Busy-Ness

I am realizing lately that my "newish" life is far different than my "old" life.

I have 2 gorgeous step-children that live with me 50% of the time, an amazing fiancee', a cat that wakes me up at dumb hours of the morning, one full-time job that occasionally requires weekend work madness, and I teach 7 yoga classes a week.

In summary, I'm tired..... tired of all of the busy-ness.

I have never heard the word "business" broken down that way until I took my teacher training. But in fact, that is what the word means. Busy Ness.

Kind of like Loch Ness but it's proven to be real.

I'm not the only yoga instructor in the world, or the only parent, or person who works a crap-load of hours... but it is a vast difference between my life in Chicago where it was just me and a 12lb. dog that didn't require much more than a walk or two a day & some kibbles at the required time.

What has got me the most crazy is the residual garbage. I find that while technology is awesome and amazing, it is filling up my time with more than originally planned. The Internet is great but I'm a little sick of it. Facebook is great but I've never felt the need to fill a second of my time in Farmville....or "checking in" where I am so that all the world can find me at any given moment. Making videos & books online is great but my eyes can't take it anymore. ...and today I heard the best... beware of 'Toasted Skin Syndrome"... what the hell is that you ask? It is what happens to your legs/hips/lap from the heat of your laptop being there too damn long.

HOW DID WE GET THIS WAY!!!???

I woke up this morning & thought, what if someone called me like they did in 1975 and got (GASP) a busy signal? It would be a sign that I was BUSY!!!! They might be a little ticked if it was important, but they would hang-up, go on their merry way, and call back later. Today, all systems we have are GO, therefore it is almost impossible to ignore someone without our programmed minds thinking, "where are they? why aren't they answering? I lost my signal, do you call me or do I call you? oops, while I was calling you, you were texting me!!!"... AAUGHHHH!!!!

Sadly, I have been all of those people... but feel the need to change.

I've recently realized that while not having a land line is great & one less bill, it poses a problem for the kids. What if someone needs to dial 911??? Where is the phone? On the flip side of that, God forbid I leave my phone accidentally in my car or on vibrate, my family might freak if they call me 5 times and I don't answer the phone!!!

Phew... okay enough whining about the phone, but we've all been there, and the younger generation (I sound old now) is totally (and not in the totally-like-gag-me-with-a-spoon valley girl kind of way) used to this. It is normal. Forget manners; talk as loud as you want, wherever you want, and don't worry, I am truly happy to hear about your most intimate, personal escapades while trying to enjoy my dinner or shopping.... I'm just saying.

So today for the first time, I told someone on the phone, "I appreciate you sending me your contact information but can I sound old school for a minute and ask you to MAIL me a business card?" He laughed and obliged without hesitation by saying "yeah, I get a minimum of 45 emails a day so I completely understand". I'm sadly thinking "that's all?"....

When it's time to log in, I am like an auto-pilot. LOG INTO PERSONAL ACCOUNT-CHECK/LOG INTO BUSINESS ACCOUNT-CHECK/LOG INTO PERSONAL FACEBOOK PAGE-CHECK/LOG INTO BUSINESS FACEBOOK PAGE-CHECK...and I find that I do this so frequently that I will log out of one & log into the other one until I realize that I've already looked at that one, or did I? or was it the other one? or which email has his/her/their email address in it???

Oh I suppose you techies are thinking, "shut the f---- up and just sync all of your accounts together!"... but the point is, I DON'T WANT TO LIVE LIFE THIS WAY!!! My yoga head says "just let go, just be in the present moment, just.... oh shut up yoga head"

Okay, time to slow the heart rate down.... I am happy that we have the technology that we have, but we have become a society obsessed. I personally have shifted this past year and notice a huge difference between old life "Woo hoo, I LOVE the Internet/IPhone/computer" to new life, "holy crap I am sick of looking at a screen".

My solution to this is to make myself slow down technologically. So here is my check list.

1) I am going to write someone a letter instead of an email, because who doesn't like getting a letter?

2) I am going to NOT use my phone in the car to check anything unless I am pulled over and it is vitally necessary

3) I am going to limit how many times I check my email & FB page each day

4) I will look something up in a phone book if I need to (HA HA just kidding!... I have my limits

Okay and even if I still want to love my Ipod as I am am music junkie, this is my attempt at adopting part of what is now called "The Slow Movement" or as I will affectionately refer to it as "Kickin' it 1975 Style".

