Yoga Post # 3

It is almost the end of February and my first yoga class begins next week. I am having the anticipation anxiety mixed with excitement and nervousness all at once. I have been teaching yoga for a while now but this class will be the first one that isn't free! For some reason, because people are paying for the class I feel an obligation to make the class "worth their money". My yoga instructor frequently says "Allow yourself to be new" which I am trying to do right now.

When I taught my first dance class I was nervous and didn't know what to expect. Now I don't feel such anxiety about my classes as they come each week. I know this will be same for my yoga classes, it's just a matter of me getting used to it.

We finished our session 2 of our group Yoga Training last weekend and the training sessions always make me feel better. I feel refreshed and motivated to work on my yoga stuff. We each had to practice teaching to the group so that helped me to feel prepared too.

For my practice teaching I led the group through some meditation and Savasana. It was great. I felt so nervous about teaching my group but the mediation helped me feel calm and then I loved leading them through Savasana.

Because I will only have an hour for each class I've decided I'm going to do a modified version of the Bodhiflow (an Asana practice I have learned in my studies so far). What we will do is begin with some basic breath work (I want them to experience it but I don't want to overwhelm them) to warm the tissues then we will work through Tier 1 of the Bodhiflow. I think we will work through it 2-3 times to get a feel for it. From there we will either move on to Tier 2 of the flow or we will focus on lengthening and growing in specific poses. This will all depend on the level/ desire of the students. Then we will go into meditation and savasana.

Seeing it all typed out helps me to feel better about teaching the class, but I still want it to be a good experience for the students. My yoga instructor says that she is not the great yoga instructor, it is that she is a guide to our personal yoga experiences. She says it is yoga that makes us feel so good, not her. I need to remember that. I think it would be helpful if I thought of the class format and meditated on the specific poses and focuses.

I guess that is all I can do right now, meditate on it and see how it goes and then go from there.

Thanks for listening blog readers.

-Camille

I am doing my Yoga Teacher Training at Bodhi Yoga
 http://www.gobodhiyoga.com/

The Breath of Life (Yoga Blog entry #2)

My focus this week is on the breath. 

I have a lingering cold that has taken over my precious ability to breathe through my nose so I think that is why breath is on my mind. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. :) 

Pranayama is the yoga practice of breath work. Pranayama loosely translated means "to control life force", so as you are practicing the different breathing techniques you are sending life force throughout the body. When you are feeling sick or low energy it is because your life force is low. I've been thinking about my personal life force a lot lately. I've been thinking about how much life force I am giving myself and how much I am using in my day to day habits. Some things that are in my routine use my life force but are important; other habits are really just wasting it. 

I remember a specific time where I was struggling with my feelings of frustration and anger towards a person, who for some reason always got under my skin. The feelings of frustration and anger colored much more than my sole interactions with this person. I carried that anger with me and I shared it with everyone who would listen. I remember distinctly when someone I trust finally stopped me as I was complaining about this person. They said: "I know you feel angry, but this person most likely isn't going to stop pushing your buttons, you can not change their behavior, so the only way to get past this is to put less mental energy towards it, try to stop thinking about it." 

At the time I thought "How do you stop thinking about something that is so important?" That is when I realized it really wasn't important. It wasn't helping me reach my goals, and it definitely wasn't helping me be happier. So I decided to train myself (over a period of time) to think of those negative/angry thoughts as a waste of my energy. The anger inside of me lessened and eventually I could see this person as just another person with struggles and problems like the rest of us. 

What does this have to do with breath? Or Pranayama? Well, I am experiencing deja'vu as I am finding myself needlessly frustrated with a person I have to see on a regular basis again. When I allow myself to be frustrated with this person I feel exhausted. I feel as though I have encountered an energy vampire. (My boss coined that term, and I think it is very fitting.) In my life outside of the interactions with this person my time is filled! It is filled with new, awesome experiences that I am excited and grateful to have. These new experiences (like many changes in life) require use of my energy, which itself is not a bad thing. It is a blessing I think, to have work to do. However, if my energy is all used up or sucked away by the vampire then I don't have energy to offer to my life experiences. Something must be done. 

The advice of that trusted friend of associating the reactive thoughts as not worth my time, is wonderful! I really see success when I change my thoughts that way and I would recommend it to anyone struggling with similar issues. What I also would recommend is to add more breath work into your life. (For the record, I am recommending this to myself as well) My yoga instructor says that when she is depressed she does a yoga practice that is solely breath work each day and her body uses the breath to re-energize. I have experienced that re-energizing effect of breath in the past also and now would be a great time to incorporate more breath in my life again. 

Breath work can be a focused, meditative time with specific breaths such as : Ujayii, Three part breath, Nadi Sodhana(alternating nostril breath), etc. Or breath work can be adapted to be done anywhere at anytime. or Example: A simple three part breath while sitting in traffic or a calming exhale focused breath while in bed. Whatever works best for you. 

Here are ways that I would like to do breath work more, so that my energy is being filled and used in a healthy way. 

As vampire approaches me I begin my breath work and remember that I do not have to react. I can't control this person, but I can control my breath and my thoughts. Suddenly, an interaction that used to suck my energy and cause me to feel anxious has come and gone and I am no longer affected by it. 

