An Invitation from the Universe

I will admit that I am that friend who says yes to everything I can. With that spirit I have been blessed with so much.

A college classmate encouraged me to apply for a science internship in Colorado and I said yes. (At that point, I had only ever lived in New York and had not thought about where life could take me.)

Kiara asked me to sign up for CorePower Yoga teacher training and I said yes. (At that point in life, I had never considered the difference between doing yoga and teaching yoga.)

Genie asked me to run the New York City Marathon and fundraise for charity and I said yes. (At that point in life, I had no idea what training for anything meant.)

Melissa asked me to do a half Ironman triathlon in Florida for her 30th birthday and I said yes. (At that point in life, I did not realize how much people dedicate their lives to things that are important to them.)

Why do I do some things? Honestly, many times I do things simply because I can. Along the way I have discovered that we can all do more than we think we can. I am grateful that I can...and do. And I never regret that I did!

Each time I find myself in the position to do something different and I am able to say yes, it just feels good inside. It lights me up to do things for reasons beyond my own will. I am happy that the universe keeps me guessing, always presenting different options and infinite outcomes. To me, saying yes to something different feels like a breath of fresh air.

With the idea of acceptance in mind, I listened to Shonda Rhimes' audiobook Year of Yes, and enjoyed it so much that I replayed it a second time. Based on a recommendation, I started meditating with the Headspace app and later listened to Andy Pudacombe's book The Headspace Guide to Meditation & Mindfulness across several nights of insomnia. The message that I took away from both books is that I could benefit from welcoming new things with a more open heart and playful mindset.

So when Emily asked me to attend the last gathering of Yoga Rocks the Park, it was easy to say yes. At the event the chance to win a yoga retreat trip to Bali was announced. The world traveler in Emily was excited to sign up and encouraged me to, as well. The New York skeptic in me wondered if there was even a real chance to win, yet the adventurist in me hoped it was possible, so I put my name into the hat. I told Emily that my friends often win things when they are around me. She teased me, saying I must be a lucky charm.

Months later, I received the notification as I was going through TSA in the Knoxville airport, flying home after cheering on my friend Candy at Ironman Chattanooga 2016. My phone was blowing up with text messages. Friends were telling me that I had to check out my latest Facebook post asap. There was a post that I had won the yoga trip to Bali!

The universe invited me to yoga plus travel and I RSVP-ed yes without hesitation.

Throughout this "practice" of life I am learning over and over how to let go of outcomes and accept the invitations at hand.

A Gift from the Universe

Today, my friend Melissa received a gift from the universe. It made my third eye smile.

As the Maid of Honor in her best friend's wedding, Melissa coordinated a bachelorette party weekend. Truthfully, it was more like the ultimate workout getaway, but it was exactly what the bride wanted. The bride-to-be Jen and her sister Emily made the trek from New York to Denver for a fun-filled, girly weekend of hiking, shopping, yoga, and massage. I was happy to tag along for some of the festivities.

We hiked the Manitou Incline, which is the outdoor equivalent of a Stairmaster. Great workout made even better by the recent trail repairs. Despite being in decent road biking shape, the two East Coasters beat me to the summit by 15 minutes! Beginners luck? Maybe....

Along with a couple of my work colleagues, we all attended Yoga Rocks the Park at Sunken Gardens, a Denver neighborhood park with a spacious open glade surrounded by trees. In the spirit of the moment, we all bought matching tank tops to commemorate the experience--a gathering of friends that just wanted to have fun in that outdoorsy way we do in Colorado.

I highly recommend outdoor yoga if you haven't given it a chance. It's an magical way to connect with nature through a physical practice that can really enhance the five senses. Our morning vinyasa flow was guided by a tag team of yoga instructors from studios around town, including the co-owners of Mudra Yoga Studio. As we lay on our yoga mats, a sacred space of 68 inches, and came out of savasana, we opened our eyes to see dragonflies crisscrossing the sky above rows upon rows of yogis. I could feel the contrails of good energy connecting us all.

After some announcements came the giveaways. My colleague Elizabeth won a month's supply of Skoop, a whole-food powdered shake mix. A few others won fun, healthful gifts. I listened for my name; no luck for me today.

And then came the grand prize, a year of free, unlimited yoga at Mudra Yoga Studio. And then came the winner's name, my friend Melissa! And I couldn't think of a better recipient for this prize. She lives close enough to walk to the studio, after all. And after her long, daily commute to Colorado Springs for work, she could definitely benefit from knowing that peace of mind and spirit await her at home in Denver. Yoga could be her secret fountain of renewal!

Today, the universe recognized the individual that brought a group of friends together for a yoga moment in time. What a gift!

Yoga Alignment: Experience and Mission

I'm being considered for an affiliate faculty position with the School of Management teaching business and marketing courses at Regis University and with that there's an online preparation course. I have a couple writing assignments for the course, so I decided to have a little fun with them...and take the opportunity to throw in a little yoga.

