Hello... It's ME!

Been thinking about you for a long... long time
i KNOW the turn to reply was mine...
Spending my days in the sunshine,
But want to let you see that I am fine :-)

The Yoga of Cooking

I've been hooked on watching the Food Network... for quite a while now
It's like watching artist create their master pieces... things that you can imagine creating or enjoying with your teeth :-)
There is even a guy named Alton who breaks down cooking into the science of combining molecules..,
My latest favorite show is Chopped!

It is a clever spin off of Iron Chef I guess,
Pitting several chefs with crazy combinations of ingredients...
Competition and the time factor make it a fun watch.

Flexibility and cleverness with bringing together elements that might not seem to go together...
Like a class full of Ninja-Ashtanga yoginis and Stiff White guys!
Finding a way to feel good about what you present and having your "audience" feel satisfied :-)
(please refrain from betting on who wins)

Reflections...

I had to work a GradFest last night...
Bunch of High School Seniors just released from @12 years of lessons from our "Church of Reason"
I can remember mine... not having a clue what was next though I had gotten a good job months before.
Though its been some years, I still don't let age (trips around the Sun) cloud the bigger picture.
It was fun to talk with them as they tried out climbing...
Made me think of how nieve I must have looked, but also maybe how mature I was for that time...

It was kind of a surreal day since I had to be prepared to work till 5am
Was surprised to see almost all 300 climb our rockwall!
Which helped to keep us busy and less tired :-)
But it is crazy working "the graveyard shift"...
Driving home at 5:30am looked just like the freeway at 8:30pm!
Would have been cooler to be riding through a sleepy hollow...

Got home in time for a pre-dawn surf... but not enough swell :-(

Summertime Shift (somehow)

Haven't posted lately, though have had things to say... or type :-)
Part of what i like about my lifestyle lately is that there are "seasons"...
Not so much to do with weather,
but phases of responsibilities as I assist others in their pursuits of education somehow.

Like i spoke of in an earlier post, The Sower...
i imagine that i am like Johnny Appleseed,
Planting seeds of Truths and personal revelations so maybe IT will grow and assist someone else later.
As others have done for me...
Paying IT forward somehow.

So during summertime, I only have to focus on yoga once a week and kids learning to climb...
Never would have guessed to BE here, but that is Life,
"Mysteriously" providing what makes us Happy somehow.

This month has been about creating a summer break "bucket list"
ThingS I would like to DO in my free time...
SO many ideas, places, people and adventures.
Putting them out there so they can manifest SOMEHOW :-)

hey maaaannn..

It's starting to get HOT!
So... here's something cool...
(don't inhale any second-hand smoke)

Is it Yoga...?

Since I am responsible for the fitness classes here...
I assume I must accept responsibility for what we offer to some extent.
Part of the focus of the job is to also offer students a chance to develop as instructors,
probably my favorite part of this journey, though it is challenging at times :-)

I have been fortunate with the yoga classes,
to have found a school that had been operating through the kinesiology department for several years.
But this semester I have allowed someone not "officially certified"... unless you count 24 hour Fitness - training :-P
I was amused during the interview when I asked for this person's interpretation of what yoga is...
and what their PiYO class was like. Pretty much decided right there that they would only be teaching other fitness classes.
But Life flows as it should and Things aligned for her to teach a yoga class(?)
Ok, I don't like to go against what Is to Be. (though I had my doubts, I'm in human form at the moment after all) haha

I have been pleasantly surprised to find students enjoying the class...
The personality most co-workers find from this individual isn't what comes across in her class apparently.
So life flows on as it should, but one thing still lurks in the shadow.
Why must most teachers "claim" "their students" ?!?

This week I had "one of her students" come and ask if the teacher would be back, since there was a sub that night.
Enquiring feedback on the perceived difference between instructors made me wonder if I might be allowing a disservice?
Does one odd apple cause the other apples to appear incorrect? When I know on a certain level that the truth is actually inverse?!
I do Believe in "different strokes for different folks"... but may a misinterpretation lead to a lifetime of false expectations?

I caught myself somewhat defending one instructor, while kinda pointing out a false comparison by this novice.
Not a situation I like to see myself address... since this is a territory that the Ego loves to roam.
Not a dance i choose to engage with very often.
But I do admit to question what part I may play in "leading" this program I have been given to facilitate.


In my past I was educated by a surf buddy who traditionally trained to teach a Pilates mat class. (He really frowned on mixing Yoga & Pilates... which I also have come to support). I was turned on to Joseph's Contrology methods... and have much respect for this leader and the movement that was ahead of it's time & continues to live on.
I also hold a great deal of admiration & respect for Krishnamacharya & our other Forefathers...

PiYO or Yogilates... seems like a cheap re-packaging of somethings too big to try and "re-invent'.

I do know and understand how some people gravitate to certain teachers,
It has gotten more obvious as i have learned to differentiate Light from Darkness...
I choose to hold a higher level of ethics for myself, but where must I draw the line when dealing with others?
Sometimes it is hard to hear the Heart, when the Mind & Ego shout their distractions!

It is times like these that I return my focus to the task at hand...
and continue on my personal path...
What is Yoga? :-)

Coincidence, I think not..

So I must admit that I love sharing yoga...
Was at a NIRSA Conference ALL DAY, but still went in to teach class.
Got some good info during one of the session about adherence to an exercise program,
so I put it into action :-)

The theme lately has been connecting; re-membering our True & unlimited nature.
The tip was to connect with the students and work towards getting all of there names, which isn't easy in my arrangement and past rebelliousness of expecting others to know my name.
There has been a new level of Peace lately, a maturing to the PAth I am on...
I felt it more so today as I mingled with so many today and before class.

Been playing the CD Joe burnt for us: called BREAD,
A more "traditional soundtrack" then what I've been spinnin' this semester :-P
Tried to flow off of what we had done the previous week, even read over my notecard... haha
Surya Namaskar A has been the backbone of the "asana core-e-aw-gra-fee-king" I've been experimenting with.

The mental note was about Conscious: the sub-, the -ness, and the Ego.
Cueing about the Sparkly Ego... honest Awareness, humble acceptance and patient determination.
Sometimes the visual is that lone tree... separated from the forest, but still part of the Whole.
Like me today, a lone wolf roaming around for Truth, gems for my Path... but somehow separated.

Today's session Also had a reminder about Being aware of that part that critiques, judges and distracts us from our moments,
Cultivating an awareness of when the Heart speaks. And when that OTHER part contradicts "reality."

During class... I love when Song #5 comes on!
Reminds me of SlumDog Millionaire...
Which lead me to remind everyone that there are no coincidences... each moment building upon the last and preparing us for the next moment (hopefully).
Sometimes the question comes before the answer, but I Know The One usually prepares us first...
so we are ready for our Tests.

Which leads me to share this card I found for a friend...

There is only one minute in which you are alive,
this minute, here and now.
The only way to live is by accepting each minute as an unrepeatable miracle.
Which is exactly what it is - a miracle and unrepeatable.
- Storm Jameson