Before I get started with a Yoga Teacher Training (YTT) update, I first want to say THANK YOU for all of the incredible baby boy name suggestions!  You all are amazing and came up with tons of fabulous names!  I’ve had a few folks ask what they get if we ultimately select their name suggestion, and I think that a winning a weekend with our three kids under age three sounds like a terrific prize, LOL!  Just kidding!  But seriously, despite all of the fresh ideas, I’m unfortunately married to one of the most difficult men on the planet, who shoots down 99% of all ideas so we are still searching/considering names at this time.

So, I’ve been wanting to blog about Yoga Teacher Training (YTT) for a while and there’s just no time, my goodness!  I am officially half way done with my program.  This is about the most busy I’ve ever been in a long, long time!! In a nutshell, I’m LOVING it. My class has 9 students and 2 teachers and it is the most wonderful group of human beings on the planet. It is an incredibly open-minded, kind and generous, loving group of amazing and diverse souls (including a labor & delivery nurse, which is awesome considering that my due date is only 8 days after graduation and who knows what could happen)!  Ironically, by adding this crazy business into my schedule, it’s had its own way of offsetting the chaos somewhat naturally in the sense that I get 15 hrs a week without the kids plus some solo driving time in the car.   I know that I usually get some kid-free time regularly with their little Mother’s Day out program, but inevitably most of my “free” time gets spent running errands and cleaning the house etc, which although it’s great, isn’t particularly relaxing.  So instead, I’m able to spend a good chunk of time for myself doing something for me that I enjoy doing.  Also, even though I’m very, very tired and getting to the very uncomfortable point of my pregnancy, I have to say that this is the BEST I’ve felt at this point in my pregnancy out of all three – and I attribute that to 60-90 min of daily yoga.  I literally have only missed one day in the last 40 something days and it has left me feeling fabulous on multiple levels.

Now, there’s of course a trade-off, and although YTT is totally worth it, it has left me feeling pretty exhausted and at times a little overwhelmed (I’m sure a large part of this is just having a 2.5 year old, a 1.0 year old, in the midst of my 3rd trimester, HA!).  The kids aren’t really napping while I’m gone, so they are sometimes cranky and hungry by the time I get to them after class and it’s often times a pretty stressful few hours between me getting home and their bedtime.  And Scott seems to be pretty busy with work, getting home after their bedtime, leaving the evening “witching hours” for me to tackle alone.  I imagine this is going to be the trend as spring football begins shortly and will last basically through the end of YTT.  Anyhow, throw in swim lessons four days a week for both kids, and needing to pack/unpack toddler and grown up supplies and meals daily, it gets pretty tricky.  Keeping up with laundry, general housekeeping, and all that goes along with the life of a stay at home mom, it just becomes even more challenging than it already is!  Then layer on YTT homework (reading, reading comprehension questions, essays, projects, practice teaching, and daily program requirements), and it’s just BUSY!  I’ve had to learn to say “no” to a lot of things (which is so hard!) and just focus on what I need to get done.

Okay, so that all sounds like a lot, so I need to reiterate that I have absolutely no regrets about my decision to enroll in this program.  The chaos is totally worth it.  I’m learning so much about myself, what I want in life, and the person I want to be.  I wish that it could be a requirement for all high schoolers, seriously – it’s that impactful.  If you are interested in YTT, I highly recommend this program (through Lifetime Fitness).  And if you have specific questions about it, I’m also more than happy to answer them.  Also, if you’re in the SA area, and want to come to a free class that I will be co-teaching, let me know and I can get you the dates/times – there will be one in mid-May (Hot Vinyasa) and one in early June (Slow Burn).

Namaste!