Why I've been quiet....crickets, crickets

Hi, the two people that read this!

I've been quiet because.....my brain is somewhere in a box in the teeny garage/storage space that we have in the home.  When I come across a time that I need it, I'll dig it out of the garage. For now, I've not needed a brain so much as two arms and legs, hands and feet! Taking care of my boys and my home are sucking up the time. And now, I'm doing teacher training for yoga! So, here's an excerpt of what I've been doing in my not-so-free time.

As an arm-balance and inversion acrobat, Kathryn Budig leaves most with the impression that she had to have a background in dance or gymnastics. She has neither. What she does have is joyful fearlessness which allows her to achieve amazing feats in her practice. "You have to get comfortable with falling down and failure," she points out. "You can only balance once you're okay with the fall."




Growing up in Lawrence, KS and Princeton, NJ, Kathryn was in school at the University of Virginia-Charlottesville when she first began practicing Ashtanga yoga. After graduating with a BA in English and Drama, Kathryn left for LA in 2004 to further her acting career. She then began a yoga teacher training course with Chuck Miller and her mentor, Maty Ezraty, at Yogaworks in Santa Monica, CA. Yogaworks soon hired her and she was one of the youngest instructors on their roll.

In recent years, Kathryn has been featured in publications such as Yoga Journal, Yogi Times, LA Metro, E! Entertainment, 'Y Yoga' a documentary film, and is the health expert for Quarterlife.com and Yogamates teacher/writer for Yogamates.com. She is the co-founder with Jesse Schein of 'Poses for Paws', an organization dedicated towards raising money for animal shelters through yoga. Kathryn classes are also available at Yogichocolate.com, Monthlyyogadvd.com, yogavibes.com and through Yoga Journal's DVD Yoga Therapeutics.

Her reputation has grown as a playful instructor who made arm balances and inversions accessible to everyone. Through her light and encouraging teaching style, she emphasizes the importance and ease of laughter. In teaching arm balances, she starts the students off slowly and brings laughter into the class. She points out that once the atmosphere in the class is supportive and lighthearted, the students find the poses ten times easier.

As a fellow fear junkie, I find her teaching style and philosophies inspiring. Fear can stop us from all the good we are meant to do and she uses the small examples of arm balances and inversion poses to push her students past their fears and into great potential. In an article for the Huffington Post, Budig writes:

"The yoga mat serves as a five-star rehabilitation center--with the added benefit of being mobile, personal and paparazzi-free. The yoga postures, or asanas, act as tools to harvest fear, stare it directly in its ugly face and realize you're stronger than the monster you've let grip you.

I often use arm balance and inversion work in my teachings specifically for this reason. These beautiful postures inspire and intimidate students. With an emphasis on the intimidation--at least at first.

'Oh, no. I can't do that pose,' they'll say. 'My body couldn't possibly do that.'

Of course, this is said before the pose is even attempted. The power behind that negative comment is extremely potent. When you tell yourself you can't do something--guess what? You won't. You've immediately weighed yourself down with the mental baggage of disbelief. Fear to attempt in fear that you'll fall. This leaves us stagnant and void of faith.

But yoga teaches us to say:

'You know, I've never tried this pose before. Even the thought challenges me, but the prospect is thrilling. I'm going to give it a go.'"

Failing and falling until you can stand in faith--that sounds like my walk with God. I'm ready to go try some handstands.

Bibliography

http://kathrynbudig.com/press.php

http://www.yogaworks.com/our_programs/instructor_bio.aspx?tid=67

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathryn-budig/fearless-flyer-a-lesson-i_b_515658.html?show_comment_id=44185956

http://www.yogajournal.com/podcast/
 
 
Hope to write more soon! Right now, there's an awesome thunderstorm that my boys are begging me to see......awesome.