The End is Here!!!! Day 14

I'm not even to my first standing pose of GSP on our very last morning, and James comes over to talk about my hands. He did that earlier but I guess I had no idea what he meant. But apparently I do a hand "wiggle" showing a lack of focus? I've never noticed, so now I'll have to see if I can catch myself doing it.

My handstand is so perfect, he starts having me drop my elbows to dismount out of it. Far harder than they make it look....

At the end, Mathew again comments on how much I've progressed over the past two weeks, and seems super genuine. Ok, so maybe by the end of it, I actually kinda like the kid. I just really needed to see his method and see him open up a bit first.

Our last session together was even shorter than the end of the 300, the business lady was back, and she gave us some charts to fill out for goal setting. Still hot off the hot seat, I pretty much just sat there. I guess I did write down that I need an IRA....does that even count? In the end I made two lists. One i would have made prior to Wednesday, and one for after. I'll let you guess which waa more productive. I just wasn't in the mood, at all. Thank god it was fast.

Overall, very anti ceremonious goodbyes, got our certificates and see ya. Mathew was really the only person we even said good bye to, and that was even a hug.

But the two weeks ended in tradition. Lunch at Jason's and packing up the car. I mean, if I hurried, I could make the last Gauntlet, and trust me, I had some aggression to work out.

Just like last year, the two weeks took forever and flew by all at once. Intellectually, it was light years easier, much less information to actually learn. But emotionally it was that much harder. Thank god I had a solid friend going through it with me and I wasn't playing hear say all the time to share my stories. Definitely saved my sanity.

Day 12: 400hr Yoga Teacher Training

Morning group class started on the wall. Nice easy deep stretching of awesome. Some kriyas following. Clearly a pity warm up.

James has OCD note taking skills. And it sounds exactly like what I do.

---insert premature day twelve rant here-----

It was odd during GSP, I got my head into quicker than expected. I think my body was craving the movement to process my brain. At one point James pulled me out of a transition, "Let me hear one full breath" which felt really weird, but I moved on.

My handstands have been lower than mediocre all week. Both the few attempts in GSP and practicing with Nate. But my first opportunity in the sequence, James was there for an attempt, and I expected BAD.

But it wasn't, I got my legs all the way up for the first time in close to a week, and that set my determination even stronger. I got two more attempts later, one super close, and one really productive tuck. My splits were able to go without blocks, but not the full five (totally acceptable to me) and I got one side of shoulder roll full form without assistance. I was pleased.

But then I got a weird vibe after class when James asked, "Who's blocks are those?" Not with a smile or joking. Made me feel like I was being accused of something I didn't do....

Evening session. Dinner with Sheree. Raw vegan. This was my third dinner with her. Her personality and mine just don't match. Dinner was raw corn on the cob, raw jicama "potato" salad, and raw nut burger with ""BBQ" sauce. At least I liked the coconut cocoa ball for dessert?

It was just a long day and I was ready for it to be over, but LD brought wine for dinner and his hilarity definitely cheered me up. Like trying to hook Sheree and Nate up.

Day Ten: 400hr Yoga Teacher Training

Group Class was soo much better this morning. My body was ready for it and my mind was slightly better too. I honestly wonder if the workout before the practice makes that big a difference. I can see my progress in the past ten days with my backbendd today. My camel was far deeper than normal. But overall far more relaxed.

The session was on teaching workshops. Starting with overall ideas and techniques for a successful workshop, but then we divided out into groups to discuss ideas for our own personal workshops. Ended up being the odd one out, and stuck with the two most set path yogis. One Olympic diver and one professional dancer. Great. I have no idea my niche. I flat out said I have no idea for my future, and the only thing from my past I had was film school. And no matter how many times I said that I want nothing to do with that, that's the only ideas they came up with for the whole session. Not only unhelpful but annoying.

Back in big group the rest of session, we picked up a few of people's ideas and discussed them. Including Nates "IT guy" yoga with a "Reboot your life" idea. Matthew has great one liners for classes. And about giving a message and "dropping yoga bombs".

Afternoon is all about going through a sample backbend workshop and how to successfully run it with tips and tricks and techniques. Then in the same group as before creating more details on a specific workshop.

