Sunday, April 29, 2012

Inspiration and tips from Visiting Teachers- Week 2

Lauren Belefski from Headquarters (Manhattan)- Monday, April 23
- SO COOL
- Pranayama breathing: breathe out the negative, inhale the positive
- CONTINUOUSLY keep pulling

Barrie from Reno- Tuesday, April 24
- Build strength day by day by doing the best that you can in the "Moment"

Pauline- Wednesday, April 25
- Nothing will happen if you stay where you are comfortable.  Find your edge and push beyond it

Emmy- Thursday, April 26
- You can't draw a mustache on the monalisa and expect people to come see it
- Go from Beef Jerky to Plump Steak
- It's only Yoga when there's stillness

Stacey from Green Valley, Las Vegas- Friday, April 27
- If you make a mistake, forget about it.  Don't beat yourself up.  There is always tomorrow.  We are human.

Michon- Saturday, April 28
- Don't think, just do.  My mind, your body
- Surrender to the dialogue
- Don't adjust your boobs during Savasana... it's distracting

Friday, April 27, 2012

A Dream Is Following Me!


I've never ever dreamed of being anything or doing something specific.  I've always lived my life doing the best that I can; pushing the limits and boundaries to achieve my best everyday.  I've been lucky and fortunate to be presented with incredible opportunities to be successful and always be working with amazing people who continue to inspire me to do more.

When I worked at Aritzia, sharing my knowledge and supporting people in their growth was always my passion.  I was lucky to be working with such a remarkable company that taught me life lessons that continue to be taught in the Yoga community; from presentation of self to displaying discipline, everything is relevant.  We even say "if it aint broke, don't fix it."  I'm starting to realize that Aritzia was a tool or means that helped me fulfill my passion of helping others.

After 10 years growing and learning at Aritzia, I have acquired a skill set and pool of knowledge that allowed me to lead and inspire others to do the same.  Nothing gave me more joy than to teach, inspire and support others to achieve their own goals.  I am now a Student again; starting again at the beginning,  learning and building my knowledge at Yoga Teacher Training.  What we learn here is universal.  Our practice is a self-realization and Teaching is an extension of our practice where we learn humanity; how to act when faced with adversity; how to treat others; how to feel; how to communicate........ how to live together.  Yoga is not the subject.  The subject is YOU.  It's a journey of life learning and discovery.  

When I first decided to attend Yoga Teacher Training, the main purpose was not to become a Yoga teacher.  I have practiced Bikram Yoga for 7 years on and off.  I remember my first class in Vancouver at the Cambie location.  This was right before I moved to Toronto.  When I moved to Toronto, my practice depended on my work schedule.  It wasn't till the last 3 years that I practiced Yoga consistently and challenged myself to complete 10 and 30 day challenges.  Bikram Yoga was something that I was always passionate about and therefore, it found its way into my life one way or another.  It never went away.  

My Bikram Yoga practice was something that I kept to myself.  I never shared it with anyone.  It was my escape, time for myself, time to focus on my self discipline and respect.  I remember telling friends that they could not come to class with me because I need to focus on myself and that they would be a distraction.  As with every passion of mine, I always want to conquer it.  I felt that going to teacher training would teach me how to do just that and allow me to reach the depth and understanding of my practice.  So here I am.

I'm in week 2 of Teacher training and my perception of being a Yoga Teacher has changed!  Being a Yoga Teacher is another tool or means to fulfill my passion of helping others.  The incredible thing is that the subject here is universal; it's life; it's about YOU.  There are so many inspirational, aspirational, motivated, smart and overall wonderful people here at training, I can only imagine how many more I will meet that will continue to inspire and teach me..... we are on a Global Scale.

My next 10 years?
I don't know, but I feel that my education is just beginning as a Yoga Teacher.  I'm excited for my growth and development and the knowledge that I will gain to help others.  After 10 years, I hope to have travelled to as many places possible to share my knowledge of this amazing subject thru Yoga.  Everything is Yoga.



Thursday, April 26, 2012

Access your Latent Force/Hidden Power

Just had an amazing and inspirational lecture from Jim Kallet to apply into my 5pm yoga class.  Just what I needed to ACCESS my Latent force/Hidden Power!

What you need to do Yoga
What you get from doing Yoga


5 Qualities of Mind:
1.  Faith/Trust
2.  Moral Discipline
3.  Determination
4.  Concentration
5.  Patience

When one has become successful at Asana, Pranayama can be perfected.  With Pranayama, the veil that hides illumination is lifted, and the mind is fit for medication.

Patience
The longer it takes, the luckier you are because it will last forever!
- this is a perfect one for me because everyone knows that I am the most impatient person ever!  Now I have a new outlook for practicing and demonstrating patience.

Today, I was able to access my hidden power and find stillness in my Standing Bow! =)





Sunday, April 22, 2012

Weekend in LA


First stop was to get my LA cap=)

Santa Monica Beach


Venice Beach Boardwalk
3rd Street Promenade



passing by the museum of flying and into the Antique Market.... where i saw Lisa Bonet (from the Crosby show) and Ann Paquin (Rogue from Xmen)



Saturday, April 21, 2012

I'm alive after Week 1

Week 1 is over.  In the beginning of the week, it seemed like we had such a long week ahead; trying to settle in, learning policies and procedures, attending yoga classes and lectures, etc.  And now, it feels like it has ended so fast.  I already have a feeling that this teacher training is going to be over by the time we know it, so we really have to learn to live in the moment and enjoy everything as it comes.

Nothing good in life comes easy, so we have to continue to work hard.....i'm trying my best to find time to study the dialogue!

I've always been used to the "go go go" lifestyle living in a big city and working in such fast paced environments.  But this "go go go" schedule is a bit different.  Everything we do is challenging.  It requires our full attention and effort in order to produce results... and you have to produce results, you have no choice!  You need to just do it, not think about it and move on.  Focus on what's in front of you and try your best.  That is what has been helping me with the classes and schedules.  I have to ignore the fact that i'm tired in the morning and just go to the morning 8:30am Yoga class.  After class, I'm refreshed so I have to forget that I was tired and now I have energy for what is next to come.

"Don't Think.... Just Do"  Perhaps this schedule is also teaching us a lesson we learn in Yoga.  Everything is Yoga!



Amazing Team Energy


How about we start a thread for inspirational / meaningful comments we hear in practice from the Teacher? I would write them down but my notebook gets all sweaty ;)

I'll start:

"Stillness Equates Healing" Love it.
 ·  ·  · 12 hours ago near Los Angeles, CA