To say that the last week of school was hectic would be an understatement. As I think back on that week I can't believe the range of emotions that my classmates and I went through. The last Sunday-Friday was packed with so much that it nearly broke folks. Well, I say that loosely, but it was intense.
We started the week last Sunday with posture clinic where we learned some of the last postures in our manual and gathering information about the final written exam, which was the next day. All along we were given practice tests that corresponded with what we were learning each week and we were assured that we had all the info we needed to pass the test and pass it well. I have to admit that I wasn't too worried about it, but some folks had lots of anxiety. So it was challenging to be in that vibe. To say that Sunday was tense around the place is an understatement.
After a full days work, we were given the last section of the day to study. I didn't push too hard because I knew I would pass. I know that might sound like my ego talking, but I really believed that they had set us up to win. Also, I leaned on my nyama Ishvar-Pranidhana (Surrender) as I went into the test. That doesn't mean I didn't study, it just meant that I did all I could and I was leaving the rest to the Creator.
On Monday after morning Sadhana and breakfast, we took our written exam. I felt really good about it. I knew that I probably got a few wrong, but I was not going to beat myself up about it. After all the tests were turned in, there was no time to think about how we did as we were right back in posture clinic getting ready for our third practice teach, which was the next day. No rest for the weary. On the upside, when we came back from lunch we found out that we all passed the test! Yeah! On to the next challenge.
Practice Teach 3
As I told you before, I'm a crammer. By Monday night I had written a few things and had a few ideas for my class sequence. On Sunday I found out that I was going last for my teach on Tuesday. With this in mind I thought I would make the class gentle since it would be the last of the day for my group. At practice teach prep the staff gave us the information for what to expect the next day and then let us go early to work on our teach. Some folks stayed in the room together, but I went to the sauna. I needed some head space to that I could put my plan together. I sat in the sauna for a while and was able to put most of my plan together in my head. After the sauna, I headed to the sanctuary where I always studied and pulled my plan together. I wrote it out, walked it through for myself, said a prayer and headed to bed.
Tuesday was big on so many levels. It was election day and practice teach 3. I couldn't even think about the election until the day we done. I was in a great auditam group for the third time around. Peter, Laura, Ray and I really connected. I was really excited to work with them and to be a support for them.
The day was long. After supporting my group it was finally my turn to teach. By that time I wasn't nervous; I was really just ready to go. I centered myself, a passage was read to the whole class and then it was time to teach my first 1 hour class. So how did I do? I knocked it out of the park! There were certain pranayams and postures that we were required to do and I got everything in. There is so much to think about when teaching, but I just took a breath and let spirit take over. It was like nothing else. Well actually it was like singing. I made it though with ease and I am so thankful. When I finished I thought I would have a feeling of relief that I was over, but I really just felt high like I was floating. I am so looking forward to teaching again. Susan, the staff member who worked with me during my last teach, gave me some great feedback and we even set goals for my next class, which will be back in New York. I love that it feels like the mentoring continues. It was such a great day. Amazing!
Celebration!
Tuesday night was a reason to celebrate on so many fronts. We passed our written exam, we all really rocked our last practice teaches and many of us we were hoping to re-elect a president. So for the first time since I arrived there, I went out to a bar. I didn't drink because I hadn't touched anything for nearly a month and election or no election we still had to be at sadhana at 6:30am. We went to a cool spot in Lenox to watch the returns, but the funny thing is that folks started to head back to Kripalu about 9 or 9:30pm because that was our bed time. At that time Romney was up a bit in the electoral vote and some folks were really worried. I, on the other hand, was not.
I have to tell you that I was never really worried. Maybe I should have been, but I really wasn't. I knew the president would be re-elected. There was just something in my spirit that said yes. At the time we left the bar, the west coast hadn't even come in. I knew that the whole left was going to light up blue. Yes there was the question of Ohio, but for some reason I didn't think that would be an issue either.
When we got back to Kripalu, I stayed up. I got on my computer and just checked the internet and jumped on facebook to keep up with what was going on. The only other folks that stayed up with me were Monica and DeAnna. Oh Ben and Brooke were up too, but they were in the dining room and we were in the cafe. Monica, DeAnna and I were sitting and chatting when at about 11:45pm a woman came dancing down the hallway saying that Obama won! What??!! So we logged on to CNN and there it was. I also looked on facebook and everyone was in agreement. It was over and before midnight!!! I wanted to go wake up my roommates, well at least the ones who cared, to let them know, but I choose not to. They would know soon enough. So then we waited for Romney to concede so that the president could speak. By the time the president re-elect spoke, Monica had called it a night because it was almost 2am. DeAnna and I knew we would be hurting the next day, but we had to see it. I'm so glad I stayed up. I was hurting the next day for sure, but it was worth it.
