Today we are going to Amed https://wikitravel.org/en/Amed for three days out of bustling Sanur, do some snorkeling and hang out without much running around - we’ll see....😉.
Having a little difficulty with the language, mostly because after I learn to pronounce a word, doable, it’s more about keeping it in the brain pan, which is probably more about competition with jumble of other distractions and new cultural information rushing in or just plain concentration issues🤷♂️🤪. There are about five common first names used here and most seem to be interchangeable between masculine and feminine, if I heard that correctly.
People here are generally very sweet, kind happy and always willing to help, constantly putting out little square palm leaf blessing trays with burning incense, and I mean everywhere! They’re on sidewalks, street corners, steps, doorways, businesses- took me a while to realize that what I thought of as just plain litter were burned leftovers of these offerings. Religion, predominantly Hindu followed by Islam and Buddhism which was the original founding religion but subsumed, seems to be expressed throughout the culture and overarching in day to day life. As everywhere else, many just live out their life as they please, accepting and taking bits and pieces from their birth religion.
The standard greeting here is hands together in front of heart 🙏, mostly Hindu/ Buddhist or one hand over heart for Muslims. Here’s an article from Michael Gilman, my Tai Chi teacher and long time friend, about common ways of greeting people each from around the world.....
Monday Morning Tai Chi Training Tip # 234 Tai Chi Greeting Shaking Hands got its start because two strangers would show their empty right hand (the usual hand to hold a weapon) and this evolved into clasping hands as we do today in the West. In the East people are much more reserved, so they either hold up their right empty hand or press their own two hands together in front of their body (again displaying empty hands). And because they are more crowded together, they are more conscious of spreading disease so they don't like to touch others in public places. The Indians press their two hands together in front of their hearts and say “Namaste” which means “I greet the God within you”. The Japanese press their two hands together and bow as a sign of respect. In Tai Chi we use a different hand greeting. We place the left open hand (the left is yin or receptive, soft and yielding) on top of the right fist (right is yang or creative, firm, solid) in front of our middle Dantien (heart mind, emotional center) and stand tall and straight. What this means is that I, like Tai Chi, am firm and solid on the inside and soft and yielding on the outside, made up of both yin and yang qualities, and that my heart recognizes this in you also. I think it is a beautiful way to greet someone. Note: As I write this, flu season is starting, as is cold season. We must be diligent if we are going to stay healthy. In Tai Chi classes we do lots of partner exercises to understand just what we are doing on an energetic level, so we touch others, mainly on the hand, wrist and forearm. We discourage people who know they are coming down with something from coming to classes. And importantly, be sure not to touch your eyes or nose with your hands before you wash them. The first thing I do when I get home from being in public is to wash my hands. Let's stay healthy.
Having a little difficulty with the language, mostly because after I learn to pronounce a word, doable, it’s more about keeping it in the brain pan, which is probably more about competition with jumble of other distractions and new cultural information rushing in or just plain concentration issues🤷♂️🤪. There are about five common first names used here and most seem to be interchangeable between masculine and feminine, if I heard that correctly.
People here are generally very sweet, kind happy and always willing to help, constantly putting out little square palm leaf blessing trays with burning incense, and I mean everywhere! They’re on sidewalks, street corners, steps, doorways, businesses- took me a while to realize that what I thought of as just plain litter were burned leftovers of these offerings. Religion, predominantly Hindu followed by Islam and Buddhism which was the original founding religion but subsumed, seems to be expressed throughout the culture and overarching in day to day life. As everywhere else, many just live out their life as they please, accepting and taking bits and pieces from their birth religion.
The standard greeting here is hands together in front of heart 🙏, mostly Hindu/ Buddhist or one hand over heart for Muslims. Here’s an article from Michael Gilman, my Tai Chi teacher and long time friend, about common ways of greeting people each from around the world.....
Monday Morning Tai Chi Training Tip # 234 Tai Chi Greeting Shaking Hands got its start because two strangers would show their empty right hand (the usual hand to hold a weapon) and this evolved into clasping hands as we do today in the West. In the East people are much more reserved, so they either hold up their right empty hand or press their own two hands together in front of their body (again displaying empty hands). And because they are more crowded together, they are more conscious of spreading disease so they don't like to touch others in public places. The Indians press their two hands together in front of their hearts and say “Namaste” which means “I greet the God within you”. The Japanese press their two hands together and bow as a sign of respect. In Tai Chi we use a different hand greeting. We place the left open hand (the left is yin or receptive, soft and yielding) on top of the right fist (right is yang or creative, firm, solid) in front of our middle Dantien (heart mind, emotional center) and stand tall and straight. What this means is that I, like Tai Chi, am firm and solid on the inside and soft and yielding on the outside, made up of both yin and yang qualities, and that my heart recognizes this in you also. I think it is a beautiful way to greet someone. Note: As I write this, flu season is starting, as is cold season. We must be diligent if we are going to stay healthy. In Tai Chi classes we do lots of partner exercises to understand just what we are doing on an energetic level, so we touch others, mainly on the hand, wrist and forearm. We discourage people who know they are coming down with something from coming to classes. And importantly, be sure not to touch your eyes or nose with your hands before you wash them. The first thing I do when I get home from being in public is to wash my hands. Let's stay healthy.
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