Turning of the Season

"Here we come to a turning of the season
Witness to the arc towards the sun."
- The Decemberists 


Happy New Year, all!  I imagine that some of you have already crossed the line into 2012.  I've still got a few more hours left to 2011.  I'm heading out pretty soon to take the 10:30pm yoga class - finishing at midnight, of course! - but right now I'm happily relaxing at home with a cup of tea and some good music.  (The lines that I put up at the top of this post are the first lines of one of my favorite albums this year.)  Just enough time for a blog update!

Compared to 2010, this past year was significantly less dramatic.  2010 was all about change, change, change - finishing/quitting grad school, getting to teacher training, finishing teacher training, moving cross country (again), and starting my new life as a yoga teacher.

This year, I've just kept on that trajectory.  If 2010 was a year for change, then 2011 was a year for expansion.  It's been a full year of full-time yoga, and it's been fantastic.  All together, I must have spent at least 2 months out of the year travelling - weeks of guest teaching in Kentucky, Virginia, Alabama, and Rhode Island, plus a really solid visit to teacher training in Los Angeles, plus the wonderful craziness of Bonnaroo Music Festival (which was definitely a highlight).  In between trips, I have been firmly planted in Baltimore (up until recently), just teaching and teaching and doing my thing, trying to learn new things and get better at my craft.  I made some wonderful friendships, all over the place but especially in Baltimore, that are sure to last for a very long time.  A good year!

There have been some ups and downs, some personal frustrations, but overall it's really been fun.

I think Abraham is totally onto something: "The basis of your life is freedom; the purpose of your life is joy."

(Tangent: Heard of Abraham?  Here's the best summary.  It is woo-woo as all hell and I'm not sure if I believe half of it, but my god, most of the stuff that comes out of Esther Hick's mouth is just spot on.  I get such a kick out of it.)

I know I haven't updated since my move to Rhode Island.  If I had to summarize my feelings about my new job/location in two words, they would be: "fucking fantastic."  It's great being close to home and close to Boston again.  I've seen lots of my Massachusetts yoga family this month, and I hope to see even more Boston people next year!  The West Roxbury advanced class Tuesday is back on my permanent schedule, which makes me so happy.  (My schedule requests to my new boss Molly were as follows: I need Mondays off completely, Tuesday mornings off for advanced class, and Thursday nights off for swing dance class.)  The studio has a permanent staff of four teacher right now (plus a rotating cast of visitors), and three of us are all around the same age and experience level, so we are getting along great.  It's like having siblings - we do fun things together like going out to dinner, seeing movies at the mall, and baking a tray full of brownies in the shape of Santa hats for the annual Solstice party.  Attendance at the studio has been booming this month, and we all anticipate that January will be even crazier - people around here just can't get enough of the yoga!

So onwards we go into 2012.  And if I had to take a guess, I think this year will be more about home.  After all the adventuring that I've done in this last year, I really like where I've landed at the end of all of it, and I'd like to stay here for a while.  I'm making plans to do crazy things such as leasing my own apartment, one bedroom thank you very much, and buying furniture - my own TV set, my own couch!  I know, craziness.  I also have plans to make friendships outside of the yoga studio (see for example Thursday nights) and explore all the lovely restaurants that Providence has to offer.  I also have a fantasy about rescuing a puppy, but we'll have to see about that one.  I seem to have committed to some hang-gliding plans for the summer, so that should be exciting.  And yes, I will keep this blog alive!

Best wishes to all for a fun and/or sweaty New Year's Eve and a very happy New Year!