all good things must also come to an end...

Well this journey has come to an end.  We received our certification this morning and it became official- 16 new yoga teachers in the world!!  I even bought myself a little graduation present (a  beautiful silver ring with lapis stone- an ancient stone for training in an ancient practice!).

I have learned so many wonderful things and am excited to start putting them to use…  I have found throughout this training that I have a sort of affinity for beginner series, balance and therapeutic yoga and am looking forward to the many opportunities I will have to develop this interest into something!!

I want to take a moment to recognize all the beautiful, strong, and amazing women I spent the last 3 weeks of my life with.  Their journeys have inspired me, their practices have energized me, their love has humbled me, and their companionship has made me forever grateful.  I will always carry this with me and recognize just how blessed I have been for knowing each of them.  I feel that true beauty and strength always finds a way to call out the highest in another and you women have helped me to grow into a true expression of my purest heart, thank-you!

So in closing as I sit for the last time with my window to the world (the beautiful open air restaurant) I have envisioned for myself a lifetime of being surrounded by this amazing love for my body, for my mind, and for my soul- I see, hear, feel , and know it ;)

Off to new adventures!!

Namaste

~ The light and love in me is honored and inspired by the light and love in each of you!!! 

posting a day late...

A lot has gone on in the past few days as we have all prepared for and taught a 75 minute class!!  I really enjoyed it and got a lot of great feedback.  My instructors seem to have faith in my teaching ability which is such a great boost to my confidence considering I’m still working at a relatively low intermediate level in my own practice.  I decided before coming here that I was going to aim to be a teacher that really focused on proper alignment so I could help prevent my students from suffering any careless injuries and to build a really solid foundation and I have seemed to let that really shine through in my classes… as my master teacher said I looked like an army inspector walking the ranks as I checked each of the alignments… gotta work on integrating myself into the class a little better ;)

I did have a little misstep today, I let myself get dehydrated and got a little sick, but aside from that, which was healed with a fresh coconut and a 20 minute power nap, I have been feeling a lot stronger than I was when compared to last week.  Every one of my fellow yoginis are starting to feel the wear and tear, whether it be from the hard tile floor (soooo bad on the knees even with a dbled up mat!!)  or the intense emotional ride, and a part of me feels a little more at ease knowing that I am not falling to pieces!!  It also doesn’t hurt that I got the best massage of my entire life last Friday!!  It was deep tissue and considering all the work I have been putting my body through the masseur was really able to get into the areas of tension- he even did a traditional Mayan treatment called Yoot Keene that pays special attention to the abdomen area and actually realigns your internal organs, significantly impacting the digestive system, it was amazing!!  My fascia thanks him ;)

A note about my personal changes… As some of you may know we’ve been asked to observe a vegetarian diet while in the training, and I must say I have felt GREAT!!  We were also asked at the beginning to pick 3 poses that we wanted to work our way towards accomplishing and we have had to practice them 3 times a day for 10 mins- I’ve advanced in all 3, and hope by the end I will be posting the pictures of each of them in full extension to this here blog (for those of you who practice I chose Ustrasana- camel pose, Vasisthasana-side plank with yogi toe hold extended leg, and Parivrtta Surya Yantrasana- revolved sundial).  As I have been practicing these past two weeks I have really noticed how muscle bound I am and hope that I can start to gain some more flexibility, especially in my shoulders, and I plan on really working at that over the next few months.

I’m down to less than a week left, and although I miss home, my boy, and my pups… I really hate the idea of leaving this all behind.  It’s been so great to spend time with such beautiful, strong women and living in a state of such constant inspiration… however I take comfort in the fact that this 3 weeks is only the beginning of some amazing times ahead!!

I love you all and am honored to be able to share all this with you!

Caves and Turtles...

Today was our “full” day off… We still had morning meditation and our 2 hour vinyasa practice, but we were off to the cenotes by 11.  I had a mini freak out while we were in there because I didn’t have enough time to get my mask situated and it started to fill with water.  A maskful of water was enough to keep me from venturing in to the nooks and crannies, and the “Bat Cave”… but it was still so beautiful, I had quite a bit of time to swim around and look at the beautiful stalagmites and stalactites, it was such an amazing experience.  We took some time to dive and swim and then were headed off to beach in Akumal where we snorkeled over a beautiful reef and got to swim with sea turtles- so cool!  I split off from the group a bit (closer to the shoreline than everyone else in my group Mom so don’t worry) and spent 20 minutes watching and following and swimming alongside a really big guy- I’d like to say we had a moment…

I’m feeling very tired and I’m frustrated with the physical set backs that I’m experiencing with my knee, but at the same time I have victories in my practice every day- for example I did an arm balance yesterday morning that I have never lifted into before (side crow)!!  Going to tuck in early tonight because the rumor on the street here is that tomorrow is a cardio practice (as if that hasn’t been whats happening everyday thus far- sheesh)! 

I love you all and promise I won’t stay here to live amongst the turtles- probably…

Good Night!!

Az

one week!!!

