Hola! We are back in Costa Rica full time and here to stay. This time it has such a permanent feeling to it. There is no ticket back to the States, this is not a long vacation. We are living here. So now it's my journey to fill my time purposefully. This is now my life - this is no longer potentially my life. And I love to schedule, I love to plan. If you recorded everything that I said every day you would find - "So my new plan is" - is the phrase I say the most. So my new plan is...

Dario is at Nanny Garden Monday - Friday 8am - noon (and naps 1 - 3pm). This is amazing. Our first 3 months here, Dario was at NG when we needed him to be there due to our work schedules. Having every morning available for anything I want is a huge opportunity to be devoured or also, to be squandered. I want to use my time wisely. 

Teaching a yoga class is only one part of the living life of being a yoga teacher. I also set aside time to practice - every day. I support the other teachers that I work with by going to their classes or I practice on my own at home. 1 out of the 4 hours filled. What do I do with the other 3 hours?

We have 10,080 minutes every week. How are you spending yours?

Every day (Monday - Friday) I am going to have a focus. Monday I focus on Media. I plan my FB posts, schedule them in advance. I want my Virginia Marie Yoga Facebook to be a thriving being. Forever in love with details, Monday post an article, Tuesday I schedule for a yoga video to post, Wednesday I schedule some kind of inspirational something, Thursday I schedule a pose breakdown, and Friday I schedule a different podcast to share. So this is my Monday Media too, the blog post. Really hunkering down and getting a blog post out every week. Even if it simply one sentence. One quote. One something. Tuesday I will focus on Continuing Education. There are so many CE videos on Yoga Alliance. Watch the video, take notes, write up a summary, add the hours to my profile. Every three years I need 20 not-in-person continuing education hours. So let's not cram like we're in college. I want to be forever learning, forever improving as a teacher and where you spend your minutes is what you will be good at. I schedule learning. Which bleeds right into Wednesday - Reading Day! I have so many yoga books that I have never read. So Wednesdays are for reading & listening to podcasts - while taking notes. I can't just listen to something in the background and absorb it. I need to focus. I still have my YTT notebook that I use to take notes and then when I need a quick inspiration I go to it, scan it, find something new to use in class or in my personal practice.  Thursday is for sequencing. Get on my mat, put on new music and play around. Where can I move? Where can I go? Where do I want to focus? How does this feel in my body? How can I cue this transition five different ways? Fridays are my creative days. It's all the sparkle of the class. I think of a theme and build everything around it. Mudras, mantras, words, phrases, poses, poems, music, just everything that is possible for an amazing yoga class. 

You are not perfect and that is okay. You will never be perfect and that is okay. Life is progress - not perfect.

This is my working week. Yes, I teach classes - studios & privates. Yes, I practice. Whenever I take an amazing class for an amazing teacher I think about all the parts that go into it and it's usually that they are the "entire package." Saying the names of poses for people to move through is not enough to be profound. And that's what I want, to be a profound teacher that really makes an impact on yogis that lingers for long after the class. I've been to those classes, I've had those teachers, Erinn Lewis, Patsy Springer, Nicole Payseur. 

I love yoga too much to not honor the practice. I do not want to squander this amazing journey. I want to spend my minutes working to hone my craft, both personally and professionally. Won't you join me on this journey? What is your yoga teacher journey? What are you working on right now?

Pura Vida

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