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Ten Days In….

10 November 2012 / life, pictures, ronni, yoga teacher training

Like my new bag? I got it from Jump From Paper. I love it.

I thought that October was going to be my crazy month, but it’s November that’s nuts! I haven’t had a full pajama day all month. OK, it’s only just ten days in, so not that big of a deal, but still. Wild.

Things are sort of calming down. I have a workshop all weekend (had one session tonight, have two sessions tomorrow, one session Sunday morning), and I have my last yoga teacher training class and potluck Sunday night. That should be fun. I went to my last video review Monday, also attended a business course, and Thursday night, I had my last anatomy class.

I will miss Ole Skelly.

Only ONE more intensive left. Anatomy of the Chakras with Tias Little. The intensives are hard for me. The days are very long (10am-530pm, with the exception of the last day, which is 10am-230pm), and the sheer amount of information pouring in is overwhelming and exhausting. But I like learning about the chakras, so it should be interesting. I’m thinking I’ll need to purchase a new notebook just for this intensive. OH DARN. What a sacrifice, having to buy a new notebook. 😉

I’m in the middle of my apprenticeship with Mia and with teaching my karma/community classes. I’m excited because Graham (a fellow trainee) is going to co-teach a few with me and THAT IS GOING TO BE SO MUCH FUN. I get so nervous before I teach and even while I am teaching. A lot of is ego–I’m scared they won’t like me or that they’ll think I’m a hack. Some of it is that I am genuinely worried I’ll hurt someone or cause them to get hurt and that scares me. But there is risk anytime there is physical activity and the students have signed a release. Doesn’t make it less scary, though. I have a couple of regular students, though, so that’s neat. I think teaching with Graham will help my nerves and also make the class light and happy.

We held an election party Tuesday night. It was a lot of fun, especially because Aidan was in town for the event! Adam made this delicious stew and the cornbread complemented it perfectly. Yummy. Adam’s trick is that he uses a tomato-based broth. I think that goes so well with the sweetness of the cornbread and it’s just darn tasty! The link to the recipe is here. Aidan chopped most of the veggies, which he LOVED. He also helped make the cornbread.

Just got paid, so I will deposit that money, and once things calm down, I will really jump into holiday shopping. I’ve already started shopping for my mom, and I got ideas for Aidan that I put into an Amazon wish list here. My wish list is here. 🙂 Eee, I love buying presents! My favorite holiday season is almost here!!

But first, there will be Thanksgiving. I’m looking forward to it this year. We’re hosting Jeff and Deborah and hopefully our friend Jen as well. It’s going to be gooood. Turkey with all the trimmings, apple pie (there WILL be apple pie, the decision’s been made), good company, good times. So excited. Not only that, but teacher training stuff will have calmed down and all I’ll have is teaching and apprenticing for a while. It’ll be nice to be able to focus on the non-contact stuff for a while, like my thesis, book reviews, write-ups, etc.

But for now, I’m busy. But I’m blessed. And therefore, I’m happy.

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Fire and Grace

4 November 2012 / !, happy, life, pictures, ronni, yoga

As you know, I was blessed with another opportunity to study with Suzanne Sterling. I had the chance to study with her last year, and honestly, that workshop changed my life. This year, it was even BETTER!

There was singing, clapping, yoga, ecstatic dance, hugs, tears, and an amazing sense of community and bonding. Just letting go and being free was amazing. So much was moved in me this weekend. I came out buzzing, feeling remarkably lighter and freer. And my dreams were super vivid last night. Certain things I needed to let go of–I let go of them in my dreams. That’s not to say that something won’t trigger me again, but for now, I’m liberated of those bad feelings and I’m going to bask in it while it lasts!

She talked a lot about shatki: the yoga of sound. About how we, as humans, are self-wired for expression. In just about every non-westernized country, people are greeted with song and dance. Doesn’t matter if you speak the same language or not. People are united through music.

We’re always trying to regulate our nervous systems because we want to feel good. It’s why people eat chocolate cake, or smoke marijuana. And we’re hard wired to move trauma through our systems through expression. If you DON’T move that trauma, disease takes hold. In this country, we’re not really allowed to feel our traumas. We’re expected to do the “spiritual bypass” thing–locking the trauma away and being “fine.”

NO BUENO, FOLKS.

As Suzanne said, you need to do the “fuck you” before you can say “I forgive you.” You gotta go to those uncomfortable places and move it out. Dance with it–you’re always working. But you have to move it so it won’t become stagnant and more harmful.