The weekend off GSP was amazing. I went through the entire practice without a second thought. In 90degree pigeon I got "Good job baby" and then a "Really good Clare" got one of my handstands. And after, "I'm proud of you, you're really getting this." Yay me!!! My one down moment was my wrists burning in wheel, yet my backbend in it was superstring, so I don't even care! :-)

Tonight's guest speaker session killed me. It was on listening. Ok, fine, yoga is kinda fruity like that. But....we learned nothing. It was all in, make sure you listen. Ok?!?! She quoted Stephen Covey and I knew we were doomed. She did a ton of group exercises but didn't explain ANY of them well enough so every time we were really confused, and by the last exercise, people weren't listening at all and couldn't even follow through. It was kinda ridiculous. Beyond ridiculous.

Day Nine: Another breath of fresh air.

We had our first group class taught by James. I am spoiled by GSP, group class just couldn't hold my attention. Although it wasn't helped by my brand new mat being slippery and my body just really not wanting to move. I was so locked up that my toes didn't touch in plow. Crazy for me. My palms and feet were just sliding all over the place. Although he used the metronome, and I gotta say I really liked it. Even though I wasn't focusing hard on the count, my body seemed to just naturally stay with it. One thing my body did NOT just go with, was James calling for a crane somersault. Uh. No.

But that was it for the day. All the people that weren't in for the 300 week were there all day again. Can't say it was a bad Sunday. Morning class, hit the gym, made some brunch, watched a movie, marked through Adamantine, went for a walk, had dinner with Tim, dad, Chris and Nate at Jethros. Absolutely nothing productive. And that is a-ok.

Day Eight: ALMOST a vacation day in the 400.

Because of all the new people coming in for just the 400hr, the ones that just went through the 300 only had to attend the morning session this Saturday, and then have the rest of the day off.

Nate and I were lucky enough to hit up the Farmers Market before class which was awesome, unless you count that we got a loaf of apple bread that was totally polished off within 24 hours. But it was delicious.

And we also fit in brunch with my lovely and awesome family (minus mom, but she's cool too ;-) ). The boys (Tim, dad, and Chris) were all going down to KC for the weekend to attend two of the Red Sox games and decided they missed me enough to come down a little early and feed us breakfast foods and hear all about it. After one long week with a long week ahead of me, being around people that I can be at complete ease with, was exactly what I needed. As was the few bites of Tim's pumpkin pancakes ;-)

Our one session of the day was Advanced Sequencing. I figured it would be teaching us how to sequence a class that we teach outside of Adamantine. Wrong. Not even close. Basically he described how he formatted Adamantine (balance within the limbs) and compared it to other ways you could format a class around, such as the meridian system or the chakras. He went through the Chakra system, which I actually thought was really cool. I was pretty fascinated in it, and I followed the concept well enough that I would love to teach a class following it sometime. Working through all the chakras within the class.

This was the same time that I wrote this less than upbeat and perky post....

And the rest of the day was full of rest and relaxation with some furry felines. 

Non Yoga (ok, mostly kitty) of the 300/400 Yoga Training Weeks

Halfway Point. 300 turns to 400.

I know I have a lot of days to catch up on blogging my 300. But I wrote an email this morning now that I have officially begun the 400 hour this weekend and I realized that its s thought train that I might want to look back on in the future. And I don't keep any other form of journal, and I don't think anyone else really reads this anymore, so I'm putting it out there so I don't lose it and can't go back and see what my crazy brain was thinking...

I'm beginning to wonder if I should start preparing headspace for myself to become a teacher at that many locations, teaching every day and numerous times a day.

But that being said, this week will be a mental tsunami on my future in this, and how and what I want to do. But this is the perfect time to really implement what I want to do with it.  And at the moment I really want to push into private sessions. The word is 70/30 split is what's common for the teacher/studio split. And after this week, he really has me into the, you need to present yourself as worth it, because you are and they need to know that through prices. Especially with the split, my TIME is money. So I think going for $60 (42/18 split) for 45 minutes is how I'm going to go through. That could change by the end of the week though. Thursday there is a hot seat where you sit in the middle and basically hash through every plan of action and idea you have going for, and set actual goals to be conquered (not just to throw away). So we'll see.

The crux is that, had we not just moved. I'm kind of thinking I might be in the beginning contemplations of moving down here.... Which is scary that moving could have been a huge mistake, but also that I actually have a desire to be here? But this mornings group class was glaring, that group class is irradically becoming not my thing. I want the private sessions. I'm really falling for the GSP concept. It's amazing. Both teaching and practicing. The personal progress I've made in a week is more than I've made in over a year there. Which is terrifying. And seeing that just makes me want to provide that for others and get to continue myself. I know I'm far from my own (if ever possible) but without a GSP to attend myself, I'm screwed. Driving to DM on a weekday every few weeks is just so unrealistic, especially if I start teaching that much more. But also when it comes to having to teach a lot and carving out the time I can force myself to practice like that myself without the guidance, is just going to be so hard to fight against my personality traits. 

