It has been awhile and this is all I have to say

Rock Bottom

became the solid

foundation on which

I rebuilt my life.

-J.K. Rowling

Many Thanks

The idea of going to Bear Lake was presented to the family over a year ago. As you may have heard, things have changed drastically over the past 6 months. I had my concerns but decided to make a trip within a trip.

I drove to Utah, via my parents on Friday, June 24th. I arrived in the town Provo, met up with my wonderful friend, Kristine King. Background information is needed about this person who I hold close to my heart. I had the pleasure of living with her for 4 semesters, traveled to many places, made everything an adventure, visited each others home town, shed many tears, held many deep conversations and grew together. Seeing her made my heart grow 10x the original size. She allowed me to stay with her for 4 days and 4 nights. Everything was an adventure. I was spoiled, she understands the things I like to do: Pizza, vinyl records, clothing, parks, pictures, headstands. She was my ride to everywhere my little heart desired. It was a wonderful experience to reconnect with her and other college friends.

Jake, my 19 yr old nephew. Serving the SLC mission. I had the opportunity to see this amazing guy go through the Salt Lake temple. It was truly an amazing experience. Watching him interact with the kids, pitch in to help any family member and converse with him...he is fantastic.

Tuesday, June 26th. Bear Lake. This place is beautiful. That is all I can say. 20 nieces and nephews, 6 brothers and sisters plus their spouses all in one house with the most beautiful view. It was amazing, loud, eventful and beautiful. My family was nothing less than supportive and loving towards me. This is a true example of pure unconditional love. Caves, swimming, shakes, food, games, boats, jet skis, hot tub, dance party, nacho libre, family history night. This trip was not one of escape but of healing.

25

As I'm wrapping up my 25th birthday, I reminisce about what I have accomplished in 25 yrs and how my birthday went down. It was a wonderful weekend complete with a sleepover, french toast, yoga, Waterworld, Cafe Rio, surprise party, family dinner and my favorite cake. Yes, I also got to celebrate all weekend with people I love doing things that I love.

I am so blessed to be where I am today. My current situation is not ideal for anyone but I'm making the most of it. (Insert random shout out here)

Jill-
I know you will read this and I want you to know how wonderful it is to have you a friend and roommate. You are an example to me of selflessness, you have your priorities straight, unwavering faith and you are both beautiful inside and out. Thank you for making, what I was dreading, my 25th birthday special, fun and memorable.

Thank you.

The end.

My own personal Eat, Pray, Love

Usually, I like to think myself as a rational and logical thinker, specifically when it comes to my financial and employment status. I always have a job and backup plan.

I worked at Dish Network Corporate headquarters as a Traffic Coordinator. After two painfully long and unrewarding years, a 200 hr Yoga Alliance Certification, management decided to offer me a promotion right around the time Brandon had left me. I gladly accepted with a pay increase and all.

It wasn't a good time or fit. Just like other things in life, sometimes unexpected things happen but I didn't know I would do the unexpected. I quit. Just like that. Only yoga and some savings to support me. No job waiting other than the yoga classes on the side. Some people think I grew some balls and I am their hero, others say "you are crazy and don't know what you are in for." I say, "there is a method to my happiness."

Which brings me to "Eat, Pray, Love." If you have seen the movie, it should be called "Julia Roberts Vacation." Anyways, I am taking the summer to submerge myself into yoga. No, I will not be going to India but dream of going there someday. I plan on a regular practice, working with mentors, attend workshops and retreats. I want to continue to grow as a teacher and facilitator for students to grow, feel welcome and have fun.

I am also taking this time to Love myself. I am not looking for love in Bali but I am looking to love myself. I don't know if I truly loved myself, I am overly critical and deprive myself of so much happiness. This is my time. I don't know what Loving me entails entirely but I have some time to figure out. There will be some traveling involved. I am also looking forward to loving my family and others around me. Love is everywhere, you don't need to have a significant other to love and be loved by.

