Mindfulness

I've been learning a ton at my yoga teacher training classes.  It is such a wonderful experience for me and my teacher is one of those worldly, all-knowing (even though there's no such thing) people.  Today was my fourth day and I feel like I could write a book about some of the topics that have come up in class, but I'll spare you.

Here are some things I've walked away with thus far.

Mindfulness - Shakti (my teacher) says it's not healthy to be TOO pure.  For example, she is okay with smoking as long as it's "mindful" smoking....drop everything, pick up that cigarette, breathe, enjoy and be mindful of the moment (don't smoke while walking, eating, driving, pooping, etc or else it'll just be a habit).  I discovered that I do not know how to "mindfully gamble" after I lost $200 at the casino last night.  Whoops.

Running Kills Your Body - We've been covering a ton of anatomy and I realized how much training for a marathon a few years ago killed my joints, tendons, spine, internal organs, etc.  Scary.

Yoga Philosophy - I could write a book about our lesson this afternoon, but I learned that everything that we do has not changed from the ice age.  We just do things differently.  This could be a very interesting discussion over wine and cheese another time.

Gender Matters -  men and women are all wired so differently - again reference to the ice age.  Women, don't try to change your husbands.  It ain't gonna work!

Quantum Physics and Yoga are very much the same - don't even ask, I'd have to refer to my notes

I could go on and on but it's only the 4th day.  Today, I also taught my first asana to a class of 10 people.  It was completely invigorating and I loved it - more than I thought I would.