Hey guys! Yes, I'm back, on my day off :D!
Teacher training is going amazing so far. We all suddenly realized this week that we're already over halfway done. It feels like we started like, yesterday! I can't believe how fast the time has gone!!!!!! In only 2 more weeks, we'll all be parting ways :( It's very sad!
Before teacher training started, other teachers and Ed had told me all about how connected everyone gets. They were all "these people will be like your family, you'll suddenly have 60 new best friends, you'll miss them so much when it's over, etc". I was like, "pfffft, yeah right". Even on the first few days I figured that there was no possible way that I would remember EVERYONE'S name, or make many friends, or really care all that much about anyone by the time it was over. But, I've been proven wrong once again. It really is amazing how close you get to people when you share such a strong common bond. We're together for almost 14 hours a day for the whole month, eating together, showering together (seriously), studying together, and learning so much together. We've grown a lot together, and seen huge changes in each other as teachers and as individuals. I truly will miss these people when we finish, and I'm very proud of the progress all of us have made!
Speaking of growing and learning together, teaching yoga is HARD!!! A lot harder than I thought! I've been practicing at Moksha for about 2.5 years, and I know the series inside out and backwards and upside down. I know the script like the back of my hand, and what the benefits of each pose are, etc. But damn, it is REALLY difficult to verbalize it and make sense of it all! The first time that we practice-taught, I was like "inhale your left... um, right... wait, left foot up. Foot? No, I meant hand. Wait. Crap..." Pretty much everyone else was the exact same, and we had no sense whatsoever of how long to hold each pose (my poor partner went through almost the whole 60 minute series in 20 minutes. Meanwhile, he had me hold only 5 poses in that same time). That was only a week and a bit ago. Since then, we've all become so much more confident in ourselves and our class, and we can actually teach effectively! Of course there's still some mixups with lefts and rights and "ummmmm"s, but compared to where we started, it's amazing how much improvement we've all had.
And by the way, ***NEWSFLASH***! Those in the Toronto area - I will be teaching practice classes in August! For only $5, you too can enjoy the benefits of sweat, stretching and yoga! I'll post up my schedule at the end of the month!!
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
Update, and a word about Multiple Myeloma
Hey blog!
I know, I'm sorry, I've been away for a little while. Teacher training is surprisingly more vigorous and exhausting than I ever expected! But, I love it!!! We started on July 1st, and so far our days look something like this:
5:00am - get up
6:30am - 1.5 hour yoga practice and meditation
8-9:30 - shower and breakfast break
9:30-11:30 - lecture
11:30-1 - lunch
1-2:30 - lecture
2:30-3:30 - 1 hour yoga practice
3:30-4:15 - shower and snack break
4:15-7:15 - lecture
7:15-7:30ish - travel back home
9:30pm - collapse into bed after doing a load of laundry (smelly yoga stuff), eating dinner, packing lunch and yoga/lecture stuff for the next day, and doing whatever homework we were given.
*yawn*! So yes, we practice twice a day, and are in teacher training for about 13 hours a day. Every day. For a month. Wheee!!! It's going great so far though. My sangha is awesome, and we're still just sort of getting to know each other. If Ed and other teacher's experiences are any indication of what's going to happen, apparently we're all going to be BFFs by the end of the month :P
I'm also still caffeine free, back to alcohol free, and have been doing my best to stay vegetarian as well. I've had a few accidental meat ingestions this week, as it has been Filipino Food Fiesta all week. We've been spending whatever free time we have with Ed's family, and I had to miss a day of training as a result (see below), and of course there's no such thing as vegetarianism in the Philippines!
So what's with the Filipino Food Fiesta and why would I have missed a day of teacher training??? There's a good reason. Here comes the personal update section of this blog post... My boyfriend's father, Eduardo, passed away on Tuesday, June 29th. He had been suffering from multiple myeloma, the same cancer that my own father was diagnosed with (see About Me!). He had gone through three rounds of remission, however the last time the cancer had metastasized in his brain. We learned that he was sick again in April, and he was given 6 months to live. However, the chemotherapy and radiation treatments did not help to extend his chances of survival, and the cancer took over. He passed away just a couple of weeks after his 62nd birthday, and had been living in palliative care at the hospital for almost a month. We had the funeral service today, and have been staying at his mom's place all weekend for visitations and helping her deal with the arrangements. Though I didn't know his dad for a very long time (only 2.5 years), I will miss him dearly. He was a man of few words, but despite this he truly made me feel like I was part of the family. He was a wonderful man, incredibly passionate about his family and his community. He touched a lot of lives both here and in the Philippines, as demonstrated by the enormous turnout at his funeral service and visitations this weekend.
