I can now teach yoga!

Maria, Natasha and Meagan

This weekend I finished my Yogaworks Teacher Training. I have mixed feelings about this...I am happy that it is over, because it will really lighten my load. It is hard to do a teacher training while in grad school and working. It was surprisingly intense physically, emotionally and intellectually. There was a lot of homework involved...I still have to do the take home final exam, and I think it will take me all of next weekend to do it!

But I am also sad, much more so than I thought I would be. I didn't get a chance to spend a lot of time with the other students outside of class because I have been so busy with the wedding and everything. So, I didn't really expect to be that sad to leave everyone, but I was very sad the whole weekend. I was so sad the night before our last day that I made Matt let me use his car so I could drive to Target to buy supplies to make everyone a little gift. I channeled my inner "Jennifer Mahajan" and made little boxes filled with a candle and some chocolates and my favorite yoga sutra printed out on a little card. They came out really cute, actually, although not as cute as what mom probably would have done! Still, for a last minute, spontaneous thing they were pretty cute. My favorite yoga sutra is 2.42: "The result of contentment is total happiness." I have lots of favorites but I love this one because it is so optimistic and also attainable...anyone can be happy right now.



As part of our certification we had to teach the class a series of asana. I was really nervous, but when I actually got up to the front of the room I felt comfortable. I think it is because I love yoga...and also because I have probably taken so many yoga classes over the years!

Strangely, I have gained weight over the course of the teacher training...I don't think it is related to the teacher training, but to all the stress of being in school and working. It is too much! I am officially burnt out and ready to be done.

On a happy note: I saw my MS doctor and I have no new lesions! He said that all of the active lesions from my previous MRI have been resolved and things are looking good. YAY! And I start a new type of medicine, Tysabri, in a few weeks. It is supposed to be twice as effective as the betaseron. All I can say is "Yay, pharmaceutical industry!" I am happy and amazed and grateful that they have made these advances...hopefully since I don't really have any MS symptoms now, I will stay healthy for a long, long time.

Life

For some reason, Blogger isn't letting me upload pictures right now, so I guess I will take this opportunity to give a little update on my life...everything has been a whirlwind since I got back to Boston after being in California. School is good...I like my classes, especially statistics. I am far less motivated than I was last year. I am sick of homework! I just don't want to do it anymore. Luckily, my grades haven't gone down so far, even though I am putting less work into school.

I got a new job, and I love it. I am the assistant editor for the Food and Nutrition Bulletin, which is an international public health nutrition journal. Basically, I take manuscripts that are submitted through the review and revision process until they are either published or rejected. Finding peer reviewers for the manuscripts is definitely the hardest part of the job, because people are so busy (or at least they say they are) that many don't wan to take the time to do peer reviews, and others say they will do and then they don't. Then I have to hassle them till they turn it in.

I also started a yoga teacher training and I love it! I am just sad that I don't have as much time as I would like to devote to it. With school, work and the wedding planning, I have almost no free time! I love the teacher, Natasha Rizopoulos, and the other students in the class. It is a really interesting mix of people: everyone from a college freshman to a 70 year old woman and everything in between! The facilities are nice too...it is at the Sports Club LA - Boston, and it is gorgeous. It is only a few blocks from my school and it has beautiful floor to ceiling windows that overlook the Common. It reminds me of my old studio in Hong Kong. Natasha is from Yogaworks. I went to a class at yoga works in Santa Monica two summers ago, when I had just returned from China, and I loved it. I really like their style of sequencing. It is vinyasa yoga, which I love. The good thing about Natasha is that her background is in Ashtanga yoga, so she brings that perspective to the class. My favorite style of yoga is Ashtanga, but I haven't been able to find a studio that I like that teaches ashtanga in Boston. Natasha also did the beginner's yoga dvds for Yoga Journal. She is really fascinating to watch...her yoga practice is graceful and effortless and her body is like pure muscle...there is not an inch of fat on her!