Well haven’t been doing so well with keeping up with my communication on here, but to be honest it’s been quite liberating.  I have been experiencing so many new things… new foods, new colors, new animals, and new emotion that I haven’t really been able to find a way to articulate them all, but feeling like I wanted to share today…

As many of you have already seen via Facebook, I was part of a sea turtle search and rescue mission… ok so that wasn’t really what anyone else was calling it, but a spades a spade.  It was such an experience, we were called down to the beach by one of my fellow yoginis in the training who had over heard that one of the nests had hatched and we all had the opportunity to gather together to release them into the sea…  I know it sounds like such an interference with a process that the turtles were born to do on their own, but unfortunately that wasn’t the interference…  our resort was.  See the turtles would hatch and the light from our cabanas or from the restaurant would draw them away from the water “go into the light”…  So we had to walk them into the ocean.  I spent over 45 mins walking them in, and then reversing out of the surf only to find another that had worked its way in the wrong direction and so on.  As I would try to return to the cabana to call it a night the same would happen, I’d find them everywhere.  There was a point when I saw so many around the brick at the restaurant that I had to call down to the beach for help taking one in each hand myself.  I even came across two more the next day that we walked into the surf (video to come!!).  So now they just call me the turtle whisperer!  Not really, but I wouldn’t object if they did…

I have gotten a chance to snorkel with my roommate as well as take a 5 mile walk down the beach with her.  She is such an amazing woman and we really get along quite well… the beach is lined with cute boutique hotels and we even witnessed the “you may kiss the bride” part of the sweetest lil intimate wedding…

The weather has been absolutely perfect, raining some days while we are in our two hour practice which has really cooled things off.   The city is quite small, and the people are very friendly.  It is so beautiful here, I’m really in love with this place!!

More about the “work” side of things.  We observe silence from the time we wake up at 6am until after our meditation and practice through to breakfast at 10:30 so I’ve had a lot of time to go inside…  I’m learning so much about myself and my body, and am breaking down barriers that have held me back in my practice.  Mainly fear- I’ve been afraid to go deeper for so long because I’m afraid of injury, but being here has given me the confidence in my strength to reach for a further extension of my physical practice.  Although I am nursing 2 mild injuries… a seized up adductor muscle in the left leg and a very tender knee from the hard tile floor on the right side- didn’t have enough padding down with one thin Jade mat, but at least I have equanimity with an injury on each side!!  I am also learning so many valuable things about anatomy, and I’m surprisingly quite a bit more fond of it than I thought I’d be.  The body is a truly Divine design!!

So since today marks the one week anniversary of my journey I thought I’d fill ya in a bit, hopefully I will find myself inspired to write more in the next 2 weeks to come, but this time I had to reflect inside has been such a gift!

Shes heeeeere!!!

So grateful....
This is going to be a wonderful experience!

Cancun was particularly busy when we landed so I had quite a wait at both immigration and customs, and what I did with that time was sit in both awe and let myself be overcome with joy.

I'm writing this to you from in front of a large open window being covered by the cool ocean breeze and the taste of salt in the air.  I took my shoes off upon arriving at the resort and have never felt such silk under my feet before.  Had a wonderfully flavorful dinner with my first ever taste of papaya, which was the most beautiful color of red I have ever seen.  Getting to know the women of my training and preparing for the journey.

I'm here, I'm open, I'm ready, and I'm elated...
Thank you all for your love and support and I'll check back in soon, going to enjoy the company of my fellow adventurers ;)

the final streeeeetch

Yesterday marked only one month until I'm participating in one of the most transformational experiences I have ever taken on!  I'm getting more nervous now than I have been before- not to mention I have been suddenly accident prone and seem to be dodging potential danger of injury lurking around every corner... example; the ice cream cooler that nearly impaled me yesterday at Braum's (the things I will endure for a single scoop of butter brickell)...

On a different note I did have a really great experience in class today with Julie- I offered all my worries up and began to cry (tears of joy) as I melted into my pigeon pose to the most beautiful, uplifting song (Krishna Das- My God is Real)  knowing that I am exactly where I am supposed to be, doing exactly what God has planned for me...  nerves aside, I will move forward.

Thank you for following friends

namaste

a bit more real each day...

Got my passport yesterday with one nagging question in mind... does everyone hate their passport  picture this much??  Didn't realize what a rush of excitement I'd get from this little blue document booklet, but seeing as it's my first one I was a little giddy-  I feel like a real traveler now- no borders, no limitations...

I'm trying hard to strengthen my practice in this last month before I leave and have also decided to cut the caffeine and alcohol out (minus a glass or two of red before I leave) early so this coffee aficionado has time to learn a new way of functioning before I'm tossed into the heat and 8 hr days of yoga.  Any advice from others who may have done this is much appreciated... Done it only once before and I remember just how difficult it was!!

As the days roll by I feel like everything I am doing is surrounding my leaving so I need to remember to stay present, lots of really exciting things are happening right here!  So please understand, as mentioned earlier, that I may not post often but will love to have your follow and support once I am actually in the training...

Love you all dearly!!

Well here it goes...

As many of you may already know I'm attending a 3 week yoga teacher training intensive this September in Tulum, Mexico with Frog Lotus Yoga .  I wanted to find a place where family and friends can keep up with me and this is what I found... BLOGGER! 

I won't be posting much yet in the weeks to come, but plan on sharing as often as I can with everyone while I'm gone... Thank you for following!

~Namaste~