AU

Just returning from trip to Sydney, Australia. So beautiful there. Water everywhere. Nature, trees... Birds that are part feral. Kinda scary... Was stung by a jellyfish at Shelly Beach in Manly. Holy hell that really hurt. Took yoga class from my favorite instructor at Bondi Beach studio. Paul, you're amazing. Love hearing your voice and practicing at the same time. Even though I had to beg for a foot massage during spine strengthening. I'm so proud of you. I love being on this crazy journey with you by my side. I teach one more class in Boise before heading to Salt Lake City, Utah to get some mentoring from Rahn and various studio owners. Looking forward to that... The second Bikram TT fall session is coming to a close soon. Best of luck to all the new teachers graduating and Kathy coming back to Boise!!

Touchstone

It always makes me smile when I see that yogis have read about my journey from all over the world. Russia, Germany, Canada, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Latvia, Turkey, Pakistan.... And so on. Part of my desire in putting out a "raw" telling of my story was to help others feel not so alone. Maybe give someone courage to face a change or challenge in their own life. Be it someone living in America or Egypt. People are people and we all live only one life. There's no changing that. You are born into a place and begin a journey. Life's journey of learning, adapting, changing, loving. Just being. I try to be my best self. Yoga has changed me and has opened up my heart and soul in ways that I'm left awestruck. I don't recognize my life anymore before starting yoga. It was the key to inner self realization and is now my touchstone. I hope that your practice is equally rewarding. It's a sacred act. Make sure your own 90 minutes in the hot room is just that. You're own time to peel back the layers of you. Be amazed by what you find and keep going...

Gangnam Style

Taught class numero cautro today. My first 6AM. Wow, couldn't sleep most of the night, thought I would miss the alarm. Decided to just get up at 4:30AM and get on with it. OK, so the students that attend the 6AM are ripped up. The energy in the room was complete dedication and concentration. No messing around. My throat went dry during Eagle. Drank a little water and felt better. Got a hair in my mouth at one point and couldn't talk. Wierd.... All in all, good class. Didn't sweat nearly as much. Good thing because the teacher sweating more than the students just isn't right. Enjoyed the class. Numero cinco tomorrow. Just returned home from a nice long road trip. Portland, Oregon to Seattle, Washington to Tri-cities, Washington back to Boise. Me and my dog Piccolo, Gangnam Style. Was able to practice in three different towns. Loved going in and saying, "Hi I'm a teacher from Boise". Good times.

A look back

I'm in Portland, Oregon. Spent the night with my brother Chris best friend Tim and his wife Alex. Portland just has vibe about it that says "I'm sexy and I know it" without trying. Like it here. I'm on my way to Seattle to visit my sister and friends. Last night I talked about the events leading to my divorce because Tim and Alex really wanted to understand. I told them how I felt the day I left for TT. My car was packed and I was LA bound. I told them that as soon as I drove out of my driveway I knew that I never wanted to come back. And I never did. The farther away I got, the more free I felt and that feeling has never left me. The house represented a lot of sadness, loneliness, heart ache, confusion and isolation. I didn't leave the people in the house behind. I still have an amazing bond of love with my children, who I cherish. My ex-husband and I didn't have any sort of bond that meant anything. I guess a bond of friendship. Lots of isolation however felt by each of us. Alex recalled how as a child she grew up in a loveless marraige. As a adult, she felt very confused about marraige and relationships. Her sister is not married at 38. Her passion about living a life that represents YOU was beautiful. She and her husband are committed to this pursuit. Anyway, enough looking back. I taught my third class yesterday. It was great. Really great. Happy

Mirror Image

It might be a yoga term to say, "I'm your mirror, reflecting what you need back to you". Not sure. Maybe it's just a left over New Age phrase? In any event, I've heard it A LOT lately. I've heard it so often that I thought I would punch the next person who said it to me in the face. Seriously, this is not a joke, I was at a party the other day and a STRANGER told me that they were my mirror. Really!!! Is this necessary? I taught my second offical class yesterday. Not bad. I had a couple moments of panic. One was during Standing Head to Knee. I had five students in the class and at one point nobody was doing the posture, at all. I was still saying the dialoge, but everyone was either standing, resting or looking disgusted. Kind of scared the shit out of me. But figured out, with the help of Jamie, that the reason I felt that way was because I was totally disconnected with what was happening in the room. I felt the disconnect and it bothered me. It was a really good teaching leason for me. I don't need to get scared, just back it up and slow it down. Teach to what's happening in the room at the time, so that students are not injured and continue to be connected. The energy in the yoga room is so powerful that you can feel what is going on, even if your eyes are closed, I bet.

Bad Neighborhood

At my new favorite hide away, Sol Bakery, on Hill Road in Boise, Idaho. In the loft so I can smell the sweet and savory productions being made by hand downstairs and spy on customers coming in. There's a massage therapist arriving shortly to provide free chair massages. (just told) So, pretty much found my nirvana for the moment. Then off to take Julie Grants FIRST YOGA CLASS today at noon. I went to TT with Julie. We were both battling it out to be the "offical LAST teacher to teach". So, we both struggled a lot with the dialoge, who the hell cares... It is what it is and I guess that's what it is, isn't it? So, I had a bunch of funny things to share but I think for another day. Feeling good, happy. Getting OUT of my head. Someone said at TT, to get OUT of our heads because it's a bad neighborhood. Couldn't agree more....

End Game

Ok so here it is... The big one... I finally, finally taught my FIRST yoga class infront of real, live, paying students yesterday. Wow, thank goodness. Many, many, many people, most of all me, are relieved. Geeez you would think that I was preparing to climb Everest. The class was good. I was told too expect to be really bad, in order to manage my expectations. And it turned out good. I was OK. I made it through. Nobody died, nobody was injured, no fainting (I was most worried about myself). But I did it and I'm very happy. It only took going through a grueling 9 week teacher training, one month in hiding from my life in SoCal, one intervention, one divorce, three residence moves and a whole lot of sweat and tears to get to the end, teaching a class. I used to joke around, after TT, that at least I knew what my sexual orientation was through it all. Happy to report that I'm still a woman. I know that I'm going to love teaching. I'm proud of myself. I'm excited to teach more. Next class should be in about a week, or week in a half. So, ya people, I did it. Done... next...