My B'earthday
Wednesday thru Friday were a lot less physical, but a lot more emotional. It was my b'earthday on Wednesday and Kripalu has a special b'earthday song that they sing for people on their day and it's a pretty cool song. I got many a b'earthday greeting that day, folks sang happy birthday to me in the dining room out of the blue, which was sweet, and even got a gift. Oh, I actually got an early gift from my parents in the form of a massage, which I really needed. I hadn't cried much over the four weeks during training. In fact I might have cried once and it was quick and done. Well after Wednesday night the tears started to flow. There was so much to be thankful for and the day of departure was getting closer. I was ready to go home, but I was starting to get really sad to leave these men and women who had become my family. The tears just started coming and really didn't stop until Friday afternoon.
Thursday was our final posture clinic, but it was really time for us to ask questions have a conversation with our teachers Devarshi and Megha. When that conversation ended we sang our morning prayers and chanted our near final Om together and that just broke everyone. We had to laugh because the whole room was crying. What happened to us? LOL!
That night was our graduation celebration. We honored our teachers and ourselves that night. People had been asking me to sing all month and that night I got a chance to finally share. I was not the only person with musical talent by far. Alicia R. played piano, Peter played guitar, harmonica and piano, Andrew played guitar and sang, Dana played Uke, Michael played guitar and sang, a little comedy and percussion from Barry, and Jill played percussion as well. Bonnie and Jill also play the Uke and Michelle playsDulcimer! There were many beautiful voices in the crew included Jess, Lyneel, Eva, and many more. Oh and how could I forget Alex who put together a slideshow of our month. Our teachers cried tears of joy and seemed to have an overall good time. We gave them massages and sang lots of Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya. It was a beautiful night.
Graduation
Friday was graduation. Temple Sadhana in the morning was wonderful and the actual graduation was beautiful. There continued to be tears and feelings of great joy. I kept thinking about all of you who supported me on this journey. I could not have done it without your spiritual and monetary support. I am so blessed and I realize that even more now.
As we prepared to leave on Friday afternoon I said my farewells to the people who had been my family all month. Sixty-two people who I thought I would never really get to know, but by the end I knew them all. It's still hard to believe. I have a brand new community and new friends all over the world. From Germany to Panama and Cali to Wisconsin and back to Massachusetts. I have a brand new sangha and I am truly thankful.
Going Home
My classmate Odetta came back to my parents house with me. We spent one more day together because she wasn't flying back to the UK until Sunday. So she stayed with me and my family for one day. She actually ended up meeting my whole family in that day, grandparents too. Then on Saturday night I drove her to the airport and dropped off my soul sister. It was so crazy to say farewell to her. I thought all of my tears were done, but when we looked at each other the tears came back to my eyes and my heart felt like it was breaking. She was my final physical connection to the last month. As I pulled away, she blew kisses. My mom laughed and I cried. I know my mother probably thought I was little crazy, but oh well. That's just the way I felt. I'm glad I will be seeing Odetta again when I head to Europe this winter. :-)
I'm now at my parents house in MA and I'll head back to Brooklyn on Monday. It's back to rehearsal and shows and life as I knew it, but it will be different for sure. It's back to finding a place to hold my classes and reconnecting with people that I left behind for a month. I'm ready to go back to New York and for some reason I feel like going swimming. It's strange, but I must make that happen. For all the yoga I did last month I don't think I lost a bit of weight because the food was so good! But I am stronger. I'm physically and spiritually stronger. I gained so much through this experience. I wish I really had time to break it all down here, but you will see it. It will show.
The title of the blog is E.S.R.I.T., which stands for Enter, Sustain, Release, Integrate, Transition. This acronym is talking about getting in and out of postures, but to me it's a metaphor for my life right now. I Entered into yoga school, I Sustained and held on through the process, I was Released on the day that I graduated, it is now time to Integrate what I have learned into my life and Transition into a new journey. A life where I am doing exactly what I want to do every day of the week and living from what I love.
I am saying Yes to life and a big Hell Yeah to yoga! I'm excited about the possibilities that lye ahead. I can't wait to continue to share my yoga adventures with you. I love you all so much! You rock!
Jai Bhagwan!
Showing posts with label Lenox. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lenox. Show all posts
Monday, November 12, 2012
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Kripalu Yoga Teacher Training ~ Practice Teach 2/Man Down
Well it's been quite and week and it ain't over yet. Before I get into what happened the night and day of Practice Teach 2 I'll explain the "Man Down" part of my title.
