I first became intrigued by the idea of auras several years ago when I saw a guy on Oprah talk about how he survived a plane crash. He described the final moments of his fateful plane ride and a moment when he looked back into the plane and caught a glimpse of the people who would not be so fortunate to survive. He claims he saw a colorful glow that radiated around each of them. He said that some of them were very bright and some were very dull. His parting words to Oprah were: "When I die I hope my color will be brighter than the sun." That though has stayed with me ever since. And it got me thinking about colors and how they affect us. My favorite color has always been blue. Almost every car I have owned has been blue, including my current hybrid. I'm even one of those people who names her car. Only they have all had the same name: Beloved Blue. My snowboarding equipment is all blue, even down to my gloves and the bindings on my board. And for a time there if you were to look in my closet what do you think you would find? You guessed it, mostly blue clothing. But looking in there now I see a trend happening. You know how some artists go through their color phases? Well I'm no artist but I have a tendency to go through color phases with my selection of clothing. There's definitely the "blue period", and then there was the "pink phase" (a very short-lived one at that), followed by the "orange phase". Each color coinsiding with a different summer. Probably due to the fact that having summers off makes shopping for clothing more frequent. Not that I spend a whole lot of time shopping. In fact, I'm a disgrace to my gender because I cringe at the mere thought of having to go to the mall. My shopping sprees tend to happen each summer when I go on my annual getaway with a group of friends to the desert. They always somehow manage to kidnap me and get me to go to the outlet mall with them. Usually bribing me with a some form of a decadent chocolate dessert at dinner that evening. Once there I quickly purchase an article or two of clothing in the color of that particular summer and then head over to the kitchen gadget store with all of those unusual trinkets to wait out the torture of being trapped in a mall with a group of shopaholic women. Ooppss, I think I got off-track here.
Anyway, a few years later when I had an extremely difficult student in my Kindergarten class I spent a lot of time on the internet researching anything and everything that might help me figure out a way to reach this little boy. And in my research I stumbled on a philosophy known as Indigo Children. As I read into the wee hours of the morning, I was amazed to see such an accurate description of the child who was so consuming my time at work. Not only did I learn a ton of information about Indigo kids but it sent me off on another one of my tangents of devouring anything I could on my latest weird obsession. Thus leading me to a book called "Life Colors". Now what does this have to do with yoga and why am I rattling on about it here? Hang in there, I'll tie it all in eventually I promise.
The idea behind "life colors" is that we all have one and those of us assigned the same color tend to have many characteristics in common. Some believe that your life color is your aura, that magnetic field that surrounds you and can be seen by only a few intuitive people. And of course in the back of the book was one of those quizzes that you can take to see what color is you. I usually view these things with an open mind. Afterall, anything's possible right?
So I took the very lengthy quiz and guess what color I am? That's right, BLUE. And I didn't even cheat. The damn test was too long and I'm way too ADD to keep track of it to cheat. That would be like counting cards at a Black Jack table. Not something I would have the patience to do. So I answered all of the questions honestly without trying to read too much into it and it revealed that my "aura" just happens to be my favorite color. Coincidence? Maybe. Probably. Heck, I don't know.
So what is a BLUE? Blues are the hopelessly romantic. Blues love almost to a fault. They tend to stay in unhealthy relationships way longer than they should because they don't want to hurt the other person's feelings. In healthy relationships they are loyal to their partner, family, and friends, and need to bond emotionally with their mate. They tend to be teachers, nurses, or are in other occupations where taking care of others is the primary focus. Gee, does THAT sound like someone I know!
What does this have to do with yoga? Remember my earlier post about chakras? Well it turns out that each chakra is assigned a corresponding color. Yeah, see where I'm going? So my thought is this: If I really am a BLUE what does this say about the energy centers along my spine, if anything at all. The throat chakra is represented by the color blue. And remember when it is out of balance it can manifest itself in the form of either extreme shyness or someone so chatty that you just want to stuff a sock in her mouth to get her to be quiet. Those of you that know me well have seen me teeter on both ends of this continium. But as I have grown over the years I have been told that I am a good communicator and that I listen well. Both good signs of a balanced throat chakra. So maybe these two weird philosophies are related. Or maybe not. In any case, I find them intriguing. And I have found that as my yoga practice has deepened, so too has my ability to keep my dominant life color in balance. More about how I do that in a later post.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
Teaching for free......
