Autumn is the Best

Well summer is winding down and Autumn is just around the corner. As much as I love summer time, I am really looking forward to Fall. I like windy Autumn days with sunshine, leaves and a warm cup of tea. I love being all cozy during Autumn with sweaters and socks and if I had a fireplace I would use it! I like moving into September because with the busy travel schedule I assumed over the summer some regular things fell by the wayside and it is time to get back on track. I have two courses starting up in September for the Yoga Therapy Program I am slowly chipping away at, getting me that much closer to finishing. September means getting back to a routine, and sometimes routines can be boring, but sometimes the stability can feel really nice. Right now I feeling the latter of the two and looking forward to the structure of the coming months.

It also means I can get back into my yoga practice on a regular basis as it has been all over the place during the summer months. I enjoy the transition during this time of year to a quieter, more yin like state of being and feeling. Summer is so busy and it's been super fantastically awesome with some much time spent with friends that it can be hard to say goodbye to summer. But I feel really excited moving into September. Also we move through Autumn, into winter and then into 2012 and into spring that means its just that much closer to the cross country move. To have a large goal ahead of myself, something to work towards, really feels right. Transitioning from a busy city life in Vancouver to a more balanced life in Halifax is something I look forward to. I find myself craving more time with nature and more time doing things with my own two hands (including my urge to sew, can fruit, make jam, create art and garden).


I am eager to begin my participation in group yoga therapy classes as both a student myself and as a teaching assistant this Fall. It will be interesting, nerve wracking, educational, fun and eye opening. I like that it will bring me a little bit outside of my comfort zone. Each time I come back to my yoga mat these days I feel such a deep connection with myself that its so wonderful. My words don't even do it justice here. It's a great reminder to keep at it, even when I feel lazy, to keep coming back to the mat. Over the summer my practice has been irregular but this past month I have had a much less demanding teaching schedule so it has allowed me ample opportunity to attend more classes and be the student. This has been immensely satisfying and much needed too. I will always be a student of yoga. I enjoy the opportunity to share with so many teachers in their teachings and to experience all kinds of yoga, teachers and classes. I feel a deep calling to really commit to my yoga practice because I am just 10X better when I diligently follow my practice. I guess that is why they call it practice, because it's helpful and it feels good.

Back in the Saddle

I have totally been slacking on the blog front (seeing as my last post was from October of last year). It's only been in the last month or so, after having some time off to explore Eastern Canada, that I realized how fast and crazy I had been moving along for quite awile now. It was a wake up call to be on vacation in Nova Scotia and have a fairly quiet schedule and realize at one point...I said to myself what is that I am feeling? Oh right that's happiness! It is a fine balance somewhere in the middle and even though I had thought I was there, I was pretty far from the middle as it turns out.

So spent a week enjoying the simple pleasures of sleeping in, laughing with friends, walking, watching movies, more laughing and eating home cooked meals every day. I realized I could get used to life like this. A slower pace, less hectic and less noise. It's only after having come home to Vancouver that I noticed (and Bernard too) how noisy it is all of the time being in the city. I love Vancouver but - it's time for a change.

Part of me coming home and other than being a little overwhelmed with the city at first, realizing and experiencing how much I need time to be a student of yoga just as much as I need to teach yoga as well. It's not as much of a need to teach yoga exactly, it's just that I really enjoy it, and it makes me feel good, pretty simple. But my teaching schedule has really been scaled back, on purpose by me, and it's been so absolutely lovely. Don't get me wrong, like I said, I love, love, love teaching yoga and won't be giving it up anytime soon. But after less classes to teach, means more time for me and more time for me to actually go to a yoga class on my own and be the student. And oh how lovely it is to be a student, I have missed making the time for it! I got myself to 3 classes last week and I will be hitting atleast 2 this week as well. It's so great! Seems incredibly silly that I hadn't been making a point of making sure that this doesn't get missed.

It does feel nice to have a little more perspective, have a little more time to enjoy life and to have a goal now. Living in Vancouver is fantastic in so many ways, but the cost of living is pretty insane and it's quite challenging to get ahead financially - so making a move East is sounding so very inviting. It will take some planning, some research, some work, I know this...but ultimately Nova Scotia is calling my name. Having a new start and having myself been re-acquainted with my love of yoga has been so fabulous, feels like my words are not doing my feelings justice here. Anyways going to make a concerted effort to make another go of my blogging here. Yoga and non-yoga related. But yoga is such a big part of my life and it continually brings me home (in more ways than one) that how could I now talk about it here?