If anyone is interested, we are asking friends and family to consider donating to Myeloma Canada in his honour and memory. Multiple myeloma is a cancer of the plasma cells that reside in the bone marrow, affecting how your body creates red blood cells and affects other body systems in later stages, especially the kidneys. It is not curable, but can be treated. Myeloma Canada works with researchers to encourage new treatments for myeloma and to provide support to patients and their families.
I will also be participating in a 5k walk in October in support of myeloma research at Princess Margaret Hospital. Search for 5k Your Way, a 5k run or walk during the Goodlife Marathon where you can select the research department at PMH that you would like your donations to go to (e.g. skin cancer, lymphomas, brain cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, etc etc etc). The Myeloma group is located here: www.mm5kwalk.ca
I know, I'm sorry, I've been away for a little while. Teacher training is surprisingly more vigorous and exhausting than I ever expected! But, I love it!!! We started on July 1st, and so far our days look something like this:
5:00am - get up
6:30am - 1.5 hour yoga practice and meditation
8-9:30 - shower and breakfast break
9:30-11:30 - lecture
11:30-1 - lunch
1-2:30 - lecture
2:30-3:30 - 1 hour yoga practice
3:30-4:15 - shower and snack break
4:15-7:15 - lecture
7:15-7:30ish - travel back home
9:30pm - collapse into bed after doing a load of laundry (smelly yoga stuff), eating dinner, packing lunch and yoga/lecture stuff for the next day, and doing whatever homework we were given.
*yawn*! So yes, we practice twice a day, and are in teacher training for about 13 hours a day. Every day. For a month. Wheee!!! It's going great so far though. My sangha is awesome, and we're still just sort of getting to know each other. If Ed and other teacher's experiences are any indication of what's going to happen, apparently we're all going to be BFFs by the end of the month :P
I'm also still caffeine free, back to alcohol free, and have been doing my best to stay vegetarian as well. I've had a few accidental meat ingestions this week, as it has been Filipino Food Fiesta all week. We've been spending whatever free time we have with Ed's family, and I had to miss a day of training as a result (see below), and of course there's no such thing as vegetarianism in the Philippines!
So what's with the Filipino Food Fiesta and why would I have missed a day of teacher training??? There's a good reason. Here comes the personal update section of this blog post... My boyfriend's father, Eduardo, passed away on Tuesday, June 29th. He had been suffering from multiple myeloma, the same cancer that my own father was diagnosed with (see About Me!). He had gone through three rounds of remission, however the last time the cancer had metastasized in his brain. We learned that he was sick again in April, and he was given 6 months to live. However, the chemotherapy and radiation treatments did not help to extend his chances of survival, and the cancer took over. He passed away just a couple of weeks after his 62nd birthday, and had been living in palliative care at the hospital for almost a month. We had the funeral service today, and have been staying at his mom's place all weekend for visitations and helping her deal with the arrangements. Though I didn't know his dad for a very long time (only 2.5 years), I will miss him dearly. He was a man of few words, but despite this he truly made me feel like I was part of the family. He was a wonderful man, incredibly passionate about his family and his community. He touched a lot of lives both here and in the Philippines, as demonstrated by the enormous turnout at his funeral service and visitations this weekend.
If anyone is interested, we are asking friends and family to consider donating to Myeloma Canada in his honour and memory. Multiple myeloma is a cancer of the plasma cells that reside in the bone marrow, affecting how your body creates red blood cells and affects other body systems in later stages, especially the kidneys. It is not curable, but can be treated. Myeloma Canada works with researchers to encourage new treatments for myeloma and to provide support to patients and their families.
I will also be participating in a 5k walk in October in support of myeloma research at Princess Margaret Hospital. Search for 5k Your Way, a 5k run or walk during the Goodlife Marathon where you can select the research department at PMH that you would like your donations to go to (e.g. skin cancer, lymphomas, brain cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, etc etc etc). The Myeloma group is located here: www.mm5kwalk.ca
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