Two weeks into the program, which is the half way point, Joe one of my classmates, dropped out of the program. I was really shocked, but he was struggling with his health since he arrived here. In fact he went to the hospital due to dehydration in the early days of the program, but that being said I still didn't think he would drop out. That really threw me. I know how much it takes for people to get here and it kind of broke my heart. I know if something happened and I had to leave it would be devastating considering all the work I had put in for two weeks and all the support that you all have given me along the way. So we had to say so long to Joe. Actually I didn't even get to say goodbye. One night he was there and the next night he was gone. He was a good guy I wish him well. So that actually makes two of our classmates that have left the program either on their own (Joe) or due to circumstances beyond their control (Scott). The man count keeps going down in our class. So as of now, the last men standing are Barry, Troy, Peter, Andrew, Ben, Alex and Michael. Stay strong guys!
Moving on to brighter notes, I had an awesome Practice Teach 2! Of course there is always room for improvement, but it was pretty amazing. But before all that was the Hurricane Sandy watch. We were also on alert here in the Berkshires, and it did hit us for sure. It was nothing like NYC, NJ or CT, but she still came through.
Sandy hit the night before the practice teach. I was having a crappy day and everyone kept asking me if I was ok. They said I looked sad and thought I was worried about folks in NY. Honestly I thought my people would be OK and I was really PMSing and needed some space that day. LOL. I love these folks, but after living together for almost a month I can't wait to get back into my own bed and not have to carry my toiletries to the bathroom. I know you feel me.
As I had mentioned before, I am a crammer. So on Monday night I took my spot in the Kripalu sanctuary and began to put together my practice teach. As I mentioned before, it's not that I don't have any idea what I'm going to do, but I let things swirl around in my head for a while before I put them on paper and Monday was no exception. I also sometimes like to go back to my room after everyone has gone to sleep so that night I stayed out until about 12:30am. By the time I was on my way to bed Sandy was in full swing. In the sanctuary you could hardly see the rain or hear the wind, but when I went upstairs to the forth floor on the other side of the building, the wind and rain were raging. It felt like the windows could blow. Now that was scary! So I quickly headed back downstairs to go to bed.
Now, we never lock the door in the room where I stay because there are 22 women in the room. Did I mention that before? With that in mind there are so many people coming and going at all times that there is no need to lock the door. Well that night I got locked out. Only briefly, but still I couldn't believe it. I know exactly what happened, but of course I was caught out there with no key. So I had to knock on the door to have someone get up and let me in the night before the teach! I really felt bad, but that, but folks understood.
Then I was getting ready to get in bed and had taken my pants off, when my roommate Alicia taps me on the shoulder and tells me there is water leaking on her from above the bed. Seriously?? OK. So I ask her what she wants to do and she says she's going to the front desk to let them know and see if she can find another spot to stay in. I waited for her to come back and she said they gave her another room to sleep in for the night. Cool! I'm about to get back in back, when there is knock at the door and three maintenance guys come marching in and I'm in my drawers! They head strait to were the leak is, which gave me a minute to duck out of sight and put some pants on (damn!) and then I went and spoke to Alicia. I asked her if she wanted me to come sleep with her in the new spot and she was kind of hemming and hawing, which meant yes to me (and it did) so I went to sleep with her in the other room. We get to the new spot, set the alarm, turn on the ceiling fan because the new room is stuffy and hot and then head to sleep.
Now it's about 1:30am or so. Maybe later. I finally get to sleep and then wake up again at about 3:30am. Strange bed and all. I look up at the ceiling fan and it's moving slower, but I thought that maybe Alicia got up to turn it down. So I went back to sleep. Next I wake up at 5:45am. When I look up the fan has stopped and the clock is out, and I knew what was next. No power. So Alicia and I decided to get up and go back to the other room since we had to be up soon anyway. When we opened the door to the room the emergency hallway lights were on. Damn! No electricity. We were told that the generators would come on, but that was clearly not happening at that point. So Alicia and I walked back to the room and were trying to decide if we should wake people up because a lot of folks were using the room clock to wake up, which would clearly be out. Turns out most of them knew that the power was out and people were looking for me and Alicia. Everyone had slept through all that commotion from the night before. Crazy. Now we are all preparing for our practice teach in the dark or semi-dark. The building provided lanterns in the hallways and also some of the emergency lights were. It was quite a scene.
Practice Teach 2
I went first in class to do my teach. I was actually glad about it because then I would have the whole rest of the day off. I would just be doing yoga for the rest of the day as a student in the class for the rest of my group. By the time we were ready to start the generator power was on so we had lights.
I started my teach and everything was going really well. This time around I had to teach Virabhadrasana Eka (Warrior 1) and guide Virabhadrasana Dwi (Warrior 2), Kapalabhati breath (breath of fire) and Nadi Shodhana (alternate nostril breathing) with the sanskrit names, plus two more postures. I felt way more comfortable this time, which makes sense. I feel that my personality came through in this teach. I think the thing that really impressed me was that during my teach, the lights went out again, but I was so in the zone that I didn't even flinch. I remember it happening and I just kept it moving. There was light coming in from the windows so it was no sweat. I stayed so deep in the zone that the lights came back on and I didn't even notice. It was a lot of fun. Nerve racking, but fun!
