Monday, February 27, 2012

S**t Yogis Say

Another pretty accurate depiction of yogis / yet another knockoff of S**t Girls Say.

So this video was produced by Lululemon Athletica (the unofficial uniform of yoga girls). But what I found hilarious was what a BIG DEAL people made about the presence of the Lululemon logo in every scene. I know these people were frustrated at the shameless brand marketing, but c'mon guys, the fact that the girl was wearing Lululemon apparel and drinking out of a Lululemon water bottle and laying on a Lululemon yoga mat is not too far fetched from reality. Walk into any American/Canadian yoga studio and you are bound to see that little horseshoe in at least 5,000 different places! Lululemon is the Nike of yoga -- accept it.

Now where did I put that coconut water? ::sigh::



Saturday, February 25, 2012

I am a Pack Rat (ahem, packrat)

Today while working at the yoga studio, I was assigned the task of going through the Lost & Found to purge old items. In most industries, this task could be considered quite the adventure - like searching for hidden treasures in a shipwreck at the bottom of the sea! But alas, I work in a POWER yoga studio (read: HOT and SWEATY). Thus, the Lost & Found takes on similar characteristics as the studio at the end of a 50-person power class (read: Moist and Smelly).

Once I began to dig in I noticed that the Lost & Found didn't smell that bad. But what actually perplexed me the most was why I was chosen to conquer this mission. You see, I am a Pack Rat. I find sentimental value in EVERYTHING, and the things that I'm not attached to, well, I might need them someday. Anything can be considered useful.

I attribute this to being raised by Pack Rat parents. I grew up in an environment where my parents constantly complained about not having enough storage space even though we had an attic, a two-car garage, good-sized closets in every room, and for awhile, a spare bedroom. Not to mention, my aunt who has had a considerable influence on me, well, her nickname is Messy. As you can see, I never stood a chance. In the battle of nature vs nurture, nurture won and I became a hoarder.



Upon further investigation I learned that the word Pack Rat (which is actually spelled "packrat" according to the American Society of Mammalogists) is actually another name for the woodrat (Genus Neotoma) - a species indigenous to my homeland of California. Woodrats build nests out of anything they can get their tiny claws on. Their nests have many chambers and when their homes are encroached on, they will move to the attic or walls of their little houses. Similarly, my own house is packed with items which I've come upon opportunistically (I have a hard time saying no to free stuff). When these items encroach upon my territory (i.e. my bed), I will simply relocate to somewhere more open (i.e. the couch).

Woodrats are fond of shiny objects. So am I.

do you see the resemblance?

So for me, the HARDEST part of going through the Lost and Found today was not keeping souvenirs. I was about 95% successful in this endeavor, which is really good for me. Don't judge.

The question of the day is this: When I'm traveling around the world teaching yoga, where on earth am I going to PUT all my stuff ??!

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Memories of Ecuador

Remember when this was a TRAVEL BLOG? It feels soooo long ago... I can't believe that I've been back living in reality for 6 months already! Nevertheless, I'm feeling ready to hit the road again.

Anyway, apparently I neglected to post this blog entry after I wrote it and it's been sitting in a file labeled "drafts". So here you go, three entries from Ecuador! As you can see I liked Peru ALOT better.


evil monkey


Peruvian paradise

flash flood
July 18, 2011
It’s all a learning process. The jungle trip will be a lesson in patience for me. Today I grew very frustrated with NorthDakota, but in the great span of things, the drama with him means very little. Just look at all that has happened in 2 weeks! Two weeks ago I was sick in Arequipa and that was the only thing I could focus on. Since then I had that terrible night in Piura, had a week in paradise with The Austrian, had the border crossing/bus trip from hell where I practically got kidnapped and was terrified for my life, got caught in a flash flood and rappelled down humongous waterfalls in a canyon, and today I was robbed by a monkey. In the context of all of this, NorthDakota leading us down a road to nowhere while I was ogled at in my bikini and then jeopardizing our jungle trip with his indecision, well it really doesn’t mean that much.


fern gully

piranha dinner
lago limoncocha
July 20, 2011 - The Amazon - 
I am ready to leave the jungle. The Amazon is so immense and dense that when you hike through it you really don’t see anything besides more giant plants. Being on the water is better because you can see unique birds, monkeys, and fish for piranhas! Speaking of which, piranhas don’t taste that great. They are okay, but the biggest problem is getting the meat from between their razor sharp bones. They have bones/spines where normal fish don’t! If you accidentally swallow a bone (which I did), it really hurts!

