A Few Words

So, what's been going on?

Let's see: for starters, I've finished my yoga teacher training. So, yes, I am officially a yoga teacher!!!

I'm still finishing my practicum requirements with Yoga Philippines, the studio where I had my training. I still lack two (2) classes to assist and six (6) led classes. Hopefully I can finish the former next week, whilst the latter is already scheduled for the months of May and June.

What I need is more discipline for self-practice. The summer heat isn't helping! It's not an excuse, I know. I love practicing, but lately I haven't been enjoying it as much as I used to. I need to always remember: non-attachment. Do not think about the fruits of the actions, but rather just do the actions themselves. Do it because it is pleasing to the Lord. Do it because you have to, nothing more.

I'll be attending two (2) classes later - both are led by my co-teachers. The first class is to get an idea on how other co-teachers handle their "Intro to Ashtanga" classes, which is our practicum. The second class is just to really practice, share the energy with my fellow students, and feel good!

I am also thinking of migrating my blog (yes, yet again) to another platform. But let's see.

That's all for now. Gotta get ready for my classes.


Namaste

Leap of faith

After months of hesitation, I finally did it. I launched my crowdfunding campaign:

Help Me Teach Yoga

Why now? Or rather, why just now? To be honest, I was scared. When I quit my job last year, I thought that everything would flow smoothly: I would pitch the idea to my family and friends, get enough funds to pay for my training, and voila! I'm a yoga teacher.

However, things did not turn out as planned. I was caught by surprise when I heard the reaction of some of my family members. I got hurt real bad. So much that, I began to doubt a lot of things. Including this whole yoga teacher training thing.

So, what happened? What changed? I guess it's just myself. I got so attached to the idea of becoming a yoga teacher that it consumed me. I forgot one of the main tenets of yoga: vairāgya, or non-attachment. This, coupled with abhyasa or practice, is very important (click here for more information). I should just have kept on practicing, meditating. This whole experience made me realize two things: one, that I am only human, and two, that I still have much to learn about yoga.

Swimming, yoga, fellowship

Thursday night (November 30), I went to Ace Water Spa in Pasig with an old college friend.

Photo credit here

This became a routine for us - every one or two months, we would meet at the spa and catch up. I would also do my laps, after which we would enjoy the various hydrotherapy massages the spa has to offer. This time it was a bit different - we met in the evening. Plus, this was before a long weekend.  In the past we would meet up in the morning (I used to work at night then) and grab lunch afterwards.

Updates from The Running Yogi - 28 Nov 2012

So happy to have finally practiced again at The Yoga Place. Will talk more about the studio in a different post. Last night's session was very good for me. My body misses yoga - the heat, the various asanas, the breathing. Managed to do some of the more challenging poses (for me, at least), such as the Supra Virasana, or the Sleeping Hero pose, as well as the Marichyasana, or Sage pose. The latter is a huge breakthrough for me - I cannot do this pose without the use of a towel (as I used to be unable to make my hands meet and fingers locked). Hooray for progress! Will make entries on various poses and its benefits soon.

Early this morning, I got up and ran around the village park. My Adidas MiCoach on my BlackBerry is messed up again for some reason. I ran 5 km today. Actually, it can be anywhere from 4.9-5.6 km. That's a wide range, I know. But I tried measuring the distance of one whole round around the park - I got a range of 0.7-0.8 km. Plus, there's also the fact that you could've taken a longer route using the same path - perhaps I took the outer lanes, yeah? Anyway, the point is it I ran,and it feels great!

Here's to a great Wednesday. :-)


Cheers,

Earl Patrick

Just a few updates from The Running Yogi

I feel so bad - I haven't practiced in a yoga studio for over a week! Need to have the discipline to start practicing at home whenever I couldn't go to my home studio. I have the tools handy for me to start doing so, anyway.

I feel so sluggish - this week the only physical activity I have done was to practice yoga for almost half an hour early Tuesday morning, and to workout in the gym Tuesday night. The latter was very quick too - I got to the gym late, and I was on a tight schedule as I need to catch the last shuttle heading home (which I did, fortunately).

Looking forward to my practice later

I haven't practiced in a week! Been busy with other activities last week - running, a trip to Chinatown and Divisoria with friends, plus the opening night of a musical. I miss yoga! Come to think of it, I even miss working out (as in lifting weights), and that's saying a lot. LOL!

I still have a long way to go when it comes to my practice. But I am not frustrated. One of the great things yoga has taught me is patience. I'll get there, and when I do it'll be great! Just thinking of some of the poses I couldn't do before - the camel pose, for one - and how I can manage to do them now (some with relative ease) is amazing.

I am grateful for this day, this will be a beautiful week!