So Practice Teach 2 is done! We are already talking about 3. I can't believe we are over half way done with this process. What a journey and it ain't over yet. I'm going to wrap this up, but don't forget there is still time to give. I'm just gonna keep going till they kick me out next week. LOL! Thank you all so much! What a blessing!
Well folks, it's 11:08 and well past my bed time. I just wanted to give you a little something to get you through. Next week is the election. PLEASE VOTE!!! That's all I'm gonna say! Thank you again so much and I'll be back with you shortly! Thank you again!!!
Jai Bahgwan!
Two weeks into the program, which is the half way point, Joe one of my classmates, dropped out of the program. I was really shocked, but he was struggling with his health since he arrived here. In fact he went to the hospital due to dehydration in the early days of the program, but that being said I still didn't think he would drop out. That really threw me. I know how much it takes for people to get here and it kind of broke my heart. I know if something happened and I had to leave it would be devastating considering all the work I had put in for two weeks and all the support that you all have given me along the way. So we had to say so long to Joe. Actually I didn't even get to say goodbye. One night he was there and the next night he was gone. He was a good guy I wish him well. So that actually makes two of our classmates that have left the program either on their own (Joe) or due to circumstances beyond their control (Scott). The man count keeps going down in our class. So as of now, the last men standing are Barry, Troy, Peter, Andrew, Ben, Alex and Michael. Stay strong guys!
Moving on to brighter notes, I had an awesome Practice Teach 2! Of course there is always room for improvement, but it was pretty amazing. But before all that was the Hurricane Sandy watch. We were also on alert here in the Berkshires, and it did hit us for sure. It was nothing like NYC, NJ or CT, but she still came through.
Sandy hit the night before the practice teach. I was having a crappy day and everyone kept asking me if I was ok. They said I looked sad and thought I was worried about folks in NY. Honestly I thought my people would be OK and I was really PMSing and needed some space that day. LOL. I love these folks, but after living together for almost a month I can't wait to get back into my own bed and not have to carry my toiletries to the bathroom. I know you feel me.
As I had mentioned before, I am a crammer. So on Monday night I took my spot in the Kripalu sanctuary and began to put together my practice teach. As I mentioned before, it's not that I don't have any idea what I'm going to do, but I let things swirl around in my head for a while before I put them on paper and Monday was no exception. I also sometimes like to go back to my room after everyone has gone to sleep so that night I stayed out until about 12:30am. By the time I was on my way to bed Sandy was in full swing. In the sanctuary you could hardly see the rain or hear the wind, but when I went upstairs to the forth floor on the other side of the building, the wind and rain were raging. It felt like the windows could blow. Now that was scary! So I quickly headed back downstairs to go to bed.
Now, we never lock the door in the room where I stay because there are 22 women in the room. Did I mention that before? With that in mind there are so many people coming and going at all times that there is no need to lock the door. Well that night I got locked out. Only briefly, but still I couldn't believe it. I know exactly what happened, but of course I was caught out there with no key. So I had to knock on the door to have someone get up and let me in the night before the teach! I really felt bad, but that, but folks understood.
Then I was getting ready to get in bed and had taken my pants off, when my roommate Alicia taps me on the shoulder and tells me there is water leaking on her from above the bed. Seriously?? OK. So I ask her what she wants to do and she says she's going to the front desk to let them know and see if she can find another spot to stay in. I waited for her to come back and she said they gave her another room to sleep in for the night. Cool! I'm about to get back in back, when there is knock at the door and three maintenance guys come marching in and I'm in my drawers! They head strait to were the leak is, which gave me a minute to duck out of sight and put some pants on (damn!) and then I went and spoke to Alicia. I asked her if she wanted me to come sleep with her in the new spot and she was kind of hemming and hawing, which meant yes to me (and it did) so I went to sleep with her in the other room. We get to the new spot, set the alarm, turn on the ceiling fan because the new room is stuffy and hot and then head to sleep.
Now it's about 1:30am or so. Maybe later. I finally get to sleep and then wake up again at about 3:30am. Strange bed and all. I look up at the ceiling fan and it's moving slower, but I thought that maybe Alicia got up to turn it down. So I went back to sleep. Next I wake up at 5:45am. When I look up the fan has stopped and the clock is out, and I knew what was next. No power. So Alicia and I decided to get up and go back to the other room since we had to be up soon anyway. When we opened the door to the room the emergency hallway lights were on. Damn! No electricity. We were told that the generators would come on, but that was clearly not happening at that point. So Alicia and I walked back to the room and were trying to decide if we should wake people up because a lot of folks were using the room clock to wake up, which would clearly be out. Turns out most of them knew that the power was out and people were looking for me and Alicia. Everyone had slept through all that commotion from the night before. Crazy. Now we are all preparing for our practice teach in the dark or semi-dark. The building provided lanterns in the hallways and also some of the emergency lights were. It was quite a scene.