Anyway, I think I prefer the cloud forest for hiking - it is just as beautiful but you can see so much more! Tonight we are going out on the boat/canoe after dark to search for caimans (relative of the crocodile) and tomorrow we will head back to the bus for a 6-hour ride back to Tena. On Friday morning I will head toward Quito and then at the Quito bus station decide whether to go to Otavalo or Mindo next.




Otavalo Market
deliciousness
for the eatin'

July 22, 2011
Ecuador keeps getting negative awesome points. I arrived in Otavalo today and ALL the hotels/hostels were full. Tomorrow is the famous Saturday Market in Otavalo, but it happens EVERY Saturday. How was I supposed to know how quickly the rooms would book up?! So I walked around the city for HOURS lugging around my giant backpack which slowly crushed my spine and spirit in search of a place to stay. Hotel after hotel I was declined entry. I found a Catholic church and planned to hide out and sleep in the back corner... they have to let me in, right?! No room at the inn - a classic story. Is this how Mary felt when she went from inn to inn and there was no room? Did she first feel abandoned because she had to sleep in a crappy manger, but then feel lucky that she had SOMEWHERE to give birth? Next to the church I dragged myself into yet another hotel and when the man at the desk said they were full, I burst into tears. Between sobs, in broken Spanish, I explained that everywhere was full and now I had be like the virgin Mary and sleep in a church or barn! The man, sensing that he had a lunatic in his presence, picked up the phone and dialed every hotel in town until he finally found a place to send me.





Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Yoga Mat for sale. Used once.




My roommate just introduced me to the Best Of section of Craigslist and in there I found this gem. Click here to see the original posting.


Enjoy!





Yoga mat for sale. Used once.


Date: 2011-09-13, 10:32PM PDT



Yoga mat for sale. Used once at lunch hour class in December 2009. Usage timeline as follows:

11:45a
Register for hot yoga class. Infinite wisdom tells me to commit to 5 class package and purchase a yoga mat. I pay $89.74. Money well spent, I smugly confirm to myself.

11:55a
Open door to yoga room. A gush of hot dry air rushes through and past me. It smells of breath, sweat and hot. Take spot on floor in back of room next to cute blonde. We will date.

11:57a
I feel the need to be as near to naked as possible. This is a problem because of the hot blonde to my left and our pending courtship. She will not be pleased to learn that I need to lose 30 pounds before I propose to her.

11:58a
The shirt and sweats have to come off. I throw caution to the wind and decide to rely on my wit and conditioning to overcome any weight issues my fiancée may take issue with. This will take a lot of wit and conditioning.

11:59a
Begin small talk with my bride to be. She pretends to ignore me but I know how she can be. I allow her to concentrate and stare straight ahead and continue to pretend that I don't exist. As we finish sharing our special moment, I am suddenly aware of a sweat moustache that has formed below my nose. This must be from the all the whispering between us.

12:00p
Instructor enters the room and ascends her special podium at the front of the room. She is a slight, agitated Chinese woman. She introduces me to the class and everyone turns around to greet me just as I decide to aggressively adjust my penis and testes packed in my Under Armor. My bride is notably unfazed.

12:02p
Since I do have experience with Hot Yoga (4 sessions just 5 short years ago) I fully consider that I may be so outstanding and skilled that my instructor may call me out and ask me to guide the class. My wife will look on with a sparkle in her eye. We will make love after class.

12:10p
It is now up to 95 degrees in the room. We have been practicing deep breathing exercises for the last 8 minutes. This would not be a problem if we were all breathing actual, you know, oxygen. Instead, we are breathing each other's body odor, expelled carbon dioxide and other unmentionables. (Don't worry, I'll mention them later.)

