Namaste
The last 6 months of unemployment have been a bit of a journey, literally and figuratively speaking. I made a pact with myself that I would take advantage of this "free" time to figure what it is that I REALLY want to do with my life.
I have always-and when I say always, I mean ever since we had to write that career paper in high school- been of the school of thought that I would probably wander from job to job, because I could never see myself being in one job for 40 years. I have stayed true to that philosophy since graduating from college almost 11 years ago. I even spent a few months as a Red Bull Girl, handing out free RB all over Philadelphia. Even though that was one of the most fun jobs I have ever had, it was certainly not going to be my career. I have had one job that I really thought would be my "forever" job, but sadly that ended when I moved to San Diego. Whoever said "you can't have it all" was correct. In order to move forward in one area of life, you might have to move back in another.
When I left my job in September, I was in a very negative frame of mind. Not liking your job will do that to you! So, I started doing yoga consistently (I had been doing yoga INconsistently for about 7 years). Yoga was a little slice of peace for me. I did not-could not- think of anything else during the time that I spent on my yoga mat. I was so focused on getting into my pose, deepening my pose, and of course, looking good while doing it! There was also an added challenge- the room was heated to 95+ degrees. Well, there went the looking good part. Some people don't seem to have sweat glands...I don't have that problem. So back to the task at hand: getting into the pose, deepening the pose, looking good, breathing, and trying not to pass out from the heat. Fortunately, I never did pass out, but felt like I would many times.
This new yoga practice was inspiring, challenging, and calming. So, as I began to try to formulate a "career plan", I thought more and more about yoga. About how I could incorporate yoga into my career plan. On February 16, I began a 2-month yoga teacher certification program. Over the next 8 weeks, I will be on a journey to become a yoga teacher. One that I hope will help inspire, challenge, and calm my students.
One of the aspects of yoga that I enjoy, but don't quite embrace, is to live in the moment, let go of expectations, and allow yourself to be who/how you are at that moment in time. Some call this living "off the mat"- which is to take what you learn in yoga class (or, on your mat) to all aspects of your life outside of class. I think that this is a good lesson for anyone, not just yogis; each day is different, and your reaction to those differences can make you a happier person, or not, you choose.
I have been working on my "off the mat" living for some time now. Some days it's easy, other days are hard. For example, sometimes I come out of yoga class feeling refreshed, calm, happy, ZEN. Then I hit the highway, someone cuts me off and BAM! Not so zen anymore. I'm working on it though (but it's really hard in Southern California, because people are REALLY bad drivers here). We should all try to live off the mat once in a while. Maybe try it for one hour.
Namaste
I have always-and when I say always, I mean ever since we had to write that career paper in high school- been of the school of thought that I would probably wander from job to job, because I could never see myself being in one job for 40 years. I have stayed true to that philosophy since graduating from college almost 11 years ago. I even spent a few months as a Red Bull Girl, handing out free RB all over Philadelphia. Even though that was one of the most fun jobs I have ever had, it was certainly not going to be my career. I have had one job that I really thought would be my "forever" job, but sadly that ended when I moved to San Diego. Whoever said "you can't have it all" was correct. In order to move forward in one area of life, you might have to move back in another.
When I left my job in September, I was in a very negative frame of mind. Not liking your job will do that to you! So, I started doing yoga consistently (I had been doing yoga INconsistently for about 7 years). Yoga was a little slice of peace for me. I did not-could not- think of anything else during the time that I spent on my yoga mat. I was so focused on getting into my pose, deepening my pose, and of course, looking good while doing it! There was also an added challenge- the room was heated to 95+ degrees. Well, there went the looking good part. Some people don't seem to have sweat glands...I don't have that problem. So back to the task at hand: getting into the pose, deepening the pose, looking good, breathing, and trying not to pass out from the heat. Fortunately, I never did pass out, but felt like I would many times.
This new yoga practice was inspiring, challenging, and calming. So, as I began to try to formulate a "career plan", I thought more and more about yoga. About how I could incorporate yoga into my career plan. On February 16, I began a 2-month yoga teacher certification program. Over the next 8 weeks, I will be on a journey to become a yoga teacher. One that I hope will help inspire, challenge, and calm my students.
One of the aspects of yoga that I enjoy, but don't quite embrace, is to live in the moment, let go of expectations, and allow yourself to be who/how you are at that moment in time. Some call this living "off the mat"- which is to take what you learn in yoga class (or, on your mat) to all aspects of your life outside of class. I think that this is a good lesson for anyone, not just yogis; each day is different, and your reaction to those differences can make you a happier person, or not, you choose.
I have been working on my "off the mat" living for some time now. Some days it's easy, other days are hard. For example, sometimes I come out of yoga class feeling refreshed, calm, happy, ZEN. Then I hit the highway, someone cuts me off and BAM! Not so zen anymore. I'm working on it though (but it's really hard in Southern California, because people are REALLY bad drivers here). We should all try to live off the mat once in a while. Maybe try it for one hour.
Namaste
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