As for Eat, I plan on eating a more energetic, nutritious yoga friendly diet. I feel that is one key I'm missing. As much as I want to eat pizza in Italy, who knows maybe I will, I yearn to treat my body well and giving it what it needs.

This is my own Eat, Pray, Love and I understand if that sounds ridiculous to you. However, I related to this, it is cliche and I don't care.

Michelle Obama

Was in Denver today. I didn't know, but when I was driving home after yoga in Lodo Denver, traffic was completely shut down at 20th and Market. 20 cop cars and 10 vans and SVUs stormed by. Later, I found out Michelle Obama was in my midst. Pretty rad.

French Friday

Last Friday, my wonderful roommate, Jill and I decided to culture ourselves and celebrate the French. You may be questioning, "what does French Friday consist of?" Good Question.
1. Good French Playlist
2. French Toast the night before as preparation
3. Baguettes
4. Delicious French Food
5. A few French words to insert randomly in conversation
6. Dress like the French

It was a wonderful celebration. I highly recommend it to anyone that cannot afford to go to France.

Playlist

I have recently discovered that I really do have impeccable taste in music and created a playlist to share. Please use good music resources to download a sample of these wonderful artists, visit Pitchfork, Insound and Shuffler.fm

1. That Ghost "Calls"
2. Papercuts "Do What You Will"
3. Lonely Dear "Lonely Blues"
4. La Sera "Never Come Around"
5. The Seedy seeds "Verb Noun"
6. Heavy Ghost "Lucid"
7. Mint Julep "Invisible Waves"
8. Eternal Summers "Pogo"
9. Milagres "Glowing Mouth"
10. Ducktails "Hamilton Road"
11. The Narcoleptic Dancers "Unique Tree"
12. Tennis "Marathon"
13. World Tour "Sparks"
14. Lower Dens "Tea Lights"
15. Bridal Party "The Light Holds"

enjoy.

Project - Potential

As part of the extreme changes occurring in my life right now, I have decided to embrace the change and live to my fullest potential. A piece of this project includes photography. I am an aspiring mediocre photographer. Tonight my roommate Jill and I ventured off to the eclectic Santa Fe first Friday Art Walk. After chatting about the interesting people around us, we had this great idea, to take photos of influential people (in style and such) around the great city of Denver. This project will provide opportunities to strengthen my mediocre photography skills. This photo is from the Santa Fe Art Walk, this guy has some street cred with his green hat and dancing skills.

Excellent

I can honestly say, tonight was the most fun I have had in a long time. I had the opportunity to teach a Yoga Sculpt class (yoga + weights = kick your butt hard).

Later, my wonderful friend/roommate Jillian Williams and I cooked this crazy meal...grilled brie cheese and raspberry sandwiches. I embraced my inner DJ which led to an epic dance party followed by intense yoga postures. Finished with scripture reading and a great little chat.

This was an unforgettable night with an amazing friend. I am so blessed to have family, friends, the gospel, really good music and extraordinary dance moves. Thank you Jill.

The Hips

I'm trying something new and experimenting with my yoga classes. I have memorized this great beginner flow but my students seem ready to move forward. Now I am focusing on specific areas of the body creating a theme revolved around opening that part of the body. Included are benefits to these postures and smart poses that correlate with the theme. Last Week:

The Hips

Opening the hip and hip muscles are significant for releasing emotions of control & opening oneself to new ideas, pleasure & new emotions. The seed of our creativity, figuratively & literally starts with the pelvis & hips. If we release control, we are free to express all aspects of our human creativity & our hips should move & flow without pain or issues.