12:26p
It is now 100 degrees and I take notice of the humidity, which is hovering at about 90%. I feel the familiar adorning stare of my bride and decide to look back at her. She appears to be nauseated. I then realize that I forgot to brush my teeth prior to attending this class. We bond.

12:33p
It is now 110 degrees and 95% humidity. I am now balancing on one leg with the other leg crossed over the other. My arms are intertwined and I am squatting. The last time I was in this position was 44 years ago in the womb, but I'm in this for the long haul. My wife looks slightly weathered dripping sweat and her eyeliner is streaming down her face. Well, "for better or worse" is what we committed to so we press on.

12:40p
The overweight Hispanic man two spots over has sweat running down his legs. At least I think its sweat. He is holding every position and has not had a sip of water since we walked in. He is making me look bad and I hate him.

12:44p
I consider that if anyone in this room farted that we would all certainly perish.

12:52p
It is now 140 degrees and 100% humidity. I am covered from head to toe in sweat. There is not a square millimeter on my body that is not slippery and sweaty. I am so slimy that I feel like a sea lion or a maybe sea eel. Not even a bear trap could hold me. The sweat is stinging my eyeballs and I can no longer see.

12:55p
This room stinks of asparagus, cloves, tuna and tacos. There is no food in the room. I realize that this is an amalgamation of the body odors of 30 people in a 140 degree room for the last 55 minutes. Seriously, enough with the asparagus, ok?

1:01p
140 degrees and 130% humidity. Look, bitch, I need my space here so don't get all pissy with me if I accidentally sprayed you with sweat as I flipped over. Seriously, is that where this relationship is going? Get over yourself. We need counseling and she needs to be medicated. Stat!

1:09p
150 degrees and cloudy. And hot. I can no longer move my limbs on my own. I have given up on attempting any of the commands this Chinese chick is yelling out at us. I will lay sedentary until the aid unit arrives. I will buy this building and then have it destroyed.
I lose consciousness.

1:15p
I have a headache and my wife is being a selfish bitch. I can't really breathe. All I can think about is holding a cup worth of hot sand in my mouth. I cannot remember what an ice cube is and cannot remember what snow looks like. I consider that my only escape might be a crab walk across 15 bodies and then out of the room. I am paralyzed, and may never walk again so the whole crab walk thing is pretty much out.

1:17p
I cannot move at all and cannot reach my water. Is breathing voluntary or involuntary? If it's voluntary, I am screwed. I stopped participating in the class 20 minutes ago. Hey, lady! I paid for this frickin class, ok?! You work for me! Stop yelling at everyone and just tell us a story or something. It's like juice and cracker time, ok?

1:20p
It is now 165 degrees and moisture is dripping from the ceiling. The towel that I am laying on is no longer providing any wicking or drying properties. It is actually placing additional sweat on me as I touch it. My towel reeks. I cannot identify the smell but no way can it be from me. Did someone spray some stank on my towel or something?

1:30p
Torture session is over. I wish hateful things upon the instructor. She graciously allows us to stay and 'cool down' in the room. It is 175 degrees. Who cools down in 175 degrees? A Komodo Dragon? My wife has left the room. Probably to throw up.

1:34p
My opportunity to escape has arrived. I roll over to my stomach and press up to my knees. It is warmer as I rise up from ground level - probably by 15 degrees. So let's conservatively say it's 190. I muster my final energy and slowly rise. One foot in front of the other. One foot in front of the other. Towards the door. Towards the door.

1:37p
The temperature in the lobby is 72 degrees. Both nipples stiffen to diamond strength and my penis begins to retract into my abdomen from the 100 degree temp swing. I can once again breathe though so I am pleased. I spot my future ex wife in the lobby. We had such a good thing going but I know that no measure of counseling will be able to unravel the day's turmoil and mental scaring.

1:47p
Arrive at Emerald City Smoothie and proceed to order a 32 oz beverage. 402 calories, 0 fat and 14 grams of protein -- effectively negating any caloric burn or benefit from the last 90 minutes. I finish it in 3 minutes and spend the next 2 hours writing this memoir.

3:47p
Create Craigslist ad while burning final 2 grams of protein from Smoothie and before the "shakes" consume my body.

4:29p
Note to self - check car for missing wet yoga towel in am.

