Drinking From the Fire Hose

We gain strength, courage and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face...we must do that which we think we cannot ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

I may have overdone it a bit. In the last 2 days, I have attended no less than four yoga classes. Four...in two days. After two days of almost no practice at all. My muscles are pretty pissed at me right now - my left hip flexor in particular. Too bad, hip flexor. Deal with it.

Four classes in two days is probably a bit much even under normal circumstances - but yesterday I really wanted to do a hot class, and I also really wanted to go to Laura's pre-choir class to get back into my inversions practice - so I did both. I'd already planned on going to Ali's anusara class tonight because immersion starts next week and if I'm going to be drenched in anusara for an entire wekend every month I should maybe, um, go to some anusara classes... but then my friend Ellie asked if I wanted to practice with her at 8am in St. Paul, and how can you say no to a friend? So I did both.

Speaking of this whole Anusara Immersion business, and of overdoing it - I'm super excited but also nervous. I'm pretty sure I know how Harry Potter felt on his first day at Hogwarts when he said to Ron, "I bet I'm the worst in the class." Not that I'm the yogic equivalent of a muggle, but I've only been practicing for a year and a half so in the grand scheme of things I'm really a beginner and I'm guessing a lot of the yogis in this immersion program have been practicing for years. [nightmares of me falling on my head while everyone else effortlessly brings their legs into full lotus while in some crazy one-armed handstand to commence...now].

Yes...I KNOW that yoga is about learning to let go of attachments and comparisons, and nobody is bad at yoga it's just where you are in your practice blah blah blah etc. I'm aware of all of this - however, the extreme perfectionist in me is very afraid of failure right now. But hey - maybe this is just another chance to practice real-life yoga and work on not worrying whether I look like a complete doofus. Before I started Business School, I heard the core curriculum referred to as "drinking through a fire hose", meaning there's just so much information coming at you it's almost imposslbe to take it all in. I spent the vast majority of my first year feeling terrified that I didn't fit in, that I would fail - I held on so hard to my fear that I missed out on a lot, both academic and otherwise. Maybe the best solution is to turn directly towards the firehose, open your arms and embrace whatever you manage to hold onto.

Could I have decided to just not do the immersion? Absolutely. But it feels like the right time - and if I've learned anything in the last few years it's that you should never underestimate the importance of listening to your gut.

Ode to lazy mornings

I think one of the things I'll miss the most about being in school are the lazy, quiet, solitary mornings when I can just sip coffee and not worry about having to be anywhere for a couple of hours. It's not that I like to sleep in - actually I'm rarely in bed past 7 - but I think that lazy mornings are less about when you wake up and more about the length of time between getting out of bed and having somewhere to be.

For example, this morning I woke up at 6:30, relaxed and peaceful knowing that I wouldn't have to catch the bus until 9:15. Althought the details of a lazy morning vary (and sometimes include baking), there are some common elements that can help contribute to the enjoyment of this soon to be rare occasion:

1) The attire - some sort of comfy pants (pajamas, sweatpants or yoga pants are good), comfy slippers or mucklucs, and a sweater or sweateshirt (should ideally be at least 2 sizes too big for your body)

2) The caffeine - a large quantity of hot, strong coffee that you do not have to rush to finish is also key for this kind of morning.

3) A delicious breakfast - home-baked or otherwise (in this case hot cereal with coconut milk and pumpkin butter), and of course some quality reading material ;)

It's not that I won't be able to have lazy mornings when I re-enter the real world... just that I'll have to get up at 5am to really enjoy them, and I doubt Ben will be 100% behind that strategy. So if you have the chance, I highly encourage you to get up an hour before you normally would and enjoy some peace and quiet before the rest of the world.

Photo from theuicahijatravels.tumblr.com

A leaf fluttered in the window this morning, as if supported by the rays of the sun, a bird settled in the fire escape, joy in the task of coffee, joy accompanied me as I walked ~ Anais Nin

Caffeinated Wedding Updates

8:30 am and I've already downed half a pot of coffee... I see where this day is going. I also tried some new hot cereal by a company called Better Oats. The flavor is mutligrain Chai Spice, and it was pretty delicious! The ingredients list is also relatively unthreatening and I'm guessing the Chai Spice flavor is responsible for the 2 or 3 things listed that aren't whole grains. Yum!
Also, turns out I needn't have feared the return to yoga - it was totally fine. Sure, my hamstrings were a little tighter than normal, and my revolved crescent lunge was a bit wobbly but overall it just felt good to get back into it.

