San Francisco Christmas

That's right! Hubby and I are going south for the holidays to spend time with family there. Although the weather won't be sunny it will be a good 10 degrees warmer. 

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season and fantastic New Year. 

Pic: Riding the trolley car.

Teacher Training: A day in the life

Check out this awesome time lapse video, produced by Dagan Beach, capturing a day of Anusara Teacher Training this past November. If you put the video on pause you can manually move the cursor to look through all the images at a slower pace. You might even catch a few glimpses of yours truly. Click here to launch video.


Pic: My awesome teacher Chris Chavez demonstrating Dragon Fly. Photo by Dagan Beach.

Let it surface

Lately I feel like the universe is trying to send me a message.  Sometimes it comes through symbols, a song on the radio or words in a magazine that seem to jump up off the page. And if I am paying attention, I receive the message.

For me it seems the message has something to do with time. Time. What is it about you that makes me feel like things need to either slow down or hurry up? When I was in the process of healing—time was something I needed to just succumb to. Easier said.

Now that I am pretty much back to normal it seems like time might be on my side. That's right. Mick Jagger sang it and I am hearing it loud and clear—relax, go with the flow and let time just be on my side.

Whether or not these messages are there to help guide us is up to the interpreter. I say, let the message surface and see what comes up.

Pic: In Maui, waiting for the perfect wave.

What I learned in Teacher Training II

Last week I completed the second of three segments of the Anusara yoga teacher training. I am so close to completion with only one more segment to go in January. My vision of becoming a yoga instructor is coming to light. 

It was an action and information packed five days. We learned how to give verbal and physical adjustments while keeping a class on pace—not an easy feat.

We worked in groups and put together an hour-long practice, splitting up the five classes of poses and taking turns teaching each other a ten-minute sequence. It was nerve racking and invigorating to step up as the teacher and vocalize all the information we have learned over the past nine months!

Post-training I am feeling charged to get started. So, all my lovely friends and family, are you up for a challenge?

Namaste.

Picture: yoga at the beach

Need a boost? Do a handstand.

There are a number of physical and pyschological benefits to getting inverted. Reversing the force of gravity can give your vital organs a much-needed rest, improve circulation, respiration and increase concentration and mental clarity. Mostly, I like the playful, youthful energy I receive after I kick up against the wall.

You can do a  handstand pretty much anywhere, anytime. All you need is a wall with enough space around to kick up. Sometimes when I am at the office and need a boost of energy—instead of heading for the candy drawer I go to a little out-of-the-way nook and hold a handstand for 20 seconds. It works like I charm. I come back to my desk with a big smile and I feel like I can take on anything.

So what are you waiting for? Get charged, get upside down. 

Photo—Me assisting a fellow yogi in a one-minute handstand at Anusara Teacher Training.

Thoughts on paper

I haven't practiced journalling for years, in fact the last time I did keep a diary of any kind was on my trip to Australia—over 10 years ago! I love going back and reading about my adventures down under. It's funny that I decided that this was a worthy time to write about my life, perhaps it was because I feel that without some extraordinary event to write about, it just isn't worthwhile.

Throughout my yoga instructors training we have been asked to do a fair amount of journalling—reflecting on things we've learned about ourselves during the training. One thing I noticed is that even though I am writing to myself and for myself,  I still write as if it were to a broader audience, which leads me to wonder—am I being completely honest or am I holding back and editing the content slightly? I think this takes practice.

As I searched for an image for this post I stumbled across a blog that gives great tips on how to write a diary. Check it out here. 

Sticking to it!

Today is my birthday so I thought I would post something fun for any viewers visiting J-Bo today. This is a packing tape installation at Berlin's decommissioned Temperhof airport. There are some pretty cool photos of adults and kids exploring the maze of tape tunnels. 


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