One year Blog-a-versary!

A year ago today, I was inspired to start this little ol' blog.  It's a little bizarre how hard it is for me to remember and imagine exactly what my life was like a year ago.  I was still working in my office job, just barely eeking my way into the world of being a yoga teacher, though quite desperate to get there.  Marc and I were essentially living together - in the sense that I spend 95% of my time at his apartment while still technically living a few blocks east - but hungry to actually take that next step together.

We're now happily living in Ditmars, and I'm no longer at that office job!

Since that first entry, I've become certified in:

Thai Yoga Massage (and will be able to perform Prenatal Thai Yoga massage as of this Sunday - finally!)
Kids Yoga
Prenatal Yoga

It feels like that list should be longer, because the amount I've learned in this year is INSANE.  When I started this blog, I definitely didn't imagine I'd be earning my livelihood teaching yoga to kids.  It was something that was of interest to me, but I didn't think it'd be in the near future.  When my dear Laura Frye couldn't stop gushing about what a great gig she had at Karma Kids, however, I decided to take their training and haven't looked back since.  My life has totally transformed for the better by making kids my primary clients.  I'm learning more every single day and I'm always hungry for more!

Prenatal yoga is something I've been interested in for awhile, but my word, is it daunting!  I devour the books I read on pregnancy as well as my manuals (for regular yoga and Thai Yoga Massage), but I've still got to get up the gumption to start turning my interest into action and really try to teach some classes.  I hope to get there by this time next year.

It's so unbelievably hard for me to believe that Thai Yoga Massage was not a part of my life this time last year.  It was on the horizon, and I had taken the brief introductory course, but I had no idea what an enriching, life-changing experience I was in for yet.  It's been a long haul getting certified, and it's been a challenge since receiving my certification to find clients.  My biggest challenge as a yoga teacher, in terms of the business end, is self promotion.  I'm not a natural salesperson and it's hard to convince myself to just get out there.  I'm hoping my collaboration with Karma Kids on a Prenatal Thai Yoga Massage offering will help open the door on that part of my life a little wider.  It's a really important practice for me and I love sharing it.

As for regular yoga - teaching in a studio or privately - it's been an up-and-down journey this year.  I've had some opportunities to teach locally and even had a steady class at The Matrix gym near my apartment, but it disappeared with a schedule overhaul, and subbing opportunities have been few and far between as of late.  I feel more confident than ever, but I sometimes still have the awkward self-doubt of a brand new yoga teacher.  This is 99% a result of comparing myself to other, more experienced teachers that I aspire to be like...which of course is not the way to grow and become confident!  I'm still learning not to compare myself with others or judge myself to harshly.

Which brings me to my personal yoga practice.  That has also been a rollercoaster, although since the beginning of 2011 it's gotten better.  I've had patches of losing my dedication to my sadhana, whatever it may be, but it's never too far from my mind.

This week in particular has been interesting.  Shari, my awesome boss at Karma Kids, gave me a little bookmark-coupon (I'm obsessed with bookmarks, so this is doubly fabulous) good for one week of free unlimited yoga at YogaWorks.  I'd never been to YogaWorks before, but I just took my fifth class this morning and I'm really loving it so far.  So that's what my personal practice is this week - seven straight days of practicing at new studios (they have several locations) with new teachers and seeing what happens.

It's also Earth Day today!  Despite the glum and chilly weather, the Farmer's Market in Union Square was all abuzz with Earth Day specials and demonstrations (natural egg dyeing!) and it was really fun to be a small part of that while I did some post-yoga grocery shopping this morning.


So get outside if you can, breathe in some fresh air (wherever you can find it!) and enjoy this Earth Day.  And also, thanks for reading my little ol' blog :)  See you next week!