Distilled: essence of Lisa

More than four weeks of intensive yoga teacher training, practicums, and classes.
I have been stretched, aligned, superoxygenated, and sweated down to my essential self.
In the process, I lost 11 pounds. I am back to fighting weight, pre-Ben weight.
Not that this was intended, mind you. I suspect that most of us lost weight.

There is something strange and indescribable about the process of becoming a yogi. The real intent of yoga is breath control, meditation, and a special kind of surrender: a calmer state, certainly an alpha-wave state. In that state, it appears that one requires less food.

That's the best way I can describe it. Words fail me, my culture fails me in describing this phenomenon. Perhaps the oxygenated system requires less fuel. Perhaps slowing down and letting go of stressors produces a body that requires less food. I just don't know.

All I know is, it's a good thing, it would help so many people, and I want to share it with others. I'm hoping to specialize in teaching it to seniors, but children are also an opportunity, and private lessons with people who know that their bodies need help. It's a bit like AA, I think, in that you need to recognize the need for it before you're ready for the healing.

Anyway, my initial training is done. I now need to help an existing teacher in a dozen classes (sort of like an internship), then I'll be qualified to teach. I'm hoping to teach a class at the Senior Center in the fall. We shall see where this goes. I'm on a new path.

Baling hay

Well, the time has come. Tomorrow I fly to Colorado to meet the intrepid soul who inherited my job (and more) when I left HP. Laura says she'll teach me how to use her tractor and bale hay. I knew those cowboy boots would come in useful someday. She says I can ride her horse EVERY DAY if I like. Woo hoo!

Yesterday we had another apparently successful (the numbers aren't tallied yet) Friends of the Sunnyvale Library booksale; I got there at 7am to help set up, then had to run off to Santa Cruz at 11-ish for the day's teacher training. In the short period I had to graze the booksale, I *DID* manage to pick up lots of homeschool books, presents for the boys, and some books for myself.

Yoga teacher training has been going well, although I am bone tired some nights, and I nearly fell asleep on 101 the other night.

Last night when I arrived at the cabin, I disturbed the local fauna's imminent destruction of more peach limbs from my only highly productive fruit tree. You should see the barricade I created! Very rustic, but hopefully effective.

It was a beautiful night to sleep beneath the stars, as usual.