National Yoga Month, What Up!
Guys! It’s September, which meeeeeans it’s also National Yoga Month! And yeah, I’m aware it’s been September for like, a whole half of a month now, but since I was doing my Panchakarma for the first good chunk of the month it is still sort of shocking to me that it’s not August anymore.
September rocks for so many reasons. The beginning of fall, my birthday month is coming up (October, whoop whoop!), then Halloween, then alllll of the best holidays and my favorite kind of weather — cozy sweater weather and all of the loveliest fall-time and wintertime vibes.
Summer is cool and all, but yeah I’m ready for this new season. Bring it on.
September is also super awesome for us yoga nerds because it’s National Yoga Month! For me, that doesn’t change a whole lot about my normal routine, because yoga is always a big part of my life… but as I’ve mentioned, yoga has had its major ebbs and flows in my life for the past several years, so it’s really rad that this year on National Yoga Month I am in the middle of a very intensive 300-hr teacher training.
My Yoga Teacher Training!
Firstly — I am wearing all Kohl’s yoga clothes in this post! I am obsessed with this Soybu crop top and matching black yoga pants — they are ultra comfy and fit extremely well. They aren’t too tight but they stay on for all of my twists and bends. And they won’t break the bank, and are easy and convenient to find at Kohl’s! I cannot get enough of how soft they are, either.
You can most def find all of your yoga needs at Kohl’s — including this rad strap (you will want this if you’re practicing at home and wanna get your restorative stretch on, trust me) & this adorable mat.
I know you guys have heard me mention my training here and there, but I haven’t told you very much about it yet. Shocker for me, I know. I’ve really just had to let it all soak in ever since it started in the beginning of August.
The training been a huge part of my life lately, with weekend workshops every other weekend, assisting classes every Tuesday afternoon, Pranayama and Yoga Sutra training every Wednesday night, bi-monthly mentor group meetings and practice teaching sessions, and trying to get as much practice teaching in on my own as possible (shoutout to my sister and my BFFs for being my guinea pig students!).
At the very beginning of adapting to this new schedule… I kinda freaked. I mean, I’m busy as ever as it is. I blog full-time, run TBV, am writing an ebook, am still in the midst of promoting my actual book, I’m a kitten mama, training for a marathon, and of course always try to be as available for my friends & family as possible.
Kind of a lot.
But as I’ve started making this new schedule work, I am sort of blown away with how happy I am in this training. I mean, I knew I’d like it, because I am stoked about the OUTCOME (finally teaching yoga again and feeling super duper prepared and educated to do so)… but I actually find as the weeks go on that I am enjoying the journey as well. Like a lot.
It’s like going to grad school — do we really look FORWARD to those grueling classes and tests and projects, or do we look forward to the degree that we have at the end and the profession that we are then capable of holding from there on out? The profession, I’m sure. So that’s kinda how I thought I’d feel about this yoga training.
But oh my goodness you guys. I am proving myself to be so wrong! We had our Chakra & Subtle Body weekend last weekend with the epic teacher Jeanne Heinemann — and I officially fell in love with a whole new side of yoga that I didn’t even know I was passionate about. CHAKRA BALANCING. Among a bunch of other fascinating info about Ayurveda, breath work, Pranayama, the Vayus, etc. (More on that to come in a future post!)
The weekend before that was all about the art of vinyasa flow… Which we know I’m already obsessed with. And now all of the sudden my nightstand is overflowing with books on yoga philosophy and the Vedas… and I am freakishly loving all of it.
As my best friend Jillian put it the other night as I rattled on and on about how happy I am in this training and how unbelievably inspired I am to begin to teach all of this awesomeness to my future students… she said, “This is so great for you because you like to be so BUSY that sometimes you tend to busy yourself with things you aren’t totally passionate about just to be doing more. Now you’re busy with this whole new aspect of your life that you are actually in love with. Maybe it will help you say NO to some other things that you don’t like as much.”
She hit the nail on the head there. Yes, the girl who preaches to only do things we are passionate about struggles with this passion balance as well. It’s just human nature, especially for those of us who enjoy being busy bees.
My point here…
I firmly believe that when we fill our time with things we are truly in love with and inspired by, we awaken a part of ourselves that we didn’t even know existed.
We are recharged with a whole new and exciting meaning to our lives.
Even if we already do things that we love — there is room for more. To explore deeper. To get to know more bits and pieces of what it is that we love so much.
I mean, I’ve been practicing yoga for over a decade. I’m one of those kooks that found the practice when I was only 14 years old.
But only now, after two teacher trainings and countless retreats, workshops, and yoga-related jobs and opportunities, am I finding myself fully AWAKE in this practice in a whole new way.
I now WANT to go to India and study yoga. And not just to “know more about yoga” and be a “TRUE yogi,” but because I freaking really, really want to. I am no longer terrified of sitting still and meditating with no rigorous vinyasa practice before or after the meditation.
I am no longer terrified of Pranayama breath work or chanting for 30+ minutes with a teacher who inspires me, or even alone.
I am no longer terrified of the thought of TEACHING yoga every day without getting to actually physically practice in an athletic kind of way every day on my own — because sometimes there simply won’t be enough time in the day for all of it.
This new awakening inside of me is awesome, and it’s coming at a great time. People who know me well tell me that I am glowing — that I seem happier and healthier than I have in a long time.
And I think it’s because this whole yoga journey and where I am with it is speaking to my soul in a real big way. It’s helping me be more choosy about my time… be more careful with where I do and do not spend my energy.
It’s really amazing. Also, the physical practice of yoga will never stop being my favorite thing ever. The yummy backbends, the juicy twists, the stress-relieving vinyasa flows, the blissed out savasanas.
Like I said: #yoganerd. Right now. Wassup.
Anyway, that’s the current update! OH, and I am headed to the Andaz in Maui at the end of October to teach a yoga class to a group of teacher training students… how freaking cool is that!??!
The opportunities that come when you’re truly following your path and feeling rooted in what you’re meant to do will never stop blowing my mind.
If you’re looking for some rad yoga clothes to practice in… Check out Kohl’s! I get so many compliments whenever I wear this outfit. It’s my current fave.
Any q’s?! Has anyone else had a similar experience lately with getting more and more immersed in something that they love? Would LOVE to hear it!! XO
BTW: I partnered with Kohl’s for this post – they provided me these products but all opinions are my own. I only share products that I genuinely love with you guys. <3