BUSY, BUSY, BUSY

I have often been heard to scorn the person who tells me they are 'too busy' when asked to do something important to their journey.  I might have to eat some words here (stale words), since I've been using the exact phrase on many occasions in the past month or two.  Why?  Well, let me tell you:

About a month ago, my Certification with the Anusara School of Hatha Yoga was finalized.  This monumental accomplishment, while tarnished by the antics of JF, has me standing taller and more confidently in my teaching.  I am good at what I do and completing the Certification is living proof!  (just needed to say that . . . )

Since then I've taken on a couple more classes to teach, including an Intro to Yoga.  Teaching 20+ new students how to 'do' yoga is a challenge.  Not that I need to know how to teach them poses, but I also want to instill an enthusiasm -- how do I do that?  I decided that one of the things I valued most in my early years was feeling noticed.  With that in mind, I did a number of things differently from prior Intros, which has certainly kept me 'busy'.  Not sure what I will do for the final class, but I'm thinking about it.  I could easily say 'busy' after this.

Then, there are my 'regular' classes - which are up to 8 each week.  I never thought I'd teach that much, but it's now or never, I'm thinking.  And, at the ripe age of 63, I need to get busy and cram a lot of teaching and learning into the next years.  So 'busy' again.

My personal practice has gone up and down; fortunately, I have Wisdom Warriors to keep me motivated and stimulated.  I missed two weeks (how can one miss 4 hours of practice with Desiree Riumbaugh - DUMB!).  Nevertheless, the damage was done.  I returned yesterday, wondering how I would do; could I keep up?  I did pretty well.  I'm not saying everyone should take 2 weeks off from their practice with Desiree, but sometimes a few days away gives us an unexpected boost when we return.

What did we do?  Rather, what didn't we do?  Standing poses, backbends, balance, upside down, plus an experiment or two -- all part of 2 hours spent with Wisdom Warriors.  Our motto -- keep moving while you keep your ribs contained, your belly engaged, your tailbone moving towards your heels, and your gaze lifted -- something like that.  (actually, I just made that up -- early morning mind unravelings).

On the home front, we just returned from our cabin in Idaho.  Had planned this 4-day trip for a long time, but didn't realize that it would coincide with the replacement of our roof.  Poor dogs, had to stay here with a house sitter, who endured the pounding and stomping on the roof for those days.  We are back, roof is almost done (as with many house projects, it took longer and more $$$$$$$ than expected, but what can you say about that).  Life might be back to normal at the Fallbrook house soon.

And, Idaho -- wonderful 4 days spent in front of the wood stove reading.  I even cooked every night we were there (a remarkable accomplishment).  Nice to get away, nice to be home.

Today, up to Temecula to teach -- Gentle at Yoga for Life; Temecula Wisdom Warriors at Living Yoga Center.

Hope you have a great Thursday!