I'm so long winded today. 

Birthday Weekend!

Two weekends ago was my birthday!!! It was a pretty crazy weekend just in general. And I feel like I've been going non stop since. Ill bulletpoint it!

Friday night was spent running all over town between Blaines and Walmart gather supplies, and then proceeding to design and create our Color Run t-shirts of glory.

Saturday:
Tim and I drove down to Des Moines for the Color Run.
Ate a glorious Whole Foods breakfast.
Found the perfect parking spot downtown.
Perfect parking does not equal perfect weather.
Windy, cold (40s), with no sun. Not ideal for running in a specially designed thin tshirt.
Finally got to visit the Lululemon Showroom, disappointing, only three racks of miscellaneous clothes.
Brief walk to Runners Village, freezing.
Saw Ryleah, a former video board kid. Loved it.
Sat in the car making the rough decision.
Cold, had a 2hour wait, still having neck pain.
Decided TOTALLY randomly to drive up to Minneapolis to go birthday shopping!
Got to Minneapolis, straight to the Athleta store.
Shopping efficiency, 90 minutes.
Slightly double the limit spent. Oops.
Thank God Minnesota doesn't have sales tax.
But I did get more than workout clothes! I got some work clothes and holiday options too!
Tim made for a great shopping buddy. He holds AND advises. Without complaint (as long as he has his smartphone).
There MIGHT be a cupcake store between the car and Athleta….but we saved them for after dinner!
Big dinner conundrum of where to go.
Best decision all day, The Anchor.
An amazing dive, packed super early on Saturday.
Best fish and chips since Australia (that's saying something)
Second Whole Foods run for stocking up.
Headed home via the parents house for a quick hello.

Sunday:

Red Velvet & Cake Batter...mmm

Slept way too late. (Yesterday was jam packed!)
Princess delivery service took me to Hot Yoga
First time back after medical issues and injuries.
Been way too long.
Hyvee run for birthday breakfast and a caramel apple.
Nixed breakfast for birthday lunch with the family.
Knee pads, fro yo, and a workout rounded out the hang out afternoon.
Mini fashion show for family at birthday dinner!

Got a new NLXF shirt, massage gift card, a halloween plate and halloween socks!
Grandma and Grandpa came over for the awesome meal of rouladden, cucumber/tomato/mozzarella salad, and spaghetti corn.
Sweet potato cupcakes from Scratch for dessert!
Evening concluded with mom's travel questions from a box!

Happy Birthday to Me!!!!!!!

Finishing some thoughts.

Currently passing over Detroit, in a tiny tin can airplane that is shaking like its seizure meds have worn off during a Pink FLoyd light show. Doing all I can to NOT think about it. Even Paul Rudd isn't doing all that much to help, nor was cleaning off my desktop, but I did come across a blog post that I started last month while I was at yoga training. 

While completely out of my workout and eating routine, I figured I should at least try to keep my body as happy with me as possible. And the way I could see doing that was the Clean diet. It's a specific plan to follow, not just the typical "eating clean" concept. For example, not just no dairy, soy, beef, wheat products, but no citrus fruits, strawberries, eggplants, eggs, and other random stuff. They have reasons for everything that you can't have, and its all in a book, its not just totally random. Theres also the notion that breakfast and dinner should be liquid meals, with lunch being the only solid food meal that you intake during the day. Needless to say, you only stay on the "cleanse" for three weeks, and I figured my two week span would be just fine. 

The first day was miserable. All I wanted was my regular food. And I wanted ALL of my regular food. All at once. In my face. Hungry. But since the first day, I didn't really get hungry. It probably helped that due to the schedule I was forced to eat my meals and snacks in accordance to the designated breaks in our 13 hours days. I guess I did have a hungry morning. All i could think about was pancakes and breakfast food, until after my workout, then I was fine. I was lucky enough to be able to hit the gym all but two mornings of the two weeks. At least an hour of cardio and some occasional lifting was at least enough to stunt the mental insanity that generally happens when I go without working out. We also had a 90 minute yoga practice every morning, and the first week we had so many practice sessions that there were several more hours of yoga practice added on to that. 