  • Location: Bellevue
  • it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

The Man Cave

Apologies that my last post had absolutely nothing to do with yoga. So here we go-->back on track.

This morning during yoga class I fell over in reversed triangle pose. No, I didn't fall out of the pose... my triangle literally toppled over whacking the woman beside me. She was very forgiving, but I was less forgiving to myself as I tried to jump back from crow to chaturanga and belly-flopped smacking my nose into the mat. What is happening to meeeee???!!!!

I'll tell you what happened: I took two whole days off from yoga which extinguished my ability to make it through an entire class without causing an apocalyptic domino effect. Muscle memory? Ha! My muscles have amnesia. There is only one thing I can blame: having the day off work.

Fact: until Sunday I hadn't had a day off work since January 15th.
Other Fact: I decided to take full advantage of my one day off. From Saturday night at 7pm to Monday morning at 5am, I utilized every single hour living life to its fullest. Sleep would have impeded on my fun so it was skipped. So was bathing.

Where did I spend my 34 hours of freedom?
Answer: THE MAN CAVE

I discovered The Man Cave on New Years Day of this year. I was too busy getting broken up with on New Years Eve to muster any energy to go out, so I brought in the new year snuggling with the dog. I went to bed early and the next day I woke to find a man sitting on my couch. The man grinned widely while he explained how he'd been out partying all night and in the wee hours stumbled upon my house (that's what I get for living downtown). My roommate's houseguest had let him in and now here he was! The man was very hungry and thirsty (hangover) so I fed him breakfast. The man then described how in an attempt to get some new years booty he had lost everything. No car. No phone. No wallet. Not even a jacket. The man was lost in this world with no identity, no means of communication, and no way to get back home. He hopped in my car and together we rode around the town stopping by his friends' homes asking them to help him piece together the puzzle of the previous night. Two hours later we found his jacket with the phone and wallet in it, stopped to get coffee, and then I drove him back toward his hometown. Along the way, the man suggested we go for a hike so I steered us to a local park and we spent time bonding in nature. The daylight had begun to fade and it was time to take the man home. He directed me to his house and invited me in. Obligingly I went and it was there that I encountered The Man Cave.

In The Man Cave reside three men, all in their late 20s. Three single men I might add. Which made my first night there slightly awkward. But after the awkwardness passed I soon realized that the four of us together were none other than.... the cast of New Girl! Starring my girl-crush, Zooey Deschanel. Each member of The Man Cave has his assigned character and as we watched an episode all together, the boys were dumbfounded to see that the characters were in fact their very own personality doppelgangers!

Introducing:


In case you were wondering, the man that appeared in my house was the Schmidt doppelganger. But if you've seen the show, that shouldn't surprise you. Henceforth, I will only refer to the boys by their doppelganger names.

The first night there (New Years Day) went something like this:




And thus a beautiful friendship was born. Eventually the boys mostly stopped shamelessly hitting on me and we all became friends. And it was with them that I spent my 34 hours of freedom. Which is why come Monday morning I could barely lift my eyelids. And why instead of taking yoga class Monday morning, I slept on the sofa in the yoga studio (true story). And it is why today my sense of balance is completely off and why red wine now flows through my veins where blood used to be, slowly intoxicating my muscle memory.

And I don't regret it one bit!



Apparently I'm A Man

You may have noticed that there are now ads appearing on the side of this blog. No worries, it is not the man getting me down, I put them there in a desperate attempt to earn some extra cash. So do yourself a favor, if you see an ad that looks interesting, please click on it so I can earn some dollars. However the reason I bring this up, is the process I went through to set up AdSense. Apparently Google has tracked the webpages I click on and has determined without a shadow of a doubt that I am a MALE aged 24-34. Well at least they got the age-range right! But HOW could they have thought I am male???!!!

Could it be that for me online shopping is visiting the REI website? Or that I spend hours at a time reading this blog? Maybe it's because last week I spent hours online reading how I can hack my KindleFire to get better apps (no success). Perhaps it's because my favorite video on YouTube right now is Werner Herzog reading Madeline. Whatever the reason, according to Google my lady parts have been replaced with man parts.

Okay, I'm going to go have an identity crisis now.