Sara


"So I learned both to accept myself and to aim beyond myself" - Stephen Spender

Circles...

Black Elk of the Lakota Sioux said of the Universe:

You have noticed that everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round...The sky is round, and I have heard tat the Earth is round like a ball and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls. Birds make their nest in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours...Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing, and always come back again to where they were. The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves.

- From the Sky Handbook by John Watson & Michael Kerrigan

I read this recently and fell in love with it and wanted to share!

Also follow this link to a Corporate Yoga Company that I work for and their current newsletter. I wrote the main article in the newsletter for October 2010! http://www.innergycorporateyoga.com/newsletter.html

Had a spectacular time studying with Nischala Joy Devi in Calgary from Sept 26-30th! Made some new friends, learned ALOT and just felt whole. Such a fantastic feeling. Having been home now for a week it's been so nice just enjoying the flow of life and those around me. Been really cultivating Gratitude in my classes this week in the spirit of Thanksgiving. I must say that it all just feels so much easier when I allow myself to go with the flow...

A photo of the sunset in Airdire, Alberta - stunning!

Falling in to Autmun

Definitely feels like summer time is behind us now and Autumn is here. Which I don't mind at all because I happen to love the Fall. Not the rain so much, but the rest ofit yes. Seeing as how Bernard and I didn't get much in terms of summer getaways this year we are off to Seattle for two nights next week. I am very much looking forward to it!

Here is the plan of attack:
Head down via car on Tuesday afternoon - make a pit stop at the outlet shops along the way
Arrive into Seattle around dinner time and check into our hotel - The Silver Cloud Stadium HotelWednesday morning is open for spontaneousfun,then it's off to see the Boston Red Sox beat the pants off the Seattle Mariners at Safeco FieldWednesday afternoon!
Wednesday night dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, which even the thought of it has me salivating (Who can say no to cheesecake when they have two full pages on their menu just for these?)Thursday: rainy day = Seattle Music Experience; non-rainy day = Woodland Park Zoo. My fingers are crossed for the zoo because it looks like soooo much fun.
Then get back in the car and drive home to Vancouver Thursday evening.

Not too shabby.

In other news....I am happily plugging away at an online Anatomy & Physiology course currently as part of the Yoga Therapy Program I am working towards through Mount Royal University in Calgary, AB. My first quiz is tomorrow so I should actually be studying right now rather than blogging, but that is what the rest of the day is for I say! This is only part 1 of Anatomy & Physiology so I will be immersed in this content from now until the end of February with parts 1 & 2. It is very interesting content so I don't mind it. Lots of review from previous science coursework. :)

Then at the end of this month I will be off to Calgary for just under a week to do an in-class course at Mount Royal. Should be good because a) it's school and I love school and b) it's yoga school so even better! This one is called Healing Relationships, level 2. So really that is a pretty vague course title but I like the instructor, Nischala Joy Devi, so I am sure it will be interesting and engaging. Plus I get to hang with my cousin while in Calgary so that will be nice too. I know people like to rag on Calgary sometimes but I don't mind it there, I will have to be smarter than

last time though and take some warm, winter type clothing with me.

The Vancouver Yoga Conference is coming up too - less than a month away! It's the first weekend in October here in rainy Vancouver. I actually haven't got my act together and registered for anything yet, but I do plan to do some of the workshops with Susi Hately as she works in the Yoga Therapy field. There is a full-day intensive session with her on the Friday and then some 2 hour sessions on the Saturday that I plan to partake in with Ms. Hately. I wasn't super stoked when the conference guide was released for this year's conference - but - there are still some interesting topics and teachers, just not as much as I had hoped for. Nothing like the Yoga Therapy conferences I have attended previously in LA - but then again California is the yoga capital so that's to be expected. I am sure the knowledge I can receive from Susi's workshops will be very valuable indeed and I may throw in a workshop with Sadie Nardini or Martin Kirk.

Anyhow that is what's on the horizon for me at this time. :) All good things. Plenty to be grateful for of course.

Here are some recent photos to share with you as well. The vintage effect on the photos is courtesy of the Iphone App called Hipstamatic, which quite frankly I am in love with!

Posing with the tree at the park

Me being a dork at the Park

Duck at Queen Elizabeth Park just Chillin

Bernard looking as cool as ever :)

B and I at Queen Elizabeth Park taking a self-portait.