I have quite the hippy random sounding bullet points in my notes here, like the fact that I definitely felt a difference in my body, I just wasn't sure how. And seeing how I consume food completely differently. It helped me by working on the sweet tooth, despite never using sugar. At least at home. I don't think I have ever personally actually bought sugar. Since I moved back from school, splenda has been my definite. friend. By Day Five I was usually skipping my dinner snack completely.

The following is literally my thoughts of the time,

My entire body is a big what the hell without NLXF, but then adding 12 hours of asanas on top of that....I'm tight and sore as hell, but it's screaming at me to push harder at the same time

My body is just sick of the repetition. Although I would MUCH rather be at the gym all day. I'm dreading doing the practice so many times today. It's my joints that are angry. It's the same motions literally 20+ times. And they are DEEP motions. And it's annoying cause I want to lift upper and lower, but I won't function later if I do. My cervical spine is so compressed today I'm slightly worried about headaches later. Which would be fine if I could take a day to relax. Not even lazily, just not contort my body for 6 hours of the day. My range and flexibility and strength is growing scarily fast though. It's almost unbelievable. Eh, I'd tightened a lot. But I'm ok with that for the most part it was all muscle growth that caused it. If say I'm back to the peak of where I was when I was going five days a week. ...after less than a week of taking 8 months off.

Teaching the Teachers!

It's been a week since graduation, and I finally pulled out my take home tests last night to get started. I had glanced at the first page of questions when we originally received them, and had no stress about them. Well, maybe I should have looked a little harder, cause oops. They're going to take a little bit of time. And I leave on Wednesday for Boston for a few days. I gotta see my lovely girls! Its weird to think that its almost been a full year since Meg's wedding. Time has flown.

It seems almost as recent as last weekend's graduation! Although the past week seemed to CRAWL by. Every day felt like Thursday. But I got more done actually before Thursday than I did the entire two weeks I was gone. I did nothing but eat breathe and sleep yoga studies for 15 days. It didn't even feel like it at the time, but looking at my planner of my to do lists now, holy cow has it stacked up. I don't really mind though, James' teaching style and attitude was worth it to have to catch up on fifteen days right before another week away from home.

I can't say I agreed and liked James' style at first. He liked to "make our brains smoke" by throwing so much at us all at one time, just a little bit over what we felt like we could handle, and then changing the topic to something compeletely new. But after awhile, that really seemed like the best way to do it, because somehow subconsciously we kept processing everything and with practice upon practice in chunks and pieces of the sequencing, we all ended up getting it. And considering some of the people in my class, that was a totally amazing feat. Not that they weren't smart or good learners, it was just ALOT of information to process. And then to do it in front of a room of 20 people that knew EXACTLY how it was SUPPOSED to go, thats a lot of pressure.

Although, I must admit I am shocked at how good our group was. There wasn't really any negativity or eye rolling or people thinking they were better than anyone else. The energy was always positive and encouraging and uplifting, even in times of screw ups and mistakes. And James and Ann were a big part of that too. Even as the instructors, who's job it is to make sure that we know every little piece of information, they made it clear that it was ok to not know everything perfectly right away. Or even right away in that two weeks. Its not something that comes immediately, it takes time and experience, and they were so forgiving in all our little flubs, and when James would critique us he would even ask if we wanted them, because he didn't want us to think that he was insulting us and berating us with mistakes, but we all craved them. We wanted to know what he thought was wrong with our teaches and our ideas and he was open to not just saying what the problems were, but why it was that way, and what we could do to fix them in numerous ways in case one option didn't really fit our personality or style. It was all about us individually and making us be the best we could be in the way and style that we wanted to do it. And it was more motivating and productive than any strict teacher could have ever made us. We wanted to make him happy and wanted to hear what we could do better. He clearly was born to be a teacher of teachers. Striving for the best, but with an open mind that the best might be slightly different than the way he prefers it. You know you aren't going to change the way a 60 year old hippie goes into a headstand, so even though she is wrong, she can succeed in the headstand, so why bother?

His stories were absolutely crazy too. His growing up story alone was enough for me to be fascinated in him, but then to hear about all the different jobs he has continued to do, and the random hobbies and interests and even all the things that he learned from the one that taught HIM all of his yoga knowledge. Absolutely mind blowing. He has infinite knowledge in thee most RANDOM of topics and histories. Im sure he couldn't name a single city of Real Housewives, but he can go into great detail about the 100th Monkey Theory, or the SunEaters, or the buddhist retreat that involves people literally going into meditation for a full year, not eating or drinking ANYTHING, and surviving the experience. Just a wealth of information spurred on by just a seemingly random comment. I loved it. I love that kind of intellect. The amount of notes I took on things i wanted to google and research once I got home is kind of crazy. And most of them completely unyoga related ;-)

And I can't even get into how Ann has been practicing for only five years and is the most impressive yoga practitioner I have ever seen. The progress she has made from not touching her toes to going into handstand scorpion in that short amount of time just is a complete mind boggle. My brain might melt.

