Peace, Love, Joy, Gratitude.....

Each YogaFit training session always ends with a "share circle" on the last day and level 4 was no different. The idea of a "share circle" is for all of the participants to share in one word what this training has given them. Each day we were asked to focus on things, either people or events, in our lives that bring us PEACE, LOVE, JOY, & GRATITUDE and given the events in my life recently this was a very easy task for me. So it seemed only fitting to make these 4 simple words sum up the past 4 days.
Our last day together began with our final masters class led by Brett. And because he is a physical therapist by trade I think he intuitively knew that our bodies needed a break. He led us through a very restorative class that gave us a lot of opportunity to listen to our own bodies and tailor our workout to what it was telling us we needed and at what pace. My body was screaming slow, rhythmic deep stretches laced with lots of deep breathing. He did guide us through a series of shoulder work in preparation for inversions such as headstands and shoulder stands. Something I don't spend enough time doing in my personal practice. His knowledge of the human body and what it is capable of doing was amazing to say the least.
After our lunch break we spent the rest of the afternoon comparing the two majors texts we had been studying for the past 4 days: The Gita and the Yoga Sutras. We did a variety of activities with partners and in small groups where we had to look at a Sutra and then find a parallel Sloka (or verse) in the Gita that went along with it. This was no easy task, given that both of these ancient texts are not the easiest pieces of literature to comprehend. In fact, Brett told us that he has been studying the Gita for 7 years and still doesn't totally get it.
We also spent a little bit of time talking about meditation and how this practice fits in with the Yoga Sutras. One more thing to add to my growing list of things to look into a bit more.
By the end of the day my concentration had completely broken and I started to do what I always do when I get overloaded with information, which is the one thing I tell my students to NOT do: I stopped listening and started talking to the people around me. Fortunately, their brains had reached their saturation point as well and they more than welcomed the chatter. I spent more time than I should have talking to a woman named Tina who gave me lots of valuable information on how to turn my yoga training into a real business. Including how to set up a website and apply for a business license. Am I ready to take that leap? I don't know. But after spending 4 days doing nothing but yoga, I think I am ready to at least try. So some time before 2010 comes to a close look for Om To Home to go to the next level. I'll keep you posted.....