Practice Teach 2
I went first in class to do my teach. I was actually glad about it because then I would have the whole rest of the day off. I would just be doing yoga for the rest of the day as a student in the class for the rest of my group. By the time we were ready to start the generator power was on so we had lights.
I started my teach and everything was going really well. This time around I had to teach Virabhadrasana Eka (Warrior 1) and guide Virabhadrasana Dwi (Warrior 2), Kapalabhati breath (breath of fire) and Nadi Shodhana (alternate nostril breathing) with the sanskrit names, plus two more postures. I felt way more comfortable this time, which makes sense. I feel that my personality came through in this teach. I think the thing that really impressed me was that during my teach, the lights went out again, but I was so in the zone that I didn't even flinch. I remember it happening and I just kept it moving. There was light coming in from the windows so it was no sweat. I stayed so deep in the zone that the lights came back on and I didn't even notice. It was a lot of fun. Nerve racking, but fun!
So Practice Teach 2 is done! We are already talking about 3. I can't believe we are over half way done with this process. What a journey and it ain't over yet. I'm going to wrap this up, but don't forget there is still time to give. I'm just gonna keep going till they kick me out next week. LOL! Thank you all so much! What a blessing!
Well folks, it's 11:08 and well past my bed time. I just wanted to give you a little something to get you through. Next week is the election. PLEASE VOTE!!! That's all I'm gonna say! Thank you again so much and I'll be back with you shortly! Thank you again!!!
Jai Bahgwan!
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Kripalu Yoga Teacher Training ~ Week 2!
I can't believe week 2 is over. I am half way thought this process! Sometimes the weeks feel so long and it seems like Saturday is never going to come. The thing is, I'm in no rush for it to be over, but I, and I would dare say my whole class, feel like we are working for the weekend. LOL. The thing is we don't get a whole weekend. We get Friday night after 6pm and Saturday off and Tuesday after practice teach. So here I am in the small town of Lenox, MA once again, drinking a chai latte and breaking it all down for you. This blog could be really log, but I'm going to do my best not to make it too crazy.
This time around I'm going to start with the animals. I don't know how I kept forgetting to talk about them. First, there is a rabbit that lives on the premises and he or she comes out all the time and eats lunch with us when we sit outside. We, eating our kale and the rabbit eating the nearby plants. It's very sweet and the rabbit seems not to be phased by us at all. Then last week when I was walking home from Lenox I saw a deer eating off of a tree at Tanglewood. That was an amazing site because it was so close to me. Really beautiful. Then for the final and most strange animal encounter. One day I was in my room with a few of my other roommates, trying to take a nap. All of a sudden we heard this loud tapping and looked out the window and there was this HUGE crow tapping on the window with its beak. When we walked closer to the window it seemed to fly off, but then it came back and tapped away for a while. It was like he was trying to get someones attention. So I jokingly said, who has got the crow as an animal totem in here and it turned out that my roommate Suzane actually has a crow as her animal totem! So I think he came to see if she was home so they could talk. LOL. Honestly I don't know, but I do know that it was amazing to see, but a little too close to Alfred Hitchcock for me. LOL!
Last night for our evening yoga class we had a guest teacher named Jay. He's a real athletic looking guy so we knew this class was going to be kick-ass for sure and he told us so in so many words. But he was a really great teacher and even though he was making us work, he was making sure we had a lot of fun falling down. After dinner he taught an arm-balancing class, which was great. I have a special shoulder so I'm always curious as to how far I can go with it. Well last night I did a forearm stand on my own! Well for about 2.9 seconds, but I was up there! Hey, you have to start somewhere. We also worked on handstand, tripod headstand, crow, side crow, scorpion (which will be another lifetime to get into for most of us) and a few other poses that kicked my butt. But we had so much fun trying that it was an amazing class. It was one of our optional classes, but I'm so glad I took my time out to go. Now I have some idea of how to teach and assist people in arm balances. There is still so much to learn, but I'm so glad a have a bit of a foundation in that area. I'm going to get his DVD and keep working on my core. Yeah arm balances!