Sound is a PHYSICAL thing. You can SHIFT a situation with sound! Sound affects respiration, heart rate, brain waves, and consciousness. We’re affected by sounds we can’t even hear. Shabda, yoga of the word, is immensely powerful. Mantras are powerful and can stay true or become true. They invoke a certain consciousness. So… let your mantras bring you abundance and light and love! Don’t say things to yourself like “You’re an idiot” or “You suck, you’ll never amount to anything.” Those are mantras and they’re very real, and they will manifest. Everything we say is out there. And once you admit to the universe that you’re ready for something, it will come. I have experienced this myself. Back in April of 2002, I said out loud “I wouldn’t mind becoming pregnant.” I kid you not, two weeks later, I found out I was pregnant with Aidan. The universe heard that and RAN WITH IT. So universe? I’d love my writing discipline back please and thank you. Still dreaming of hitting that NYT Bestseller list someday…..

One of my favorite quotes comes from the movie Imitation of Life, the second one. The maid, Annie, says “There’s no shame in looking prosperous. It just shows the good Lord you’re ready when He is.”

Doing yoga has made me WAY more sensitive to sound and the things that affect my environment. I do NOT like bars anymore. Too assaulting for me. Adam loves the show Breaking Bad, but I can’t watch it. Too much screaming. ANYthing with terrified or tortured screaming in it really affects me and I don’t like being exposed to it. I just unfollowed someone on tumblr for posting too many pictures of violence and blood. She can post whatever she likes. I don’t need to see it. Hammering, banging, pounding. All those sounds are so jarring to me and I just can’t stand them anymore. I don’t like any violent sound. But I also hate the sound of people chewing and people walking in shoes on hard floors. I don’t know what that says about me, but there you go.

The yoga practices were way more vigorous than I remembered, but that’s OK. I was able to keep up. I must have done well over 100 chantarungas this weekend. I know for an Ashtanga yogi, that’s nothing (they do hundreds in a single practice probably), but for me, that’s a lot! I feel much stronger now. And I welcomed the challenge. I want arms like Gabby Douglas. Those muscles aren’t going to get defined by themselves. 😉

Pushing myself to my edge–that place where there is sensation but not pain–is how I’m going to grow. And doing loads of chatarungas (safely, of course) and getting defined arms is just a physical manifestation of this practice. It works in life transformation as well. My authentic truth is finding it a bit easier to breathe tonight, which is wonderful because I’ve been tamping it down for many, many years. I feel the seeds of Suzanne’s teaching already working in me. My life is already being transformed. It feels great to surrender to it.

Go into the places that are uncomfortable.
Breathe there.
See what happens.

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A Glimpse Into Yoga Teacher Training

3 November 2012 / life, pictures, yoga, yoga teacher training

Yoga teacher training is still proving to be an incredible journey. I’m making really great friends, I’m getting to study with loads of fantastic teachers, and I’m learning SO MUCH. The following collage shows a little snippet… just a LITTLE snippet, of what I’ve been lucky enough to experience. And you guys, I still have five months to go!

I’m spending this weekend with Suzanne Sterling. I’ll write more about that soon. 🙂

Happy weekend. Don’t forget to set your clocks back one hour! YAY extra hour of sleep!

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Every Day I’m Amazed

1 November 2012 / life, living in chicago, pictures, yoga teacher training

Things have been kind of nuts lately! Teacher training, work, just trying to get stuff done! But it’s been great. Hmm, what have I been up to the last time I posted?

Well…

I got my nails done. We had some freakishly warm weather last week, so I took advantage of it, wore shorts and short sleeves, and headed to Pinky Nail to get pampered:

I did the early voting thing:

And….

I’ve been attending many video reviews. See, in addition to my own video review, I have to attend five others. I’ve gone to four others, so I only have one more to go. They make for long days; we have a practice for about 90 minutes, then we head to Daren’s (my teacher) loft to watch the video and listen to his critique. We also learn a lot more about cueing, watching the students, adjusting, and correcting them. This goes on until about 5pm or sometimes later. Then I usually end up hanging out and chatting with Daren and/or various other trainees. Not only is this a good learning experience, it’s a nice way to bond with my fellow trainees.

I’ve been hanging out with some trainees/yogis as well. Sunday, I ran into Fatima at King Spa, and also met up with Daren and his partner Lance for dinner while we were there. Monday, I attended a video review, and then Carmen and I had dinner and went BACK to King Spa. Yesterday, I got to spend hours with Graham and Milena as we explored the next phase of Moksha’s growth.

Graham, who is working so hard on getting this thing going!

SO. King Spa. Let me tell you about King Spa. Oh, glorious King Spa. It’s a Korean spa in a suburb north of Chicago. My friend Jen and I had vouchers, so we headed up Sunday, late afternoon. King Spa is open 24/7, and it’s not by appointment, so we knew we could arrive anytime. I’d never experienced a Korean spa before, so I didn’t know what to expect. But for the low regular price of $25 (we paid $15 for our vouchers), we got two lockers: one for shoes, one for the rest of our stuff, access to the steam room, the spa, many types of saunas, and a movie room, quiet rooms, meditation rooms…. basically, it’ a place to max and relax, for realz, yo. There are loads of extra services you can pay extra for: scrubs, massages, facials, etc. And there is a food court that serves yummy Korean food and yummy juices.