Now I'm going to make a call... on my rotary dial phone.

Long time gone

I think too many moons have passed since my last post so here I am.
Not to talk about ME but my life is a little crazy which is why it took so long to get back on track. I have picked up 7 classes to teach, I'm planning a wedding on a short engagement, work full-time, and are STILL learning how to be a stepmom.... there, the short version.
What I have found to be one of the most challenging things about all of this is the lack of time for myself. I spend 24/7 running around town, doing all of these jobs, then come home and barely have time to breath. The end result is I have no yoga practice of my own and I'm a bit short, crabby, and my mind goes 100 MPH into nowhere.
Sometimes we need a little kick start... a kick in the ass if you will. This past week I attended a 5 day Mysore Ashtanga workshop. Every morning I drug myself out of bed to arrive for yoga at 7:00 am. Now this may not seem early to most of you but I am not a morning person, I am a night owl Combine this with the fact that my body ages about 10 years overnight, everynight and I am a stiff, morning, crab ass.
My workshop was with David Keil, an amazing instructor of Ashtanga Yoga, Kinesiology AND a certified massage and neuromuscular therapist from Miami. This guy KNOWS anatomy inside and out.
I won't recap the entire week but here are the Cliff notes... We began slowing learning the vinyasa flow of the primary series and each day, then added in more poses each day. I should mention that 5 days is not enough time to learn the entire flow. As with all yoga, it is a lifelong practice.
By day 3 I was so sore that I walked into the room and thought, "ugh, I have NO interest in being here". Once I left, I had pushed through a lot of the soreness which made the rest of the week much more bearable.
David does some pretty deep adjustments, however knows the body well enough to know how far or how shallow to push each student. I was pushed, and pushed, and twisted, and pushed some more!... lucky me....
The workshop ended yesterday and what I am observing today is that my body feels regenerated, refreshed, (still a little sore) but more open and aware. My mind is clearer, and less cluttered. My breath work is more focused and stable.
I am looking forward to not only continuing on to learn the Ashtanga series, but adding a lot of what I learned into the classes I teach in Hatha Yoga. So there, not only do I benefit but so do my students (or they might hate me for a while!).
This has opened me up to realizing that I need to take some time for myself each and every day as we all do. Not matter how busy we are, we are no good without being clear headed, healthy, and emotionally able to handle what comes our way.
As I'm struggling to find a final thought, I realize that I have to just come back to basics and quote my tag line....
"Find yourself and love what you find" - me

Check out David's web site at www.yoganatomy.com

In the moment

I had to go to the ER Tuesday afternoon for some pretty rough abdominal pains. I'll try not to ramble too much about this but I was there 8 HOURS in total.

Now, keep in mind, I was hurting but not on my death bed. I've had some other health issues that I thought were contributing to the pain and when it got so bad that I was doubled over, it was time to go.

Upon check in I was sent to the RTA (rapid treatment area) where I was not allowed to bring anyone in which meant my boyfriend had to wait in the main area while I was being treated. I had my blood taken, talked to a doctor & was then shuffled to another internal waiting area for, oh, about 5 more hours (had x-rays squeezed in there somewhere) before being taken to the MAIN ER!!!

Upon my arrival there, I overhead a Dr.. talking about me and how I spent 6 hours in RTA and that my file had been misplaced.... excellent. So much for rapid treatment and efficiency.

More tests, blah blah blah, my diagnosis... and I was released...at 11:00 pm... arrival time 3:00 pm. Let me remind you... 8 HOURS!!!

Now why blog about this? Because after 5-6 hours I was ready to rip my IV out and go screaming down the hall, not to mention the half dozen or so times I was on the verge of tears, simply out of frustration.

This was definitely an experiment in self-realization as several times I had to take an internal look at myself and think, "Breathe.... take a few breaths and think yogic".

We yogi's and yogini's talk so much about living in the moment, being present, and letting go, yet we are just as vulnerable as everyone else and let things get the best of us.... it all comes down to how we CHOOSE to react.

I felt my heart rate go up, my body shaking & myself getting so edgy I thought I could literally jump out of my skin. However, even through the frustration I told myself, "Okay, so let me live in the moment... as sucky as this is, I am meant to be here... if not for my health reasons, then to simply be... here... occupying this space, encountering these people and taking care of my health. Plus, what happens if I do rip out the IV and leave? What if I start to bitch, moan & complain at the top of my lungs to anyone who will listen? Well, I'll be pissed-off, frustrated, angry, crabby AND I'll still be sick tomorrow and have to start all over again.... Breathe..."