I suppose those tests won't fill themselves out just because I'm singing James' praise….

Graduation Day!!!!

Day Fifteen: James Freestyle Level up Practice, Yoga Business, Personal Story/Goals, Personal Notes, Group Picture, Graduation Ceremony and Cake!

• Wendy was super cute this morning and passed out mini flashlights so that we would all remember to let our lights shine. 
• James introduced the concept of warming up on our own, going through sun salutations or anything we needed so we wouldn't have to waste class time doing them.
• Because we warmed up ahead of time, we were able to go super freestyle and James put forward quite a few challenging, deep and fun poses. 
• Poses like Spider, Turtle and half Crane! aka, poses that make you yelp, oh! my hamstrings and inner thighs!
• But yet, getting into transverse lunge, I went  as deep as I could go, and looked around, thinking, going this deep looks like Im in a whole new position versus what it normally looks like!
• Yoga studios are failing because their business models don't work. Very few and far between studio owners are actually making money right now. 
• Sharing our thoughts on our own personal futures, its nice to hear Ann not just say that I am a good yoga teacher, but demand that I ask for a full time job, not just sign up for the sub list as a beginning.
• The more famous you become in yoga, the more you think you're a rockstar, and quite a few yogis seem to think that way. Including S. Nardini apparently. And parties like one.
• I love the idea of writing your name on a piece of paper, then passing it around the room so people can write you a little note on it. A perfect way to end 2 SOLID weeks together. Then the person right before you folds it into "origami" before giving it to you. Some creative ideas…thats for sure ;-)
• It doesn't matter how organized or adult you are about it, taking a group picture and getting everyone in place is near impossible. 
• Nothing reflected the experience more than sitting outside, and walking in the ceremony, across three yoga mats in any way we wanted (lots of bowing and curtsies) to get our certificates. 
• James had three options. Handshake, high five, or hug. No fist bumping, chest bumping, or picking up. So cute.

• I reached my time to get my diploma, "You better teach." Im telling you, these people know how to create confidence. 
• There was even graduation cake for us! Sweet treats for sweet people.

• Waiting to take pictures and say goodbye to James and Ann was like waiting in line for santa. And John was a great elf ;-)
• Leaving that room was strange, knowing I wouldn't be back. So much time spent there. 

Muppets Make My Day Better.

Day Fourteen: Student Led Practice, Feedback, Adamantine Talk,Wellness Coach Sequencing, Intake, and Practice, Wellness Coach Demo

• I had a Whole Foods bag behind me in class. So every downward dog...guess what I was thinking about. And there are a lot of downward dogs!
• Someone decided to alter mat series today, adding in a rolling bow (twice), regular bow (twice), and knee pile. Not my favorite sequence. Ouch. 
• Eyes kept closing, head kept nodding, I could NOT stay awake. Cranked the AC, no problems from there out!
• Are there people that are born without nipples?
• Yoga Wellness Coaches start their price range in comparison to an hour of personal massage. And then grow from there. I could handle that.
• I need to research the Warrior Diet some more.
• The Yoga Wellness Coaching really has led me to believe that this might be a path I want to take a closer look at. The real question is, do I have enough credibility, and would that be boosted if I got my personal training certificate?

RYT. Day Eight. Keep the poses straight!

Day Eight: 90 min yoga flow, Practice Mat & Finishing series, Group teach entire class, Kundalini/Kriya Theory, Yoga Nidra/Gong Bath

