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!