Portland- 1 year on

Its incredibly hard to believe but the beginning of October marks our first year living in Portland.  This past year has been a series of explorations in teaching, studying with new teachers, discovering new passions and adjusting to living a life outside of Los Angeles.  In some ways very little has changed- I still love what I do and feel so fortunate to dedicate my life to the practice, study and teaching of Yoga- I still love cooking and geeking out about food.  Something has shifted though, life in Portland feels so calm, so easy.  I rarely feel the need to get a million things done and race through life.  I feel happy here, at ease, like there is time to do most everything I want to do.  I even have time to explore new projects and interests like keeping chickens (merely a thought now, hopefully in the next year), riding my bike to work, going to acting auditions again, and returning to dance classes.  I had forgotten how much I loved these things, it is so inspiring and invigorating to go back to them.

Perhaps it is a consequence of moving, perhaps it is just a natural evolution, but my practice and my approach to practice has changed over the past year as well.  I find myself even more interested in the subtle, energetic workings of the practice, and I find myself varying what and how I practice depending on the day and how I am feeling.  I feel so lucky to have found some teachers here that I really resonate with and can learn from- and am excited each time I roll out my mat. 

It took some time, probably about 6 months, but I am feeling connected to my voice and what I want to teach in a way here that I have only felt on rare occasions before.  I have a better sense of what my strengths are as a teacher and what I need to work on, and I feel inspired to learn and grow in new ways.  There are things I get excited about teaching each time I sit down to plan out my classes, and there are areas that I want to refine, to find more connection to in my own practice before I teach them.

I had an unfounded fear that by moving to Portland I would somehow be missing out on my practice, that I wouldn't be 'progressing' or 'getting better' and that somehow I would fall behind.  At the time this felt like a very real thing, that what my practice looked like somehow defined who I was- of course reflecting on this and writing it about makes it so clear that this was merely a clinging to what was, a fear of change.  One of the greatest lessons I've learned since being here is that I have the power to let go of that fear, and that is a very liberating feeling.

And so Portland, its been a great first year, may many more follow in its footsteps.