• Today started dreary and cool, and our wardrobes totally matched it. Everyone was in super comfy clothes, and I donned the pigtails. 
• Morning practice was stronger and more focused than I expected after three straight nights of 5 hours of sleep.
• My low back has healed extraordinarily fast, but my neck needs a bit more time, however not totally disabling.
• I have never done jump up from plank very gracefully. I did it perfect once during practice, and every time after that was silent and strong. Funny how mental mind blocks are totally real.
• My elbows have ceased the feeling of snapping in half during shoulder rolls.
• There was a mini tangent on Gemology. I'm the first to roll my eyes at that stuff, but its certainly interesting.
• I keep wishing for Adamantine studios to open near home. It sounds like the perfect style for me. And the most effective. 
• "You can't create stillness through force"
• "Yoga is seen as transformation, but its not. Its about what already is. It just uses transformation to show you what is in your inner being"
• Thank god for smiley dancers in the front row to help you out during Group Teach when you completely blank on what to do after boat pose in the Mat Series. 
• Some people just really annoy you. They need to learn that being the elder in age does not automatically make you the leader along with the actual educated instructors. 
• The last hour before dinner was near impossible, my eyes kept closing no matter how interested I was in learning about the torture that is Kundalini style.
• Chakras are fascinating. We didn't cover near enough. I want to know more!
• In order to prep for the Gong bath after a dinner break, we had to get our bodies re-energized (and I don't mean the typical definition of energy). So we used Kundalini Kriya's in order to do so in about 35 minutes. 8 kriyas, and I was sweating and breathless and miserable. 
• One such Kriya was bow pose, rocking forward and back on your stomach, breathing Lions breath with your tongue hanging out, for two full minutes. NOT pretty.
• "Feel your ears hear…."
• Something about those vibrations makes me want them every day for the rest of forever. You feel every millimeter of your skin. 
• Driving under Gong shouldn't be allowed. DUG is definitely a dangerous and risky activity. You just simply don't care. 
• Tonight marks the halfway point of our two week intensive. Feels like I've been here a year. And yet, only a few hours at the same time. 

Day Seven. Inversion Heaven.

Practicing before dinner!

Day Seven: 90 min yoga flow, Asymeterical Series Practice, Group Teach, Practice Workshops, Inversions

• Way too many backbends the day before leads to ALL day back pain and atrocious formed cobras.
• But besides that, I am getting extremely flexible. But 12 hour practices a day will do that after a full week. 
• My shoulders have at least twice the opening ability that they had this time last week. Its insane. 
• During practice, the stronger the ujjayi breathing of the person next to you, the better you can keep it going yourself. I have problems in this area. I just….get sidetracked.
• Jonathon Goldman is THEE best savasana music ever. Especially 7th Chakra Chant. Its goose bump worthy.
• The average person does three yoga poses over the course of their life. Lying down, seated, and standing. Take the relaxed calm feeling you had during final relaxation and bring it to your seated position, and then on through the rest of your day"
• I am finding the poses of Asymmetrical Sequences are getting muddled with over practice. Its one big blur.
• Todays compliment's involved me having cute outfits and having a vibrant presence during my group teach. I'll take it :-)
• I have figured out my pronoun problem. I saw We and Our while doing the practice with them, but can get out the You and Yours while I am teaching as I watch. I must fix this somehow. 
• "Show me what you think your best plank is"
• Two straight days of this many group teach practices has me feeling like a little kid beat up on the playground by a big wooly Yeti.
• I realize more and more how much of an introvert I am. I prefer to take my meal breaks in the car alone.
• Tonights Inversions made me realize that they can be fun when instructed properly and efficiently. 
• Example, don't go from half shoulder stand to shoulder stand. Go to shoulder stand from plow, its WAY easier and your back is able to get MUCH straighter.
• For headstand, create a yamaka out of your hands. 
• James gave me a headstand assist, but I totally rocked my own balance. I might actually succeed at inversions!
• No way did I ever think I would be able to do a forearm stand. And I did. Whoa.

Day Six of Yoga Tricks.

Day Six: 90 min yoga flow w / workshop, Sun salutations practice, Asymetrical Series workshop, Group Teach, Adjusts & Assists

• Starting a practice with heavy thoughts will only lead to frustration and significant degeneration of mood.
• Learning to teach yoga means lots of people practicing on you which also means a LOT of pushups and bruised knees. 
• I learned I have hyperextended knees while workshopping pyramid in front of the class.
• As it has been for my entire life, when speaking to a group, I need to SLOW DOWN.
• Being told that I have a voice and style meant to teach yoga, makes me blush and smile really big. 
• No SI stretch poses, sidebands, or pigeon. Ever. Yes, you heard me. No pigeon. 
• My hips are a lot tighter than they used to be. Firelog used to be a breeze. I blame running. 
• "Issues are in the tissues."
• James made the declaration that I will be doing dropping back bends by the end of the intensive. I want to doubt that highly, but so far his instincts are amazing….we'll see!
• Making a huge emotional/mental switch from a bogged down negative morning to an energy vibrant happy evening is a really good turn around.
• In my class, we have a hippie widow that shares a hitch bit too much, a female Iraq vet, a hoola hoop instructor that lives in a van, and an ACT essay grader. 
• I come and go so much from this hotel that most of the time, I totally forget where I parked. 
• Learning pose adjustments and assists is not only super helpful, but also ridiculously nice to play the student and get all stretched out at the end of a long day.