Friday, February 17, 2012

A Social What...?

On today's episode of "I don't have a social life", I get burned out.

There once was a time when I coined the term "Santa Rosa Socialite" to describe myself. I gallivanted through the town every night, knew everyone, and was aware of at least 20 different shows/activities going on at any given time. And then teacher training started and I fell off the edge of the planet. THE END.

As much as I enjoy spending every single second of my life at the yoga studio, I reallllly miss my non-yogi friends! LUCKILY we little teacher trainees FINALLY get a weekend off!!!! woot woot! That means starting at 1pm on Saturday I will not have to do or think about yoga until 6am Monday morning. YAAAAY!

As you can see, I am burned out. Not having a single day off or weekend night free in over a month finally got to me. It's a bad sign to get burned out on your new career path before it even starts. That's why, effective as of last night, I am taking full advantage of my new found freedom! I hit up Happy Hour (even the name makes me smile) with two lady friends from my old desk job. For 4 hours. No joke. Then we rode to one of the girl's houses and met up with her neighbors and made more cocktails! Around 10pm we all jumped on bikes and rode like the badass bike gang we are all over the city and finally stormed my house. My BFF showed up from Santa Barbara and we kicked it with her until I passed out.

So here I now lay snuggled on the couch in front of the heater, belly full of a delicious breakfast (veggie egg scramble on gluten-free bread thankyouverymuch), excited that I have the whole day to play - that is until 5pm when I have to go to work again..


Thursday, February 16, 2012

What Society Thinks I Do

The world of Facebook was aflutter this week with these, so like any good lemming creative person with time on her hands, I made one too. Enjoy!


Wednesday, February 15, 2012

The Manifesto of Encouragement



A little inspiration brought to you by Danielle LaPort:


right now:

There are Tibetan Buddhist monks in a temple in the Himalayas endlessly reciting mantras for the cessation of your suffering and for the flourishing of your happiness.

Someone you haven’t met yet is already dreaming of adoring you.

Someone is writing a book that you will read in the next two years that will change how you look at life.

Nuns in the Alps are in endless vigil, praying for the Holy Spirit to alight the hearts of all of God’s children.

A farmer is looking at his organic crops and whispering, “nourish them.”

Someone wants to kiss you, to hold you, to make tea for you. Someone is willing to lend you money, wants to know what your favourite food is, and treat you to a movie. Someone in your orbit has something immensely valuable to give you — for free.

Something is being invented this year that will change how your generation lives, communicates, heals and passes on.

The next great song is being rehearsed.

Thousands of people are in yoga classes right now intentionally sending light out from their heart chakras and wrapping it around the earth.

Millions of children are assuming that everything is amazing and will always be that way.

Someone is in profound pain, and a few months from now, they’ll be thriving like never before. They just can’t see it from where they’re at.

Someone who is craving to be partnered, to be acknowledged, to ARRIVE, will get precisely what they want — and even more. And because that gift will be so fantastical in it’s reach and sweetness, it will quite magically alter their memory of angsty longing and render it all “So worth the wait.

Someone has recently cracked open their joyous, genuine nature because they did the hard work of hauling years of oppression off of their psyche — this luminous juju is floating in the ether, and is accessible to you.

Someone just this second wished for world peace, in earnest.

Someone is fighting the fight so that you don’t have to.

Some civil servant is making sure that you get your mail, and your garbage is picked up, that the trains are running on time, and that you are generally safe. Someone is dedicating their days to protecting your civil liberties and clean drinking water.

Someone is regaining their sanity. Someone is coming back from the dead. Someone is genuinely forgiving the seemingly unforgivable. Someone is curing the incurable.

You. Me. Some. One. Now.



Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Share The LOVE Day

 

Valentines Day. What can I say?... it's usually a disappointment. Single girls everywhere mope about being alone but when they try to throw a Girls Night Out with their other single lady friends, they are thwarted by the throngs of couples that have taken over every single eating and drinking establishment. All the restaurants are full and dive bars are charging covers! It's not much better for the women who are actually in a relationship because her partner typically doesn't step up to her expectations of the perfect Valentines Day.

