I have always loved the water and the feeling of freedom that comes
with being able to float around, twisting around any which way without
gravity reminding you that you aren't designed to keep your hips over
your shoulders. A goal that I have for the next year is to learn to
SCUBA dive. This would allow me to explore new areas and increased
freedom in the water. I have never done any freediving, so I have
never been able to hang out under water for sustained periods of time.
I have signed up for a SCUBA class in November, and given that I have
a lot of domestic airline credit to use this winter, hopefully I can
escape to the Caribbean or Gulf of Mexico to get my open water dives
in some particularly cold and bleak DC winter weekend.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
Awesome Yoga Opportunity
The roof of the House of Sweden is one of the coolest views of DC around. Plus, free yoga is always a good time :-)
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Reflections on the Past Year
I figured a good way to get started on my goal setting for the next year is to determine what I have accomplished in the past year.
1. Completed my 200 hour certification to teach yoga.
This was a long term goal of mine that I was not expecting to accomplish this year. I began working at a new yoga studio last summer. They offer a training at the studio, three or four weekends a month for about three and a half months. When it came time to apply, I realized that at that moment, I had the time and money to commit, the willingness to do it, and the ability to do it easily as I already worked at the studio and spent a lot of time there. I realized that the only thing at that time stopping me from doing the training was me. So, I signed up, didn't get much sleep for a few months, and came out with a different outlook on life.
2. Lived in one house for longer than 9 months.
This may not seem like a real accomplishment, but given that I haven't lived in one place for more than nine months since I was 17, this was definitely a change in my lifestyle.
3. Bought a bicycle.
This was a major change to my lifestyle and has played a large role in my future goal setting. Prior to the bicycle, I walked most places. If I didn't have time to walk (distance was not much of a factor) I would metro. This limited my ability to do things that were not on the same metro line, or within a mile or two. Upon getting my bike, I began traveling almost exclusively by bike. I began to see the metro area differently. I was able to cover more distance and see areas that are not easily public transit accessible. I have harbored an interest in transportation and regional and urban design since I was very young. After getting the bike, I began to realize that a personal car free society is really possible (it might take awhile though). In a future post I will write about my transportation and planning focused goals.
4. Learned (basic) Swedish.
I studied Swedish during the fall semester (2010) and this summer. I started studying as a step toward accomplishing my goal of living in Northern Europe (topic for goal setting post).
5. Learned (some) Finnish.
I took Finnish lessons this past spring semester, despite not really having the time to fully commit to it. However, it was fun, I did learn some Finnish, and took a step towards one of my goals of moving to Northern Europe.
6. Vacation on the French Riviera
This vacation came into being very haphazardly one day as my friend and I were half joking about going to Monte Carlo. A few hours later, we had plane tickets to spend two weeks wandering around Southern Europe, between Barcelona and Cinque Terre. One of my favorite movies is Alfred Hitchcock's To Catch A Thief so I chose to spend the largest allotment of time in and around Nice. The glitz of Monaco was surreal; I had never seen a yacht store before, never mind a dozen within a few blocks of each other. While it seemed very superficial, in that everything was so perfect, it was absolutely stunning and I wish I had been able to spend more time in Monaco itself. I was shocked at how nice I found Nice considering that I had heard from so many people that it is a gritty industrial town. The art was great, the beaches gorgeous (I'm not a huge sand beach fan) and the city so laid back, but not lazy.
This vacation also made me realize that I am capable of traveling on my own in places where I do not speak the language (in Spain and Italy) and that I am the type of person who likes to roll with the punches and see where life takes her.
1. Completed my 200 hour certification to teach yoga.
This was a long term goal of mine that I was not expecting to accomplish this year. I began working at a new yoga studio last summer. They offer a training at the studio, three or four weekends a month for about three and a half months. When it came time to apply, I realized that at that moment, I had the time and money to commit, the willingness to do it, and the ability to do it easily as I already worked at the studio and spent a lot of time there. I realized that the only thing at that time stopping me from doing the training was me. So, I signed up, didn't get much sleep for a few months, and came out with a different outlook on life.
2. Lived in one house for longer than 9 months.
This may not seem like a real accomplishment, but given that I haven't lived in one place for more than nine months since I was 17, this was definitely a change in my lifestyle.
3. Bought a bicycle.
This was a major change to my lifestyle and has played a large role in my future goal setting. Prior to the bicycle, I walked most places. If I didn't have time to walk (distance was not much of a factor) I would metro. This limited my ability to do things that were not on the same metro line, or within a mile or two. Upon getting my bike, I began traveling almost exclusively by bike. I began to see the metro area differently. I was able to cover more distance and see areas that are not easily public transit accessible. I have harbored an interest in transportation and regional and urban design since I was very young. After getting the bike, I began to realize that a personal car free society is really possible (it might take awhile though). In a future post I will write about my transportation and planning focused goals.
