Thailand Yoga Retirement Journey Conclusion
Well, my first mini-retirement experience is coming to an end. This entire experience has definitely been spectacular. When you are able to step out of your normal life for an extended period of time, you can actually perform an honest and accurate assessment of your life and who you are as a person. I am so happy to have discovered that my life is exactly how I want it to be. I do not have any major complaints or regrets about where I am today. I love where I live, my friends, my livelihood, my fitness and my community. While I still have goals to achieve, I know that I am OK with continuing on my current path as it is. This clearly is a huge relief for me.
One thing that was made clear by my yoga teacher training is that I can teach myself almost everything that I need to know. However, it makes it easier to learn when you have a community of like-minded people moving in the same direction. During the retreat, I quickly became friends with Rough. I found out that even though she was from Singapore and 10 years younger than me, we had almost the same exact personality. We decided to wake up at 4:45 a.m. every morning so that we could complete our personal physical fitness practice prior to commencing the 14-hour daily schedule for the teacher training program. Our early-morning routine satisfied my needs for team activities plus morning endorphins. I am eternally grateful that the universe provided a path for me to get this bit of love early in the morning. I must admin that doing yoga outside in 45-degree weather at 5 a.m. takes not only interest, it takes willpower, a larger understanding, and a commitment. These qualities have always been the easier ones to cultivate in my life.
During our practice, I decided to push myself further and try arm balances for the first time.
During this time, I finally decided to practice arm balances:
While, my final postures are far from perfect, they do make me realize that life is about small steps towards your goals. Although I do not look like a yoga fitness model, at 35 I am still strong enough to hold my entire body weight on my triceps. I find that simple fact pretty awesome. I look forward to starting teaching yoga classes at the beginning of 2015 at < Om Point Yoga>. It’s not because I can hold the arm balances – I think I’m ready because I’m finally comfortable with where I am in life. That’s really the entire point of it all, actually.
My time in Thailand has been primarily focused on introversion activities. These include meditation, self-reflection, being in the present moment, and focusing on the beauty of every moment. This is so much easier than it sounds. My mind races so fast that I often am unable to stay in the present moment for an extended period of time. Right now I’m thinking about how awesome it is for me to be able to translate the ideas going on within my brain through the tips of my fingers onto the keyboard into a visual form in Microsoft Word and later to share with you via my website. Technology, communication, and the ability to focus on thought have a phenomenal ability to push dialogue in order to foster community worldwide. We often take our ability to connect for granted. I’m the first one to accept that this is true in my daily life.
One concept that we discussed during the program is our Duty or Dharma. Duty has five levels:
Self
Friends and Family
Work
Community
Society at Large
I know for most of my life I’ve have my duty priority list all wrong. The highest priority to self one has generally been a really low priority in my life. I know that because of work deadlines or external commitments, I often would decide to skip meals. I learned years ago that working out was non-negotiable, but eating high-quality, nutritious food has been a bit of a debate. Now I have gotten a lot better since my 20s, but I could go days surviving on frozen food added to processed foods from a bag, can or package. I can tell that after a month of eating all fresh foods, my body is much happier and I’m actually more muscular, even though I have cut back on my fitness routine during this program.
I know my personal karma is to continue to help people reach their dreams. I have been fortunate in many ways, but the main thing is that I have always had the courage to go after my dreams. Even though I have dealt with racism, sexism, class-ism, etc., I always knew that I should pursue every goal that I had. Throughout my life my major goals have included dance, fitness, certifications, traveling, educational pursuits and cultivating better personal relationships. Each one of these goals takes an initial experience. This experience leads to further understanding, growth and fine-tuning of the journey. Of all of my goals, the personal relationships goal has taught me the most. Unlike some of the other goals, with genuine relationships, you cannot force them with brute force alone. The secret to having successful relationships is always patience, loving compassion, and boundaries. I feel so fortunate that I finally figured out how to breathe and experience life with the help of others. Though I have been a perpetual goal seeker, I have traveled this road alone. I have always had amazing people in my corner. These individuals believed in me, inspired me, gave me a second chance, and challenged me to be better. I know that their words, vision, love and support pushed me and continues to push me towards my goals. As such, I will always be eternally grateful for the role that each one of them has played in my life.
To give back to the world, I decided that my mission is to help others reach their goals through right planning, right mindset and smarter financial choices. I know that I have had to use all of these fundamental concepts to reach my goals in the professional, financial, physical, environmental and relationship levels. I want to help show others that they too can have the life that they want. All it takes is practice, planning and priorities. Now I must head back to the United States and put my energy back into creating tools that can help people.
May we know peace,
May we be courageous,
May we be healthy
May we be compassionate to all beings
Namaste!
THAILAND COMPLETE EXPERIENCE
My Love Hate Relationship with Fun
Karma Yoga & My Thai Massage Epiphany
Thailand Yoga Retirement Journey Conclusion
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About: Dr. Roshawnna Novellus, known as the Wealthy Yogi, is a mindful wealth multiplier, business strategist, and author of Budgeting is More Liberation than Limitation. She has developed a 5-step blueprint for mindful money management to show any entrepreneur how to create a stress free wealthy lifestyle. Through her books, programs and retreats, she has helped thousands of entrepreneurs achieve intentional personal success. She is currently booking speaking engagements for corporations and corporate groups. If your company or group has workshops around these topics for your employees, please contact her.
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