This year I am once again playing the role of Single Girl on Valentines Day. Since I've been spending ALL my time in a yoga studio where it's 90% women, my social dating life has ceased to exist for the last four weeks.

Luckily I also work in a yoga studio which has re-coined this day as SHARE THE LOVE DAY! All day long we will be collecting donations for the food bank and blasting love songs during class! For every person who comes to class, the studio will donate $10 to the food bank. One word: Karma. This morning's 6:30am class had TWICE as many people as normal! 

The yogis are extra smiley today and as I sit here at the desk sporting my red apparel, surrounded by grooving tunes as the class presumably begins the Surrender series of the practice, I feel a sense of peace within. I am SO grateful to spend 50 hours a week in a place that values loving yourself and giving to others. A person cannot truly be loved by another if they do not truly deeply love and value their own self.

So do yourself a favor, spend the day being the nice to yourself. You are a beautiful person and deserve to be loved.

Oh, and if you do go out tonight be sure and tip your server well ;)

Monday, February 13, 2012

One Month Complete!

Well Ladies and Gentlemen, it's true. I have successfully completed my first month of Yoga Teacher Training. And what can I say?... It's been AMAZING! There are 13 of us in the training program plus one teacher and one assistant. The program goes for 6 months and in the end (pending results of the final exam eek!) each of us will receive a certificate from California Power Yoga as well as the 200 hour RYT certification from Yoga Alliance. And then we can teach ANYWHERE in the world!  soooo exciting!

But wait, let's backtrack to the present. I'm currently reading The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle and it's made me realize that my mind likes to frequently dart into the future and the past which is sabotaging my ability to experience inner joy. Stay Present, Stay present, stay present. Be.Here.Now. is my new mantra.

So this is how a normal training day works... We start the day with meditation, followed by asana practice. Then we take a break. Next we divide into small groups and practice teach. Then we learn how to cue more poses and then practice teach some more. Take a break. Afterwards we sit in a circle and discuss things like how to be a good teacher or the philosophy of yoga (subject changes daily). We divide into pairs and practice assisting each other, followed by another more deepening asana practice. We end the day with a closing circle and although the group is completely exhausted, we feel so grateful and stoked to have survived enjoyed another training weekend.

It is soooo difficult to muster up the energy to wake up on Monday mornings following a training weekend. I got home last night at 8pm and could barely stand. Luckily my roommate had made carrot ginger miso soup and shared it with me (she could see that I was in no condition to cook). I took a shower and was sound asleep by 9:30. And although I had plenty of hours to sleep, hearing my 5:30am wake up alarm was like torture. Returning to the yoga studio was the last thing I wanted to do in my exhausted state. 

So this is my goal for today to prevent burn-out: go at least 2 hours WITHOUT thinking about yoga. This means no meditation, no reading spiritual self-help books, no scheduling students, and no talking about yoga. For two hours today I'm going to try and be a normal person. :) Can I do it?! We'll see...

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Best Yoga Video EVER

I know, I know. This video is old news now since it came out a whole two months ago (the shelf-life of a YouTube viewer's attention span). But I still crack up every time I see it! So here it is, for your viewing pleasure... the Yoga Girl Music Video by Fog and Smog Films.



Love it!

Friday, February 10, 2012

You know YOGA has taken over your life when...

1. Your personal bookshelf resembles the Self-Help section of Barnes and Noble.

2. You weren't watching someone's pose during class - they merely fell into your drishti.

3. You've created a Krishna Das station on Pandora.

4. Unless you are forced to dress up for work or you are going on a date, yoga clothes are they only thing you wear EVER.

5. When a friend has a problem you tell them to meditate on it.

6. When invited to a dinner party with non-yogis, you are met with disapproving frowns when you explain ALL of your dietary restrictions.

7. You don't eat one or more of the following: meat, dairy, gluten, refined sugar, anything processed.

8. You acknowledge that all styles of yoga are beneficial, but you secretly know the yoga style that YOU practice is the best.

9. You find yourself quoting Eckhart Tolle.

10. Not only do you have a favorite yoga teacher, but you can also recommend an acupuncturist, nutritionist, and life coach.