Miss Kenidee Buttons

At the Vancouver Aquarium

Fall is upon us...

So fall is just around the corner now - well I guess if you want to get technical we have got until September 21st with Summer, but it feels like Fall to me now. I actually think Fall is my favorite season now. I don't think it was as a kid, with all the back to school hoopla, but now as an adult I really love Autumn. I get so happy and warm inside thinking about the colors of the leaves, cozy sweaters, the windy blustery days, the pumpkin pies and thanksgiving, yum! I do enjoy the transition from the high-energy busy days of summer to a more contemplative time of Fall. Atleast that's how it feels to me.

I do have A LOT on my plate for the Fall but I don't mind because I am super stoked for all of it! I will be heading back to Calgary for more Yoga Therapy training in late September. I will also be doing an online Anatomy & Physiology course starting September 1st - which is yikes! less than two weeks away! I will also be completing a 25 hour restorative teacher training with Heart Centre Yoga in Burnaby which I am really excited for. Then it's a medical terminology online course for late Fall (I know this one sounds sooo...exciting....well not exactly). For January 2011 it's starting a 350 hours of Yoga Teacher Training so that at the end of 2011 I can call myself a 500 hour certified yoga teacher!!

For those of you interested this is what my fall schedule is shaping up to look like in terms of teaching & classes, etc. :) I am happy to be teaching with the organizations I do teach with and am very grateful for my classes.

Tuesdays:

8:30am-9:30am Hatha Hour @ Kerrisdale Yoga

9:30am-10:45am Yin @ Kerrisdale Yoga

4:00pm-5:00pm Hatha @ Yogacara

Wednesdays:

4:00pm-5:00pm Gentle Hatha @ Canadian Mental Health Association

5:30pm-6:30pm Private Class

Fridays:

9:30am-10:30am Hatha @ Yogacara

4:15pm-5:30pm Vinyasa Flow @ Kerrisdale Yoga (As of Oct. 22nd)

5:45pm-7:00pm Yin @ Kerrisdale Yoga (As of Oct. 22nd)

That is what it looks like so far....still working on a couple more hopefully for the fall schedule. I am also happy to announce that I will be working in an administrative assistant role with Innergy Corporate Yoga! (check them out at www.innergycorporateyoga.com) This will be a neat and interesting role to work for a company that offers corporate yoga classes for businesses and companies within their own space for their employees. I am very glad to be on board with them.

Completely un-related to yoga teaching: I got my second tattoo this past Thursday! And if I do say so myself, it's freaking awesome! The artist (Jay @ IKandy Tattoo in Langley) did a super

fantastic job - better than what I had in mind when I described my idea to him. Here are a couple of photos for ya:

None of the photos show the complete color filled in - I will need to take some more after it's done healing and it's no longer pealing. Just wanted to share tonight with you all. I also just did a Shiva Rea yoga DVD at home with a couple of friends and we are feeling super quiet and peaceful and blissful. I will end on that note - goodnight folks :)

Disneyland - here we come!

So in just over a week it's off to Disneyland we go! I am such a huge dork that the other day I was at home watching videos of Disneyland on youtube and getting all excited about the adventure to come. I have been to Disneyland before - but I was 12 I believe, so it's been awhile and when I was there the California Adventure park didn't even exist yet so I am sure we will have plenty to explore. :) From what I remember there was really nothing about Disneyland I didn't enjoy....ha ha I guess I am their target then. But between the sun, the good company, the rides and photos to be taken I think it's going to be a well-deserved rest from "real life" in Vancouver.

I have been extremely busy as of late, teaching my regular schedule of classes on top of subbing some extras as well. Both Yesterday & Wednesday of this week were 3 class days whereas Tuesday was a 4 class day! I am a little glad I only have one to do tonight in Burnaby and one tomorrow in Richmond. :) I need to make sure I am getting enough rest for myself in there too! I do find it a little difficult sometimes trying to make a living as a yoga teacher. I don't mean to complain, it's just alot of running around firstly, secondly it pretty much always keeps you on your toes because especially with a drop in class you never know who might show up to class, and lastly it's that whole dilemma of "can I make a living of doing something that I love?" I find that money has been tight lately, well more than lately I should say and even though I seem to be teaching up a storm I still seem to run out of money before I run out of month. So I need to get it together and either teach more or supplement with something else (again). It just very simply sucks to be poor.