Sooo...wedding planning! I finally booked tickets for our honeymoon to THAILAND! I am seriously beyond excited for this, I've wanted to go to Thailand for years. We'll be flying into Bangkok, staying there for at least a couple of days, and then spending 8 or 9 nights in Koh Phangan, laying on the beach. Can't wait.
My friend Alex and her mom have been planning a shower for me - Alex is a fellow yogi and nutrition freak, so we've been working on a travel/yoga theme with asian food from Nancy at Zen Asia and ayurvedic guest favors. I refuse to apologize for my dorkiness.

I also ordered a bunch of sample invitations from http://www.indianweddingcard.com/ and I am so excited! They are so much less expensive than anything I have found in MN, and in my opinion much prettier. Here are pictures of all the options so far - we've already decided the small green one in front will be for the shower, but between the others it's hard to pick!

Here's a picture of my bridesmaid dresses:
And the flower colors I want to use:
So...feedback/opinions appreciated. I have a couple more samples on the way as well that are bigger versions of the small green one, just in different colors. OK time to tackle the day - and unpack....boooo....

Ouch.

Back in the U.S. of A! The journey home was a bit rough... our whole group went out for dinner the night before we left, and some friends and I went to another bar after dinner. One friend wasn't feeling too well, so a few of us went back with him and I ended up going to bed around 12:30 (anticipating a 6:30 wake up call) which isn't too bad... but THEN.... bear with me, this is about to get personal.

Around 1am I got the worst cramps EVER. I felt like a giant ugly troll decided to grab my uterus and wring it out like a wet dishcloth. And I didn't have any painkillers. I wanted to sleep, but I didn't want to wake anyone up at 1:30 am so I just toughed it out in the fetal position in my bed until 3am, when I knew some of my classmates who were on an earlier flight would be awake. I then took about 4 Advil and konked out for about 2 hours.

We then had a twelve hour flight from Istanbul to Chicago and a four hour layover in Chicago before heading back to Minneapolis. By the time I actually got to bed it was 7am on Sunday morning, Istanbul time so I had essentially just pulled two all-nighters. I still don't feel awesome but I think another night of good sleep should set me on the right track.

You can read in detail about the Istanbul trip at http://ellieandkristinadiscovertheglobe.wordpress.com/, but here are some more pictures from the latter part of the trip:

In the old village of Cumalikzik, near Bursa

Outside of Durumzade, our favorite kebab stand in Istanbul!

Inside the Hagia Sophia

Farewell cruise on the Bosphorus

Keith, Ellie and I enjoying some wine on the Bosphorus cruise

Tonight is going to be my first night back to Yoga... going to a candlelight class. We'll see how this goes... I'm a little nervous which is why I'm taking it easy with a candlelight class. I really wanted to practice while I was in Turkey but there was just no space in the hotel room, and free floor space in the gym was limited, plus there was really no place to practice in private and I felt really awkward practicing in front of everyone in the gym... so I think I've practiced twice in the last two weeks. Wish me luck!

More Pictures from Istanbul

Sorry to make this more of a picture post, but I have a feeling most of my posts for the next couple of weeks will be this way - I'm putting more effort into writing the class travel blog (http://ellieandkirstinadiscovertheglobe.blogspot.com/), so (maybe thankfully?) I won't be as wordy here :)

The Blue Mosque at dusk

Inside the Blue Mosque

Spice Market

Crazy dude with a cat on his head and a lazy eye...at least I hope it's a lazy eye!

Hi from Istanbul!

Not much time to write, I'm pretty jetlagged and worn out from a long day of tours, sightseeing and group dinners. Ellie and I went running this morning at 6am - apparently jogging is not so common here in Turkey so we got made fun of several times... probably people thinking "what are these weird blond girls doing running about in the dark?"... Anyways, I should be getting to bed but here are some pictures from the first day:

Landing in Istanbul

View overlooking the Bosphorus

Fruit for sale on the street

Lanterns for sale at the Grand Bazaar

More later!

Off to see the world!

Hey everyone - or all five of you that read this blog (hi mom).
I'm off to Istanbul for two weeks! The school wanted student bloggers for each of the January study abroad trips, so my friend Ellie and I will be blogging about our trip at http://ellieandkristinadiscovertheglobe.wordpress.com/

New Years eve was fantastic - I spent it with Ben, my sister and a bunch of wonderful friends at my friend Tessa's place... and actually I think that about sums it up. It was a fun, low-key night.

See you all when I get back to the states!

K