As part of my level 1 training I was required to do 8 hours of community service. Which means teach yoga for free. And we were encouraged to try to bring it to a community that doesn't already have a personal practice. Easy peezie I thought. I know plenty of people right at my school who could benefit from some form of relaxation but who would never take the time to do it for themselves. So I put out an email and got lots of eager takers. Afterall, the price was perfect.
I have to admit going into it I thought it was going to be a cake walk. I teach everyday right? So I'm used to being the center of attention. In fact, I probably went into teaching to fulfill some deep-rooted need to always be the center of attention. Or so my self-appointed therapist nameless family member would say. But teaching a roomful of kids is way different from teaching a roomful of adults. In numerous ways. The adults listen to your directions......the first time. And they don't hit, or kick, or spit or bite each other.
My first class was in the multipurpose room. Our plant foreman, Denny (who is the sweetest man and will do anything for me probably because I make oatmeal cookies for him) got the room all ready for me by vacuuming the carpet and dimming the lights low enough to make this big space actually feel warm and inviting. I got there early to cue up my ipod and do a warm-up stretch alone before my new students arrived. As they slowly started to wander in I was suddenly filled with the overwhelming sensation of wanting to go somewhere and throw up. What was I thinking???? I can't do this! I quickly glanced at my notes, took a few deep breaths and started class by telling them how and why I was here bringing yoga to them.
I think that first class was more of a learning experience for me than for them. I learned a lot about myself in that hour. I learned that I am a kinesthetic learner. Which means I process information by doing and touching and feeling. I had always suspected that was my learning style, but there's nothing like putting yourself in a completely new experience to really see that it truly is. I needed to do the yoga with them in order to be able to tell them how to do it. I needed to feel that strain in my quads or my hamstring to be able to relay that information to them. As the weeks went by I found it easier to get out of my own personal space and into theirs. And by the last class I was actually able to walk around the room and give verbal cues with out even having to get into the pose myself.
Now, 8 weeks later, I look back on that first class and can truly say that I get that message that I have preached to all of my students over the years:
Practice makes progress.
I have to admit going into it I thought it was going to be a cake walk. I teach everyday right? So I'm used to being the center of attention. In fact, I probably went into teaching to fulfill some deep-rooted need to always be the center of attention. Or so my self-appointed therapist nameless family member would say. But teaching a roomful of kids is way different from teaching a roomful of adults. In numerous ways. The adults listen to your directions......the first time. And they don't hit, or kick, or spit or bite each other.
My first class was in the multipurpose room. Our plant foreman, Denny (who is the sweetest man and will do anything for me probably because I make oatmeal cookies for him) got the room all ready for me by vacuuming the carpet and dimming the lights low enough to make this big space actually feel warm and inviting. I got there early to cue up my ipod and do a warm-up stretch alone before my new students arrived. As they slowly started to wander in I was suddenly filled with the overwhelming sensation of wanting to go somewhere and throw up. What was I thinking???? I can't do this! I quickly glanced at my notes, took a few deep breaths and started class by telling them how and why I was here bringing yoga to them.
I think that first class was more of a learning experience for me than for them. I learned a lot about myself in that hour. I learned that I am a kinesthetic learner. Which means I process information by doing and touching and feeling. I had always suspected that was my learning style, but there's nothing like putting yourself in a completely new experience to really see that it truly is. I needed to do the yoga with them in order to be able to tell them how to do it. I needed to feel that strain in my quads or my hamstring to be able to relay that information to them. As the weeks went by I found it easier to get out of my own personal space and into theirs. And by the last class I was actually able to walk around the room and give verbal cues with out even having to get into the pose myself.
Now, 8 weeks later, I look back on that first class and can truly say that I get that message that I have preached to all of my students over the years:
Practice makes progress.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Chakras. What are they and why should I care?
The simple definition: a vortex of energy in your body. But I have come to learn that nothing about the many philosophical ideas intertwined into yoga are ever simple. I first learned about Chakras from my first yoga teacher, Amy. I was quickly drawn to her calm, peaceful demeanor at a time when my life was anything but calm. We were working on a series of standing poses and she commented that they were good for balancing your "root chakra". I didn't know what that meant at the time, but was intuitive enough to know that there had to be some connection between my preference for standing poses and my chaotic personal life at the time. So I did what I always do when I'm curious about something; I googled it. And what I learned was mind-boggling.