11. At least one item in your wardrobe is from Lululemon.

12. You subconsciously take Tree and Eagle pose while standing in line at the grocery store.


13. You believe that ALL of the world's problems would be solved in everyone just stayed in the present.

14. People complement your posture daily.

15. You've forgotten what it's like to wear shoes.

16. Along with death penalty and abortion, you list the recent yoga video by Equinox high on the list of Controversial Issues.

17. When the word "dinosaur" is mentioned, you immediately think of a T-Rex doing Chaturanga and then you burst into giggles.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

The Teacher Becomes The Student

After this past weekend's Yoga Teacher Training (15 hours thankyouverymuch), I now have enough knowledge under my belt to teach a full one-hour class! The entire power vinyasa sequence developed by California Power Yoga is 3 hours long... so, dare I say it?.... I'm one-third of the way there!

Now the trick is getting the sequence to stay in my memory. Last week I taught two private lessons using a 30-minute sequence and I still had to use the book to remember what came next. The poses may be ingrained in my muscle memory but when I'm standing up there in front of the class just watching, it is soooo hard to remember which pose to direct them into next.

Which brings us to yesterday. Between classes I marched my manual and myself into the studio and guided my TEACHER through a one hour yoga class. Holy nervousness! But the amazing thing is no matter how nervous I am before going into a class, as soon as I stand up in front of the group and begin speaking, the nervousness fades away and I feel ALIVE.

Public speaking is not a problem for me. In fact, I LOVE it. Weird, right? Nope! As a wee tot I started public speaking competitively and continued through college into my career as an ecology teacher. But then, drat! I landed a pesky desk job which suppressed my passion for speaking in front of large groups. The mantra "you can't do it" was nailed into my head daily and it turned me into a shy un-driven person. A person can't shine if their skills and passions are continuously overlooked and ignored.

Since I've been out of that lifestyle since June, I've had a lot of time to figure out who I am. But it wasn't until Yoga Teacher Training started in January that I finally found my voice again. The first training weekend I would instruct my students in a small voice, "take child's pose". Now I stand firm and proudly state, "Inhale upward dog. Exhale downward facing dog!"

So yes, I was a bit nervous about teaching my teacher. But once we began the class I felt powerful and KNEW that this is exactly where I need to be.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Things That No Longer Serve Me

Part to the process of becoming a yoga teacher (and normal functional human being) is giving up the things that no longer serve you. After a night of indulgence I found myself barely able to lift into Bow in this morning's yoga class. Apparently staying up to the wee hours polishing off a bottle of cabernet sauvignon last night was a poor decision. I could spend the rest of the day rationalizing "Well I was getting to know my new roommate" or "I just wanted to take the edge off... I didn't realize that I'd feel this way", but that would get me a whole lot of nowhere. In an effort to take ownership of my actions I am giving up the things that no longer serve me.

Goodbye WINE. I shall miss you deeply. But until I can learn to drink you in moderation and not every day, you and I cannot be together.

Wine will thus now join the ranks of the other foods that I have given up, including beer, coffee, dairy, and gluten. May they all rest in peace until my digestive system learns to work normally.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Back On The Mat

Well, that's not exactly true... I've been on the mat the whole time! But after another 3 month hiatus I'm back in bloggy land again.

So what have I been up to, you may ask? YOGA. Yoga. yoga. Is there REALLY anything else? In my life: no. Not right now. Other things... I had a boyfriend for about 5 minutes but then he went away. I also had two roommates but they both decided to run away from home into the hearts of their boyfriends. So this is what I've been doing for the month of January: nursing a bruised heart, responding to way too many Craigslists posts, and yoga yoga yoga.

But oh joyous day, I'm not just doing yoga 24/7 to get a hot bod. Oh no, there's an actual purpose to my madness. I've started training to be a yoga teacher! Eeeeee!!!!! For the next 6 months I will be dedicating my entire being to the study of yoga. ohmygosh I.Am.So.Excited.!!! The program started January 21st, but no worries, I'll catch you up in my next couple posts (thankyou journal).

So in the spirit of this past transitional year, once again I'm changing the theme of this blog. First travel. Then weird other stuff with bikes. Now yoga. I can't wait to continue to document this journey!

Namaste.