Curls and Ego Cuddles?

I am FINALLY at a gym this morning, after two days without. And I feel like Barney blew up here. Not just his bright purple and acid yellow, but Barney's aura of smooshy love clearly remains.

They say No Judgement, yet how can you not at least ponder the 50 year old at the free weights who has spider (spiderman style) tattoos on all four limbs. I mean really?

Cardio feels amazing. Watching my FT40 hit 170 makes my heart soar (almost literally ;-) ).

I could stay here all day, but itd be easier if I were a colorblind optimist, I mean a Lunk Alarm? Is this Chuckie Cheese?

Imploding my brain with yoga.

I meant to write a post before I got here, explaining about my yoga journey in life so far, and that just didn't happen. And seeing as though in the past 48 hours, I've looked at Facebook for a total of about 45 seconds, that might help you understand just how insanely busy this next 15 days will be.

8:30am-9:00pm. Every day. Including weekends. For 15 days straight. Thats a lot of knowledge being pounded into my brain. All I want to do is sleep as soon as Im done for the day. I don't even want to veg out with tv really, I just want bedtime.

And food. But that's because I somehow stupidly decided to pair this experience with the Clean diet, but Im hoping ill end up being ok with that. At most I will get an hour of work out a day while I'm here on days that I can get up early enough to hit the gym.

Anyways, I wanted to post a few thoughts every day while I was here, just pass on bits of interesting facts or personal lightbulbs as I go. It won't be as in-depth as it could be, or I would be typing twelve hours a day, because its all fascinating. But here's a MINISCULE teeny mini mind snatch of Day 1 & 2.


Day One: Introductions

• "Do what challenges you the most"
• Realization that I've been instructed incorrectly through 99% of yoga classes
• Balancing the body is far more complex than you would think it is. 
• I have tightened up so much and lost so much of my fluid flexibility. Lost so much / tight
• I'm really struggling with my desire to train to build this muscle like I have for the past year, knowing that I am now struggling with what used to come easy in yoga.
• However, I do know I can build back to it rather easily, because I haven't lost as much ground as it feels.

Day Two: Group practice, Theory, Anatomy, Partner/Acro Yoga

• "98% of your body is brand new every 365 days"
• Pigeon is a horrible pose for the mass majority of us.
• Most of us have been doing Triangle wrong for years.
• Emily and I  created a new partner yoga pose, "Horse pulls the Plow"
• AcroYoga is the scariest fun you can do with just your body.

A FULL weekend.

Things that made me happy this weekend:
New (to me) flat screen for the bedroom
Getting past a tough spot in Nancy Drew
Various items dipped in Nutella
16.5 mile run today
Sweating nine gallons during hot yoga yesterday
Delicious dill mushrooms and raisin spinach
Working on friend's birthday gifts
20 mile bike ride
French toast and eggs at Newtons with the family
Borders going out of business sale
Paying $8 for my Cipro meds
Skyline, Ninja Assassin, Gullivers Travels, and Marmaduke
Copious episodes of Ally McBeal
Baked Trevor muffins
Chipotle Burrito Bowl and cheesecake
A happy weight on the scale this morning
Relaxed muscles
A lot of Tucker Max's audio book

Things that made me unhappy:
Gas prices
Typhoid pills make me sick
Olivia broke a bowl
Tomorrow is Monday

December = Dramas in Traveling.

Saturday:
The snow hits. It had rained most of the morning, ok, I can handle that.
11:00am, the snow just starts pounding down. And doesnt stop. The wind kicks up. And doesn't slow. Our flight leaves at 6am the next morning, we decide to go down to Cedar Rapids after I'm done with work around 10. Priceline a hotel for $50.

2:00 I head to work and start to worry bigtime. It takes extra time to get the four blocks to work. The drive to Cedar Rapids might be too much. Let alone the fact that we are flying through Detroit....