The word "chakra" is Sanskrit for wheel. There are seven basic chakras, or energy centers along your spinal column. Each of these centers correlates to a major nerve bundle that branches out from the spine and is connected to various glands in your body's endocrine system. It is believed that you can have an excess or a deficiency of energy in these centers, which can affect both your physical as well as your mental well-being. What does this have to do with yoga you ask? It is believed that a regular practice of yoga that includes forward, backward, and side bends keep the spinal column active and can keep these nerve bundles from getting blocked.
So what are the seven chakras?
First Chakra: Your root center. It determines your relationship with the material world, controlling how you deal with money, your body, your family. In other words: the things that ground you. Excessive characteristics can be sluggishness, resistance to change, overeating, material fixation, workaholism, excessive spending, and just being a control-freak. Deficient characteristics can include anxiety, anorexia, flightiness, restlessness, and resistance to structure. Balanced characteristics include groundedness, being comfortable in your own body, a sense of safety and security, and having the ability to be in the present moment.
Second Chakra: Your navel center. It relates to creativity and pleasure. Excessive characteristics can be sexual addictions, excessive mood swings, obsessive attachments, and poor boundaries with others. Deficient characteristics can include rigidity in your body, beliefs or behavior, lack of desire, avoidance of pleasure, and emotional numbness or insensitivity. Balanced characteristics include the ability to embrace change, healthy boundaries, passion, and a healthy ability to enjoy pleasure.
Third Chakra: Your solar plexus center. It is the one that governs your intuition, your gut instinct. Excessive characteristics can be dominating, controlling, competitive, arrogant, stubborn, compulsively driven. Deficient characteristics can include lack of energy, submissiveness, blaming, and lack of confidence. Balanced characteristics include a positive sense of self, confidence, warm and energetic, and able to take risks.
Fourth Chakra: Your heart center. This is the bridge between the 3 lower, more earthly chakras and the 3 higher, more spiritual ones. Excessive characteristics can be jealousy, codependency, and being a pleaser or a martyr. Deficient characteristics can include being antisocial or withdrawn, critical or intolerant, feeling lonely and isolated, and lack of empathy. Balanced characteristics include being compassionate, empathetic, accepting, caring, peaceful and centered.
Fifth Chakra: Your throat center. This is how you communicate and express yourself. Excessive characteristics can be talking too much or inappropriately, gossiping, stuttering, excessive loudness. Deficient characteristics can include fear of speaking, excessive shyness, difficulty putting things into words, speaking with a small or weak voice. Balanced characteristics include clear communication with others, good communication with self, being a good listener, having a full, resonant voice.
Sixth Chakra: Your "third eye" center. This governs our ability to separate reality from delusion. Excessive characteristics can be excessive fantasizing, obsessions, difficulty concentrating, and lack of direction. Deficient characteristics can include difficulty visualizing, lack of imagination, excessive skepticism, and an inability to see alternatives. Balanced characteristics include having a creative imagination, ability to visualize, strong intuition, and a guiding vision for life.
Seventh Chakra: Your crown center. This is considered to be the seat of enlightenment and the ultimate goal of any spiritual practice. Excessive characteristics can be spiritual addiction, over-intellectualization, living "in your head". Deficient characteristics can include spiritual cynicism, a closed mind, a rigid belief system. Balanced characteristics include open-mindedness and the ability to assimilate and analyze information.
After reading through all of that information I quickly recognized myself in many of these characteristics, both excessive and deficient. Do I strive to be that perfectly balanced individual? Sure, don't we all? But in reality I know in my heart that perfection doesn't really exist. So what do I do and how do I do it? I try everyday to be tuned in to what I am feeling by listening to that internal voice in my head. And then I allow that inner wisdom to guide me both on and off my yoga mat. But more about that in another post......
The word "chakra" is Sanskrit for wheel. There are seven basic chakras, or energy centers along your spinal column. Each of these centers correlates to a major nerve bundle that branches out from the spine and is connected to various glands in your body's endocrine system. It is believed that you can have an excess or a deficiency of energy in these centers, which can affect both your physical as well as your mental well-being. What does this have to do with yoga you ask? It is believed that a regular practice of yoga that includes forward, backward, and side bends keep the spinal column active and can keep these nerve bundles from getting blocked.
So what are the seven chakras?
First Chakra: Your root center. It determines your relationship with the material world, controlling how you deal with money, your body, your family. In other words: the things that ground you. Excessive characteristics can be sluggishness, resistance to change, overeating, material fixation, workaholism, excessive spending, and just being a control-freak. Deficient characteristics can include anxiety, anorexia, flightiness, restlessness, and resistance to structure. Balanced characteristics include groundedness, being comfortable in your own body, a sense of safety and security, and having the ability to be in the present moment.