I completed a fantastic Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training last weekend!! I absolutely loved it. I don't think I will be rushing into teaching pre-natal yoga anytime in the absolute near future, but I do see myself pursuing it in the future at some point. It was such an amazing time to spend with a bunch of fab gals in a group setting and honour & validate women and the whole pregnancy/birthing experience. It did overwhelm me a little in the sense that it feels like the amount of information as a new mother you need to keep in the forefront of your mind is so immense that is the part that felt overwhelming. Lots to explore and play with. It helped me to re-connect with my feminine energy too, realigning some values and goals. It made me feel special and proud to be a woman! I feel like I had started to lose some of that confidence and strength that each woman does hold and it felt so very good to find my way back to all of these. I feel like these words aren't even doing my experience justice :) So in one word - fanfrickingtastic!

Be careful what you wish for....you may just get it!

So hello there, I have been slacking on the blogging front as you can see here from the lack of postings. I have made a new goal when it comes to my blog here, seeing as it's a new thing for me still and I have never written a blog before, my goal is to write once a week. If I feel like writing more then awesome - if not once a week seems reasonable. :)

So you know the saying be careful what you wish for....

Ha ha it's just that I have been really focusing on building my teaching schedule as a yoga instructor for the spring and now it seems like another saying, 'when it rains, it pours.' I just firmed up three more classes this week - right on! Don't get me wrong I am not complaining one bit, just noticing that the intention you send out there can come back to you in a very positive and fruitful way!

Here's a rough sketch of my teaching schedule for the next while:

Mondays : Teachers yoga in Burnaby @ Elementary school

Tuesdays: (as of May) 9:30am Yin Class @ Kerrisdale Yoga

(as of May) 4:00pm Hatha Class @ Yogacara

(April 13 - June 29) 7:00pm Candlelight Yogaflex @ Mt. Pleasant Community Ctr

Wednesdays: (as of May) 9:30am Yoga for Cancer Survivors @ Yogacara

(May 12 - July 28) 2:00pm Survivor Yoga @ Kerrisdale Yoga

4:00pm Gentle Hatha @ Canadian Mental Health Association

(April 14 - June 2) 6:30pm Healthy Backs @ New West School Location

(April 14 - June 2) 7:30pm Yoga Plus @ New West School Location

Thursdays: (April 15 - ?) 8:00pm Private class in West Vancouver

Fridays: 9:30am Hatha Class @ Yogacara

8:00pm Candlelight Hatha @ Heart Centre Yoga in Burnaby

So that is where I am with my teaching - not too shabby if I do say so myself :) I am very happy that I am focusing on myself as a teacher and growing and learning as much as possible in this realm to continue to expand and develop as a teacher. It really is an on-going process in which you are never really done (but between me and you that is perfectly ok with me).

In other yoga news - I am embarking on a Pre-natal teacher training course this week. It runs Thursday - Sunday and I am very excited to be completing this one. I love kids and I love working with women for women so I really feel that learning more in this specific area of yoga will only lead to greater things. Plus I believe this will also help me on my journey towards becoming a doula. I plan on working on the doula steps to certification beginning this year. It looks like with all of the steps required it will take me about a year to complete as long as I stick with it and keep on track!

I had been spending the last couple of weeks working a little less and taking the time to evaluate where I am as a teacher and where I want to be and go with my career. I came to the conclusion that it means getting back on board with the Yoga Therapy training program I had started with Mount Royal University in Calgary. I had been looking around at other trainings and programs, etc and it just became too much I felt. I am already apart of this program and have done a couple of their modules already so why not just back into the groove of things and re-committ myself to this program on my journey to becoming a certified yoga therapist. :) It makes me feel very good to have a clearer plan here now and I have dates for the upcoming sessions this year and will be committing myself to making it work. Enough said.

My long term goals still include working privately as a yoga therapist one on one with clients either out of a shared space or out of my home (when we upgrade to a larger living area in the future). So in order to get there I have got to focus on my training and make the necessary sacrifices when it comes to timing & $$$.

And completely nothing to do with yoga - we leave for our big kid Disneyland trip in 17 days!! I am getting very excited to spend time with my partner and our good friends roaming through the theme parks in southern california being big kids, laughing, being in the sun, eating and chilling together having fun!! I am a such a sucker when it comes to California as I absolutely love it there. :) I will be sure to share some photos of this on here when we return.

Peace & love,

Sara