Poses

(Sun B)

Downward Facing Dog
Low Lunge
Half Hanumanasana/splits
Low lunge
Warrior II
Extended Side Angle
Reverse Warrior
Chaturanga Dandasana
(Repeat opposite side, first set long, 2-3 sets 1 breath per pose)


(Crescent Series)

Crescent Lunge
Warrior III
Standing splits
Seated Twist
Fire Log
Side Plank
Runners Lunge
(repeat on opposite side)

Chair Pose/Utkatasana
Prayer twist
Gorilla Pose
Chair Pose/Utkatasana
(repeat on opposite side)
Frog
Frog/Wide Legged Crow

Warrior I
Warrior II
Triangle
Prasarita Padottanasna
Warrior II
Reverse Triangle
(repeat opposite side)
***Replace Prasarita Padottanasana with a variation of Frog on the floor***

And to finish...Half Pigeon, both sides.

Class seemed to enjoy it and felt open in the hips after this flow. Enjoy.

The List

After attending Best Coast and Waves, I took to the time to reflect on the shows I have been to. Variety of shows, some being embarrassing, memorable, terrible or downright amazing. Here it is.

1. Best Coast
2. Wavves
3. No Joy
4. Orenda (local friends)
5. School of Seven Bells
6. Ghostland Observatory
7. Snake Rattle Rattle Snake
8. Neon Indian
9. King Khan and the Shrines
10. The Album Leaf
11. Sea Wolf
12. Sunny Day Real Estate
13. The Cave Singers
14. Houses
15. Hello Kavita
16. Mewithoutyou
17. Port O' Brien
18. Annuals
19. The Thermals
20. Appleseed Cast
21. The Faint
22. Ladytron
23. Camera Obscura
24. Andrew Bird
25. Rogue Wave
26. JBM
27. Mates of State
28. Black Kids
29. Plants and Animals
30. Dead Confederate
31. Murder by Death
32. The Butchers And The Builders
33. Apollo Sunshine
34. Minus the Bear
35. Asobi Seksu
36. Carbon Choir
37. Grand Ole Party
38. Papercuts
39. Beach House
40. Grand Archives
41. Photo Atlas
42. 3OH!3
43. Portugal. The Man
44. MGMT
45. Yeasayer
46. Death Cab for Cutie
47. Tegan & Sara
48. Brand New
49. Jimmy Eat World
50. Maria Taylor
51. Tokyo Police Club

I'll think I'll stop there. That is a decent list but it will keep growing

Day of Love.

Date: 2/14/2011. The day of Love. Brandon and I decided to make playlists for each other as our gift. Both being a two part series and somewhat of a competition for who makes the best playlist. With that being said. I won. He claims he won but seriously, I won. We took a walk. We drove to boulder and ate pizza. We watched Best Coast and Wavves perform at the Fox theater. It was a great day with a whole lot of love.

One must be able to let things happen

I teach a recorded C1 beginners class at the Highlands CorePower Yoga studio on Saturday at 3:30pm. Please join.

Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you.

Dear Whoever actually reads this. Lets talk yoga. I decided to participate in additional training with CorePower Yoga. As an assignment, I took an advanced Yoga class with earplugs. What felt like giant neon orange construction cones, I could hear the faint noise of music and yoga cues in the background. This brought me back to the first time I took a class, constantly looking around at what others are doing. However, my breath was loudest of all. I could hear when I wasn't breathing. I had more internal focus of my breath. I thought of how to relate this to teaching. You can demo yoga poses as much as you want but cues, non verbal communication and breath are very important. Anyone can show you a pose but to guide a student to get into the pose safely is teaching. Photo: Where I teach yoga now. Still just teaching 2 classes every week. Early morning. Neat. The end.

Class Schedule

I received my 200 hr yoga certification with CorePower Yoga in November.  Now I am teaching two classes/wk with a small studio called Denver movement.  I hope to add future classes to this list with a variety of studios.
 
Friday: 6am Denver Movement
Saturday: 6am Denver Movement

https://clients.mindbodyonline.com/ASP/home.asp?studioid=4131

New

Blog
Per Wikipedia: Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. Blog can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

Very new to me.  I thought it was overrated and overdone.  Who would want to read what I have to say? Then I realized I need to share my voice.  I have a passion for music and yoga.  My purpose is to share my passion with you.  Expect good music and yoga talk.