Second Chakra: Your navel center. It relates to creativity and pleasure. Excessive characteristics can be sexual addictions, excessive mood swings, obsessive attachments, and poor boundaries with others. Deficient characteristics can include rigidity in your body, beliefs or behavior, lack of desire, avoidance of pleasure, and emotional numbness or insensitivity. Balanced characteristics include the ability to embrace change, healthy boundaries, passion, and a healthy ability to enjoy pleasure.
Third Chakra: Your solar plexus center. It is the one that governs your intuition, your gut instinct. Excessive characteristics can be dominating, controlling, competitive, arrogant, stubborn, compulsively driven. Deficient characteristics can include lack of energy, submissiveness, blaming, and lack of confidence. Balanced characteristics include a positive sense of self, confidence, warm and energetic, and able to take risks.
Fourth Chakra: Your heart center. This is the bridge between the 3 lower, more earthly chakras and the 3 higher, more spiritual ones. Excessive characteristics can be jealousy, codependency, and being a pleaser or a martyr. Deficient characteristics can include being antisocial or withdrawn, critical or intolerant, feeling lonely and isolated, and lack of empathy. Balanced characteristics include being compassionate, empathetic, accepting, caring, peaceful and centered.
Fifth Chakra: Your throat center. This is how you communicate and express yourself. Excessive characteristics can be talking too much or inappropriately, gossiping, stuttering, excessive loudness. Deficient characteristics can include fear of speaking, excessive shyness, difficulty putting things into words, speaking with a small or weak voice. Balanced characteristics include clear communication with others, good communication with self, being a good listener, having a full, resonant voice.
Sixth Chakra: Your "third eye" center. This governs our ability to separate reality from delusion. Excessive characteristics can be excessive fantasizing, obsessions, difficulty concentrating, and lack of direction. Deficient characteristics can include difficulty visualizing, lack of imagination, excessive skepticism, and an inability to see alternatives. Balanced characteristics include having a creative imagination, ability to visualize, strong intuition, and a guiding vision for life.
Seventh Chakra: Your crown center. This is considered to be the seat of enlightenment and the ultimate goal of any spiritual practice. Excessive characteristics can be spiritual addiction, over-intellectualization, living "in your head". Deficient characteristics can include spiritual cynicism, a closed mind, a rigid belief system. Balanced characteristics include open-mindedness and the ability to assimilate and analyze information.
After reading through all of that information I quickly recognized myself in many of these characteristics, both excessive and deficient. Do I strive to be that perfectly balanced individual? Sure, don't we all? But in reality I know in my heart that perfection doesn't really exist. So what do I do and how do I do it? I try everyday to be tuned in to what I am feeling by listening to that internal voice in my head. And then I allow that inner wisdom to guide me both on and off my yoga mat. But more about that in another post......
Thursday, May 13, 2010
What Am I Going To Do With This?
I have been asked that question a bazillion times since I started my training and up until recently my answer was always the same: "I have no idea." Of course the seed was planted from a reactive place inside of me that day in 2008 when I received my first pink slip. I say first because I got one again the next year, and this year as well. Actually I have already accepted the fact that I will get one again next year too.
Every training that I've gone to so far has been a great opportunity for me to meet new people and talk about how they are fitting yoga into their daily lives beyond their personal practice. And here is what I have discovered so far:
Most of them are already teaching and are getting paid to do so. Am I? Well sort of. I am teaching a weekly class to some of the teachers at my school (more about THAT in another post) but they don't pay me. As part of my Level 1 training I am required to do 8 hours of "community service", which means teach for free somewhere. We are encouraged to try to bring yoga to a community of people who have never done it before. That was easy. Almost all of my collegues are so bogged down with planning lessons and grading papers that they certainly don't have time to do anything for themselves. I have 2 more hours to go to fulfill my 8-hour requirement. So will I start to charge them after that? Probably not. They'd probably stop coming! Maybe at the beginning of next year.....
Another thing I discovered while "networking" with my new yogi friends was that a lot of them are currently teaching in a 24-Hour Fitness gym. Do I see myself doing that? No way. I can just see me walking around some cold impersonal room with one of those headsets on. I don't think so!!!
A few of them are teaching in a small yoga studio somewhere to those O.C. housewives. Nothing against women who all look like Barbie, but I already work in a community like that. And again it would be working for someone else. Don't think I wanna do that either.
