,保障你的瑜珈生涯或瑜珈館事業.還有銀行推出瑜珈人專用的信用卡. 真是all you could image..... 在美國的瑜珈人真是受重視的一群肥羊啊!!

另外,今天打去北京的瑜珈出版社,得知瑜珈雜誌簡體版要停刊了,這是確定消息,他們都將退費給訂戶了.真是一個... 唉... 不知是什麼原因.中國市場不是大家都要來的嗎??

Om,shanti~~~

南京舊夢

去南京對我而言是沒計畫性的出遊, 反正是跟著哈尼的同事,一大票人說出發就出發去了.
上海到南京的動車只要兩小時多就到了, 南京的火車站真是壯觀, 根本就像是國際機場!聽出租車師傅說是當初舊火車站本來就該改建, 但是遲遲未行, 好像是因為後來"剛好"的一場火災, 所以就建了這座面臨著玄武湖的大火車站. 火車站應該算新, 所以內部都算乾淨, 抵站和離站的入口還有分流, 離站的入口還是像機場一樣在二樓,接送可以經由高架橋上到二樓下車. 出口就是個超大廣場, 再來就是玄武湖了! 玄武湖聽說也是整治過, 湖邊設施都很新, 還有公安巡邏, 所以雖然還是有很多外地人在此歇息, 但少了小販和乞丐, 算是清新的景點.

此趟出門可是沒計畫過的, 大家討論去哪就去哪, 我也對南京沒做任何研究, 只知道有個中山陵, 吳伯雄最近要來拜曕的地方, 還有南京大屠殺. 打D在南京的市區, 覺得這城市的樹真是不少, 都是高大的梧桐樹, 雖然上海的法租界也有這樣的梧桐, 可是南京的樹可是看的出來都是有年紀的,且分布的更多更密! 長在路兩旁就像是綠色隧道, 很舒服! 這是座老城市,曾經的首都, 感覺和上海很不一樣, 初夏的茂密的青綠梧桐給南京加分很多!!

所以午餐在夫子廟街解決之後, 就往南京大屠殺紀念館出發. 這座紀念館是新建設的, 難得的是免費參觀, 在中國, 我已經見識到到處都需要門票, 廟要票, 連市區公園要票, 免費的景點, 可真是難得! 在遠遠的就可看到一位悲傷的母親的巨大雕像, 門口一系列的雕像, 已經開始敘說著這件人類殘忍瘋狂的悲劇. 心情已經開始沉下來.

紀念館是建在一座萬人坑遺跡上, 館的設計是現代肅穆, 且大部分鋪以卵石和水泥, 而非是草地和綠樹來象徵沒有生命. 這是一座花了7億人民幣的設計, 設備和設計都花了很多心思, 來提醒人類這場在一個月之內死了30萬人的悲劇. 館內氣氛一直很沉很重, 讓我頭暈腿軟, 我避開了一些史實遺骸的參觀, 就像十幾年前參觀過的廣島原子彈爆發紀念館一樣, 這些瘋狂的人類行為, 真讓人難以承受..... 在館安排的路線最後是到不同區塊"和平", 白色巨大雕像周圍開始多了花草和流水, 在此平復休息了好一陣子才感覺落地.

之後去了南京大學, 南京大學好像在中國也是排名很前面的大學, 也是有百年歷史, 裡面樹更多, 有點像成大的校園, 樹蔭下許多人或躺或坐的, 除了學生也有很多當地民眾,校園內有許多是中式建築, 跟周圍的現代建築對比, 很有風味!

在南京過了一夜, 住在熱鬧的夫子廟老街對面, 晚上就去老街吃吃, 逛逛秦淮河! 當然夜裡亮起的霓虹燈, 和熱鬧的街市, 商業化的十分徹底! 但, 從前只有書中讀到的秦淮河畔, 總是要來一起湊熱鬧!!

隔天, 出發到鍾山景點! 一上山, 綠意盎然, 而且, 是山耶!! 好久沒看到山了!!! 上海都沒有的綠意.... 中山上有三大景點, 中山陵, 明孝陵和靈谷寺, 我們是從明孝陵開始, 這是明代朱元璋的陵寢, 聽說是現今保存占地最大的歷代陵寢. 我們這時參觀真是巧, 主要的明樓整修, 所以我們也只能看外在, 外面就大的像是國家公園了, 老樹和綠地, 寬敞舒服, 難得的在觀光景點不覺得人多, 綠地很多, 舒服的想在這裡看書發呆過一天! 神道是有趣的景點, 沿路有官士的雕像和另一系列是動物的雕像, 當然這些雕像在這裡都有保衛皇族陵寢和張顯威勢的作用, 但是這些動物的比例都是Q版的, 也太可愛了吧!

終於來到中山陵, 真是個好風水的地方, 建築也真勢雄偉, 是中正紀念堂山頂別墅版, 一樣的藍瓦白牆, 我想一定是中正紀念堂抄國父的. 到主建築得走很多很多很多的台階, 國父的雕像在青天白日黨徽之下, 想想真是難得, 還被保留下來, 且參觀的人可真是絡繹不絕! 下山的時候, 聽到一位中國遊客說, "這是國民黨在中國最後一塊地盤!" 我和哈尼聽了都不知該不該笑!

南京真的有許多國民黨的痕跡, 南京大屠殺紀念館內的史實都還是記錄國民政府, 寫的是國民政府的歷史, 當然在青天白日徽下的中山陵也是. 時代變遷, 兩岸之間在六十年前到現在,我也沒想到, 我也在這土地上

最近看很多在這裡為了"新中國建立60周年"所製作的關於國共時期的連續劇, 其實還真讓人錯亂和無奈的苦笑, 想想, 單單立場不同, 所看到的事物竟會如此的相反, 再次印證"無常"這個定理! 世事沒有絕對!