Well kids, Practice Teach 2 is coming up. Feels like we just did the first one and here we are again. So this time we have to teach for 45 minutes and we must include Warriors 1 & 2 and Nadi Shodhana and Kaplabhati pranayama (breath). Just to give myself a little test, I'll tell you that the sanskrit for warriors 1 and 2 is Virabhadrasana Eka and Dwi. As far as the breath, Nadi Shodhana is alternate nostril breathing and Kapalabhati, which is known in some circles as the breath of fire, is where you breath with a rapid inhale and a passive exhale through the nose. It's also called skull polishing breath because it helps to clear the mind. Not bad for not book in front of me. I will admit I had to look up a couple spellings, but I'll be speaking it way more than writing it so I feel good about that! As I said in my last blog, I'm a crammer. I think about what I want to do for some time before it actually hits the page or the stage. So that will probably happen again for this teach as well. On Monday night I'll be getting it all together and I'll report back on Tuesday night. :-D
So I'll leave you on this fine Saturday with this. I'm not sure if I said this before, but here in school we are also learning the Yamas and Niyamas (I'll break them down for you later.). Anyway, I picked the Niyama of Ishvar-Pranidhana (surrender, opening to the Universe) to practice for the month and beyond. Surrender can be really challenging for me and I'm sure many of us. Especially living in New York, when waiting for anything is hard for us to fathom. So I am working on both surrender and opening. This niyama really much to my yoga practice on the mat as well. If I can't find surrender in the poses and I'm always tight or holding then I will not be able to open to all the benefits and gifts that are inside the postures. So, surrender. I'm trying not to think too hard out here. It can make you mad and I don't mean angry. LOL. Just trying to sit with what I've got and always have gratitude. Surrender and be open to receive.
Thanks so much for continuing to share this journey with me. Remember we have almost reached out goal! Thank you for all who have donated and those whose donations are still to come. Have a wonderful week and I'll check in on Tuesday night!
Jai Bhagwan!
This time around I'm going to start with the animals. I don't know how I kept forgetting to talk about them. First, there is a rabbit that lives on the premises and he or she comes out all the time and eats lunch with us when we sit outside. We, eating our kale and the rabbit eating the nearby plants. It's very sweet and the rabbit seems not to be phased by us at all. Then last week when I was walking home from Lenox I saw a deer eating off of a tree at Tanglewood. That was an amazing site because it was so close to me. Really beautiful. Then for the final and most strange animal encounter. One day I was in my room with a few of my other roommates, trying to take a nap. All of a sudden we heard this loud tapping and looked out the window and there was this HUGE crow tapping on the window with its beak. When we walked closer to the window it seemed to fly off, but then it came back and tapped away for a while. It was like he was trying to get someones attention. So I jokingly said, who has got the crow as an animal totem in here and it turned out that my roommate Suzane actually has a crow as her animal totem! So I think he came to see if she was home so they could talk. LOL. Honestly I don't know, but I do know that it was amazing to see, but a little too close to Alfred Hitchcock for me. LOL!
Last night for our evening yoga class we had a guest teacher named Jay. He's a real athletic looking guy so we knew this class was going to be kick-ass for sure and he told us so in so many words. But he was a really great teacher and even though he was making us work, he was making sure we had a lot of fun falling down. After dinner he taught an arm-balancing class, which was great. I have a special shoulder so I'm always curious as to how far I can go with it. Well last night I did a forearm stand on my own! Well for about 2.9 seconds, but I was up there! Hey, you have to start somewhere. We also worked on handstand, tripod headstand, crow, side crow, scorpion (which will be another lifetime to get into for most of us) and a few other poses that kicked my butt. But we had so much fun trying that it was an amazing class. It was one of our optional classes, but I'm so glad I took my time out to go. Now I have some idea of how to teach and assist people in arm balances. There is still so much to learn, but I'm so glad a have a bit of a foundation in that area. I'm going to get his DVD and keep working on my core. Yeah arm balances!
Well kids, Practice Teach 2 is coming up. Feels like we just did the first one and here we are again. So this time we have to teach for 45 minutes and we must include Warriors 1 & 2 and Nadi Shodhana and Kaplabhati pranayama (breath). Just to give myself a little test, I'll tell you that the sanskrit for warriors 1 and 2 is Virabhadrasana Eka and Dwi. As far as the breath, Nadi Shodhana is alternate nostril breathing and Kapalabhati, which is known in some circles as the breath of fire, is where you breath with a rapid inhale and a passive exhale through the nose. It's also called skull polishing breath because it helps to clear the mind. Not bad for not book in front of me. I will admit I had to look up a couple spellings, but I'll be speaking it way more than writing it so I feel good about that! As I said in my last blog, I'm a crammer. I think about what I want to do for some time before it actually hits the page or the stage. So that will probably happen again for this teach as well. On Monday night I'll be getting it all together and I'll report back on Tuesday night. :-D
So I'll leave you on this fine Saturday with this. I'm not sure if I said this before, but here in school we are also learning the Yamas and Niyamas (I'll break them down for you later.). Anyway, I picked the Niyama of Ishvar-Pranidhana (surrender, opening to the Universe) to practice for the month and beyond. Surrender can be really challenging for me and I'm sure many of us. Especially living in New York, when waiting for anything is hard for us to fathom. So I am working on both surrender and opening. This niyama really much to my yoga practice on the mat as well. If I can't find surrender in the poses and I'm always tight or holding then I will not be able to open to all the benefits and gifts that are inside the postures. So, surrender. I'm trying not to think too hard out here. It can make you mad and I don't mean angry. LOL. Just trying to sit with what I've got and always have gratitude. Surrender and be open to receive.
