Paging Dr. Darwin, or Yoga in Langkawi

Written April 24 while very hot in Langkawi

Note about pictures in this post: I am only posting the pictures I took of beautiful buildings and beaches, not the many other things I could take pictures of like: Andrew sweating, Kate sweating, Andrew and Kate sweating together,other white people sweating, or really big beetles. Also, the town we are staying in is not picturesque. I am just bothering to post the pretty stuff.

We drove 4,000 KM in South Africa which took a huge toll on our physical and mental wellbeing. We hurt, we ached, we were grumpy, we felt wrapped into knots. I thought we should take some time to do serious yoga -- unbend and work out some of the kinks. Thus, we have spent the last 3 days on the island of Langkawi doing a “yoga retreat” We were the only people who signed up for the “retreat” so we have been basically having 2 private classes each day. In my experience, Yoga is something that sounds better to do than to actually do it. Doesn’t doing two private yoga classes a day while on a beach sound like a great idea? Imagine beautiful views and stretching. In truth, there are lovely parts, but it is also a bit miserable to go from being totally sedentary to a pretzeling yogi in a few days. We both find ourselves thinking, “I paid to do this?!?” as we try to stretch our arm around our neck and then put our foot in our earlobe (ok, I made that up, but you know what I mean. By the way, I dub it: the sweaty white boy pose) Yoga is deeply into the principle (the very un-American principle) that if you hate something you should probably do it over and over and because it is good for you and the fact that you hate it means you need to do it. I generally try to avoid this principle in my life. I will admit though, there is some truth to it. Women’s magazines and yoga magazines are filled with stories that follow this basic arc: “1. I was fat/bent/out of shape 2. I went to yoga/gym/pilates 3. I hated it 4. I stuck with it despite hating it 5. Eventually, I learned to love it and now it is my favorite thing to do 6. Now I am thin/not bent/in shape and feel great. Depending on my mood these stories inspire me (rarely) or annoy me (more often). Last night, I was surprised when I thought to myself, “Hey, this actually feels good, I am glad I am doing this now.” I felt like someone out of Yoga Today Magazine.

The resort where we do yoga

Our classes are in various locations around Langkawi: a beach, a waterfall, a resort famous for its collection of wooden houses from around Malaysia. This resort feels like the Malaya of fantasy, the Malaya of family epics and the Malaya of colonial imagination. The place where we are staying is nothing special, but the resort where we stretch is stunning. After some classes we can go swim in their pool. Ahh. It helps me get through Warrior Pose #47 when I know I am going to get to jump in a cool, beautiful pool afterwards. This place is a warm redhead’s dream: the pool is shaded, so I can float indefinitely without a burn.

This morning (early, ouch) we hiked up to a water fall (is it hiking if there are stairs?) and did our morning class on the rocks by the natural pools. I suspect our teacher was a bit surprised by just how slow I had to go on the way up, but once we were up it was cool and beautiful. Yesterday morning we did our class by the beach. She also feeds us, which means we get out of the tourist area and eat yummy local food. You may be surprised to know that I enjoyed dried anchovies with my egg and rice this morning for breakfast. They were tasty if a bit scratchy in the mouth.

View from our beach side yoga classes

Almost every muscle in my body hurts right now. I think Andrew feels the same.

A good pool for a post yoga dip

So, why did I call this post “Paging Doctor Darwin“? Well, our yoga teacher is a big animal lover and volunteers all her time at the local animal shelter when she is not teaching. Her friends seem to all be from the animal shelter too. (this makes for interesting conversations with a local man with 10 cats…) Many, many cats and dogs on the island of Langkawi do not have tails. It is a genetic thing from inbreeding. That is an Island Closed Ecosystem for you. Madagascar gets lemurs; Langwaki, tailless cats.

Para-sailer at sunset near our hotel