Santa Comes to Dubai!

When I arrived in Dubai, after a 14 hour flight with little sleep, I marveled at the Christmas decorations in the airport. I have a fuzzy memory of thinking how amusing it was to see that. If Dubai is about shopping, than of course a secular version of Christmas would fit right in.

Today the Oasis Center's central area was completely filled in with Christmas trees, 'snow'men, reindeer, and even wolves and enormous stuffed squirrels. The Mall Manager greeted my photo op with a laugh and told me that Santa is coming to Oasis Center tomorrow, with elves, too. He appeared to be from India, and he told me that in Dubai, Christmas decorations are allowed, but no advertisements or billboards displaying Christmas 'propaganda.' He is also forbidden to have Christmas Carols in the center. He was required to remove the 'santa hats' from models in an advertisement.

In keeping with the Christmas and snow theme, the other day I made it the Mall of Emirates, which has the Ski Slope hotel attached to it. This photo is from the window in the mall. Some people living here have told me that they learned to ski here before going on a ski vacation, so I suppose it has a deeper purpose than simply novelty. There weren't tons of people there while I peeped in, but it was the day after a long, holiday weekend. Noura says it's often busy, and that she's been a few times. You can even rent Parkas and ski pants ... everything but gloves.

Turkish Coffee with a Hint of Cardamom

This is what fills my French Press these mornings; it's quite tasty. They don't seem to have half & half, as such. It's a bit of a challenge to find cream for my coffee, and what I've found comes in plastic containers that resemble ones that contain yogurt, sort of.

The alarm wakes me at 5:20 am. Coffee has been prepared the night before. In this apartment there is an electric kettle, which is total genius. A glass of hot lemon water goes done while the hot water steeps some flavor out of those coarse little granules, and I scurry to prepare myself. Teeth brushed, tongue scraped, and at least a little color on my face. Then, it's a mad dash to Skype my honey, check email, and peruse Facebook.

Raju picks me up at around 6:15 am, and I get to Oasis Center by 6:40 ish. The employees at the Center lay the mats out, and I often rearrange them just so. The ipod plugs directly into the wall, and their sound system speakers are hidden in the ceiling, I guess. We don't have lots of yoga props, but many of the students have brought some blocks and blankets.

Class goes essentially from 7 am to 4:30 pm, with a few breaks. I get 'home' by around 5:15 pm, or so, which is a pretty full day.

The training is almost complete, in that we conclude on Saturday. What's still difficult to wrap my mind around is that we still have about 40 hours together! The students have traveled quite a distance on their yoga path, and I'm feeling quite good about the foundation we have established together. They have teaching practice on Friday, in which half of them are teaching a full class while the other half practices; after the break, the roles switch for a different sequence.

They have all grown as yoga practitioners and are budding teachers, but what has also grown has been a community of tremendous support, respect and love. Yoga truly is for everyBODY, and may be the force that can indeed unite the world.

That Which is Ever New

In Yoga Philosophy, "OM" is said to be comprised of 4 parts: A - U - M (pronounced the Ahhh, the OOOh, and the Maaa) followed by the silence which 'carries the vibration.' These 4 parts of OM are said to correspond to such things as past, present, future and timeless-ness; Creation, Sustenance, Dissolution and that which is eternal ... also described as Beginnings, Middles and Ends and the formless reality which had no beginning and so can have no end. Manorama refers to this as the 'OM Cycle', which is continuously shaping and reshaping itself in each arising mOMent.

Today officially marks the end of the 2nd week of the Teacher Training Program I'm currently teaching in Dubai, U.A.E. In "OM Speak," we have just ended the middle part of the training, and have just begun the end phase. The end phase will have a beginning, a middle and an end. This, of course, as you in the States are in the 'middle' of your weekend, but here, the weekend is officially over, and tomorrow a new work week begins. We are still in the beginning of December, but it's toward the end of the year. As I write this now (9 hours ahead of the East Coast), it's the end of the day, and yet it's the beginning of the middle of the day in Philadelphia. Continuously colliding cycles create our experience of reality.

Another word for OM, according to the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali, is Pranava. Some have said this word means, "sustains life and runs on prana, or the breath." Others have said the word means 'a humming sound.' Manorama has defined it as "That which is ever new."

To tune into Pranava, is to recognize that, even though things seem the same, this moment has never happened before. It is a trick of the mind to think, "been there, done that." Tapping into the power of OM is to remain vibrantly connected to the continuous unfolding of your life. By being attentive to how you conclude whatever is 'ending,' you have the power to create new beginnings. In fact, there is a new beginning tucked into every single breath.

As we slide through the middle of the holiday season and toward the end of 2011, rather than wishing it was over, see how attentive you can become to the entire cycle. As we approach the Winter Solstice, which is a great metaphor for the 'dissolution' phase of the cycle, ask yourself if there is anything you are finally ready to let go of in order to create the space for a new beginning. Can you release a grudge? Forgive someone a perceived wrong, even if that someone is yourself? Relinquish anger or resentment or blame? Forsake jealousy or pride or the indignation of having been hurt by life? Buried within the frozen hardness of winter are the seeds which will sprout springtime. Manage your endings skillfully, to create the space and the conditions for the next wave of OM.