Getting "centered"

Hello from Massachusetts! I have up and left everything that was familiar for the unfamiliar. I accepted an internship at the biggest yoga and wellness center in the country. It's been a pretty emotionally charged couple of days. To sum it up in simplistic terms, I have never experienced more warmth, loneliness, aliveness, energy, fear, and anticipation in all my life. PHEW. Here I am. sitting in a house with 35 other interns/volunteers here to do anything from marketing to making beds. My room is small but livable, but I am learning living off the kitchen is no fun. It's loud and I know I'm gonna get annoyed, lol.

Since being here I've tried out over a dozen different yoga classes/workshops to get acquainted. They were all amazing. I've been kayaking, watched a concert and learned tai-chi. My job is related to public relations, and I am basically my own boss, since my boss will be at a remote office. It is a little intimidating, being that I only halfway know what I am doing, and I will have to make a lot of judgment calls.

My body feels stretched and almost healed after the strenous summer of serving coffee to vacationers. The food here is delish, but I could see how people get sick of it. It IS all organic/natrual goodness. I had a piece of vegan cheesecake even.

Waking up every morning at practicing yoga then walked 50ft to work is pretty amazing. The loud voices outside the kitchen right now are not. I guess there is some dark while getting closer to the light.

I miss home, but being only 4 hours from there is comforting.

I need to get some sleep. I'm slightly nervous about tomorrow... ugh.

Something in the air....

Good afternoon everyone! This morning I woke up and went to an overdo pilates class at the gym. I was surprised we had a fill-in teacher, but she did an amazing job. I then went and visited my sister at work and came home to many pleasant surprises:

Would you believe me if I told you i made this rye bread while at pilates? Well, I had some assistance from the Breadman, aka, the bread machine behind the loaf. We've had this machine sitting in the back of our pantry for years and my sister and I decided to buy the ingredients to make homemade bread. Dana has made like 4 loaves, but I tried my hand at it and wala.... the bread gods were in my favor.... This is a light wheat rye:


I bet you WOULD believe I made these beautiful egg babies all by myself, lol:


The plants must've taken steroids last night or something because look what I woke up to this morning!!!!::: Summer Squash, Cucs busting out of the cells!!


My tomatoes also were busting out! Something was in the air last night or the cards are just in my favor this morning with everything doing what it's supposed to.

Maybe the plants are telling me that I have to cultivate my other square foot garden tomorrow....

Yesterday was pretty fun. I made enchiladas with my friend Daryl at her house, came home, did The Shred Level 3 with my sis and her friend, then I did Yogadownload Detox #2, which was a little more advanced but was nice. I also accidentally got hooked on this show on BBC called Mistresses. It's like a classy but secretly whorish version of Sex and the City, UK style.

I've been pretty good with exercising (strength mostly) and watching my meals lately and finally have dropped some weight, which I am happy about! It's only a little, but I feel like this week my balance and mindset was right on par with my healthy goals.

I leave you with this great song by Ryan Adams called My Winding Wheel. Ryan recently married Many Moore (weird) and started a death metal band (weirder), but this song reminds me that at one time he was sane enough to make good music. A good 3:56 seconds well spent:


Tonight, I am staying with my friend Amanda at her Aunt's house on the island and we're going to see our first live show of the Spring/Summer! Ted Hammock, a local singer. Nice.

It's raining here, but I'm glad because then my garden will start to get a move on....

Meditation of the Day

Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.-Rainer Marie Rilke

Youtube hookin' it up

Happy Tuesday.... My Tuesday has been sore to say the least. My sister talked me into attending a TKO Kickboxing class last night before yoga, and it was intense! This lady was basically Jillian Michaels on speed! Scaryyyy.... She had us doing plank push-ups, which is something that was crazyyyyy.... Afterwards we did a yoga class which helped me to loosen up. For the first time since last year, I touched my feet to the floor during the back stretch. I guess it was the yogadownload/shred/TKO/yoga workout I had that day! I came home, was exhausted, and fell asleep by 11.

