Keeping Pace

Keeping Pace

Box Checking

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I am one of those people that can’t stand to see a long list of to-do’s. It doesn’t matter how far in the future the deadline is. If it’s on my to-do list, I MUST start the box checking process.

Of course, I do prioritize. Obtaining my visa for India was a high priority item. I had my visa in-hand in June (3 months prior to departure). I hit all of the large ticket items up next (i.e. flights, letter of authorization for emergency care for YaYa, travel insurance). Then came the nitty-gritty stuff such as notifying the banks of the planned travel, setting up international roaming to call YaYa, and shopping…

  • Culturally appropriate clothing (including loose-fitting yoga pants)
  • Anti-everything (to ward off germs, diarrhea, headaches, etc.)
  • Universal power adapter/power-strip (gotta keep all of “the stuff” charged)
  • Meal replacements and EmergenC (just in case)
  • Travel size laundry detergent and a flat drain stopper (with only carry on, we’ll need to wash)
  • etc., etc., etc.

I’m just about done. After that, I’ll have no more excuses; I’ll need to start crossing off the required reading. *sigh*

Actually, I have been working on that too – but unfortunately that’s not going as well.

Say

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Even as the eyes are closin.’ Do it with your heart wide open. Say what you need to say… — Say, John Mayer

These lyrics, heard while running, really hit home today. Broadly, the topic has come up on three occasions this week. For that reason, it seemed like I good one to bring up here.

How many times do you have something that you need to say, but don’t? The opportunity to do so passes and kick yourself for not speaking your mind.

When it comes to friends, these confrontations can be tough. You don’t want to compromise the relationship yet, by your friend’s crossing a line they shouldn’t have crossed, the relationship is already in danger.

Hold fast to this concept, before taking on a random act such as coaching a friend in weight loss, running, or yoga. It’s all good, right?

Helping a friend or family member take on such a huge life change is pretty cool. If you’re like me, your genuine want to coach them to know and love the sport is actually a way to rekindle the joy in it for yourself. However, what if they start complaining about high heart rates, pain, and the like? What if they complain when they are out doing the sport with you?

Of course, you have no way of weeding out the real dangers from those perceived in pushing to the next level. Perhaps, you put on the breaks…or suggest that they do. And what if…? What if they don’t listen to their body or you? What if they push beyond their limits and something happens? What then?

This is just one example of crossing the line that needs to be addressed when it comes up. Because if it happens once, it will happen again. Perhaps the next time there will be serious implications. Perhaps 911 will need to be dialed. I told you so means nothing then.

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Human Pincushion Syndrome (HPS) and Information Overload (IO)

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You know those people you see walking around in public doing their overhead dumbbell raises (with imaginary dumbbells) and air boxing as they meander down the street? Well, today, that crazy person would be me. I’ve got Human Pincushion Syndrome (HPS) and am walking around the office trying to move off the post injection soreness brought on by today’s trip to the travel clinic. I haven’t felt my back yelping all day.

Essentially, the Kaiser nurse made me into a human-pincushion & my arms are S-O-R-E !

Armed with not only immunity, but also a wealth of knowledge on the risks in India that I am stepping into, the appointment puts me one BIG step closer to heading off for my retreat. It was so much information, in fact, my head is still spinning – so please understand if I get something wrong here.

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Lights, Camera, Action

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These lovely lights hang in the front entrance of my yoga studio. Finally, after over a year and a half of admiring them, I had time to capture their beauty. This was because I had more than a few minutes to spare before class and, for once, I wasn’t busy chatting it up with one or more of the other students.

On the day I took this picture, the studio was being occupied by one of the teacher-in-training students and one of my favorite instructors. All the teachers at our studio are amazing so, in a way, they are all my favorite for one reason or another. This instructor, in particular, if my favorite teacher of playfulness and light-hearted action.

As I remember, the student was preparing to teach his observational class to his peers. It’s just one of the tasks required to gain the accreditation that will allow you to teach after successfully completing the initial 200 hours of training. Then there are the various tests covering anatomy, Sanskrit, and yoga philosophy. No biggie.

Of course I’M JOKING; it’s TOTALLY a big deal!

Time is whooshing past, and the pages of my calendar keep turning at an increasingly rapid pace (it seems).  It is becoming apparent that my trip to India is becoming ever close. I have become acutely aware of how little I know of the practice of yoga, the history & philosophy behind all that we do, the Sanskrit, and essentially everything else.

It seems like it’s only been a short time since I went from “doing yoga” to “practicing” yoga. I’m not quite sure how long before I will be ready to teach it to others. I just know that I want to… some day.

Many of the yogis who are going on this trip with me are either already teaching or are well on the way. I feel a little out of my league and, at the same time, I feel like I am crazy lucky to be able to experience this with them.

I am nervous as heck…but super excited too.  

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visa versa

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Preparations for the yoga retreat are underway, albeit slowly. The trip is not until September but there is so much to do.

Thankfully, my passport is good until August 2017. There are plenty of pages freed up for travel as it has only one stamp from my trip to Vancouver. I know that many feel like Vancouver hardly seems worthy of a stamp but the border officials in Canada felt that I needed a little encouragement for my first trip over the US border.

Travel to India is a bit more involved. First off, it requires a visa. The application can be completed online, printed, and sent in with your passport. Alternately, you may choose to make an appointment to hand carry your paperwork to the agency. Either way, they keep it for a fair amount of time before it is all shipped back to you. I opted to get a jump on it time wise and save my time off by choosing the first option.

There are additional items which are required to be sent with the application, including two passport type photos. If you’ve not had to procure such photos, let me tell you that they have quite exacting specifications which cover everything from background, dress, photo composition, size, and pixels. And while there are places who will gladly take your money in exchange for two copies of the worst possible image of you, I prefer to have an image that will make me smile rather than wince when I see it. Not only do these places not care how you look, one look at my current passport photo shows that they don’t even seems to adhere to the standards.

So I asked my photographer friend to assist in the process…

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