4:30 I get a text from Tim while I'm working that our flight has been cancelled. But we are on a 1:30pm flight. Well, there goes $50 and the entire Sunday afternoon we had planned in Boston (our original flight was supposed to get in at 12:15, now its 7:30) Cue my breakdown. It's small, but its an entire afternoon, and we only have so much time as it is.

Sometime between 7 and 9, still at work, Tim texts that he got us a flight from Des Moines at 11:30am, we still don't get there until 6:30ish, BUT its not through Detroit, its through Memphis, which is way more likely to actually get us out on time than somewhere that got even more snow than us. Now the catch is that our return flight is into Cedar Rapids, so we can't take a car to Des Moines. Tim gives our two options. My parent's are still in Chicago for the weekend, so that leaves his mom, or Nate, who was going back down later in the day anyway. Clearly I would like to have my sanity after five minutes, so I opt the Nate route. He graciously (thank you a million times over) lets us get his butt up before dawn to brave the GUSTS of wind and drifts to make it to Des Moines in time.

Sunday:
6:40am Nate shows up, and it takes us a good fifteen minutes to just get out of town. Drifts are bad, wind is bad. We all think are are insane. But about half an hour in, the roads start to clear. The wind didn't die down, but we are able to kick up from 30mph to a bit faster. By the time we get to Story City we are going 65. No problem. What's that mean? Breakfast break!

9:20am We make it to the DM airport. Check is is busy, but easy. Security is a breeze. Play the waiting game at the gate with my beloved internet.

11:30-takeoff. Takeoff and landing were rough. Probably one of the roughest I've been a part of. The wind gusts were still strong. Tim might have some bruises from my grip. He'll live. I'm just glad I lived! Ugh, I hate flying.

1:00pm We land. Awesome. We get through the Memphis airport, snag some KILLER bbq pork sandwich to share since dinner won't be til 8ish. It was fantastic. Feelin good, even though I know takeoff won't be easy. And then.

The lady gets on the intercom to what i think will be announce boarding. Only its not. Its to say that there is a two hour delay. Straight off the bat, due to Logan. I wanted to scream. ARGH. 4:30 wheels up time. So now, this puts us in even later than if we had made the 1:30 flight and gotten to sleep in (granted, that flight was cancelled too, so its moot, but still!). I was pissed. Got some internet, ready to hunker down, fully expecting them to make it even later a delay eventually. This is why we don't fly into Logan late. They get BACKED up. So now. 9 hours behind.

3:00. Half hour after our supposed take off, lady gets back to tell us that its still a 4:30 wheels up. Midsentence. Pauses. Says that we are going to begin boarding now. i could have skipped to Boston with how happy I was. So pumped.

3:45, takeoff. Rough takeoff. But i expected it. More bruises to Tim's limbs. But on the way to Boston!!!! With a 7pm ETA. Super rough landing. Clutching for my life. Grabbed our bags straight from the belt, got a taxi and zoomed on in.

Tim hasn't been here for a year and a half, while for me its only been four months, so its a bit crazier for him. Checked in to the hotel, only to straight back out, into the pouring rain. I couldnt be any happier walking in te pouring rain down to Fanueil Hall. Tim wanted Cheers, but after being seated changed our minds, ate an obligatory chowder and then went over to Bertuccis for caprese salad. Midwest, learn it. Its not that hard.

CVS run for waters and breakfast for tomorrow. And now I am going to crash. Hard. And I already feel fat....oops.

Running Ragged!

Good Lord people! I feel like August is trying to kill me! The past two weekends have been crazy, Des Moines, Farmer's Markets, up to Minneapolis for shopping and Something Corporate, Des Moines, Tims work training, friend's birthdays, new yoga, more shopping, more friend time!

And now, the next two weekends will be even crazier. Next weekend (aka 5 days) is Boston for an engagement party and hanging with old friends and the madre. Then two days later Tim and I spend five days in San Francisco playing tourist and seeing more old friends. Then a few days later, back up north to see Ms. Lady Gaga. Insanity. Me and my Civic are the bestest of friends as of now. My back and I, do not share the same loving relationship. Here's the craziness so far!

Strawberry Rhubarb Coffeecake at the Farmer's Market.

Des Moines might actually be good for something! HUGE Farmer's Markets.

Lots of sunsets in the car.

I only have a few moments at home these days. Olivia misses me lots!

Tim saw these and asked if we were moving back to Boston. Skinny jeans still baffle me.

Not the dress I ended up getting, but I still totally dug it.

Something Corporate. I took video of the entire 9minutes of Konstantine. Love.

Emcal loves her some birthday $1 margarita.