This morning I woke up and went to my sister and my favorite strength class. I was sore as hell, but her class always works those muscle groups I forget about. I did 30 minutes on the elliptical and then headed to a doctor's apt. w/ my sister (her knee has been bothering her). I got home and did a yogadownload from youtube (see below to try!) I figure the strength class was "shred" worthy, so that counts for it today.

YOU can do yoga....
Sooo.....I began practicing yoga, really practicing, last fall when I moved to Colorado. My gym offered a free pass to the ajoining yoga studio, and that is where I learned the real gist of it all. I have always been into the "be here now" mantra, and I had finally found a practice that seemed to be made for my mentality. I find that when trying something new, it's intimidating, but as I continued practicing, I found I gained flexibility, strength (both inner and outer), and balance (both inner and outer). Savasana or the end relaxation on yoga, was where I was first introduced to meditation. At Shambhala the following summer, I had already had meditated through my yoga, altough full-fledged hour long gomden style mediation is wayyy different. Most classes goals focus mainly on the physical skill, (kickboxing, awesome abs, spinning) but yoga delves into mental strength more. It is what you make of it, and ever since then, I am amazed by the way yoga uses your body and no resistance weights or outside sources to strengthen. It's all you....

Soooo, on that note, if you've been hestitant at trying yoga, I have found a youtube 10 minute yoga instruction with images that show you the poses. This video is great for anyone who wants to try it and view the poses. On yogadownload most of the free class are only audio, sooo Click Here to try it out!

This evening, I am planning on reading, relaxing, and recovering from this 2 day strength training craze.... My sister is trying to make me into a machine...phew.

P.S. - If you like Pearl Jam..... Check out this moving video of their journey...goosebumps!! Eddie Vedder can scream in my face any day....

Meditation of the Day
When asked what gift he wanted for his birthday, the yogi replied: "I wish no gifts, only presence." ~Author Unknown

(my bday is 21 days away, Canada is 18, woooohooo!)

Work-out Sanctuary

Last night I set-up my new (well new hard drive) computer in my bedroom and for the 1st time it worked! I connected to the internet and started getting excited on the simple fact that I can do yoga and the shred in my bedroom. It was storming out as well, so no bike ride today. My room has a clear space and this morning I took full advantage of this.

I started off with Jillian Michael's Shred Level 2 (Youtubed) which had me sweating a ton, BUT I worked out in my sport bra and shorts, got to yell, take up as much room as I want (no cranky old ladies) and pause if I needed to pee/answer the phone; all things that would not fly at the gym. I liked the Level 2, (in a love/hate abusive relationship kinda way) I have only done Level 3 and they both seemed hard in different ways but I definitely find the transition of cardio to strength to abs a great combo, and makes it go by faster. Then I did a 15 minute abs class on YouTube by some girl from SparkPeople? It was basic but good abs work. I started writing shred on the calendar each day I do it. I'm hoping by Canada (April 25th) I'll have mastered this shred business.

After the shred & abs, I turned the lights off, lit my Jimi Hendrix incense (circa 2001), and I did YogaDownload's Yoga for Runners #1 because I felt tighter today than yesterday from the race. The class was great, except I got a little lost in the middle so I did some teasers, lol. That's another plus to my new yoga sanctuary at home, you can alter moves and not feel like an a hole.

Don't get me wrong, I would've worked out in my room eons ago, but having the instruction is always what keeps my interest and motivates me.

Tonight my sister and I are heading to yoga at the gym and to do some running. I have another job interview Wednesday, and tomorrow who knows? One day I'll revel in these jobless random days I call my life.....Off to make some lunch...

P.S. If you have XM Radio through DirecTV or whatever, I discovered my new favorite station called "Coffee House" on channel 848, acoustic, chill, calm, awesome.

