So far on this blog, I’ve devoted my time and energy to talking about my writing career, which has been my main focus these last three years. Earlier this fall, however, I decided to embark on another career path — that of a certified yoga instructor.
Being a yoga teacher is not as simple as just getting up in front of a class and guiding people through poses and breathing. Nor is it as simple as completing the 200-hour certification process. (Though “simple” would be a stretch for any 10-month training course. The requirements for this training are no joke! In addition to the one weekend per month required contact hours in the studio, our teacher has assigned us daily practice, meditation and journaling, an online anatomy course, once per month observation and several textbook assignments to complete. It’s a big deal!)
The thing about being a yoga teacher that I’m most fascinated by is the evolution of becoming a “yogi” … which is to adopt the lifestyle of yoga. There are eight arms of the practice of yoga, and the poses are only one of them. The first two, the yamas and the niyamas, are a series of internal and external ethical guidelines that enable a yogi to live her best life in peace and harmony with herself and others.
This year has been a series of positive changes for me — some big, some tiny. But I feel like once we start making small positive changes in our lives and adopting healthy habits, the growth and improvement just starts to snowball from there.
I don’t know what 2020 will bring for me, personally or professionally. But my fabulous yoga teaching instructor gave us a quick lesson on manifesting. That is to say, “What we think about, we bring about.” So on that vein, I’ve decided that 2020 is the year I find and sign with my agent, wherever he or she might be. And with that positive message, my dear friends, I bid you farewell, Merry Christmas and have the most blessed of new year celebrations!