Posts tagged: austin
i started practicing yoga regularly almost 2 years ago (seems longer….2 years doesn’t seem like long enough to do anything), i fell in love with the magic of my yoga instructor. i loved her tattoos and her clothes and the way she moved on the mat.. it was magical. she had something that i wanted.
fast forward about 18 months and i was in the midst of my first yoga class in austin on austin’s free day of yoga, taking a gioconda yoga class at bfree yoga. i could barely make it through the 75 minute level II/III class. i was still very much at the beginning of my journey, and grasping for something or someone to grab on to, in order to drag myself along.
i still very much respect her as a teacher, but i’m beginning to move past the idolization stage. she is my teacher, my guru but i didn’t feel butterflies in my tummy or blissed out at the end of my practice. instead, my back was kind of sore from all the back bending and i couldn’t get out of my mind the number of times she referred to “this is how you get a yoga butt.” i
is that really what we’re doing yoga for now? i know that’s not really what she believes, but then why is she preaching it in her yoga class? i understand that you have to teach to your students, so if they want to hear how great their ass is going to look after we do our fifth salabasana variation i guess you have to give it to them? it’s funny to joke about, but i’ve never made references to six packs or yoga butts in my classes because that’s not what i do yoga for and i don’t want my students thinking that it is.
maybe i’m just feeling a little jaded by the west side of austin lately, as i still struggle to find where i belong in this town. i’ve had a really exciting few weeks teaching my own classes though, with great feedback from students. i updated my goals that i wrote about back in yoga training about 4 months ago. what you put in to the universe is what comes back to you. it’s time for me to bring my own magic.
community yoga time (Taken with Instagram at Space 12)
i started my very first community yoga class last night at space12 (3121 E 12th Street, Austin).
“Our hope is that through our community space, ideas to share spaces will be renewed, voices both young and old will be heard, time will be well spent and spent together, and all can feel welcome to collaborate towards genuine community.” http://space12.org
when my coworkers and new friends in town found out that i teach yoga, many of them thought it would be cool to be able to take a yoga class from someone who they know, and feel comfortable with. so after a few months of contemplation, i finally found a place where i felt comfortable teaching my very own class.
click the pic for a thru-link to space12’s website for more information, and i’ll see you on the mat tuesday nights at 7!
#febphotoaday words (Taken with instagram)
bought this street art on one of my first visits to austin. from a street vendor on “the drag.” am i the only one who feels like a d-bag calling it that?
#febphotoaday my view (Taken with Instagram at Birds Barbershop)
so here it is, day 1 and i’ve stuck with it so far. we were slow as balls at work, so i sat perched at my receptionist desk for most of the day staring out these windows and wishing i could’ve been out in the 80 degree wintery sunshiny weather.
yoga and art and yoga…. (Taken with Instagram at Lora Reynolds Gallery)
yesterday, my yoga teacher training class had a mini reunion at the lora reynolds gallery off of 3rd & nueces. they held a free (which usually means donation) yoga class as part of Mads Lynnerups’ live art exhibition ‘Help is on the way’. one of our fellow trainees was teaching it as her first public class (!!), and it was super exciting to be a part of it. she told us it helped so much to have us there; she was really nervous but when she saw us out there on our mats, she knew everything would be fine.
it’s an awesome and unexpected thing for me to be part of this community now; the yoga community in austin is so alive and thriving. there are parts of it that kind of scare me and make me not super happy about where yoga is going these days, but there are so many greater things that yoga is teaching me and using me for…. it is such a great great awesome movement to be a part of.
just like in any other business, it’s pretty much who you know that will get you places. i trained with not just one of the premier yoginis in austin, but someone who people greatly revere and respect as a person and friend as well. because of that, i’ve met so many more other teachers and important faces in the community. i was at a class the other day at kula yoga up in terrytown, and when my friend and teacher of the class mentioned to one of the owners/directors that i had trained with gioconda, she automatically offered me a place on the sub list. just like that, and now i’m subbing at a real life yoga studio!
things work out the way that they are meant to, and it’s not by our own time or what we want or think is right, but by what we actually need and are ready for. so there. peace out, sunday morning.
Well people, it’s (un)official: I’m a yoga teacher! I still have to turn in my final exam (yikes!), finish my assisting hours, and teach 2 public classes with my teacher there to watch me….but my training is done and I can teach my own classes now!
It’s insanity to think that it’s over already; it’s gone by so quickly. Gioconda Yoga teacher training is the reason that I moved to Austin in the first place. I considered just driving up here every other weekend from Fredericksburg, but I just so happened to lose my job literally A WEEK before I my training started, so I figured now was as good a time as any (thanks universe!).
I have no idea how long I’ll be in Austin, or what is next for me in pretty much any aspect of my life, but one thing is for certain: when I look back on the first 4 months I spent living in this city, my yoga teacher training is going to be SUCH a huge part of that experience. I am sooooo sosoososo grateful and honored to have gotten to share this with each one of the people in my class, and I’ll hold a special place in my little black heart for every one of them.
peace&love&ommmm
looking for a quick, delish meal in austin?? galaxy cafe has 3 locations: north (at the triangle on 45th & guadalupe), central (downtown on west lynn) and south (brodie & slaughter), serves breakfast until 11:30 (until 4pm on the weekends!) and lunch until 10pm! daily specials, delicious desserts, AND you just might see this beautiful face serving you some french toast if you’re a real lucky duck! happy noshing. xx
i went in for a job interview at KaRu salon in austin, and the owner asked me if i would mind doing a little modeling for their opening night of fashion week. i got my makeup done by the lovely mandy morrison, and my hair by badass tina spears. delisa designs jewelry and blackbird clothing! oh, and thanks to jessica for letting me borrow her heels….. i don’t usually bring extra shoes on job interviews!
(Taken with instagram)
**anddd, sidenote, i didn’t even get the job! hopefully i’ll still be able to go in and get my free cut/color…**
