Ahimsa-Nonviolence

I've been wanting to blog lately, so this is the perfect time to start again! I so desperately want to share what I learn with the world. I read a passage from Meditations from the Mat almost daily and I'd like to share some of what I learn here. Here is the passage from Day 19:


"Well, darkness has a hunger that's insatiable, and lightness has a call that's hard to hear."  -Indigo Girls


"I read recently that a new war crime has been added to the list of crimes the United Nations is prosecuting. I spent some time digesting this information, willing myself to envision its victims and to imagine its perpetrators as my brothers and sisters. I tried to feel for a moment the suffering of human beings lost in the living hell that is war. My work with children and families in the relatively quiet towns and cities of the United States has given me a sense of the universality of that suffering. There is no end to it, and we minimize this truth, or believe that we are somehow disconnected from it, at our own peril.
Not long ago, a friend of mine, went to a gas station to call for help with her drug problem. She couldn't use the phone in her apartment because she had already sold it for drugs. A few months later, after cleaning up her act a little, she went back to using drugs--only to experience far greater consequences this time. Who among us has not either fallen into a downward spiral or been afraid of following in my friend's footsteps? Who has not known the insatiable hunger of darkness? 
'Lightness is has a call that's hard to hear,' but each time we choose to hear it, the call becomes a little clearer. We spend our days badgered by voices that tell us to judge other, fear others, harm others, or harm ourselves. But we are not obligated to listen to those voices, or even to take responsibility for them. They may be where we came from, but they are not where we are going. There is another voice, a voice that shines. Ahimsa is the practice of listening to that voice of lightness, cultivating that voice, trusting that voice, acting upon that voice."


Ahimsa means nonviolence in thought, speech, and action. It is one of the cornerstone practices of yoga. We are asked to pay no attention to those negative, harmful thoughts about both others and ourselves. As we go about our daily life, let go of those thoughts and embrace the positive, light ones. See how this works for you. Remember, we are all connected :) 


Peace.

Yoga Teacher Training Week 1: I Never Imagined...

...just how much yoga could change your life in such a short period of time!!! I don’t know where to begin. I knew yoga was awesome (hence the reason for leaving a job that I had worked so hard to get) but man, I already feel back to my old self. I felt back to normal just after 3 days. Yes, 3 days. I no longer feel depressed, anxious, angry, fearful, resentful, and any other negative feeling that I was experiencing. I am so ridiculously happy and I have so much energy. Yeah, I said I have more energy after doing 4 hours of asana a day. Asana is the postures, i.e. physical practice of yoga. It is only one of the eight limbs of yoga. Yoga isn’t just the physical practice, it is a way of life.

I have learned SO MUCH in just one week. I feel so much more confident in myself and my abilities--almost 100% better! I just knew I would be anxious about instructing the class through asanas from memory, but I actually find myself looking forward to it. AWESOME!! I’m loving it. Us beautiful human beings have this thing called the subtle body. It is our energy body and it is a major focus of yoga. I can’t wait to learn more about this. I’ll share more with you as I do. It’s super interesting and it really changes the way you see life--in a better way, of course!

There are 11 of us in teacher training and I must say that it is an awesome group of people. It is SO GREAT to be surrounded by like-minded people who I can relate to. Everyone is so positive and we all seem to have gone through a lot of the same things. I find myself laughing all the time...it’s such a great time. I'm already missing them and I still have 7 more weeks to go!

Each day feels like a week to me. We get so much done in one day it is insane. I honestly didn’t do as much in one week as we do in a day. We are going non-stop. This is my biggest challenge at the moment. I hardly have any time to myself. Our breaks are super short so we only have time to eat and go to the bathroom--which we have to do both a lot because we are constantly having to nourish and hydrate our bodies after such rigorous practice. It is a blessing in disguise however because it will force me to let go of all of the unnecessary things I do. It will help me to simplify my life.

Another issue I’m having is getting time to go the the chiropractor to get adjusted. I haven’t been adjusted in a week and a half and I usually get adjusted twice a week. So, needless-to-say, I’m dying. My back finally started to hurt today. Ahhhh it’s so frustrating. I will be able to get there. Eventually. I hope :)

I can't think of any more at the moment (I had so much else I wanted to write but I'm drawing a blank...I'll add them as they come back to me.) I hope you all are doing wonderful.

Namaste.

Changes, Changes :)

Hello friends, it's been a while since I've posted and my, how have things changed since then! The long anticipated (ahem, dreaded) date of August 10th has come and gone. Along with the job that started on that day. 

I decided, or perhaps made it 'public', that I was no longer going to go down the road to getting my CPA. This has been a long time coming, but it has taken me a while to get the courage to speak up and do something about it! To me, the rewards I would have gotten from the experience didn't measure up to the sacrifices I would have been making. I prayed about it and listened to my intuition to guide me in my decisions. I have no regrets thus far!

I feel as free as I did on the day I graduated from high school. The opportunities are endless right now. I am interested in so many other things, now I just have to narrow it down and get to it!! I'm pretty sure that the next step on my journey is yoga teacher training. I'm positive I want to do it at some point in my life, and I'm feeling that now is the time! The next training session begins on September 18th..right around the corner.

I am really passionate about sharing what I've learned in the past year with others. I've been reading many books about various topics that I feel could be of value to others. The information is out there but I'd like to present it in a concise, friendly way. I don't know yet what this entails, but we will see!! I am also super into spirituality so I'm trying to figure out how to work this into my everyday life and be able to share it with others.

Making Progress..

...in both yoga & the house.

I have attended Bikram yoga 3 days in a row!! Holy cow...it feels so great. I'm taking the day off tomorrow to spend time with Brady while he's off work. We have a whole slue of things to do for the house. We don't get to move our stuff in until the 14th because we are waiting on the painters and the carpet to be installed. They will actually be done a couple days sooner, but we are going to the Kings of Leon concert in Austin on Tuesday for my birthday...so we will just have to wait :)

~Here are some pictures of the progress~

Master Bedroom

Kitchen

Living Room Accent Wall

As far as Bikram goes...it is going great. I had my best day yet today. I'm getting acclimated to the heat, and boy does that help. I'm incredibly sore though...but I must push through that. I definitely didn't expect to love it this much. That's what I get for being snooty about my yoga studios.

Also, as I was looking to print out the recycling list in San Antonio I found out that it is one of the best in Texas! I'm so excited that I wanted to share it with y'all.

The Ball's in Their Court Now

Well, I put a contract on a house today!! I'm so excited...now we play the waiting game. Somehow everything works out and hopefully it will do just that as the next few weeks unfold. We are starting to look at washers and dryers, think of how to arrange furniture, and dream of our sauna. I hope we aren't jumping the gun here, but it's all so exciting! Here is a picture of the front of the house.

Also, with the move comes a change in yoga studios for me. This actually should have happened a long time ago but I've been so stubborn. I'm kind of a snob when it comes to studios because I was spoiled by Sunstone in Dallas. It is such an amazing studio and I'm having a hard time getting over the fact that they don't have one in San Antonio...yet. It is a little harder than I expected when it comes to branching out and trying different kinds of yoga. Hopefully, I can accomplish this goal in the next week. Hold me to it, K?

Just wanted to share my excitement with everyone! Peace.