Sequencing Part 3

Last week I finished tweaking my sequence. I ended up taking TONS of notes on my actual sequence, so I went ahead and re-typed it. But, I found as I've gone through it the last few nights; I'm still making notes. Writing down all the things I want to say, and the things I want to explain. I need to write them down so I don't forget.

I don't want to be that girl at the front of the class reading off of the paper. But there are sometimes where I think I need to. I'm not very good at explaining what I'm doing while I do it. My mom will attest to this, I'm sure. So I have to constantly remind myself that I need to be talking while I'm moving. Right now, just starting - that's hard for me. SO I can't just see the sequence pictures and go. I need to have something to back me up, in case I'm up there and I freeze.

I actually have a feeling I may not need much while I'm up there. At the studio I think I'll be more in the zone. But, I also don't want to get up in front of everyone and then be at a loss for words. It's going to be overwhelming. But it's going to be great! I have 2 days until I teach and I'm so nervous now! It's all setting in and becoming real!

If I can get half way through the practice; I'm golden! While they're laying there isn't much I have to demonstrate. I just have to be really good at explaining and adjusting. That I think I can handle!

I went through the practice again last night. I caught myself thinking "what if this happens?" and wondering if some of the ladies will actually be able to. Then that got me thinking of adjustments. Just so I didn't forget that, I came up with a plan for one of the poses to be able to adjust everyone and get everyone to benefit from it. I was uber proud of myself for that. Because I sure would have been there; staring at Caitlin mouthing HELP! haha

I also practiced teaching on Eric. Bad idea. He doesn't listen to me, and that gets frustrating. He doesn't look at me like a teacher and so I get that. But add that in with the dogs going nuts trying to figure out why Daddy is laying on the floor and it was just overwhelming. I gave up.

Anyway. Sequencing is HARD work. Being a perfectionist makes that even harder!

my "last weekend"

Going forward, blogging is totally going to be hit or miss for me. Last weekend was my true "LAST WEEKEND" before training begins. Here's a short re-cap of what I did.

Friday - came home, relaxed for a bit and caught a movie with my brother and husband. After we got home, a couple of our cousins came over for some drinks and ended up staying the night.

Saturday - ABSOLUTELY FREAKING NOTHING! Boy did that feel amazing! My husband had made plans to go on a guy's trip to the Cubs v. Sox game. I went to run a couple errands in the morning and from then on, I crafted a little, watched the entire first season on True Detective (OMG! SO GOOD!). Napped. Ate. My brother came over. Napped some more. Crafted a little more. Ate a dinner that consisted of JUST macaroni and cheese (HELLO INNER 5 YEAR OLD SELF!).

Sunday - Day 2 of absolutely NOTHING! I didn't even finish my craft project! We watched a few episodes of season 2 of True Detective. Went for a ride with the doggies and got ice cream. Then we came home and I cooked a spectacular feast of Mexican food that we purchased from the tiny Mexican store down the street. Pretty sure I may have been a latina in a past life! SO freaking good!

The weekend prior I celebrated with a Girls Weekend in Wisconsin. (expect this portion to be photo heavy!)

We had SO much fun! We started with the drive up on Friday with 3 of us. Saturday we got up and explored nature and did a little shopping. Then 1 other girl came up and decided last minute to take a small trip to Lacrosse and get tattoos! I know! I was shocked by myself too! Sunday we woke up, did a little more exploring and then headed home. Summer coming home from Wisconsin traffic is AWFUL! But it was still fun! All in all. These last 2 weeks have been AWESOME! I can't wait to see what the next few j a m - p a c k e d busy weekends do! It's going to change me... I just know it!

On Saturday we had every intention of going to the beach. However it was cold and cloudy! SO, we nixed that idea and went exploring. This was one of the areas we stopped at. Devil's Elbow. The flowers had finally bloomed on the lily pads and they were BEAUTIFUL!

Caitlin looking out on the lake! My FAVORITE picture of the weekend!

Oh yeah. We got tattoos! Now THAT was an experience! So glad I got to share it with these three ladies! (one was just there for moral support!)

Ami, Myself and Caitlin after a few too many drinks :-)

Sunday actually ended up being the PERFECT beach day! But we only went in and dipped our toes!

