My daughter and I were both drawn to yoga at an early age. I learned yoga positions as a teenager and she joined an after school yoga club in junior high. Yet, it wasn’t until we were living in Nicaragua that we started to practice Ashtanga yoga on a regular basis. While in Nicaragua we met a young man from Austria, a nurse and yoga teacher, who gave us private lessons. It was very difficult for me and I was upset about how out of shape I was. I didn’t even make it through my first lesson. My daughter took to it as though she had been practicing yoga all of her life. Our friend said she was a “natural”. He soon had to return to Austria and my daughter continued to practice yoga on her own. While in Nicaragua she made friends with a family from California that also studied Ashtanga yoga and then traveled to California herself to study at a yoga studio that taught Mysore style Ashtanga yoga. She learned a lot from these teachers and she loved it! From there she decided to go to Mysore, India to study with the Ashtanga Master himself. My daughter lived in India for a while and studied Ashtanga yoga and then went on to travel through India and Morocco before coming back to Nicaragua. When she returned she started to teach me yoga with an infinite amount of patience and encouragement. We practiced every day and I did really well. Our friend from California spent a month with us. He started classes for travelers looking for a place to do their yoga practice. My daughter also started helping people in class and when our friend left she took over. A year later, I could assist with classes and lead some of them myself. I grew strong and very flexible. My muscles looked leaner and longer and I lost weight. Yet by far, the best result of my practice, was how I felt. Yoga brought me a sense of calm, clarity, and focus that I had not had before. My daughter and I opened a vegetarian breakfast cafe and yoga studio in Nicaragua and we lived there for almost 2 years. We drove our old Jeep back to the U. S. as it was time for my daughter to begin her University studies. When we got back we both taught yoga at a small studio in Connecticut for a while before moving to California where she would be going to college.
My daughter has continued to practice yoga at the California yoga studio although it’s been difficult for her to find the time with all of her studies. Moving to California for me was a huge transition. I’d grown used to the slower pace of life in Nicaragua and it was amazing how quickly I fell right back into the fast-paced stressful American lifestyle. I got a job in the school system and had to get there really early in the mornings. By the time I got home in the evenings I was exhausted and didn’t have the energy to do my hour long yoga practice. So I let my yoga practice go by the wayside when I needed it the most! I made a big mistake by thinking that if I couldn’t do my entire one-to-two-hour practice, I wouldn’t do ANY yoga at all.
I should have continued to do a 10 minute practice every day. The “Sun Salutations” alone are enough to keep your body in tune. That would have been enough to keep me strong and flexible.
Finally, that brings me to where I am today. Before starting my blog about the ‘Weight Watcher’s Diet’ I was about to begin, I thought I would be writing one entry to catch up on my weight loss history. Instead, I find that it took 7 entries to get to where I am today on this journey. A little over a month ago, when I started this weight loss blog, my sister and I decided to try the Weight Watchers Diet together. Her daughter, is getting married in June and the wedding is good incentive for us. We both need to lose about 30 pounds. I’m STILL not doing any exercise or yoga. We both started out with a LOT of enthusiasm. We went to our first meeting about 6 weeks ago on a Saturday morning. After the meeting we stayed for a “diet introduction session” where it was all explained to us at length. The Weight Watchers Diet has a “Points” system that is fairly easy to follow. All foods are assigned a certain amount of points depending on calories, fat, and fiber content. There is roughly about 1 point to every 50 calories, but that is only an estimate, and all foods should be checked for point value. Since our first meeting, my sister has lost 10 pounds, and I have lost 3. I’m visiting here in Connecticut, so I’m home during the day and not working. My sister travels during the week and has to eat out a lot. Both of these scenarios are quite difficult when trying to stay on ANY diet. I will keep you posted on how we’re doing and my thoughts and experiences while on the Weight Watchers Diet.
A. zudro
The Journey