So what do I want to do? There's that nagging question again. One yogi I met named Kay told me about how she simply made a flyer and passed it around her neighborhood advertising a sunset class that she teaches in her backyard. That sounds cool. I could do that. Now I just need a backyard. Actually that's where the title of my blog came from: OM to Home. My dream is to bring yoga to others in the privacy of their own home, backyard, or maybe even a beach.
So that's my answer to that burning question: I will become a private yoga instructor. And who knows, maybe even get paid!
Every training that I've gone to so far has been a great opportunity for me to meet new people and talk about how they are fitting yoga into their daily lives beyond their personal practice. And here is what I have discovered so far:
Most of them are already teaching and are getting paid to do so. Am I? Well sort of. I am teaching a weekly class to some of the teachers at my school (more about THAT in another post) but they don't pay me. As part of my Level 1 training I am required to do 8 hours of "community service", which means teach for free somewhere. We are encouraged to try to bring yoga to a community of people who have never done it before. That was easy. Almost all of my collegues are so bogged down with planning lessons and grading papers that they certainly don't have time to do anything for themselves. I have 2 more hours to go to fulfill my 8-hour requirement. So will I start to charge them after that? Probably not. They'd probably stop coming! Maybe at the beginning of next year.....
Another thing I discovered while "networking" with my new yogi friends was that a lot of them are currently teaching in a 24-Hour Fitness gym. Do I see myself doing that? No way. I can just see me walking around some cold impersonal room with one of those headsets on. I don't think so!!!
A few of them are teaching in a small yoga studio somewhere to those O.C. housewives. Nothing against women who all look like Barbie, but I already work in a community like that. And again it would be working for someone else. Don't think I wanna do that either.
So what do I want to do? There's that nagging question again. One yogi I met named Kay told me about how she simply made a flyer and passed it around her neighborhood advertising a sunset class that she teaches in her backyard. That sounds cool. I could do that. Now I just need a backyard. Actually that's where the title of my blog came from: OM to Home. My dream is to bring yoga to others in the privacy of their own home, backyard, or maybe even a beach.
So that's my answer to that burning question: I will become a private yoga instructor. And who knows, maybe even get paid!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Level 3-Mother's Day with the Marines
Less than a month later we made the trek back to San Diego County for level 3. This time we were at a gym at Camp Pendleton, the Marine Corp base. After showing the various required forms of identification at the gate we were allowed to come on to the base. Like a bunch of yoga girls are gonna be a major threat to our nation's security, right?
We drove for what seemed like hours past strip malls and housing tracks (who knew that there was a whole little city beyond those guarded gates) until we came to the gym where we would spend the next 2 days. As I walked into the gymnasium and headed toward the aerobics room I saw a sign with bold writing that said: NO COMBAT BOOTS ALLOWED INSIDE! and I knew this facility was going to be different from any of the others that I had been to so far.
The focus of this training was to learn about the Chakra System and apply yoga to it, and to tap into the surface of meditation and yoga. Both of these topics are something that I have done some research on my own with, so I was very excited for this training. Unfortunately, because I was coming off of 2 nights of very little sleep with a 16-hour field trip to Sacramento sandwiched in-between, I was present in body only. Our trainer started our session with a 90 minute yoga class that included several balancing poses, and I quickly came to realize that there is a direct correlation between sleep deprivation and your sense of balance. Being left-handed my dominant side of my body is my left side, and most instructors tend to cue you to begin balancing poses on your RIGHT side. Thus creating immediate frustration for a lefty who is functioning on less than her required 8 hours of sleep. It took me several rounds of poses to figure this out but when I finally did I was able to give myself a much needed pep-talk that got me through it.
At the lunch break we decided to go for a walk in search of some healthy food to compliment our healthy workout. Did I mention that we were on a Marine Corp base? Apparently healthy food is a rare commodity around here. There was a McDonald's, Johnny Rockets, and too many pizza parlors to even name, but nothing with fresh fruits and veggies was anywhere to be seen. We finally settled on oatmeal with blueberries at the Coffee Bean and vowed to bring our own lunches tomorrow. As we walked around the base I was amazed at how incredibly young all of these Marine's were. Babies, they were just babies. Some of them I am sure were even younger than my son. And with it being Mother's Day weekend I couldn't help but feel for their mothers. I know I would have a hard time giving my only child to the armed forces.