Does that mean I enjoyed it? No. Does that mean I want to do it again? Hell no. But number one, I found out what was wrong with me and it needed to be dealt with (not life threatening by the way, just a pain... literally) and number two, I took the time to reflect inside myself during a junky situation...

and practice Yoga

xo

Act your age... or not

This week was spring break. The first of many to come for me as a new step mom.
I decided at the last minute to take them to one of my yoga classes and teach a "kids themed" class.
Now keep in mind, I teach adult classes. So Wednesday I announced that I would be teaching this class w/the kids and for everyone to please come join in the fun. As apprehensive as I thought they might be... I had a full house.
At the beginning of practice I had all of the adults chose what age they would be during the hour, but they had to be under the age of 11. I must admit that I was shocked at how much participation and fun everyone, including myself, had.
When was the last time you made a noise like a cow? Meowed like a cat? A dog? Did the Tarzan call and pounded your chest???
I had a group ranging in age from 9 to (my estimated guess) of early 70's and EVERYONE gave out a beautiful Tarzan call to the wild.
We get stuck in our adult lives, doing adult things, and having to feel like we are supposed to "act like an adult" shortly after our teens are over.
As I watch the kids grow, I realize the flow of life shift so dramatically but in the weirdest way. These kids are just beginning to worry about fitting in, being cool, wearing and looking a certain way, and being a part of the group. It is only when we become adults that we sometimes take the flip side of that and realize it's okay to be different (um... thank you Lady Gaga).
Being a kid can be complex, yet innocent and being an adult just seems to be, well, complex. We take the innocent out for the sake of adulthood and usually forget to put it back in.
While adult life is serious and we have to be responsible, go to work, pay our bills, and raise our children, we should not forget how to laugh, play, and have fun.
I felt amazing after yesterday's class... simply because I knew that I had brought a sense of innocence and fun back to a small group of adults... a feeling that some or all of them may have lost through the years.
So this weekend, no matter how old you are, fat you think you are, depressed you might feel, tired, sore, lazy, too busy, whatever... take just 5 minutes to run around in your yard, on your street, or in your house and act like a child. Play a game of tag, hide & seek, or Red Rover... laugh, fall, RUN, and get yourself moving like a kid... for today, right now, is your moment to LIVE ...and living includes... having fun.

What doesn't kill us...

...yeah yeah we know, makes us stronger. But it still sucks when bad things come along and sideswipe us.

I believe it's true. All of the big and little challenges in life are put there for a reason and how we handle them makes all the difference in the world.
For example, a bad breakup. Most of us have been there, done that. We make irrational choices, unnecessary phone calls, and cry bucket loads of tears. Sometimes to come out on the other side and think "wow, I wasted all of that energy on ______?" what was wrong with me???
But, you learned something didn't you? Maybe a weak spot within you, or that you made a bad choice or judgement call, or simply that the other person was a jerk and it really had nothing to do with you.

Nevertheless, you LEARNED something from it. Even if it's out of your control, (the worst) you hopefully grew as a person from it.

If you think about it, there are two things that cause change in life, a loss or a choice. Okay, on a more subtle level things can also "shift" and cause change. But when I say shift, I think of things like the weather. We planned for sun, it rained, the weather shifted... BUT how did the weather change affect your plans? Did it feel like "a loss"? You didn't "choose" it but you couldn't "control" it either.

If you made a bad choice, accept it and move forward for you cannot change the past. Yes there are extremes in bad choices... you can choose to do drugs or far worse or your can choose an ugly pair of shoes or a bad boyfriend. Nevertheless, once you make a choice and act upon it, it is done and cannot be changed. You can only learn and grow from it and hopefully there is that little place inside you that says "don't do that again".

Let me back up and repeat, YOU CANNOT CHANGE THE PAST. This is where acceptance comes in. (is that what I'm rambling about?) The past is just that... over, done, fine', kaput.

Take this moment for acceptance of the past. It is over and cannot be changed. Accept what is and move forward. Live in the present. The past is meant to be there for memories and a brief visit... it is not meant for an extended stay.

Now onto loss. Once again... many extremes. Uncontrollable loss of life, loss of love, loss of shoes (I love my shoes by the way). I will begin by saying that loss of life is not to be taken lightly in any manner and is not easy by any stretch. Especially abrupt loss or unforeseen circumstances. However, for those of you who have experienced loss on every level... life, love, shoes... know that deep inside you there is a part of you that can and will accept loss on every level.

