The trip out west was great, California is one of my favourite places of all time. The yoga teachers in LA are to die for, so challenging and inspiring and a little bit hilarious. The adventure began in Las Vegas where I did a bunch of yoga and even got to take a class with the lovely Jennifer Stuber and dj HyFi. After Vegas the plan was to hit San Diego and then drive up the coast, but sadly we had to send the car to the graveyard after it died on the side of the road leaving us stranded in the desert. I won't go into details, but let's just say, that was just the beginning. The car was done, in all honesty though that thing was older than me, so it wasn't quite as ridiculous as it sounds. Getting a new one took almost the rest of the week, and there was much time spent driving in rentals, spending extra nights in some cities and test driving new ones. In the end everything got sorted out and I got to San Francisco on time to catch my flight, stress free. In the mean time I spent countless hours on my yoga mat in Vinnie Marino's class in Santa Monica and also baking in the sun beside the ocean. After LA, I had the chance to check out a class in Santa Barbara at a studio called Yoga Soup, which was surprisingly good, for a smaller town they have some shit together for sure. After that it was off to San Luis Obispo which is another smaller town on the coast, such a great vibe happening there, met some really cool people and spent a night drinking local wine and eating strawberries with strangers who ended up being really cool friends.
I have never really been on a real life road trip before, and its a bit funny that my first one was laden with car troubles, missed classes and a few too many double americanos. In the end the trip was a total success, the few days we spent driving the coast and stopping for classes, beach time and random lunches made up for the time test driving new vehicles in Rosemead LA (hahaha). I think it has been determined that all cop cars should be PT Cruisers and that strawberries are a great dinner. Air conditioning is a good thing to have and sometimes coffee isn't all bad. Showering three times a day is overrated and always remember to never leave the house without a jar of artisana coconut butter, just incase. I learned a bit about being chill and not stressing out when you run into trouble, which (let's be serious) is not easy for me. Sometimes being around new people can teach you a lot about all the little habits you have, good and bad, and then from there you can start to work on them.
I'm off in about 11 days to Boulder to start up a month long program with Richard Freeman, which honestly I have been a bit worried about. Looking forward and trying to understand what I have really signed myself up for is scary at this point because I recognize that I might be one of the youngest and less experienced practitioners there. Before I left for CA I was feeling a bit anxious about going to Boulder because when I'm at home I'm surrounded by so many amazing yogis and sometimes I compare myself to other people in the room who are practicing at a level that I don't even dream of. Having been back in Vinnie's class I realize how much I have improved over the past year and the class that used to blow my head off now seems doable and even fun. Its important to only compare yourself to yourself and sometimes setting a little goal like attending two Vinnie Marino classes in a day can be just the ticket to realizing how much you can improve if you practice well, hard and frequently. I guess the moral of the story is check out where you are at, document it somehow and in a year or two go back just to see, you won't believe what a little practice will do.
In the mean time, I'm teaching tons of classes this week at Downward Dog downtown, my mom is out of town and she is handing the place over to me. Don't worry, I'm coming back with tons of new inspiration and energy to take things to the next level. Here are a couple photos from the trip, stay tunes for more...
xoxo
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