Diary 29 April 2006

Being on board a ship that is sailing her way across the Indian ocean in weather foul and fair offers unexpected opportunities and poses some challenges to my daily yoga routine.I'm usually out of bed before our 7am wake up call so I can see the morning sun and spend 15-20mins on the cannon deck doing my stretching.Obviously a big swell can make things tricky. Forget fancy balance postures, simply standing up on two feet can be an exercise in itself and staying on the yoga mat is a challenge when it slides to and fro across the deck several meters with each wave.In smaller seas though, the movevment of the ship can enhance my practice.  Once I'm in a posture I let the ocean do the work, extending the stretch in rhythmic waves as she rolls and pants and yaws beneath me.  Downward Dog becomes a strengh posture as all my weight is alternativly moved from right arm to left arm to left leg then right leg as the ship's centre of gravity changes.I like being POST and my hour to be utkik (lookout). I use the time to do a kind of standing meditation, with full awareness of the range of movement of the ship below my feet and the way my body compensates for each roll.  Every muscle in my feet legs and back registering the subtle movements of the ocean.Then there is rigging yoga!  Climbing on the Götheborg is making yoga masters out of even the most inflexible of the crew. Getting up to the top of the masts, furling, reefing and doing maintenance requires us to get into all sorts of strange postures.  Getting from the windward vant(shrouds) to the yard when braced sharp up is like doing full splits in midair. Sometimes the patch that needs tarring or sanding or fixing is just out of reach so one leg needs to be wedged into a block here and one arm strung around a stay there and then if you breathe in just the right way you can get the job done!For me yoga is simply awareness of what is in this moment.  The Götheborg and the Indian Ocean are wonderful teachers.

Rachel