Thanks so much for continuing to share this journey with me. Remember we have almost reached out goal! Thank you for all who have donated and those whose donations are still to come. Have a wonderful week and I'll check in on Tuesday night!
Jai Bhagwan!
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Kripalu Yoga Teacher Training ~ One Week Down!
I have finished my first week of yoga school! I can't believe it's been a week already because the days feel very long here. We are up and in class every day at 6:30am. We are not in yoga class at people think of it, all day long, but we are indeed doing yoga all day long.
I feel like I have so much to share and no time to share it. When the end of the day comes I'm often too tired to think about blogging or there is other work to be done. But I will take the time to share a bit.
I am staying in a dorm with about 25 other women. I know that seems like a lot, but since we are all on the same schedule one would have to be way out of pocket to really step on anyone's toes. We are very mindful of the schedule. As I said the days are long. Classes begin at 6:30am and most days end at 9pm. So if you can sleep, you would want to go to bed at 10pm. I say if you can sleep because I and some of the other folks had trouble sleeping at first.
There are about 65 of us taking the training from all over the world. There are folks here from Germany and the UK as well as California, Wisconsin, Ohio and of course all over the east coast. It never fails that when I'm in a group of new people I will always find a person or two who remind me of people I already know. There is also several generations of people in the training. We are ages 18-67! There are a few men in the class; about 6 to be exact and I thought I was the only African-American women in my class, which honestly I wouldn't have been surprised about. But then I learned that one of my classmates who I thought was Latina is actual mixed (mother German, father black). There are a few other people of color in the class. A woman from Panama, one from Mexico, one from Korea and one of our teachers is from Singapore. I am so inspired by everyone in class for very different reasons.
I am on information overload, which was to be expected. I am not really nervous about the written test we have take at the end, but next week is our first practice teach. Although I have been practicing yoga for 10 years there is so much to remember when actually teaching a class. The thing I have always been fascinated about most when in yoga class at home is how the teachers can get into postures and talk at the same time! We are doing that here too and I wonder how that is going to be for me. Also the mirroring thing (left is right and right is left) has me a little shook. LOL! But I'm working on it.
I walked this morning with a couple of women from my training to the small town of Lenox, MA. It's an amazing fall day. To me, there is no better place to be in the fall then New England. I might be a little bias being from MA, but it brings back a lot of memories. They went on to explore the town and I'm here in a little coffee shop getting my homework (meaning this blog) done. Is it 65 degrees here and just an amazing day. The weather since I arrived has been some of the best fall weather I've felt in ages. I really love small towns. I'm the kind of person who either needs city or country. That in between thing just doesn't do it for me. So Lenox looks like heaven. It's easy to see why James Taylor and Carly Simon lived in Stockbridge, which is the next town over. I am really happy. I can't explain it, but it all feels so good.
Thank you so much for all of your continued support. I have almost reached my fundraising goal. I am $245 away! Thank You! Thank You! If you didn't get to read about my first day of yoga school please take am moment to ready the blog below.
I will leave you with this saying from Swami Kripau who the center is named after. This really resonated with me as it reminds me of "Right Speech," which one part of the Buddhist Eightfold Path.
"Before speaking, consider whether it is an improvement upon silence." ~ Swami Kripalu
Namaste.
I feel like I have so much to share and no time to share it. When the end of the day comes I'm often too tired to think about blogging or there is other work to be done. But I will take the time to share a bit.
I am staying in a dorm with about 25 other women. I know that seems like a lot, but since we are all on the same schedule one would have to be way out of pocket to really step on anyone's toes. We are very mindful of the schedule. As I said the days are long. Classes begin at 6:30am and most days end at 9pm. So if you can sleep, you would want to go to bed at 10pm. I say if you can sleep because I and some of the other folks had trouble sleeping at first.
There are about 65 of us taking the training from all over the world. There are folks here from Germany and the UK as well as California, Wisconsin, Ohio and of course all over the east coast. It never fails that when I'm in a group of new people I will always find a person or two who remind me of people I already know. There is also several generations of people in the training. We are ages 18-67! There are a few men in the class; about 6 to be exact and I thought I was the only African-American women in my class, which honestly I wouldn't have been surprised about. But then I learned that one of my classmates who I thought was Latina is actual mixed (mother German, father black). There are a few other people of color in the class. A woman from Panama, one from Mexico, one from Korea and one of our teachers is from Singapore. I am so inspired by everyone in class for very different reasons.
