Happy Sunday!

A day off. Luxury. I'm planning on practicing this arvo but for now I'm taking it easy. Paper work has been done, a banana bread baked, time for some writing. 

Day job wasn't so frantic last week but it was still busy with no down time to get small bits & pieces done. The past two Thursday's I've pulled 17 hour days to get everything in. I originally said I wouldn't practice the 5:45am if I was teaching in the evening but I have been left with no choice but to do this in order to get my own mat time in. It wasn't so bad, the adrenalin kicks in the moment I step up onto the podium & last Thursday was probably one of the best classes I've taught. I do wake up Friday morning feeling wrecked with a yoga hangover but hey it's Friday I can drag myself through 8 hours of day job before it's wine & the weekend. 

Yesterday was a great day, again long, I was out the house 14 straight hours with my day starting at 5:30am. I opted to cover the 7:30am class which was awesome. I practiced the 9:30am in which I was a little tired, tight, scattered but I needed it. This was followed by a teachers workshop. Very exciting getting everyone together to talk yoga. We went through Pranayama breathing & Triangle in the two hours. So much to talk about. We shared our experiences, read the dialogue, pin pointed the common mistakes & how to correct them. Very, very useful. We are going to do this once a months now which is great. 

After the workshop I hot footed it down to Scarborough to meet with a future Spring Trainee to run some dialogue. I was blessed enough to be given a lot of support before my training experience so now it is my turn to give back. It went well, I was very impressed. It reminded me of how we were when we first started doing dialogue and how far we've come since last May.

To round off the day I taught the 4pm class. I received some lovely feedback from a student who said it was the most enjoyable class he'd taken in ages. Cool. I also got some very valuable feedback from a fellow teacher. I need to start teaching now. Sounds weird I know. I had my assessment with my mentor last week who said I'm ready to start making corrections. The teacher yesterday pretty much told me the same, to use the dialogue to actually teach & correct. 

Spewing out a verbatim class every time won't progress myself or the students. Now I need to start focusing on the students more, teaching the words & not just 'saying' them. It will mean having to cut out some words to focus on the words that are important to the common mistakes. Homework!! I am aware of the mistakes student's make but have been too scared to say anything. In the workshop yesterday we touched on this. Simply by repeating a line in the dialogue until they get it, ie. "sit down more, sit down more, sit down more." I also need to slow down & give students a chance to actually digest the words that are being said. Incorporating a pause I was told will help, even though it might feel like an age to me, to the student a pause in air time will give them chance to think about what they are hearing. 

Very exciting times, this job just keeps getting better & better!!

Fresh sunflowers from our garden

Buddha with his Sunday offerings

New Year, New changes

Yes my work has slowed right down this week. After barely having time to take five minutes for myself last week, I'm blessed with a little down time. I'm actually feeling inspired to write as well which is a good sign that I'm thinking more of my needs instead of constantly putting others first. Don't get me wrong, I love to give but I have been made more aware I need to hold a little back for myself in order to have the strength to give to others. 

New Moon on Saturday, the last of this year. Time to make a wish, set a good intention and make it happen. At my Reiki session we talked about this & I set my intention then and there. It's personal so sorry I'm not sharing it with the world. (keeping that little bit back for me!!) I'll reenforce it on Saturday night.

New Years always bring change, the date is the first thing to change. 2012. Wow, time flies hey. Two of my close school friends will be having their first babies in January & I have a wedding penciled in too for later in the year. 2011 has been amazing for me. Strong, positive, full of growth. Of course mistakes have been made, lesson's learned. I'm moving into the new year with a smile on my face & the strength to make things happen.

2012 has already got change penned it for me. My office is having a make over for one. The franchise we are part of brought out new branding a long while back and it's time for us to catch up. Total revamp, even walls are moving. Most excitingly I get my own office!!!! Wow wee! Not that I have it bad now, I only share with one other person. An office too myself means I can carve out this space to be the art room of dreams. It will be a very well thought out space to maximise creativity and positive energy. We've been working together drawing up the plans & all my ideas have been taken on board. I might reintroduce the inspiration wall which hasn't had a home thus so far. I've already had my Creative Suite software upgraded, very grateful for this, can do so much more funky new tricks with it.

I finally will be getting my wisdom teeth removed in January. I'm not sad to see them go after years of swelling, soreness and tooth ache. Be gone useless, nasty beings. It will be the first time I have ever had surgery. Scary. I've never had anything added to my body in way of modifications and likewise have never had anything removed. Natural as the day I was born (sorry that's a lie, I highlight my hair!). First time for everything. I'm thinking strongly that everything will go smoothly, nothing will get infected & the swelling be minimal. I'll have to take a week off work (sick pay phew) and teaching (sad face), it might be the only way to get me to sit still for five minutes & relax. Who's betting I'll be studying dialogue that week?!!

Spring training 2012

Just a quick side note for anyone thinking of going to Spring training next year. 

It is here at the Radisson again in LA. Get the ball rolling NOW. Talk to your director. Don’t get offended if they advise you to wait till the next session, trust them they know what they’re talking about. 

I won’t lie this is tough. My experience has been very personal to me. I might make it sound breezy but its not. I learned a lot of dialogue BEFORE I came and I have an amazing mentoring studio. My roomie is amazing (most of the drama is room mate related). My new friends are fabulous (literally xoxox) I’d hate for anyone to come here and struggle more than they have to.

On the flip side, this is an AWESOME place to be, I’m loving it, once in a lifetime stuff, even when I’m left for dead in class just being here is a blessing & focusing on the goal keeps me going. Deep in your heart if this is what you want to do, then just do it. You will find your path, find the money and it will make you stronger. Those who struggle the most will become the best teachers as they have had to flight for it. Sign up soon, get the dialogue and LEARN IT. If you love this yoga then that's more than enough to get you through this!