Transitions

Here I am in the now. I've been away from my blog way too long. Actually, I've been hurtling through a major transition in my life since November. A new job presented itself 5 1/2 hours away from Half Moon Bay and I jumped on it.

My family and I lived on the Coastside in Half Moon Bay for the past 15 years. We raised our children there, put down roots, made friends. But the tides were pulling me back to Southern California. Family and sunshine, simply put, are what pulled me back. Our children are grown. One is in college, one has a family and career on the East Coast. Still under 50, I decided this was the time to make a change if I was going to do it. So I made the plunge, found a new job and moved to Santa Barbara.

My husband stayed behind to finish the lease on our house and tried to find a transfer within his company. He just recently arrived full-time in Santa Barbara with no transfer but a bunch of new ideas to  possibly start his own company, while looking for work. That is still playing out.

In the meantime we have downsized from a six-bedroom house to a one bedroom apartment and a 10x10 storage unit. We will be moving again in a couple of weeks to a slightly bigger two bedroom apartment. I can tell you we are sick of moving at this point and our cat is not happy with us.

Since this is my yoga blog I guess I need to tie this into my yoga practice. Let's just say my yoga practice has lapsed a bit the last 8 months. We were short money because we were paying rent on two places and we were doing a lot of commuting back and forth from Santa Barbara to the Bay area so classes were not on the table for me. Not to mention it's intimidating to me to walk into a new studio and start taking classes with teachers and students I don't know.

I did do my own home practice. It wasn't daily and not ever as long as a full class. It's hard to discipline yourself to do yoga in your living room for an hour and a half. What I did do well was keep yoga in my daily life. If I was feeling stiff at work, I'd stretch. Just doing yoga over the last couple of years has changed the way I walk and stand. I'm always checking my posture and stance. If I was stressed I'd do a mantra or do some restorative poses. Yoga is now part of me.

Over the last couple of months I started taking some yoga classes here in Santa Barbara. I've been trying out different studios and teachers. I'm coming to find out what I like and don't like. I also discovered without a teacher to guide me, I don't push myself as hard. I've lost a lot of my stamina and strength I had gained. When I left Half Moon Bay I had just started to kick myself up into a headstand. Some of that shoulder and arm strength is gone, but I'm sure it will be back soon.

More to come on my new yoga experiences here in Santa Barbara...