Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Reaching out through yoga

About 10 years ago I walked into my first yoga class. It was through Bally's Fitness and taught by a ballet teacher. I loved it. I wasn't great at it, having little balance and no mind for meditation, but continued to stick through it. I toured the yogi realm, trying out Hatha, Prana, Bikram, and Kripalu styles, and even dipped my toe into the Dahn style (which was not for me).

Recently I have been practicing with a group in my town, first in a friend's living room, and now in a full studio through Murali yoga.  However, I also do a pilates-yoga class at my gym. Needless to say, yoga has improved my life and while I am no expert, my skill has greatened--especially in meditation. I have moments of quiet in my mind.

I've always wanted to do a yoga retreat somewhere, but I just haven't the time. But my gym yoga instructor told me about an event happening at Gillette Stadium in May that I thought was really interesting. Yoga Reaches Out is a day of yoga with speakers and lots of practice. Probably the closest I'll get to a real retreat. Baron Baptiste will be there which really excites me, and it's for a good cause. Proceeds go to the Boston Children's Hospital Boston and the Africa Yoga Project.

As I practice in the coming month for 8 hours of yoga, perhaps you'll help me on my way...because I'm fund raising. Yes, despite my vow to never have to fund raise again after the Boston Marathon team event of 2009, I figure I can raise $250 for a good cause. It's definitely less daunting than the amounts I've raise for the PanMass Challenge and Tufts Marathon Team!

So, if you have a few spare dollars, can you throw them my way? I will actually bend over backwards for your donation!

Feel free to check out my fund raising site here. Or, if you are interested in  participating, join us on team Upward Dog!

Friday, February 10, 2012

Stuck in my own mud

Last Friday I went to a psychic. 

A few days prior we got our Action Unlimited in the mail, which is essentially a community publication that has listings of local events, classified ads, and other tidbits and happenings. I like reading it because I can find events and classes I want to attend, even though I rarely do. But it's nice to have a free publication mailed to me that keeps me informed. I found my short-lived cleaning people in there, a roofer, and my psychic. 

I wasn't looking for a psychic. I saw an ad for Aquarius Sanctuary in Westford, and became intrigued. I love a good New Age book store, and happened to need some herbs so I decided that I would go there. One day. I've been trying to get to Old Navy for the past 3 weeks for clothes, so my getting to the New Age shop three towns over for less necessary items was a long shot. 

But then I had a situation where I needed to go to the doctor, and my regular doctor didn't have any room. So they called the Westford office who could see me immediately. Immediately I was in and out in 20 minutes (absolutely healthy, but all fears quelled) and found myself less than a mile from the bookstore. I took it as a sign and turned into the parking lot. 

Entering the store, I noticed it was clean if not a bit sparse. I was used to more crowded stores, like the Tao of Books in Medway, or Unicorn Books in Arlington. Both of which I believe are now closed. But it was peaceful and after being greeted they owners let me poke around, probably annoyed that I was actually poking everything. 

On the couch in the back sat a young woman sipping tea. Another of the clerks came up and asked me if I wanted a reading. I had been on their website and saw the schedule of readers, and had noted that they usually were not there early Friday afternoons. Just following the "signs" I said why not. I had some time, and hadn't had a reading since I lived in Salem nearly 10 years ago. 

The young woman led me to the back and pulled out a Rider-Waite tarot deck and began. Communication. Writing. Spirituality. These were things that I had been dealing with, the reader said. Yup. True dat. 

The reading went fairly smoothly, and I have to say she was accurate with some details about a particular project I've been working on for 3 years. Even got the genre. So, I left the shop with some good ideas and a good psychic to hire for house parties. [Really, she does do that and if you want her name let me know.] 

This week though, I've been in a funk.  I've not even opened the project last Friday I thought about so much, my commute is stressing me out, and work is hectic. I need a change. So this morning I applied for 4 jobs at Harvard University. They all appealed to me, and one was even part time, which would free up some of my time to work more on my writing and spend more time with my son. Oddly enough, when I submitted my resume I didn't check the salaries. To be honest, it's usually the first thing I do. 

Well, I went back and checked. All of the jobs' starting salary ranges are at least 5K more than I'm currently making. Starting. As in, starting maybe not with the 12 years of experience I have in the field. 

I've known I was underpaid here at my current position, but never could really get a good idea of where I should be. A large part of me thought that due to the economy, perhaps my field's range had gone down. I've been holding myself back.

So tonight at sunset, I will be walking into a crossroads to throw a magic bean and make a wish for a better work situation. The reader gave me some infused with a fortune oil.

Beats making a dream board.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Super Bowl Countdown...

3 days.

3 days until the amazing New England Patriots defeat the New York Giants.
3 days until Brady vs. Manning.
3 days until we are absolutely certain Gronkowski will take the field [fingers crossed!!]
3 days until defensive tackle Wilfork makes the Giants' running game collapse. Repeatedly.
3 days for the Pats running backs spread their quick speed and thinking into a fast paced game.
3 days until Welker gets in the end zone.

How excited are you?