Back at the cottage.

My week at Kripalu was amazing!  My program involved learning about how to use yoga in the classroom and also about helping teachers use yoga techniques.  It was very practical and I will be using many of the techniques right away.

The people in my course were lovely.  They ranged in age from about 60 to 29.  They were all so interesting.  Sara, the 29 year old, was from Northern California and was my go-to person for information on which yoga teachers to try, what their style was, and what other events were best.  She was great.  There were social workers looking to use yoga techniques with the at-risk population they serve, classroom teachers and yoga teachers.  We really got a wealth of information and experience from each other.

There were four other Canadians in my course, including my instructor.  another attendee, Leonora is from Toronto and we may try to bring our show on the road, doing workshops for teachers in Ontario.  That would be fun!

The food at Kripalu was amazing, fresh, local and largely organic.  The weather was great most of the week and so we ate outside at picnic tables a lot.  What conversations we had over dinner!  There were some fascinating people and presenters there.

I did a minimum of two yoga classes per day plus usually an evening event such as attending a comedy show or doing a rest and relax type workshop.  All that was in addition to the 40 program hours I put in to get my Yoga Ed certificate.  It was busy!

The natural environment around Kripalu is beautiful with lots of opportunity to hike in the hills and woods and to go swimming at their private beach.  It is located very close to Tanglewood, an outdoor venue for musical performances.  The Boston Symphony Orchestra practices there and you can bring your lunch, sit on the lawn and listen to their rehearsals.  Yo yo Ma was there last week.  The Boston Pops also practice and give concerts there.  Neat.

Sunday morning I got up early and was on the road by 6 am.  It meant for clear sailing along the highway, through the toll booths and no line-up at the border either.  I arrived back at the cottage at 11am.  The dogs were there to greet me, but John was out getting groceries.

Aunt Virginia came over in the afternoon with a beautiful dresser that someone was throwing out that she cleaned up and refinished.  It looks amazing in our hallway.  It certainly is nice to be so close to John's extended family.

So now it is just the two of us plus the dogs, hanging out for a few days on the lovely shores of Loughborough Lake.  Nice.