I am on information overload, which was to be expected. I am not really nervous about the written test we have take at the end, but next week is our first practice teach. Although I have been practicing yoga for 10 years there is so much to remember when actually teaching a class. The thing I have always been fascinated about most when in yoga class at home is how the teachers can get into postures and talk at the same time! We are doing that here too and I wonder how that is going to be for me. Also the mirroring thing (left is right and right is left) has me a little shook. LOL! But I'm working on it.
I walked this morning with a couple of women from my training to the small town of Lenox, MA. It's an amazing fall day. To me, there is no better place to be in the fall then New England. I might be a little bias being from MA, but it brings back a lot of memories. They went on to explore the town and I'm here in a little coffee shop getting my homework (meaning this blog) done. Is it 65 degrees here and just an amazing day. The weather since I arrived has been some of the best fall weather I've felt in ages. I really love small towns. I'm the kind of person who either needs city or country. That in between thing just doesn't do it for me. So Lenox looks like heaven. It's easy to see why James Taylor and Carly Simon lived in Stockbridge, which is the next town over. I am really happy. I can't explain it, but it all feels so good.
Thank you so much for all of your continued support. I have almost reached my fundraising goal. I am $245 away! Thank You! Thank You! If you didn't get to read about my first day of yoga school please take am moment to ready the blog below.
I will leave you with this saying from Swami Kripau who the center is named after. This really resonated with me as it reminds me of "Right Speech," which one part of the Buddhist Eightfold Path.
"Before speaking, consider whether it is an improvement upon silence." ~ Swami Kripalu
Namaste.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Kripalu Yoga Teacher Training~ Day 1: Thankful
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| I'm Here!! |
Hey Everyone! I know I didn't officially finish my countdown to school. The last couple of days have been jammed with things to do. Packing, admin work, putting together surprises for you. They didn't all quite come together in the time I wanted them to, but trust me, everything is on time. So look out for a great surprise coming soon.
I want to say Thank You again to everyone who supported me on this journey monetarily and spiritually. I can feel your love. I know I'm going to have a life changing experience here.
So just a little about the journey. I am so thankful to my girl Vilma for driving me up. I was really dreading the thought of getting on public transportation with a months worth of stuff. That was not looking sexy at all. So Vil came through and this morning we left Brooklyn for Lenox, MA. I have never been away from NY this long. I came close in 2003 when I went to Italy for three weeks, but this feels very different.
The drive here was amazing. The foliage is in full effect and just getting better. We got a little turned around, but what a drive to be turned around on. The houses, the cows and horses we saw along the way just accented the colors of the trees. I love this time of year. It's my time. I am a fall baby after all.
Kripalu is right next door to Tanglewood. For those of you unfamiliar with this area, Tanglewood is where the Boston Pops play during the summertime as well as on the esplanade in Cambridge. Tanglewood also hosts a bunch of non-classical shows like that of James Taylor. It's a really amazing place that I used to visit quite a lot with my family as a kid. This is truly one of the most beautiful places in the country.
When Vilma and I finally got here my mom was here to greet us! I checked in and went to my room. Well I can't really say it's my room, I share a space with 20, yes 20 other women. Privacy is not something I will be getting here this month. But I'm not worried. I 'm just channeling my old Ohio State days of 16 in a suite.
The room is big, there are a lot of us, but I am grateful to be here for sure. I dropped my things off and then we headed to the cafe and then outside to take in the view. Amazing! This place is overlooking the mountains and there is a lake. It's crazy beautiful. Soon it was time for dinner and I was starving. I hadn't really eaten all day. I'm so happy to know that this is going to change. There is food, food, food and everyone I talked to was right about it. The food is killin'! I've only had one meal so far and I was floored already. So don't be surprised if I'm blogging about food a lot. LOL!
I had to hurry back to the room, change and get ready for my first class. I said my farewells to Vilma and my mom and quickly headed to class. The first class was really a welcome. Everyone getting to know each other. I am the only black person in the class, but I have to admit that I expected that. There are a few other people of color, but I am the lone African-American representative. I have lots of thoughts about that, but no need to belabor the point. At least not at this time.
It was a great night. I should be in bed now. My saving grace is that we don't have 6:30am yoga tomorrow. We start at 9am instead. So here I am getting this out to you and I am so happy to be sharing.
I will give you more details as well go along, but for now I say once again, Thank You! Some of you have asked if there is still time to donate toward my fundraiser and the answer is yes. I will be fundraising till I reach my goal. You all rock so hard! Sending you lots of love. Let the transformation begin.
Namaste.
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