We are strong creatures yet, our surroundings and our society tend to make us think that we are weak. As a race we have amazing ability to push through some of the worst situations... if we choose to. The human race has seen wars of insurmountable size compared to what we are fighting today not to mention famine, flood, drought, and crazy diseases yet we complain when our Internet connection is too slow... and we freak out because someone texts us to break up.

We all have the gift of love within us and the ability to forgive those who have hurt us (doesn't mean we have to like them!), accept those mistakes that we have made, and love and remember those who have loved us and left us behind to move on to a better place (*my personal beliefs, not necessarily yours) regardless of the circumstances.

Look inside you and find the strength within to conquer any battle that comes upon you... you have the gift.... use it.

This post was inspired and fueled by the passing of Radar Neill... my most amazing little 10lb sidekick for the past 13 years. Even in this loss, I am inspired by him each and every day and know I have the strength and the ability to move forward with him in my heart. Namaste, little man xo

Put it in perspective

I've recently observed a close friend, getting completely freaked out and overwhelmed with work (as we do!).
He gets short, aggitated, angry, flustered, and it's affecting his overall health both physically and mentally.
We all have to do a job to survive. Some people develop a skill based on an interest, and some simply take whatever passes their way to make a buck.
Regardless of which category you fall under, chances are that at some point in your career you will be irritated and frustrated. How you handle this situation is up to you.
First of all, put into perspective what it is that you do. How does your job affect others? Affect the world? Mankind? Etc... and then decide if it's worth having a heart attack over.
Next, how do you handle situations?
I am living proof that you can change you habits. In my past life I would get bitchy, crabby, short, overbearing, and demand that my way was the right way... a "strong personality" if you will :)
Once I started to practice yoga, things changed for me. I learned how to breathe better, and by simply focusing on my breath in times of stress, I was able to calm myself down. The other thing I've realized is that you mind is a powerful tool that can work with you or against you.
Try closing your eyes and sitting still for 3 minutes and see what happens. If you don't practice this regularly, chances are your mind will take over and your thoughts will race like lightening through your mind.
I'm not saying that I'm "cured" or perfect by any stretch of the imagination, however I have changed myself and therefore know it can be done.
When you are going to face a stressful situation, pull yourself together and go into a quiet space for just a couple of minutes (I found that a bathroom stall works fine!). Close your eyes and breathe in and out through your nostrils, counting your inhale and your exhale to yourself. Try to even out your breath. So if your inhale is 6 counts, make your exhale 6 counts. If your mind and your thoughts take over, come back to the counting and focus on nothing but the numbers... if you can turn yourself inward even deeper, stop counting and simply follow your breath through your body. If you need one more helper, say to yourself, "These thoughts mean nothing to me".
This is just a start. A start to a calmer, better day in whatever it is that you do to make this world a better place.
Namaste.

Traveling...

I named my company Traveling Yoga for what I hope are obvious reasons. I want to bring the practice of yoga to anyone, anywhere regardless of their budget.
I have been traveling more in the past few years than I have before. I've lived in big cities and small towns and visited the same.
One thing I realize is that regardless where you travel, live, or visit... there is a uniqueness to all people that we should embrace. Regardless of race, sex, religion or social status, on some level, we ALL have things in common.
The next time you think your problems are worse than anyone elses OR better yet, the next time you think you are above somebody, remember these few things...
We all encounter similarities in our lives... bills, illness, loss, grief, happiness and sadness. The air I breath, you breath... the air you exhale, I inhale... and lastly... we ALL face birth, we ALL bleed... and someday, we ALL face death... These are facts and yet they are also common factors in everyone on this Earth.
Take a moment each day to reflect on individuality and embrace it for what
it is, what it can be, and what it means to you....and the next time you comment or think to comment on someone's look, clothing, attitude, belongings, or ways... remember, karma is real...
and we are ALL of the same spirit.
Namaste

Welcome!

Welcome to Traveling Yoga's brand new blog!
After much consideration, I decided to break away from my old blog to tie all things in my life together under one heading.
Traveling Yoga...because that is who I am.
I hope not only to update regularly with schedule updates and events, but to bring you my thoughts, feelings, resources, comments, and information on yoga and life in general.
So sit back, relax and enjoy the ride that we call life.
Om Shanti