As my dance instructor is stretching my leg higher than it has been in a looooooong time I can breath and think about how amazing the human body is, and the stretch becomes less painful and more of a gift. 

As my students are wound up in dance class and are not focusing I can breath and remember what it was like to be 4 years old and full of life. 

As my sink overflows with dishes I can cry and run away or I can breath and begin working on them, letting the hot water calm me.

As my body or my mind feels exhausted I can sit in a quiet place and breath, remembering that my rest is just as important as my work. 

 This is why we call it the breath of life. The breath is now and the breath is control. Which is awesome. 

Breath more this week!

xoxo

-Cami

I am doing my yoga teacher training at Bodhi Yoga http://www.gobodhiyoga.com/ 

Update on things going on in my life!

Friends!

I can't believe that 1.It is 2014 and 2.It is February already!

As Earl Nightingale said  "Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it, the time will pass anyway." I think this is the theme of this blog post: Working on my dreams because the time will pass anyway, so I might as well be growing towards something I love. :)

Okay, so let's get down to business. As you readers can tell from my previous posts, I started this blog so that I could document my 60 day challenge and any other endeavors I embark on to help with my Fibromyalgia symptoms. The 60 day challenge was a success. I did not finish all 60 days, but I did pull myself out of my depression funk. The real reason of the challenge was to teach myself to do that, take care of myself until I can pull myself out and see the light again. So here I am months later, working towards something I care about and taking care of myself in the process and you blog readers get to hear about it :)


Since I decided to actually publicize this blog entry I will explain some things to my family and friends who have recently asked about my plans. My plan for a long time was to go to Grad School to study Occupational Therapy. I finished my undergraduate degree (finally!) and the time came to take the awful GRE and to apply to Occupational Therapy programs. This is when my "feeling" side of me (I make decisions based on feelings, I am an ENFJ, in case you were wondering.) started to make itself known. I felt not only uneasy, but not happy about applying to grad schools. At first I thought it was my anxiety tricking me (like it can sometimes) but after months of pondering, praying, talking with Husband and pondering some more I realized that it was not an anxiety trick. It was a real feeling to listen to. Well, eventually I decided not to go to grad school. I felt a swarm of relief wash over me for a second and then I felt nervous again that I did not know what I wanted to do with my life. Again I began the pondering, experimenting, praying, talking with Husband, talking with friends and all the soul searching I could muster. After all this, alas! I came to my path. Here it is:

I wanted to do dance therapy in my Occupational Therapy practice and I also wanted to own my own dance studio. I had fallen in love with yoga years ago, when my health required me to start from the ground and work my way up physically. I realized I didn't want to wait to start working on my dreams until I had finished grad school. I wanted to incorporate the things I love now.

So I decided to get certified to teach yoga and to start teaching dance, so I could begin learning and start somewhere.

After researching National Yoga Alliance approved teacher certification programs available to me in my area I found the best program I could. I met the owner of the program and right away I knew that this program would not only help me work towards my dreams but it would also open many other doors for me. I started the program in January of this year and it has already taken over my life! My Father-in-Law asked me the other day if I am just as busy as I was in college and I responded "Yes, maybe even more, but being busy working on something I care about is way better than working just for the sake of working." I am loving what I am experiencing and learning so far in this program.

I am getting my yoga teacher certification from Bodhi Yoga www.gobodhiyoga.com.

I am learning so much about the body, mind and spirit and how they can all work together for our good. :) In my program I am required to document what I learn so sometimes I will do that here. :) I am also required to work on my own yoga practice as well as begin my teaching and hands on adjusting. Husband has been very lucky because everything I learn I practice on him, so he is getting more relaxed by the day. 

In addition to my yoga teacher training I also have found a dance teaching job! It happened so quickly, I saw the job opening posted online and I found myself emailing the studio owner right away. (without even taking days to ponder, people!) I was nervous but I felt like I needed to try. Like I said before, the time would pass anyway, so I might as well get started. I met the studio owner and again I felt like I was in the right place at the right time. (Both experiences were tender mercies.) She offered me the job and I took it! I currently teach the Intro I class (2-3 year olds) and the Intro II class (3-4 year olds). I love it! It is dance with out all the drama, and with ALL the fun. It pushes me weekly, it keeps me on my toes, and I can't deny the feeling of joy I get from teaching these girls. 

The studio I teach dance at is called dansation. www.briannebennettdansation.org

So there you go! Those are the updates. :) I am grateful & honored to be able to work and learn in areas I love.

I have had some questions about when & where I teach yoga, so here is the information: 

Starting either mid February or beg. March:  Tuesdays @ 7:15 Yoga @ Dansation (1799 N State S Orem, UT) $8 drop in rate and if you buy 8 classes $6 per class 

For private sessions I usually do those @ Bodhi Yoga (2230 N. University Pkwy Ste 2E Provo, UT) or I can do those at your home if you wish. Email me for availability & prices.  monet.cami@gmail.com 

Eventually when I muster up the courage I will make a Facebook with my schedule, prices, etc. The more training I get the more classes will be added! 

Thanks for reading as I excitedly work towards my dream! 

xoxo Camille