Here is us on another beach. This is usually where Eric and I take the dogs to swim! It was beautiful though. MINUS the huge dead catfish that REAKED!

It was so beautiful that day!

Kathleen, Caitlin, Ami and I posing with Caitlin's selfie stick! (SHE ONLY HAD IT BECAUSE SHE DESIGNED THE PICTURES ON IT!) haha

We also stumbled upon this cemetery from the 1800s. It was a bit eerie, but so neat! This cemetery consisted of lots of women and children. We walked through trying to decipher their stories and just pay tribute to them. The stones were so old yet so beautiful!

I teach in 10 days!

I can't believe it's already nearly a week until I teach! I truly can't believe it at all!! Thank you all for joining me on my journey here. I am so grateful for such great friends and family like you. If you're interested in coming to my class (which, um - hello! you better be!), here are the details;

When? Thursday August 20th

What time? 7:00-8:15pm (please arrive a little early to set up your spot!)

Do I need to bring anything? NOPE! Not at all. The studio is kind enough to have yoga mats, bolsters, blankets and props for us to use throughout out practice!

What can I expect? A gentle heart opening class that will challenge and relax you both mentally and physically! We will use gentle heart opening poses to create a balance from within the heart. You'll leave feeling renewed and refreshed.

How much? Shine's drop-in rate is $16. If you have previously purchased a class pack, you may also use this for this class.

You say a challenge, what if I can't do what you're asking of me? Trust me, we've all been there! I'll have several modifications for you to get you where you need to be. If at any point during the class you "get lost" I promise I'll find you and get you to where you need to be!

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email, call or text me!

My Yoga Journal

Well into my 2nd series of Yoga classes, I began keeping a Yoga journal.. I wouldn't write in it every time. But occasionally I was experiencing things and I wanted a place to keep everything. I wanted to be able to remember and look back on some of the things that were happening. Not only that, but I'm a HUGE believer in everything that happens having some kind of meaning or connection. So, I would try my best to search the meaning of what was happening too. This was also the peak of my whole questioning everything phase. Things that I wanted weren't happening for me. Instead they were happening for everyone else, and I couldn't figure out why I was left out of God's plan at the time.

I had a rather interesting Savasana one evening, and after talking with my instructor; she urged me once again to really start to write these things down.

So, I ventured to Target, bought a journal and began to document my journey.

Inside I would document everything I experienced, and then either at that time or later on, research meanings behind certain things.

I would see a lot of these things come back to me in later practices or in every day life. Some things would just correlate to what I was thinking or feeling at the time and some  just went left unexplained.

It essentially became my Yoga diary!

I actually just noticed this too! The entry above was the FIRST entry. It was the sole reason on why I wanted to start a journal. Later on the following year,  I attended a Peace Meditation/Vigil that ultimately was the beginning of my what I'll call "series of fortunate events" that lead me to decide on being a yoga teacher. During that meditation, one of the mantras was "Om Namah Shivaya". When I read that last night, I immediately got goosebumps!

I also found myself adding things I found inspiring or pieces of information I wanted to save to the back of my journal.

Mara Glatzel is SO inspiring! I suggest venturing over to her website and signing up for her weekly love notes!

When I was set on the teacher training program, I began saving every piece of anything I came across that inspired me. I wanted to be able to refer back to it upon planning my own Yoga classes. Thus my Yoga binder was born!

You'll notice it is QUITE thicker than my journal. I have not only pieces that I've saved on the history of yoga; but poems, quotes and writings that I'll dedicate to future Savasana's or class themes.

My Yoga notebook has taken the back burner to my binder. But, once I rediscovered it, I remembered why I loved having it so much. There are things that I wish I had written in there. Things that maybe I'll end up adding just to make it complete.

The beautiful thing about it is you can stop and begin again whenever you'd like. Maybe you're not feeling things in your practices. Maybe you need a break. Take it and come back to it when you're ready. It's always there when you want to record your next moment. It doesn't have to be an actual notebook. Start a word document or folder on your computer to journal your practices. Maybe you'll even be brave and start blogging about them.

Truly though. I wish I had taken my Yoga instructors advice sooner on starting it. So many times we go through the day to day not noticing the small things. It's nice to be able to have something that's my own to reflect upon.