Today in the blog world there's a lot going on --- Angela from Oh She Glows is giving away some chocolate (that's all I need to say), The Hungry Yogini is giving away a month's supply of Fage, Find Your Balance is giving away a Kripalu Vegetarian Cookbook, and Meghann from Inner Workings of A College Graduate is having a blogger bake sale to raise money for her Team in Training efforts. If you have some cravings for deliciousness and also want to help a good cause, head over!

Meditation of the Day
(Happy Birthday Ram Dass)

Be patient. You'll know when it's time for you to wake up and move ahead.- Ram Dass

13

Today is Friday the 13th.
Today in yoga there was 13 people in the class
Am I sensing a bad omen?

Lol.

Today woke up went to a yoga class at the gym. It was verrrrry basic. We only did like 3 sun salutation, but nonetheless it was refreshing and stretched me out. Afterwards, I wanted to see how fast I could run a mile and feel like I could have pushed myself a little more. I won't reveal my time because I feel like it's not that good, lol. I can't tell this blog EVERYTHING.

So I've had a revelation recently. I think it was while I was listening to Van Morrision, but, I have been job hunting for a full-time position forever, and I'm sick of it. I've recently broadened my horizons to start looking in New England and I may get called in for an interview in the next couple weeks. I feel like I subconsciously have not been looking for jobs in NJ to move away again. I'm just in a confused place right now. I love being close to my family so if I moved to NY state, I would only be 4 hours away... Ugh so much to weigh. I'm not a list person so I don't know how to weigh these options. I swear nothing in NJ is appealing to me right now besides the people. Anyways, that was a mental health rant....

I also have not been tending to my workouts and I am pissed about it. I don't know what the H has gotten into me. I need to get back on track....

So today in both the calendar world and in my own world I feel unsettled, cautious & weary, or just "off".

I need answers....and I need them now.

Happy 13th everyone. The second most unavoidable day in February for me......

Bringing yoga back, yup

Yesterday I went to cycling in the morning, went home worked for a couple of hours then I attended for the first time Fitness Yoga at my gym. I love yoga, and having access to a yoga studio in Colorado with anything from Vinyasa to Hatha to Yin yoga I miss it all the time. I would go 2 times a day.

My gym centers more around the "fitness" aspect of yoga and doesn't offer specific types....only Hatha (My town has a lot of senior citizens who upon seeing the word Vinyasa will run far away from any class) So I sucked it up and said how bad could it be? I can't live life resenting these things.My feelings...

The class was a wake-up to my flexibility levels even though it was basic. She did a lot of hatha exercises but also did the holding of the warrior poses and tree pose (my favorite). I admit I need to get back into it any way possible. And doing it at home is so hard for me, I get sidetracked. Living at Shambhala deepened my ability to zone out during yoga and meditate during the practice so clearing my mind last night was also great. Though it's not pushing me as hard as the Colorado studio, I feel I'll attend again next week. I do love pilates and will also continue practicing that:)

As for my body, my shoulders and hip abductors feel like somebody banged into them with a ton of bricks. Yay for triangle poses!

So yoga is back, because I actually don't care what type I'm doing just as long as I am. I escape to my happy place during it.

Went to Zumba this morning, saucy as usually and did 10 minutes of legs. Off to meet my best friend for a slice of pizza then laundry and some work. Yeauhhh.....

And now one of my favorite quotes by Sakyong Mipam Rinpoche (I met him, well he blessed me at a ceremony so kinda!)

"Many of us are slaves to our minds. Our own mind is our worst enemy. We try to focus, and our mind wanders off. We try to keep stress at bay, but anxiety keeps us awake at night. We try to be good to the people we love, but then we forget them and put ourselves first. And when we want to change our life, we dive into spiritual practice and expect quick results, only to lose focus after the honeymoon has worn off. We return to our state of bewilderment. We're left feeling helpless and discouraged. It seems we all agree that training the body through exercise, diet, and relaxation is a good idea, but why don't we think about training our minds?"
— Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche