New Years

If you are in the Provo area for New Years Eve you should really check this out. What a great way to start out your New Year!

Christmas Eve

This is what we are doing on Christmas Eve! It is very cold outside! My baby (he's 12) is on the roof clearing off the frost. That is part of my hubby in the window cut out there. We are working on the studio/garage/amusement park for Christmas. I love spending time together. I am lucky that they are willing to work in such cold. I can mostly support from the inside by making warm meals, that cold just gets to me. I just tell my Jesse that I can't help it my Dosha likes it when I stay warm. Merry Christmas!!

What now?

My teacher training has come to an end. I still have home work and other things to accomplish before I am completely finished. I have been enjoying the anatomy study that I have been doing. I just sit down with Cameron in the morning as he does his school work and I do mine. It creates some fun conversation between us as I learn about the body. I tend to interrupt him and say "Did you know this" or "Did you know that" about the body, I love learning.

I think that is why I am saying what now. There are other classes that are offered at Bodhi Yoga like this or this or even this. I just get so excited that I want to take them all now, today. I will have to put into use what I have learned so far and settle down and start with my breath. I know the answers are there if I take the time to listen.

Having Fun

See this kid?

And these awesome guys? Guess what they are doing? They are building a garage. This is something that my husband and I wanted to do ever since we built our home a few years ago. We needed a space for my hubby to park his truck and of course we need a spot to put the half pipe so that the boys can skate during the winter ;).

A couple of months into my Teacher Training my husband told me that he had been thinking about the garage and he thought he had a pretty good idea. When he told me that he had designed a garage that would include everything we needed I was so glad. He then said I have though of a way to put in a Yoga room for you. Wow I never dreamed of having a place so close to home. I look so forward to having a space to practice and share with others. Now when my husband gets that far away look in his eyes and he is thinking about building I get really excited to hear what his plans are or what he is thinking now.

I even got in on the action. I got to use this "lifty machine" to help put up the trusses. So cool!

This is a picture from the cab of "Lifty". It is hard to see but in the background that is the moon, just above the tree on the left. Those little dots on the left of that same tree on the ground are the deer. It was a beautiful day!

Happiest Birthday!

It's my birthday today and I couldn't ask for a nicer day! I love looking back on life and today was especially nice to do that. About 2 1/2 years ago I found Syl through a chain of events. I started to look into the classes that she offered and I knew that I just had to get there. In Feb. or March of 2009 I decided to sign up for the Thai Yoga Partner Training. I then talked to Syl over the phone and decided that I should start with the Yoga Teacher Training class that she offered in the fall. When the fall months came along our lives at home started to change. We had my nieces who ranged in age from 12 to 6 move in with us along with their newborn brother. We had a wonderful time but I knew that there was no way I could take the training I had signed up for. I called Syl again and worked it out with her.


The months went by and the trainings went by. I started to wonder if I would ever get to take the trainings that I was so wanting in my life. I love to see how things happen when it is the right time. That was what happened, it was right! I started my training in Aug. of this year and the best part of it was that I knew that class would end right before my birthday. I couldn't think of anything that I wanted more for myself. What a wonderful gift. I am forever grateful for a loving husband who says "It is your turn to go to school" and he supports me through it all. He picks up the slack while I am gone and always has a wonderful "Dudes weekend" with Cameron and Dylan. I am forever grateful to Syl. She is amazing and has created the most beautiful space that is Bodhi Yoga. The classes taught there are so great and the Teacher Training is life changing. If you are looking for the perfect gift for you or someone you love please look into this.

Winter already!?!?

I love Summer! I love Heat! So when the winter months draw near I start to get a little tense and sad. I started this morning with a beautiful Kundalini practice and that warmed me right up. I was in such a great mood after too. I stepped outside and saw the picture above. I couldn't feel anything but warmth and appreciation as I looked across my yard and realized that there was a bit of excitement in my heart for winter. Thank you Kundalini!!!

Meditation

Oh meditation how you taunt me :) I have been working on joining the wave meditation found here. The times that I do it my day is so wonderful. If only I could keep my focus. As I started my meditation today I had trouble doing more that just focusing on my breath which still works and is great but I am still looking for more. I took today's meditation mantra which is..

"I choose today to follow my breath on the stream of life, with which I share now, inhaling and exhaling, in this moment, with all beings everywhere."

Om, Shanti, Shanti, Shanti

and read through this several times. I really started to feel something wonderful when my family started to get up and going. I felt a little upset because I wanted to keep going. Then I had an idea to hopefully help my concentration for this evening. I will go through my day and focus on my breath with this mantra. I will choose to see the world as one which I share with others. I will be conscious of all who share in the stream of life.

Gunas

My hubby getting his Rajas on at Venice beach!! I love to watch the Gunas in action.  Gunas are the three mental states that we use for communication.  Sattva is that space where communication begins and flows and also comes to an end.  Tamas is the understanding of the conversation.  Rajas is the act of speaking or communicating. Can you see his Rajas just yelling "Go big or go home!" and "I am forever a kid!!" To get more info on this you would be giving yourself a wonderful gift if you check this out.

What's a Dosha?

As I am watching the boys play in the ocean I am overcome by "waves" of peace. Things just seem right here. I can't pull myself away from the water. Then it dawns on me what this is about...it is about my Dosha. I am a Kapha which I learned about in my wonderful Teacher Training of course. I am still learning about my dosha and Ayruveda but what I do know is that water defiantly plays a strong roll in my person. You can check it out here.

The beach

This is what we woke up to this morning and it truly is a dream come true. We have needed a little get away and we are so grateful to be here in California. Since starting my yoga journey I have had this dream of practicing at the ocean and today that came true. I started with a little meditation and move on to this...

Yoga at the beach, it doesn't get better that this!

The gift

Wow! This last week has been so amazing. It has given me so many things to take to my mat. Being with my brothers and sisters has been some of the best times I have had in the longest time. We haven't all been together since my wedding which will be 20 years next summer. Just to be around them all and talk to everyone was so special.


As I looked over the past week I had to laugh a little. There were so many little things that went on to remind me of my dad. The fact that several of us had tire problems and then I went on to have several more car issues was such a little joke that I knew he had to have had a hand in. So I wasn't surprised when the day of the funeral started out so dreary, a very Eeyore type of day to say the least, I wasn't surprised. I thought that dad was having another laugh with us all. Later we went down to the docks by Cory's house to take pictures. The lake was so still and the sunlight was heavenly and that is when I saw the real gift that dad had given me...my siblings. I am so blessed and grateful to have each and every on of them.

Bye

My dad passed away last night. This morning I woke up early and knew that I had to go to yoga class, and it was exactly what I needed. I wanted some time to myself because I know the next few days will be kind of stressful. I am so glad that I was able to come out for the last few days and spend them with dad. I am grateful to a smart brother who called and let me know what was going on.

The time that I spent with my dad means the world to me. There are things that he has said over the last week that are of great value to me I am grateful for the time together. I am grateful for my dad. I am excited for him for his next journey.

I love you dad!

Try it, you'll like it!

You really should try it. If you have ever thought about yoga but told yourself that you are not flexible enough or you don't have enough time or whatever the thing may be, please check this out. You can do it from the comfort of your home with a wonderful instructor that is easy to understand. Yoga is not about how flexible or bendy you might be, it is about so much more. I invite you to find out what it can mean to you.

Things

I find it really amazing that I could have such a great class and feel so full and complete then get home an let it all slip away from me. What I am learning is to make or take time. I get up and get going and don't stop until I go to bed. When I get going in the morning I think to myself, I will just do this one thing and then I will practice. That turns into another thing and then another. We just jumped into being parents to a teenager and that has turned my world upside down. I keep waiting for this "thing" or that "thing" to pass and then I will make time. What I know is that there will always be a "thing" going on. It won't pass I will make the time to do what I need. I will make that time first and the other "things" will fit in when and where they can.

Practice

Class was amazing. My vessel is full and I love it. I feel like I had some real understanding about the Bodhi Flow and truly a deeper understanding for the word practice. I think that practice is one of those words that I have seen as bad, or hard or maybe "practice makes perfect"... that was never one of my favorite sayings. Now I see it as practice is life. Each day as we go and do we are practicing something, why not make it something we love. This idea has really helped me to see things in a different light. Today as I started my yoga practice, it was my own for the first time. I created something that was just for me. I worked my edges and went at my pace, it was beautiful.

Yea!

I am so excited about going to training class tomorrow. I have had a wonderful day today. As I write we just went through a hail storm. It was over in about 3 minutes and now the fields look all refreshed. The sky is a beautiful pink and orange and filled with clouds. It is such a nice way to finish off the day.

It started with yoga on the porch. Cameron came out and joined me.I lead him though Tier 1 of the Bodhi Yoga flow and I just love it. He is an amazing kid and I love to spend time with him. I love that he takes an interest in what I am doing. He asked if we could do it again tomorrow and of course I said yes. We talked about making it part of our daily routine before we start school classes we would have yoga class. Sounds great to me.

Family time

We went backpacking. It was so great to go as a family. Cameron and Jesse go camping a lot and I usually stay home. I think that in the past I have not gone or said no to something and I don't even know why. I am now working on going with the flow a lot more. When my hubby says lets go for a bike ride I say... lets go. So this past weekend I was the one that said lets go camping

We left later in the afternoon and drove up to Spirit lake. We parked and got our backpacks on and headed out. Wow did we ever have fun. We didn't find the trail right away so we followed the stream because we knew it would lead to the lake sooner or later. We did find the trail and kept on it and ran into a momma moose and her baby. We just stood together as a family and stared at her little family. So cute!!

We made it to Jessen lake and set up the tent. It is a snug 3 person tent and I was excited. I was really tired and could have skipped dinner but the boys were dying to have me try the freeze dried veggie lasagna, how could I resist.

When we were finished we went right to bed on it was really cozy. I was so thankful to be there with my boys and the dog. The next morning was beautiful. As I got up the little birds and squirrels were there to welcome me. The lake had some fish jumping and the mountains behind the lake were truly picturesque.

Since starting my yoga teacher training I really feel as if my eyes are open to everything. I think of all the times I have said no to something and really missed out. I think that I was being ruled by fear. I am now ready for adventure, I am glad that my family waited for me to catch up to all the fun they have been experiencing. I look so forward to all of our new adventures.

Yoga

Yoga means "to yoke". The more I realize this the more wonderful my days are. I know that for the most part when someone says yoga a person pictures tree pose or triangle pose which is something that I have pictured for years. As I study I find that I am practicing yoga more than I ever realized.

The days since my last class have been so amazing for me and my family. I find that I have had more fun than we have had in a long time. We have gone on several bike rides lately. We leave and go all around town and I really feel the "yoga" in our rides.

We learned about the three gunas in our training and they are the three energies that direct anything that is happening on a physical aspect and they are all around us. I try to notice them as I go through the day. Today was a good example because they seemed very apparent to me. As I walked outside to my porch the dog was following me and he had a little bee that was following him. This bee was having a lot of fun with Luke and he chased it all around as he wound up in circles and was jumping up in the air over and over, I realized I was watching all this Rajasic energy coming from both the dog and the bee. I noticed the Sattvic energy in the field as it sat so still, not one thing disturbing it. The trees in the field that stand so tall were expressing their Tamasic energy. It was at that moment that I realized within a matter of moments I was surrounded by all these different energies that I had not taken the time to notice before. I love learning new things and then seeing them in my day to day life.

The beginning

I have started this post over and over...in my head. I can not imagine that I would ever forget one single moment of my yoga training and journey, but I love the idea of blogging it so that I can see the changes in myself as I go along on this new path.

I feel like I finally took my first breath, a real breathe, a cleansing breath on Aug 11th 2011. That was my first day of Yoga Teacher Training at Bodhi Yoga. The day was so amazing!! 27 years ago on that exact date was the day that my mom died. My whole little world was turned upside down. As I walked into class I found myself being turned right side up as everything had aligned for me to be here. My spirit was so excited that I couldn't even speak, which I decided to honor.

We started with some intros and then moved into a Kundalini class which was amazing. I hadn't been in a Kundalini class since Sarabjot left Vernal. It was in Sarabjot's class that I realized that some day I would love to teach. She was such a wonderful teacher and I thoroughly enjoyed her classes. Well here I was in this class having an experience of connecting mind, body and spirit and I couldn't help but just breath in gratitude with every breath. I am grateful for the journey I have been on that has led me to Syl and Bodhi Yoga. I am grateful to Syl and all the countless hours that she has put into Bodhi Yoga Teacher Training, I truly know that I am in the right place at the right time. I look so forward to this new journey! Friday and Saturday seemed to go by with such a great peace. We had a Bodhi Flow class Saturday morning that was so enjoyable, it really set the mood for the whole day.

As I left I had a long drive ahead to think things over, and over. It was a beautiful time to soak it in and realize that I really am that one that I have been waiting for.