home sweet home (and lots to share!)

(me in downward dog by the lake)

hello sweet readers! so guess what? i'm officially a yoga teacher. woot woot!

i graduated on friday and am now settling back into life in boston. it feels a little surreal but i'm so happy...

this week i will be sharing lots about the past month, and i hope to be back to my regular posting schedule. thank you so much for sticking around and being so supportive.

i love you guys!

somewhere between overwhelmed and euphoric.

today is my 11th day at kripalu. wow.

at times, i feel like this month is moving at snail speed. i'll be sitting on my little cushion in the classroom, trying to soak up everything the teacher is saying about utkatasana, when in reality i'm just trying to keep my spine straight, lamenting that my pedicure is chipping, and wondering... when can i take a nap? :)

at other times, we'll be sitting in a circle and applauding each other's accomplishments, or practicing yoga outside on the cool grass, or dancing (there is so much dancing here!), and i'll feel an incredible amount of joy and energy.

still, i have hours (or days) when i feel like i'm never going to be able to pull off this whole "yoga teacher" thing. i had my first practice teach yesterday (30 minutes) and it was overwhelming. i felt like i was trying to juggle, on one foot, while singing a song, while counting backwards. but hey, i did it. :) and to be honest, i'm looking forward to doing it again.

and other than all of that, we're having a big 'ol blast. the people here are so lovely.

i've played in the rain, had bunnies for lunch company, soaked in the whirlpool, taken a field trip to a local coffee shop (huzzah), listened to beautiful music, built a lot of muscle strength, eaten gourmet meals every day, seen a celebrity (!), and laughed all day.

it's been an adventure! and it's not even half over...

kripalu update!

yoga school has been fabulous so far... it's amazing how much can happen in a week though; i don't know where to begin. :)

first, i'd like to thank you all for being so welcoming to our guest bloggers. i really appreciate it. aren't their posts fun? (also, i know the fonts have been wacky, and i'm going to try to fix it. thanks for your patience.)

now onto the juicy stuff... shall we start with some pictures?

kripalu is located smack dab in the middle of endless "om-trees." (that's our little nickname for them since they are so big and perfect!) the campus is incredible, and i've been taking short little walks daily.

this room is our home for the month. the instructors sit in the front, and all of the colorful shapes on the wall are our intentions for the month. the space is much larger than it looks in this photo though; we fit 57 yoga mats!

we've been learning lots of anatomy this week. i never thought i'd like bones so much. in fact, i can already tell i'm going to be the kind of yoga teacher who is obsessed with anatomy and safety. very cool.

this is a little lounge area where i sometimes sit. and by sometimes, i mean on the rare occasion that we actually have time to lounge. :)

a few other things about this first week:

- we practice yoga twice a day, for a total of 3.5 hours. the rest of the time we're either learning how to teach postures, or we're learning theory. i've also been going to dance classes during lunch. so you might say, i'm blissfully exhausted.

- we've also spent a great deal of time learning how to breathe! if you're not a yogi, you'd be surprised how much there is to learn about deep breathing. the other day we were practicing dirgha breathing and i burst into tears. i think i was releasing some built up anxiety. breathing is powerful stuff.

- the food. oh, the food. truthfully, i can't verbalize how yummy it is. sometimes in the middle of a tough yoga pose, i just daydream about the food. (don't tell, ok?)

- i've made some friends and they are all so special: a school teacher from calgary, a community center director from florida, an environmental genius from vancouver, and so many more... i feel so lucky to be spending this month with them.

- that being said, i miss simon.

i think that's about all for now. it has felt like a long week, but it's also been an empowering one. i will continue to update you all as time allows. :)

much much love and thank you for being patient and supportive while i am on this adventure!

p.s. today is our day off, and i'm getting a facial in a few hours. yay! 

kripalu day 1

hello, friends!
 
i am currently sitting in the kripalu cafe, looking out over rolling hills and a gorgeous lake. today's activities haven't started yet (they gave us a one time pass on 6:30 a.m. yoga) but i was awake most of the night anyway (a combination of excitement and nerves, i think). either way, i have my coffee next to me (shh) and a great view of the surrounding beauty. i'm happy.

kripalu is a very special place. if you've never been here, it's kind of hard to describe the vibe without using cliched words like "peaceful", "warm" and "vibrant". but it's true. there is an energy to this place that impresses me every time.

last night we had our opening circle, and it was surprisingly not intense. the two main instructors are lovely and funny, and made us all feel so welcome. there are about 60 people in the program, but only two guys. poor souls. :)

at one point we were moving around the room, getting our bodies warmed up, when all of a sudden a song came on... justin timberlake's rock your body. at that moment i knew this whole adventure was going to be a really good time.

oh my god! i just saw a bunny hopping around outside! seriously. okay, it's official: this place is ridiculous. :)

much love and see you soon!

p.s. pictures of my room and everything else coming soon! :)

off to kripalu!

eeeee! i am so excited as i type this... today i leave for my kripalu yoga teacher training.

it's been a long time coming, but i am finally packed and ready to go. simon is driving me to the beautiful berkshires, and then he'll help me set up my room. it kind of feels like i am going to college or summer camp! :) then we'll say goodbye (a part i'm not looking forward to) and i'll head off to program's welcome session.



i have lined up some awesome guest posts for the month, so i hope you enjoy them. but i'm also going to blog as often as i can. wish me luck, ok? i'll be thinking of all of you, and i promise to take lots of pictures!

p.s. if you happen to be at kripalu during the month of august and you see me, please come say hello! :)