Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Location, location, location!

Well, I'm moved into my new house!! Still no internet there (so this is gonna be a short one cause I'm at work.) I LOVE it!!

It's so nice to be in a new space. I was so productive there yesterday... moved everything, came in and worked for 5 hours, then went home and unpacked until about 1 or 2am. Then straight to sleep!

Of course this is a transition period, but I noticed that being in a new space put me in a totally different frame of mind. I was more focused than I have been lately, and more positive about school. I didn't stay up unnecessarily late reading stuff online or bouncing around looking for things to do. Out of the blue, I started thinking about how good it will feel to finish a PhD and what a great accomplishment that would be. Through this whole year, I have honestly never envisioned myself completing this program before, so that was surprising.

It's amazing what an effect a change of scene has on your state of mind. Just because things aren't the same as they were the day before, you SEE them for the first time, instead of being blinded by habit and pattern.

Good idea for the yoga room, too, I think. That's why I really make a point of trying to practice in all different place of the room - right, left, front, back - instead of settling into one spot. Sometimes even a change of clothes can make a difference, as weird as that sounds. Like the first time you see yourself in shorts!! I actually switch from my sports bra to a tank top occasionally just because it changes my view of my body. When you keep yourself just a little bit out of equilibrium - or, on the flip side, when you make a REALLY big change - sometimes that's the ONLY time that your mind is really clear and you can see things for what they ARE instead of just seeing what you expect to see.

Just something to play with.

6 comments:

waylon said...

this post reminded me of a thought I had the other day - that visiting different Bikram studios puts you in a different mind frame and in a place of alertness that makes for a really good practice. something about the new surroundings and people keep you on your toes!

(i hit a lot of different studios because of my work travel. it's always good.)

thanks for all the insightful posts dancingdj.

hannahjustbreathe said...

It's like that quote: "When change comes, it cracks everything open." I want to say Adrienne Rich said that. Regardless, it's spot on. For yoga and for life.

Have fun settling into the new digs!!

Me said...

Great advice! And I am proud of you for sticking to finishing your schooling before you go to TT.

ActionJoJo said...

Your post is so true! Isn't it amazing when our home is uncluttered and comfortable that it extends to the other parts of our life?

I find Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan's Apartment Therapy a useful book to read and get inspiration. I refer to it at least once a year during a fall or spring cleaning. He has a great website that provides lots of inspiration. www.apartmenttherapy.com.

Enjoy!

And congrats on deciding to finish the PhD and having renewed enthusiasm for the task at hand!

thedancingj said...

Ooh, waylon, I'm glad you mentioned that. That's something I thought of after I posted this - visiting different studios! When I started practicing, I would get kinda thrown off if I had to practice somewhere that I wasn't used to, but now I LOVE practicing in all these different environments. So cool that you get to hit up all those different places!

Apartment therapy, that sounds great, I must check that out later...

And thanks for the encouragement, guys. Much appreciated. Really.

thedancingj said...

JoJo this website is AWESOME!!