hi, my name is jenna....

beep, beep, beep. it's 5:49 am and my alarm has gone off to get me up for my morning sadhana yoga practice. a shower, some greens, a quick check to make sure i have my required books and materials and i'm out the door by 6:35 am. the city of chiang mai is still sleepy but has already begun to awaken. as i pad silently down the narrow streets, my ipod spilling its sound into my ears, the sky brightens even further to reveal the beauty around me.

'...i've been thinking it's a sign that the freckles in our eyes are mirror images and when we kiss they're perfectly aligned...'

two bare footed teenage buddhist monks wrapped in their saffron-coloured robes are also busy at this hour collecting their various donations of food, flowers and incense from the local people. i watch with amusement as they peer excitedly into the large plastic bag they were handed by a guesthoue owner and discover some cookies. they notice me looking at them and immediatly look down in modesty, cover their gifts with their robes and continue on with their collection duties.
upon arrival to the building where my yoga study is being held, we are asked to remain in silence until 9 am. i rather enjoy this request because although there are numerous people in my course i would love to chat with, it's good to be inside yourself at that hour without the responsibiltiy of being nice. i'm surprized at how good i feel so early but my body lacks strength as i move it through the various yoga positions. 'it will come', i tell myself, 'focus on where you are now'. 'nice, jenna. press through your hands, melt your heart to the floor and ground your feet', jonas says softly next to my mat.
'jenna?', you say? who is that? well, thats me in this month-long yoga teacher training course i am currently in. there are 28 students from all over the world who have come to study with swedish-born jonas westring and americal sara avant stover. jenna has come about as a way to get around confusion of having three students named jenn in the class. i still look blankly at people occasionally when they address me as jenna and then realize they are talking to me. someone has even told me that i look like a 'jenna' more than a 'jenn' so i guess it was a good choice.
i've settled into the cm blue house, the place i'm staying at in chiang mai(cm)
nicely and highly recommend it to anyone travelling this way. there are a few other yoga students staying there; copper and vanessa crow from america (the howdiers, g!) and joannne from k.l. the crows came in from hongkong where they are teachers at the yogatropolis known as 'pure yoga'. if your a reader of yoga journal then you would have seen the back cover advertisments for these enormous studios all over asia with plans to develop more. vanessa and copper's set up is somewhat similiar to teaching english; free housing, car included, bills paid and your worked hard. i have plans to head to hongkong sometime next may or june with fellow ecc'er marissa (and any others who would like to join :) for a 4-day yoga conference being held at pure, and the crow's have graciously invited me to stay at their place in exchange for eccentric korean stationary. apparently copper has a thing for stickers. they also mentioned that pure is always hiring. hmmmmm.....