The purpose of this essay is to assess fit between Regis and me. With the background info I provided in the essay, I hope you're able to appreciate these connections:

1. how two seemly unrelated disciplines--yoga and the Jesuit mission--share parallel concepts
2. how I would align my experience (i.e., work, school and yoga!) with the Regis mission as an affiliate faculty member

BEGIN {

After Ignatius of Loyola (a.k.a. Iggy) recovered from a cannon ball injury in the Battle of Pamplona, he spent the next several years in deep meditation and wrote about his reflections on God and relationships. As a raised/practicing Catholic that is a yoga practitioner and certified yoga instructor, I have to ask—was Iggy a yogi, too?

In today’s modern society, the masses generally view yoga as a form of exercise or a workout. In Patanjali’s historical “Yoga Sutras,” the collection of aphorisms that define yoga, yoga postures are meant to be preparation for meditation. I believe Iggy practiced his own brand of yoga. He went through the “postures” or the steps that it took for him to be able to meditate deeply and ultimately act on founding the Society of Jesus (the Jesuit religious order of the Roman Catholic Church).

In the faculty preparation course content, Dr. Marie Friedemann talks about alignment. As a prospective faculty member, my discipline and philosophy of teaching adults should align with the goals and educational mission of Regis University. As it turns out, the concept of alignment runs deep in yoga. If my physical alignment is off while practicing yoga, I could potentially injure myself. If my mental alignment is off during practice, I could possibly miss the cognitive benefits of meditation. Likewise, if my philosophical alignment of teaching and mission is off while facilitating a Regis course, my class and I could miss out on realizing the characteristics that make learning/teaching at Regis unique.

I believe I can contribute to and accomplish the Jesuit Catholic mission of Regis University by integrating my professional experience and education into my teaching of adult learners in the College for Professional Studies. From my understanding, the overall purpose of Jesuit education is to form men and women for others. From my life experience, I could guide my students by example and share how this purpose has become more central in the way I perceive, think and function.

By my academic experience, I am Ivy-league educated and have obtained two Master’s degrees while working full-time. My Ivy undergraduate experience was humbling, as I lived and learned amongst “the cream of the crop” and sometimes wondered if I was at the “bottom of the barrel” when it came to understanding physical science and solving mathematical proofs--even if it was a really good barrel. My graduate experience as a two-time adult student inspires my respect for anyone willing to accept the challenge of identifying more than one priority in life and commit to learning, growing, eradicating assumptions/limitations and redefining values. Through my own academic trials, I believe I have developed the compassion to promote an atmosphere of personal concern for another adult student.

In my 12+ years of professional experience, between several great jobs I have experienced four layoffs through no fault of my own, as two companies were closed and two positions were eliminated. Each layoff made me take a step back to consider what is important in the bigger picture of my life and rethink the overall direction of my career. Because of the disruptions/layoffs, I have been given the opportunity to take an industry-agnostic approach to my marketing career and gain both b2b and b2c experience. I have also had the good fortune to work in a variety of environments—from in-house marketing teams at private companies and entrepreneurial start-ups to public corporations and marketing agencies with Fortune 500 clients. With each new job came a different team culture, varied tools/resources and a variety of logistical or technical challenges, and this helped me develop my ability to think critically and never lose sight of the bigger picture. With each role as a supervisor and team leader, I identified strengths/talents and weaknesses/opportunities for growth of my team members and guided their professional development in this context. I have been in the field long enough to realize the practical application of the theory learned from my education. I believe this professional experience would help me create for my students an awareness of career alternatives and personal adaptability to new situations throughout life.

In summary, I think Iggy was a yogi in his own right. Like him, I have had to go through the “postures” and motions of my life as a Christian, a marketer and yoga practitioner/instructor to realize a deeper purpose in my life for others. That said, I realize that it is my responsibility as a teacher—whether in yoga or in academia—to support alignment. And as a Regis affiliate faculty member in particular, the onus is on me to support and grow the alignment between the teaching/learning happening in each of my classes and the mission of Regis University.

} END

Denver Yoga Studio Tour

To all that recently moved to Denver, I highly recommend you recruit a local yoga buddy to give you a yoga studio tour.

To all that have only seen the inside of just one yoga studio or even just one yoga style, I highly encourage you to branch out and give yourself the gift of a yoga studio tour.

My new friend Melissa D. just moved from Tampa to Denver. I took the opportunity to be her guide to yoga in Denver. Our tour of studios, instructors and styles reawakened my appreciation of the variety of yoga in my community.

Melissa isn't a complete newbie to yoga. When I met her, she had already experienced hot yoga at CorePower in Florida. I really wanted her to experience all that the Denver yoga scene has to offer.

