muscles

Back To School

January 17th, 2010

“Education is not filling a pail but the lighting of a fire.”

William Butler Yeats

Day one of 57 days of yoga school has just begun. And tomorrow I have my first (maybe ever) 5:00am morning rising. I am an awful and vicious morning person–I feel that this experience will either surmount this issue or solidify it. Hoping sincerely for the former to happen. The latter would be detrimental to household harmony and inner balance that is the ultimate goal of this whole excursion into self.

I am a bit intimidated by this intensive monastic retreat into yogic curriculum during which 5:00am rising is mandatory for 7 days a week for 6:00am meditations, as well as 7 yoga classes a week, 2 three-hour sessions of yoga scholastics Tuesday and Thursday nights, breathing class and advanced yoga on Sundays, and no meat, fish, eggs, music, television, internet only sparingly (I count my blog as my one indulgent foray into the cybersphere for this journey), alcohol, smoking, ect.

The isolative nature of this process is one concern as with my husband a meat-eating, television watching, music listening, internet scouring, smoking (one habit I wish he would leave behind) individual plus both of us avid movie-goers…with my newfound passion project afoot we have little in the way of compatible schedules and extracurriculars.

This foray into self, into body, mind, spirit and beyond is certainly going to test me and my life on many fronts. First, and foremost, being COMMITMENT. This is a 57 day commitment like nothing I have ever endeavored before and one that has to come in conjunction with all those other, already committed endeavors–like my fulltime job, and my recent addition of part-time work at another therapeutic facility. Plus dogs and husband–oh, my!

I shall have plenty of room to breathe on this journey but what about down time from my introspection and self-reflection and stretching muscles of mind, body, and will? My teacher training instructor made a joke at the beginning of our first session together tonight saying, “This is going to stress you all in new and intense ways. Teresa is a trauma therapist so when you guys have become traumatized by this strenuous experience, everyone can go to her.” He admitted, with a sly grin, he had waited since I signed up for this program back in August to say that joke.

My only question–where does the trauma therapist go with everyone coming to her? Hmmm. I will ponder the intricacies of my trepidation and exhaustion at the thought of exhaustion. One day at a time, right? It has to be. Day 1–check.