Learning to Meditate

This is definitely a trying task. I am a wiggle worm (much like my son) and so trying to sit still for an extended period of time is almost painful. I am constantly moving, but with my teacher training I am required to meditate at least every day and doing so is difficult for me.

I sit down on my meditation cushion and set my timer, close my eyes and try to focus inward. This lasts for about 3 minutes until I get fidgety. Ugh. I know things take time but for a week now I've not managed longer than 10 minutes for meditation.

How do people manage this for multiple hours? Actually, I know the answer for that.. practice. "Practice, practice, practice... all is coming" I'm impatient though. I guess my gunas are out of balance.

I'll keep practicing and try to get things under control.. or at least manageable.

Short Forms... Ashtanga

One of the things my teacher is having me do is practice David Swenson's Short Forms from his Practice Manual.

So far, it has been helpful in gaining my strength back since being post-partum. It's definitely a whole new experience trying to make my way back into my practice. I have to find my balance again in certain postures and strength in others.

Currently I'm practicing the 30 minute short form but am hoping to work my way up to the 45 minute short form by next week. Of course, I'm not going to push myself since I don't want to rush the process but it's definitely a process of getting back into the groove of things.

So far things are going good though. I've been trying to practice in the mornings but with my son sometimes sleeping well and then not fine other nights, it's hard to maintain a schedule. So, I'm just rolling with the flow and practicing when I can and not being upset by it. I just have the mentality of "at least I'm practicing now" :).

"Everything is in perfect order, even when it's a perfect mess" - My teacher

Post Training :)

This past weekend was a bunch of bad, good, and great all wrapped in one!

The bad came in to play when there was snow on the ground and it began to ice UNDER the snow and I ended up sliding down a small hill into the rear end of a vehicle coming from the left. It was horrible!! All I could do was watch it play out in front of me because I couldn't stop my car. Everyone was ok, nothing really hurt except my pride. Bragging isn't a good thing and I was just talking before this accident that I was adept at driving in the snow (I didn't say ice though).

The good came from my teacher and her husband coming to my rescue and my teacher riding with me back to her place that morning. It was a relief to have someone ride with me after that little bump.

The great was the training!! Even though it was only Orientation, "What is Yoga?", and Anatomy discussion this weekend it was pretty awesome. Granted I have a lot of studying to do before next weekend! So I have to get on that! :)

Toodles!

HOLY cow!!

After the studio, where I was originally enrolled for a teacher training, canceled their course due to a lack of people signing up I scrambled to find a new place to receive training. I was so nervous I wouldn't find a suitable course that I both liked and would enjoy. I even considered going out of state far away for a month... which would put me away from my son for that length of time. I was heartbroken.

HOWEVER, things have changed drastically! I found a woman who conducts one-on-one trainings. Most of you might think it odd that she conducts one-on-one trainings but I find it quite reassuring. I love that there will be more personal training for me. She has people she works with at a studio in Franklin, Tn act as class members for me to teach to get hands on and I will also be "interning" in classes that she leads. :) I'm really excited.

She's had training in numerous different aspects of yoga (Ayurveda, thai yoga massage, yoga for soldiers, cancer patients, yoga as therapy, etc). She's deeply sincere about her practice and helping others achieve a meaningful and well balanced practice.

I start this weekend after I drove 5 hours north of my house to meet with her for an hour and then drive 5 hours back south to my house. It was a good meeting and I felt immediately at ease around her!! :)

Unsure with myself...

I think I'm losing myself with my impatience as I wait for the declaration of whether I'll be attending the teacher training or not. While my practice is getting "stronger" my mind is beginning to wander some.

Have any of you heard of It's Yoga? They are Ashtanga "based".. meaning they use the Primary and Intermediate series to form their own set sequences. It's actually quite intriguing. They have what's called Rocket and it's basically supposed to get you through the series "faster". While I don't exactly agree with that mind frame; it is nevertheless an interesting theory that I would like information on.

In regards to TurboFire, I think I'm losing interest slowly...

Short...

Much like my practices these days......

What are your feelings on Hot Yoga in the lineage of Bishnu Ghosh, but not exactly through Chouhdury?

Just found out that my teacher training may be canceled if they don't find 3 more folks. I'm quite saddened by this finding. I was ready to dive in come February, and still may, but only time will tell. :/

I'm looking for alternatives and found a Hot Yoga training but am skeptical.....

Documentation...

I think... and this is a big think..

I think I'm going to start videoing myself during practice. I want to document how I am progressing and well video seem like the way to go. I'm sort of skeptical though. I am not in the best of shape at the moment. (still have a bit of baby weight that has refused to go away)

At the moment the only thing that I can use to video myself practicing is my laptop.. not sure how well this will work but I'm willing to give it a go. Once I've amassed enough videos I may post a chopped version of it on here to show how far I've regressed and how far I want to go.

I have approximately two weeks until my teacher training and am trying to gain a bit of my flexibility and strength back. I've postponed my Ashtanga practice for the moment because my teacher, whom I'm receiving my training from, advised me to branch out just for now since the training is in Vinyasa style versus Ashtanga. So, I've been using YogaGlo for practicing and am liking what I've been practicing so far.

Not sure if I'll maintain a Vinyasa based practice once this is all said and done but we'll see. I still have strong feelings for my Ashtanga practice and hope that by building back strength and flexibility through these practices I will be able to dive back into Ashtanga and take my practice back to where it was. We'll see though.

For now I'm reading and trying to learn a few things.