Last week, my plan was three-fold. Melissa would check out my no-frills gym (24 Hour Fitness on Alameda Ave), take another yoga class with me and meet one of my yoga teacher training friends, Tracy M. As Tracy encouraged Melissa to explore the yoga in Denver, I smiled and Melissa explained that we were already on a yoga tour of Denver.

Locations we've hit on the tour so far:

• Samadhi Center for Yoga & Meditation (Uptown)
• Kindness Yoga (Cherry Creek, South Broadway and Capitol Hill studios)
• Karma Yoga Center (Wash Park)

Local studios that Tracy recommended we add to the tour:

• CorePower Yoga (all studios in the Denver metro area, and there are several!)
• Sacred i Yoga (Park Hill)
• Harmony Yoga (Cherry Creek)

Other studios that I'm curious about:

• Bikram Yoga Mile High

I could use to get back to Bikram, the yoga style I started with in 2005. This is a great time of year to do hot yoga, too. It's so refreshing to walk out of the heated studio and into the crisp autumn air. Hope Melissa's game for more touring!

Yoga Transcends Disciplines

I appreciate how writers are able to create parallels between seemingly unrelated concepts. I love and live yoga and business/marketing, so this piece easily caught my attention on my morning commute to work.

Here, a Fast Company writer was able to bridge yoga and business in her article, "Namaste! 5 Hot Leadership Lessons From The Moksha Yoga Studio." The five lessons are:

1. Don't ask "If?"--ask "When?" and "How?"
2. Recognize obstacles and strategically overcome them
3. Create a solid foundation, then add finesse
4. Don't lose sight of how far you've come
5. Ignore those around you, they won't make your practice better

I encourage you to read the article for the major takeaway.

The writer's tag is "150 classes, 102 degrees, 1 business writer." These are numbers I can relate to after a 200-hour yoga teacher training certification, more heat and humidity than I want to measure...and the number one.

The concept of oneness resonates through the practice of yoga. After all, the Sanskrit word yoga means to join or to unite. In a yoga class, you can think of it as the joining together of spirits in the studio to form one community. In individual practice, you might think of it as the one [you] on your mat in this one present moment.

In business, I think of many parts working toward one goal. And as related to my work at Regis University on the brand marketing team, it made me think of our "One Regis Branding Together" blog about the brand study that the university embarked on in April 2012.

So that's how I've come to the conclusion that yoga and oneness can transcend disciplines.

Yoga Teaching Inspiration @ 24 Hour Fitness

Unemployment in the wintertime has lead me to snowboard a lot this week. Snowboarding has lead my body to ache a lot more than usual this week. You know where I'm going with this: snowboarding >> body aching >> hello, YOGA!

There is something casual and comfortable about practicing yoga at a gym that I really appreciate. I like the balanced mix of people wearing simply comfy-looking generic clothing and people wearing lululemon. Gym yoga classes seem to be more diverse, by demographic and by skill level. The desire to learn in these gym classes is very high. I dig that. It's good energy, don't you think?

The teacher dimmed the lights and introduced herself. What a coincidence! It was Tracy, one of my fellow CorePower teacher trainees. I had spent hours with Tracy practicing teaching and assisting during training. I liked her as a person and I liked her yoga teaching style. She always had a nurturing, motherly aura about her. Before she announced it to the class, I noticed that she is pregnant. Ah, how fitting.

Okay, confession time. Yes, I completed yoga teacher training in the summer/fall of 2008. Yes, it is 2010 and I am still not "officially" teaching anywhere. Yes, I admit, I am chicken. I should have tested out with CorePower long ago. I spend three hours a week volunteering at the studio, for goodness sake. My intention is there. My confidence has not matched that intention...yet.

Okay, Universe, I hear you, again. Of course, I spoke to Tracy after class to catch up. Tracy encouraged me to move forward with teaching. With warm words, she reminded me of the progress that I made as we practiced during teacher training. Without words, she reminded me why I joined teacher training in the first place. I know I have it in me to be a good yoga teacher. I also know that I have it in me to grow as yogi through my teaching experience, just as I have through my training experience.

And so, one of my New Years resolutions was born, to find the courage to pursue teaching yoga in 2010. Thanks, Tracy! Thanks, Universe.

Change in Yoga Trade @ CorePower Broadway Studio

Mid-summer, Lisa moved on to a new and exciting opportunity with CorePower in the northwest region. This left me without a mentor to report to for my yoga trade. I emailed Lisa for a referral, and a bit later, I was in contact with the new Broadway studio manager, Julie G.

I wrote to my non-yogi friend in excitement: "I met with the new yoga studio manager this morning! She's energetic and enthusiastic and just getting started reorganizing the workforce at the studio. I'm excited because it sounds like she plans on using me for her marketing efforts and other less-menial work. Could turn out to be a more meaningful volunteer experience than I anticipated!"