After our lunch break we worked through pose break-down of all the new poses. This is where the trainer goes through each pose and talks about things such as alignment and anatomy. Even with a good night's sleep this portion of the class can be very dry. So trust me when I say I was struggling just to keep my eyes open. Finally she came to the part where we were to go over some of the required reading we had to do on the Chakras and meditation. She put in a CD of chakra guided meditation that I am sure is really good but I have no idea what was even on it. I heard the soft voice on the CD begin to talk about the root chakra and then I was out. The next thing I knew it was 45 minutes later and my instructor was gently ringing the chimes.
I guess I'll have to go through that CD on my own.
On Sunday we got into small groups to team teach 2 flow series: one on balancing poses (yuck!) and the other on deep stretching poses that are used in what is called "mountain 3" in YogaFit. At first I was feeling very anxious about once again teaching others how to do yoga. It's one thing to do it with my kids at school or even with the other teachers at my school. In that situation I'm the only one who knows anything about yoga so I could be totally making it up and no one would even know. But here, with a group of people who are yogis too? That's a recipe for major anxiety for me. But this time I was able to calm myself down with some deep breathing and even visualizing myself going through the poses. And you know what? I had a major breakthrough. I was able to just let the teaching come from somewhere deep inside of me and it all came together. Maybe I might be able to do this thing afterall.........
Level 2-Oceanside
My level 2 training was in April about a month after I had taken level 1. My plan was to take a weekend training once a month and be finished around October. I originally thought this was taking "the slow path" but soon found out that it was more like the "fast track". There's a lot of required reading for each level and I am finding it somewhat challenging to fit it in with my life of figuring out what I'm teaching my 4th graders tomorrow and posting grades online for eager parents.
Level 2 was at a 24-Hour Fitness in Oceanside which is down in San Diego County. Like I have said before, I am not a "gym girl". In fact this was the first time I had ever even been inside of a 24-Hour. It was much larger than the exclusive gym in Newport Beach, but it had a much more "normal people" feel to it. By that I mean, the people working out on the numerous machines looked like people you might meet in your everyday life.
Our yoga training was in an aerobics room upstairs that had the loudest air conditioning unit that I had ever heard. In fact, I suspect that the air conditioner may have been installed by the maintenance crew from my district because it seemed to be on some kind of an odd timer. It would blast freezing cold air when we were sitting on our mats trying to listen to our trainer, and then suddenly stop for the entire 2 hour yoga class that was challenging every major muscle group in my body.
Most of the participants in this training were already yoga instructors, mainly at a 24-Hour Fitness facility. And here I thought you had to be certified to teach other people how to contort their bodies into potentially injury-inducing poses. But apparently I was wrong. I felt very inferior to them, especially when we had to break into our team-teaching groups and teach each other. I was still at the phase where you say things like: step back with your right foot.....and most of them were using words like: elongate your spine while breathing new energy into your.....even now I can't even come up with a word to complete that cue. I finally verbalized my fears and frustrations to some of the yogis in my group and was amazed at their incredible support. It turns out most of them have been teaching yoga for years and were doing the training to gain skills on how to do it the "right way".
By the end of the 2 day training I had gotten over my competitive need to keep up with my more experienced collegues and had come to realize that this like everything else in my life was a work in progress. And that becoming a yoga instructor was not a destination, but rather a journey. So sit back, take a deep breath, and enjoy the ride......
YogaFit Training
My first training with Yoga Fit was in March of this year. My friend Kristen and I started it together. She as a way to supplement her income as a pilates instructor, and me without a clue as to how it was going to fit into my life.
Our first training was at a gym in Newport Beach. Now I am not what you would call a "gym person". I prefer to push myself doing things outside like hiking, riding my bike, or snowboarding. In fact, yoga is probably the only "inside" form of exercise that I do and that's because it started out as something for my mind and spirit rather than for my body. I guess my toned arms can just be considered an added bonus.
Anyway, back to that gym in Newport Beach.....it was a very swanky place. Probably the kind of gym that all of the "real O.C. houswives" belong to. Needless to say I was somewhat uncomfortable in that environment sitting there without one speck of make-up on and my unpolished fingernails! Fortunately that feeling quickly faded as the other Yogis began to arrive. There is something about people that study yoga that really resonates with me. I think it's their genuine authenticity.
The focus of this training was a very broad introduction into the YogaFit style of teaching and breaking down 40 basic poses over the course of 2 days. We participated in 2 classes each day as well. One each morning that really pushed us physically. And then one each afternoon that focused more on relaxation. Boy did I need that by the end of each day.
I left that first training feeling energized and excited about taking my teaching into a new direction, but also with the nagging realization that maybe my day job was less fulfilling than I had ever really realized..........
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
