Pursuing happiness

You want to know the real reason I quit my job?
I wasn’t happy.
I was also becoming a person I didn’t like.
And that definitely needed to change.
When I started my yoga teacher training about a year ago (can’t believe that was a year ago) it wasn’t my intention to quit my job and solely be a yoga teacher.
I planned to teach on the side and maybe eventually move more full time into health and wellness, which would include being a yoga teacher and blogger (and maybe a few other things I have up my sleeve), but like everything in life, things changed.
I have many things to do on my to do list. But the No. 1 item is to be happy.
I can’t be the best me if I am not happy and good to myself.
A few friends have asked me: Are you teaching full time? Where are you teaching?
No to the first question. Keep reading for an answer to the second question.
First, yoga teachers can’t possibly work 40 hours a week as a yoga teacher. Most teachers have to travel to multiple studios (or gyms) for classes, teaching can be emotionally and physically draining and part of teaching is planning a sequence, doing research, practicing the sequence, etc.
Second, when you first start off as a yoga teacher you have to hustle your gigs. I was lucky enough to have a friend who is also a part-time yoga teacher (she has a 40+ hour a week job in the corporate world) help me get a subbing gig at her gym.
I have periodically been subbing for the regular yoga teacher at Alameda Athletic Club, conveniently located next to Doggy Style, a hot dog place. She is going on maternity leave and I will take over her three classes a week while she is out.
I am contacting a few other gyms near me (Oakland, Berkeley, Emeryville) to see if they need yoga teacher subs.
As I get sub gigs or my own regular class (which would be the ultimate) I will keep that information updated on the tab: My Yoga Classes.
A friend at the gym recently asked me, what do you do all day?
I am not sitting on the couch eating bon-bons, drinking flavored vodka and binge watching terrible daytime TV. Though that sounds pretty awesome.
First, all that crap I had to cram in while working 40+ hours and enduring a long commute I am getting done with no stress: grocery shopping, Target shopping, other errands, cooking, running the household, paying bills, etc.
I am working on the blog: research for better and more in-depth posts, the new Recipes tab, and other blog tasks. And I’ve been working on getting my e-mail inbox under control.
I am back with my regular yoga home practice while also working on sequences I will be teaching (check out My Yoga Class tab here), going to the gym regularly (noon cycle class is so much easier to get to these days) and getting in lots of yoga classes, some of which are during the day.
I’ve been able to be a Lady Who Lunches with a few friends recently.
I am researching gyms and yoga studios in the area and hustling some more gigs.
I am cooking more. I am taking time to research recipes (which is good for the blog, too, and especially the Recipes tab) and make nutritious and healthy meals for Curt and me.
There are all those projects at home that have been neglected. The pantry was a disaster and has already been reorganized.  There are some scary closets in this house that need to be tackled. There is a pile of bills and receipts I need to file away–yes, I do that. I could go on …
I try not to get too wrapped up into Facebook or get hooked on the TV. I have my laptop set up at the kitchen table. For some reason I prefer sitting in the kitchen for now instead of the spare room/office/yoga room. I work at the computer usually a few hours a day.
So yea, I am keeping myself busy. And occasionally during the day I watch an episode or two of Queer as Folk–the show I am currently obsessed with. But I limit myself on how much I am watching in one sitting.
I am getting a lot of stuff done. But I am also taking care of me and getting back the Ann I want to be. So far it is going pretty great.