Wednesday, December 31, 2008

End of 2008 and End of Yogabootcamp Blog!

Well, the year is over - and wow - what a year in terms of yoga for me! A year ago, I had just finished up my first 60-day challenge after getting serious about my practice a mere 3 months earlier...and then the decision to go to training...and then actually GOING to training...and now teaching since June. I could rattle on forever, as you all know, but I won't. I'll just wrap up the year - and this blog (I'll have a new one...see below) - in this post.

There is a lot to say - about the yoga, about teaching, and about my practice in particular. I am happy to report I still love the yoga, without question. I want everyone to do it but I realize (now) that it's not for everyone, though ideally that decision is made after giving it an honest go :) It continues to be a thread of goodness that weaves through my life in many, many ways - on and off the mat. I'm honestly grateful for it.

Teaching is a whole journey of a different kind. It is at it's most basic level - at times - a job. Other times, it's the most amazing experience - giving the yoga to people who want, need and love the yoga is a privilege I truly enjoy. Sometimes it's exhausting, other times it's energizing. Sometimes I just don't want to go to work - but I love teaching. I have evolved so much already, and I realize it's just the tip of the iceberg. It's so much like my practice in so many ways - ebbs and flows, easy and hard, focused and not-so-much, seemingly flawless for mere moments followed up by feeling like an utter disaster...but always with a strong dedication and effort which I can hold my head up and feel good about. I've taught many classes - I'm not sure exactly how many, but somewhere around 125 or more so far...

My practice - wow. I did 294 classes this past year, that of course, with the influx of 100ish at training. I seem to average about 5x/week without too much negative impact to my body or schedule or mind. That said, some weeks it's not enough, other weeks, it feels like too much. So I give myself permission to do what feels right - being honest with myself and limiting my lameness around being lazy or just planning poorly. My postures are coming along, and my focus has been really good over the past couple months. I'm setting goals for 2009 - a few around posture-specific stuff, a few around habits. I think it'll be good. And it will.

One thing related to both aspects is that Jill is now dedicated to doing Bikram yoga 4x/week, sometimes 5, but very rarely less. It's fun to take class with her, or have her take one of my classes - and it's nice to have someone at home who's into it, simply put. She's really into her backbending, and is working on her Standing Head to Knee, and it's fun to watch her progress.

Where to from here? Well, since this blog was really intended to detail my teacher training experience (and, well, I can honestly say I think I got'it done :) I'm going to close this blog out with this post. I'm going to keep writing about the yoga, it's impact on my life personally in terms of taking, teaching, and how it all impacts my body (in many ways, including weight loss/maintenance), my mind and my life in general.

Please join me there in the future:

www.yogajenn.blogspot.com


Yoga to the people! Thanks for reading :)
Namaste.