Oh, long lost blog, i have not forgotten thee

Hi blog. Lately i've just been overwhelmed by the thought of picking a dissertation topic. I mean the thought itself is a crushing weight that upsets me greatly if i think about it too much. If i don't think about it consciously, it still sneaks up on me. Why can't i just do what i want and why do i have to think of something that will cost several grand to actually accomplish. Yuck.

On the fun front, i'm still working on the June 5th yoga event to benefit Susan G. Komen. That brings me a lot of happiness...doing something larger than yourself, creating synergy, excitement, a community. It's pretty powerful and I'm looking forward to kicking some butt to do something HUGE next year. Like, HUGE, dude.

Anyway, I can't tell you about it.

One fabulous movie by Miranda July: "Me, You, and Everyone We know" -- go to her website, read about it, but don't read too much, cause this movie will absolutely surprise and delight you. I can't find the words to express the beauty in it. Wow.

Another movie entitled something like "What the Bleep do We know" reminded me of back when i was a college nerd, the president of the honors program there, and how groups of us used to watch movies and discuss them afterwards over pizza or ethnic food. It was deep, but nothing totally new there. However, i needed to be reminded of its message which was that we don't always have to be REACTIVE to our environment, but we can CREATE our environment as well. Kind of like setting an intention and having it become manifest. Something like we tell ourselves in yoga.

Lessons Learned: Yoga for A Cause

Where do I begin? The Yoga for public health week was a small success. Despite NUMEROUS emails to local groups to garner their support, the only people who showed were the regular students, my students (and people from work), and perhaps one or two people who found out about the event through the website or an email. That in itself was a little disheartening -- however, I decided to take Susan's advice the day before and to think about how many people I wanted for the class. I decided on 20. And, that's what I got! 20 people exactly for the class, including Susan. So, instead of a normal Saturday morning class with 4 or 5 students, there were 20 students practicing yoga for a good cause. That felt really good.

Here's a break down of good stuff/not so good stuff:

1. GOOD STUFF
-bagels and raffle prizes (note to self, try to get food donated next time)
-promoting at work a week or two before the event as a reminder. too much more than that and people don't remember


2. NOT GO GOOD STUFF
-don't plan event during cherry blossom festival in washington dc.
-don't email people too far ahead
-don't offer event too early in the morning, especially saturday
-make the cause more relevant and need to engage local groups

Hulhum, I guess that's it.

I'm already starting the Yoga Class for the Cure event to benefit Susan G. Komen Foundation. I'm definitely going to keep in mind the important lessons from this event. Stay tuned.

Yoga for a Cause

Well, this coming Saturday is the first charity event at Thrive. The Yoga for National Public Health week was my idea and Thrive graciously agreed to host a donation-only event on saturday, to benefit American Heart Association and Jewish Council for the Aging. I'm nervous about the turnout and I really hope the event is a success. I'm not expecting much in the way of donations, but since the Gazette will be there, i just would like a decent turnout. Oy. I will have to report back here with a "lessons learned" section so I can remember the strengths of what we have done, and maybe the things we might have done so well.

Stay tuned.
For those of you reading in the Rockville area,
Saturday April 9th, 9:00-10:30am at Thrive Yoga in Rockville, 1321-B Rockville Pike. Donation-only class. Hope to see ya!

-Rachel

Nothing like exercise

I have to remind myself that there is nothing like exercise to boost my mood. I was in a horrible state yesterday. There are some work issues that never seem to resolve themselves. After 40 minutes on the elliptical, i was a new person. I think i need some sort of cue to remind me of this when i dread getting on the machines.

Bleh.

For the love of Bichon. Can you stand the cuteness? I love this dog more than life itself. Well, maybe not that much. You get the idea. 

Picture of me...more forthcoming

This is my picture from 2002 -- I am here in all my glory. This is how Howard found me... 

Conflicting yoga feelings

Could something I love so much inspire contrary feelings? I think so. Today i was absolutely exhausted while practicing. My legs were so sore and my shoulders and elbow were bothering me again. I felt old and completely worn down. I am wondering if something took the joy out of my practice today? Injury -- yes, likely? Boredom? Yes, that's likely. It's a constant struggle that i'm having lately. How do we eschew boredom, or should we embrace it?

My husband doesn't understand the concept of boredom. He can always find something to do. I need to study him a little bit more and maybe that will give me the key to enlivening my practice.