Quitting your job and travelling to foreign lands in the search of your dreams and what you really want in life is something everyone must have thought about at some point in their lives, I know I have at least twice a day.. The thought of waking up everyday to the sun instead of your alarm and walking out to a beach as your front garden is for some a dream that may never be realized....but is it?
This is exactly what I've done, well kind of. 7 days ago I was one of many who woke up to their alarm and went into work as normal like any other day, the difference was I new that it was the last day I would be going to work, well at least for while anyway! And so my travels begin. Through my passion of yoga I decided to stop thinking about all the things I wanted to do and instead do it, as my beautiful friend Trish nicely put it "don't just talk about it, be about it". The thing is, for most this is easier said than done and the mind has a way of talking us out of what we know is best allowing us to reject change instead of embracing it.
Change is inevitable and is the only constant in the world, without it we wouldn't be able to survive. The challenge is embracing it for what it really is, that is to say in some respects it is the chance to grab opportunities by the horns!
So here I am 1st day into a second teacher training course, this one a Yoga Alliance Certified 200 hour course in Goa! Having already done a 2 year British Wheel of Yoga Hatha teacher training course, one would think that enough was enough, but luckily I'm not just anyone and tend not to do things by halves!
Already however I'm confronted with the harsh realities of change on so many levels
Creature Comforts:
Like many I'm used to having everything I need around me, things as simple as electricity and water and then the things you really couldn't live without like your mobile, laptop and available wifi etc. Here in my hut near the beach some of these are no longer readily available. OK so I exaggerate slightly as there is enough access to WiFi to allow me to even get this posted, I did bring my own laptop and have my mobile by my side as I type this, but with out the electricity to run thee things your not going to get very far. Regular blackouts due to the availability or electricity will have to become my new normal for the next month as well as availability of water, and I'm not talking just hot water, I'm talking about water generally hot or cold.
However the Dunes, Goa are so quaint and calm with a lot of Indian charm it's hard to hold all thee things against the place and ultimately I have to remember the real reason I'm, here...Yoga!
Astanga Yoga:
Having traditionally trained in Hatha yoga I understood that this course would be a huge change for my mind and my body. Having practiced a little more whilst at home before I came out here to try and prepare my body, I have resided to the fact that there couldn't have been anything more I could have done to be prepared, 1st day in and I'm already excused. The first 2 hour practice almost killed me with endless vinyasa's and enough jumping back and forth to make a young child tired. And with the Indian heat on top of all of that my body had no chance.
I made the mistake of wearing quite short shorts, which exposed areas that should not be exposed, (leggings tomorrow I think) and then realized that I had put on too much deodorant which had proceed to make my black top quite grey. To top things off it seemed everyone was better than me and as we moved out of what could have been the 10th vinyasa the instructor said "try to go further, no one is watching but everyone is watching" WHAT...it's bad enough that I had been looking around bu to think everyone else may have been looking at my hap hazard poses..no thanks. We had to set an intention for our practice before we started, mine was to get through it and luckily I did.
This is all part of the journey though, reminding myself that this is for me and there's no need to be think about what anyone else thinks or does, just do me and through time this change will become habit and before you know it it's time for change again. I look forward to the fact that in the end I'll be better and the change would have been well worth it.
This is exactly what I've done, well kind of. 7 days ago I was one of many who woke up to their alarm and went into work as normal like any other day, the difference was I new that it was the last day I would be going to work, well at least for while anyway! And so my travels begin. Through my passion of yoga I decided to stop thinking about all the things I wanted to do and instead do it, as my beautiful friend Trish nicely put it "don't just talk about it, be about it". The thing is, for most this is easier said than done and the mind has a way of talking us out of what we know is best allowing us to reject change instead of embracing it.
Change is inevitable and is the only constant in the world, without it we wouldn't be able to survive. The challenge is embracing it for what it really is, that is to say in some respects it is the chance to grab opportunities by the horns!
So here I am 1st day into a second teacher training course, this one a Yoga Alliance Certified 200 hour course in Goa! Having already done a 2 year British Wheel of Yoga Hatha teacher training course, one would think that enough was enough, but luckily I'm not just anyone and tend not to do things by halves!
Already however I'm confronted with the harsh realities of change on so many levels
Creature Comforts:
Like many I'm used to having everything I need around me, things as simple as electricity and water and then the things you really couldn't live without like your mobile, laptop and available wifi etc. Here in my hut near the beach some of these are no longer readily available. OK so I exaggerate slightly as there is enough access to WiFi to allow me to even get this posted, I did bring my own laptop and have my mobile by my side as I type this, but with out the electricity to run thee things your not going to get very far. Regular blackouts due to the availability or electricity will have to become my new normal for the next month as well as availability of water, and I'm not talking just hot water, I'm talking about water generally hot or cold.
However the Dunes, Goa are so quaint and calm with a lot of Indian charm it's hard to hold all thee things against the place and ultimately I have to remember the real reason I'm, here...Yoga!
Astanga Yoga:
Having traditionally trained in Hatha yoga I understood that this course would be a huge change for my mind and my body. Having practiced a little more whilst at home before I came out here to try and prepare my body, I have resided to the fact that there couldn't have been anything more I could have done to be prepared, 1st day in and I'm already excused. The first 2 hour practice almost killed me with endless vinyasa's and enough jumping back and forth to make a young child tired. And with the Indian heat on top of all of that my body had no chance.
I made the mistake of wearing quite short shorts, which exposed areas that should not be exposed, (leggings tomorrow I think) and then realized that I had put on too much deodorant which had proceed to make my black top quite grey. To top things off it seemed everyone was better than me and as we moved out of what could have been the 10th vinyasa the instructor said "try to go further, no one is watching but everyone is watching" WHAT...it's bad enough that I had been looking around bu to think everyone else may have been looking at my hap hazard poses..no thanks. We had to set an intention for our practice before we started, mine was to get through it and luckily I did.
This is all part of the journey though, reminding myself that this is for me and there's no need to be think about what anyone else thinks or does, just do me and through time this change will become habit and before you know it it's time for change again. I look forward to the fact that in the end I'll be better and the change would have been well worth it.
You are an inspiration and I can't wait for our journeys to cross paths in May.
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