Sunday night was my first time there ever. If you want to get in the spas, you have to get naked. I was OK with that, though. I also got a body scrub. They really do scrub you down. I was cleaner than I’d ever been in my life. They also shampoo your hair (mmm scalp massage). The spa is unisex, but the rest is co-ed, and you are given uniforms to wear. Pink for women, grey for men, yellow for kids. 🙂 The saunas range in temperatures from 19F to 400F. Yes, you read that correctly. I like to go in the 400F one and then go right into the 19F after. Mmmmm. There is something for everyone and you feel like a million bucks when you come out. I plan to frequent that place a LOT. Now that I’m getting more comfortable driving. It only took me more than four years, right? I still have not driven downtown yet, though. Mostly I drive up to Jen’s place (way North), to Moksha, or out to the suburbs, like I did today.

Because last night, I found out that John Barrowman (along with his sister Carole) was going to be at Anderson’s tonight. And with Adam completely booked with ghost tours, I knew if I wanted to meet him, I’d need to get myself out there. And believe me, I NEEDED TO MEET HIM. I’ve been a fan of his ever since I saw him playing Captain Jack on Doctor Who, so I was excited.

I made my way out to Naperville about 1:30pm, so I got there about 2:15pm or so. I got my book for him to sign, and then just hung out. I ate lunch at a yummy BBQ place where the guy behind the counter was really great. He made every single customer that walked into the place feel welcomed and wanted, and you very rarely see that anymore. I shopped a bit (and picked up these gems)!:

Then I returned to Anderson’s (OK I may have shopped a little bit in between), sat down with my new books, and started reading. I chatted a bit with some other fans, and then the really cool lady in purple next to me belted out this amazing opera note because John had come up to her to hug her! (She’s known him for years.) SO, I offered to take a photo of them together if he wouldn’t mind posing with me for a quick photo as well. 😀 Then I hung out for the next two hours, chatting with the lady in purple (Linda) and any other random people, and then it was my turn to go meet him! 🙂

John Barrowman, Carole E Barrowman, and Me

Yeah. THAT HAPPENED YOU GUYS!!!!!!111!!!!!!

He and his sister signed my book!

The week is only halfway over. There is more to come.

Tomorrow, I start teaching karma classes at Moksha every Thursday from 12-1pm for the next seven weeks. The cost is $8, so if you’re near the Riverwest studio, and you have some free time, come on by! It’s a very basic level class, so no experience necessary. This is a requirement to get my certification! Eeek!

There is anatomy class tomorrow night (next to last class!) and Friday, Suzanne Sterling is back!! If you were around last year, you might remember how I came floating out of the Suzanne Sterling workshop. I won’t be able to attend the entire thing this year, but I am going to a few of the sessions (well, one at least) and I know it’s going to be amazing. I can’t wait to see her again!

Friday night, I have a brainstorming party at Daren’s loft, and Sunday morning, I have a lecture with Wendy Doniger, and she’ll be talking about death and rebirth in the history of Hinduism. Should be interesting.

So, November is going to be crazy and it’s not going to let up until Thanksgiving. I’ve got almost 400 emails to answer, and a guest post to post on my blog (I haven’t forgotten you, Celeste), a few giveaways, and more coming up. I’ve only done Christmas shopping for my mom so far, but I’ve got time for that, so I’m not too worried. 🙂

OK then. I’m tired and I have to teach tomorrow, so I’d better start heading toward sleep. Plus, Adam is bringing himself some McDonald’s and I don’t want the scent to tempt me. I haven’t had McDonald’s since March 24, 2012, and I want to try to go at least a year without giving in. I know, it’s stupid how it tempts me so much. It’s terrible for me and will probably make me sick since I haven’t had it in so long, but dammit if those fries and McNuggets don’t taste amazing. And it’s not like they aren’t SUPER aggressive with their advertising. But still. I AM STRONG. ROAR.

‘Til next time! 🙂

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Celebrating Fall

19 October 2012 / living in chicago, pictures

Adam and I took a trip to The Morton Arboretum this week to look at the trees and enjoy the pretty fall colors. The weather was nice. It had rained earlier, so the ground was damp, but I was mostly comfortable. I think we went right at the peak. I also collected two buckeyes. And hugged my favorite sugar maple tree.

I took lots and lots of photos. I couldn’t get over how pretty everything was. We drove through this woodsy part that was gold. Just tall trees with golden leaves, golden leaves floating to the ground, golden leaves scattered all over the ground. It was bright and happy and amazing.

Click here to see pictures from this year and last, including that forest of gold. 🙂

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