4. Learned (basic) Swedish.
I studied Swedish during the fall semester (2010) and this summer. I started studying as a step toward accomplishing my goal of living in Northern Europe (topic for goal setting post).
5. Learned (some) Finnish.
I took Finnish lessons this past spring semester, despite not really having the time to fully commit to it. However, it was fun, I did learn some Finnish, and took a step towards one of my goals of moving to Northern Europe.
6. Vacation on the French Riviera
This vacation came into being very haphazardly one day as my friend and I were half joking about going to Monte Carlo. A few hours later, we had plane tickets to spend two weeks wandering around Southern Europe, between Barcelona and Cinque Terre. One of my favorite movies is Alfred Hitchcock's To Catch A Thief so I chose to spend the largest allotment of time in and around Nice. The glitz of Monaco was surreal; I had never seen a yacht store before, never mind a dozen within a few blocks of each other. While it seemed very superficial, in that everything was so perfect, it was absolutely stunning and I wish I had been able to spend more time in Monaco itself. I was shocked at how nice I found Nice considering that I had heard from so many people that it is a gritty industrial town. The art was great, the beaches gorgeous (I'm not a huge sand beach fan) and the city so laid back, but not lazy.
This vacation also made me realize that I am capable of traveling on my own in places where I do not speak the language (in Spain and Italy) and that I am the type of person who likes to roll with the punches and see where life takes her.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Birthday Reflections
As I mentioned in an earlier post, birthdays are my favorite time of
year to reflect on the past year and set goals for the next. It is
also a great excuse to spend time with friends, who are not
necessarily overburdened as they would be around other holidays. This
past birthday was fun for me, but sad for Georgetown. It came out
that Syracuse is planning on leaving the Big East which would leave GU
without a strong in league rivalry. More seriously, Jack the Bulldog
(the older one, not the current mascot) died. So, birthday day was
fun, but somber for GU.
year to reflect on the past year and set goals for the next. It is
also a great excuse to spend time with friends, who are not
necessarily overburdened as they would be around other holidays. This
past birthday was fun for me, but sad for Georgetown. It came out
that Syracuse is planning on leaving the Big East which would leave GU
without a strong in league rivalry. More seriously, Jack the Bulldog
(the older one, not the current mascot) died. So, birthday day was
fun, but somber for GU.
Over the next week I will begin posting on the status of the past
year, and my goals for the next year.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Diet Goal Setting
My goal with my recent diet attempt is not so much to lose weight, as to redefine my relationship with my food. I know that with my current eating habits I have huge swings in energy, I lack motivation to get up and do anything, I have trouble focusing (possibly due to energy fluctuations), and feel the need to binge on sweets. I proved to myself that I could go without sweets (although chocolate over 50% cocoa was not excluded) for three days. On the fourth I broke. For those three days I had no crazy energy swings, I was more focused and productive at work and at home than I have been in a very long time, and I felt good about myself.
I simply love my desserts, so I am going to start binge fest weekend early, and reattempt this diet to start my next year off with good intentions. Many people use new year's as a time to set resolutions. I prefer my birthday so over the next few days I will be posting with my new year resolutions.
I simply love my desserts, so I am going to start binge fest weekend early, and reattempt this diet to start my next year off with good intentions. Many people use new year's as a time to set resolutions. I prefer my birthday so over the next few days I will be posting with my new year resolutions.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Hiccups finally get some respect in the news...
The most recent New York Times Diagnosis column:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/12/think-like-a-doctor-a-case-of-hiccups/
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/12/think-like-a-doctor-a-case-of-hiccups/
Diet Fail
First fail on my diet whose primary goal was to prove to myself that I could go six days without cookies or sweets. On the morning of day four we had doughnuts at our morning meeting. I was going to say no but it was cold and I wanted just one. One turns to three and now I'm sitting at my desk, throat raw, feeling disgusted that I couldn't even make it six days. I'm taking the weekend off (Thursday night through Sunday afternoon) so I'll stick it out for the rest of the week and reattempt Monday.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Welcome!
Welcome to my latest attempt at blogging! I've tried to start before but was never able to get going. My intent with this blog is to detail my journey to living a yogic life: ethical, compassionate, kind. I also have several personal projects that I need some accountability for so I will try to use this blog as a forum to do update readers and hold myself accountable to self-imposed deadlines.
I chose the name for this blog, "Hiccuping Yogi," to play with the fact that I have suffered from chronic hiccups since I was a baby, as well as from an inability to stay with something continuously. Nearly every activity that I do, I do with hiccups to my practice every few months.
In subsequent posts I will update on activities I am currently pursuing, along with some metrics to shame me into action...
I chose the name for this blog, "Hiccuping Yogi," to play with the fact that I have suffered from chronic hiccups since I was a baby, as well as from an inability to stay with something continuously. Nearly every activity that I do, I do with hiccups to my practice every few months.
In subsequent posts I will update on activities I am currently pursuing, along with some metrics to shame me into action...
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