Thursday, 2/25/16 - Marari Beach Resort on the Arabian Sea |
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Marari Beach Resort offers complimentary yoga at 7 a.m. each morning. We haven't had a chance to do a real practice yet on this trip, so Craig and I both planned to attend. We both woke up at 6 o'clock, but when Craig stepped outside to use the outdoor restroom, the 90 degree weather with 85% humidity hit him like a blast furnace. He is very sensitive to heat due to his MS, and he has done so well on this trip so far that we didn't want to take the chance. We didn't know how strenuous this outdoor class would be, so I decided to scout it out, and if it seemed appropriate for Craig, he would join me tomorrow.
At 6:45, I walked toward the beach to a concrete slab in the center of the lawn where the male yoga instructor was setting up mats. I chose a spot facing toward the ocean. The full moon was visible above the palm trees, and the sky had a rosy glow as the sun was rising. Birds were calling one another and it was a perfectly beautiful spot to practice. There were about a dozen students, including the hotel manager. We started off with some eye movements which reminded me of the Kathakali dances we had seen in Fort Cochi and Cheruthuruthy. We furrowed our brows and then relaxed them. We shifted our eyes left and right, up and down, and diagonally. We did a lot of stretching, with few actual asanas, with the exception of ustrasana (camel pose) and dhanurasana (bow pose). Bow was interesting because he had us rock from side to side while in the pose, rolling fully on to our right side and then our left. That is some core work, for sure! We also laid on our stomachs with our arms in a T shape and bent one knee, touching our toes to our fingertips. Mukul snapped a couple of photos of me while on his morning walk. The outdoor setting was lovely, but had the slight drawback of insects. While in savasana, I felt like an actual corpse, with ants crawling all over me. They were harmless, but it was a bit difficult to turn off your senses when you can feel the tickle of bugs walking on your skin! It was a great 60 minute class. It was not very strenuous, so the heat wasn't really a problem. Craig should be able to handle it just fine, and he plans to accompany me tomorrow morning. I am proud of him for taking care of himself and erring on the side of caution this morning. I returned to our room and took a shower. At 9 o'clock, we met Mukul and enjoyed a buffet breakfast so large and wonderful that we wound up skipping lunch entirely:
On the walk back to the villa, we stopped to see the small endemic Indian cows which were manicuring the lawn. There was one young calf (only a couple of months old) who was all legs and tail. So cute. We befriended the young couple and their daughtger Jiana, who had been at the restaurant last night. They are visiting from Mumbai. They said that the restaurant staff had insisted that they go for a walk alone when they finished dinner last night, while the staff entertained Jiana. When they returned from their walk to collect her, she was having so much fun with the staff that she didn't want to go back to the villa with mommy and daddy! Craig and I walked down to the beach. We walked on the soft sand, observing a crab scuttling across the sand into a hole. There was a dog laying at the water's edge as the surf licked him. He was very friendly and came over to us to say hello. The sun came out from behind the clouds and it got quite hot, so we headed back to the cool, air-conditioned room for a siesta. At around 2:30 p.m., Craig took a nap and I went for a walk. I wandered over to the butterfly garden, where there were beautiful plants attracting several species of butterflies. It was quite lovely. Butterflies flitted from flower to flower, and there were educational signs showing the different species in the area. This was right next to the organic vegetable garden which provides food to the restaurant.  As I felt my skin start to burn in the sun, I headed back to our villa. I sat in the shade on the porch just as Mukul returned from a walk. He joined me and we chatted. Craig woke up from his nap, and came outside to sit with us. The three of us enjoyed tea and snacks while looking back at photos and videos from the trip on my computer. Shortly before 6 o'clock, we headed down to the beach for sunset. The waves were quite rough. They would pile up and hit shore in quick succession, causing a very churning and deafening surf. Craig and I waded in the water. The bottom hem of my dress got wet. It was unbelievable how warm the water was! The sunset was amazing, and as the sun approached the horizon, it played hide and seek behind some clouds. 
Jiana and her parents were having dinner, and she was once again being entertained by the staff. The same flute player and drummer from last night (Antony and Benny) were performing. Jiana walked right up to them and started to lightly tap the drums. She is adorable!  After eating way too much, we went back to the villa, posted on Facebook, and went to bed. Craig and I both plan to go to yoga in the morning before returning to Kochi to catch our 4:30 a.m. flight home on Saturday morning. |
 Steph at morning yoga practice (photo courtesy of Mukul)  Breakfast at Marari Beach Resort  Craig walking on the beach  Beach selfie  Tea on our porch  Marari Beach sunset  Marari Beach sunset  Marari Beach sunset 
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