and I'm back

I disappeared. Which is exactly what I said I would not do. I said I would have a 7 day a week practice and I haven't, I also said I would blog every day and I haven't. So I apologize to all of you and to myself for not keeping up my promises.
In any case I'm back. Well, I've been back on the mat for a while, but I haven't been blogging. You'll all be happy to know that I've been keeping up with the yoga, the sweating, and the exhaustion.
I've moved on to part two of the teacher training, on from Power Yoga, aka sweating constantly to Gentle Therapeutics Yoga with Allaine Stricklen, which is just a HUGE change. Much more personalized, more about alignment and healing through yoga.

laughing at all the props i need

It is intense in a completely different way. I am no longer sweating my asana off but I am juggling yoga props like you would not believe. Whats that? You thought yoga was just you and your mat? So did I. We were wrong.

dominatrix down dog with a strap

Its a joke watching me walk around with all of my stuff. Schlepping it up and down the stairs and in and out of my car every day.  But the reality is that it helps. All these extra things that sometimes feel like a weight on me, but a little help from a  block, a strap, a mat, or a bolster can really help sometimes.

down dog head on a block hands on the wall

I so frequently see people in a yoga class who look like they are in pain and they force themselves into an asana that looks cool. Clearly your life will be better if you can bind in side angle right? You aren't any good at yoga if your heels aren't on the ground in down dog.

We hear instructors say everyday that we should leave our ego at the door, but its hard to do sometimes Well, most of the time we see other people doing cool stuff and we think, "if she can do that I can definitely do that" or "I'm better at yoga than she is." What does that even mean? Kind of a crazy idea when you think about it.


I have a new view on the people in class using the props, plus I'm now one of them. Where I might have once thought that it was "beginner" to use a block, I now realize that it is the people in the room using a block that are truly advanced, they have checked their egos at the door in order to further their practice. Can you check your ego at the door? Are you game? 

Namaste, 

Rachel