A little background info...
It's been almost a year and a half since I last wrote a blog post. I guess blogging is really just some sort of romanticized ideal for me, but I'm okay with that. It's here for me when I need it, and today I'm choosing to use it to communicate some important stuff about myself, my life, my future.
As many of my close friends know, I decided to write a 30 before 30 list about five months before I turned 30. You can read about that list here. Before I knew it, I turned 30 and only 18 were complete, with just a hand few partially finished. So, I did what most (out of their mind) people would do...I wrote another list! This time...it's 13 before 31, and the first item was to finish the 12 remaining items from the first list! Seriously, though!? Anyway, I can't link to it because like I said, I hardly get on here to blog and I didn't type out the second list. Maaaaybe some day I'll come back and remedy that!
The new list got even more ambitious! In fact, I added things like...PLAN A WEDDING (which we're still in the process of doing). Actually...only three of the new list are complete as I type this...and that's why I wanted to come back and share some stuff with you!
Side note, here are a few of our engagement photos taken by the amazing Jessica Ashley Photography! I really should do a blog post about our engagement (and the amazing photos Jessica took)...but for now here are a few images!
A little more about the lists...
When I reflect back and think about writing the lists, I realize that while my intentions were good, and the items I chose were well rounded, fun, challenging, new, sentimental, etc...the lists weren't really about the items at all. The lists were about learning and discovering during the process of going through the items. The items gave me a path to follow, and along that path I started to find out more about myself and before too long I began to apply some of this new knowledge. What happened when I began applying what I was learning was that a fork in the road appeared. One way would lead me to keep working at the lists, keep chugging through the items, each and every one of them. The other way, the way I ended up taking, is the way that started a whole new focus.
I discovered something from a couple of the items that sparked a passion like I hadn't felt in a very long time. One that I just naturally gravitated toward, and before long I realized...I was no longer compelled to place priority on most of the items I listed. What I discovered was my love for yoga. The two items on the lists were to go to 10 yoga classes and try a mix of different types, and to do a 13 second unassisted forearm stand. These two small items completely opened up a new world for me. If I had to choose between saving for a new computer, or paying for yoga classes...the answer was indisputable. If I had to choose between setting up at new craft fair, or spending a day at an arm balancing workshop...there was just no question - I'd be loading the car with yoga mat, yoga towel, and water bottle in a heart beat.
Looking back, even though I haven't completed all the items...I am so happy I wrote the lists. I know now that they were the vehicle to help me find that passion...that something that created a spark and I feel driven towards. Of course, I'm sure I'll complete more of the items on the list...just at a leisurely pace without a deadline. They were good items, and I love the idea of seeing them through to fruition...but they aren't my purpose anymore.
The new journey...YTT!!
So if it's not the lists, then what? Well like I said, the lists helped me discover yoga. I have been consistently practicing for eight months or so, and I feel such a shift in body, mind, emotions, relationships, etc. The more consistent my practice became, the more I started to feel like the classes were great, but they were just the tip of the iceberg. If I felt my life had changed so much by going to 75 minute classes multiple times a week...I knew in order to keep seeing a shift I had to go deeper. After much thought, discussion, support, encouragement, and just stepping out on a limb...I'm happy to say I am enrolled in a Yoga Teacher Training!!
For the last few months I have been researching, reflecting, researching, reflecting, etc, etc...and I decided to go for it! I will be doing my training at Indigo Yoga. I start at the end of August, and it is an 11 month program. One weekend a month, I will spend Friday evening, all day Saturday, and all day Sunday...completely immersed in yoga. The rest of the month will be dedicated to reading the 12 books assigned, writing essays, assisting classes, and maintaining my own consistent studio hours. While I do not necessarily have an end goal to become a yoga teacher, this training develops you to do so if you want. If over the course of the next year I discover that teaching is something I also feel passionate about, I definitely would not preclude that possibility for myself.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!
I am so excited to start this new journey! I want to thank all the amazing teachers that have been so knowledgeable/helpful/encouraging over the past year, and that have opened up this world to me. I want to thank my fiancee for all of his support/encouragement/love/care over the past year and this coming year...as I could not put my heart as deeply into this if it wasn't for him. And I want to thank all my friends and family that have embraced the new person I became, and am continuing to become, because of this discovery.
If you'd like to follow along with my yoga journey, I created an Instagram account just for yoga stuff. You can find my Yogiraffe account here. I still have my PurposelyPaisley account, and like I said...I'm still going to keep this seldom used blog around for periodic posts!
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PaisleyAnna
