Tag: Yoga

Kaitlin: My Favorite Summer Yet

Well hellooooo my friends!

This summer has been absolutely insane, and I feel as though it’s just getting started.  First of all, I hope the past few weeks or months off of school have been as amazing for you as they have been for me.  Actually, as I’m sitting here writing this, recalling everything that’s happened since the middle of May, I can predict that this may be my favorite summer yet.

The biggest event that I was able to cross off of my list of to-dos was Air Force ROTC Field Training.  On May 17th, I left for a 28 day “trip” to Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama- but it was far from a vacation.  Over that month, I learned tactics and information that will be vital to me becoming an Air Force officer.  We did a whole lot of running, climbing, falling, listening, sweating, shooting, and bug-spray-applying all in the hot Alabama sun.  While it was extremely tiring and often times almost unbearable, I learned so much and have never been more motivated to serve my country after I graduate BU.  But my absolute favorite part of being there was also the most unusual.

I taught a yoga class to over 75 cadets.

My supervisors found out that I was a yoga instructor, and allowed me to teach a class as part of one of my Leadership Competency Evaluations.  It was so incredible and I felt so grateful to be able to share my greatest passion with a whole new group of people.

Which leads me into the rest of my summer. For now, I’ve been able to pack away my fatigues and roll out my yoga mat instead.  I teach at least one yoga class per day on Long Island, NY, and was actually just asked to be the Manager of my home studio, The Giving Room!  One of the best parts of my new job is being able to use what I’ve learned in all of my PR classes at COM to attract more customers and ultimately better the studio.  Needless to say, I’m busy as a bee.

So my yoga teaching life hasn’t been as relaxing as I’ve imagined, but nonetheless I feel as though I’m living the life.

What have you all been up to? Please feel free to tweet at me @itskaitdaddona (especially if you live on Long Island and want a private yoga class…) follow me on Tumblr, whatever.  I can’t wait to see you all in the fall!

Kaitlin: Bending Over Backwards for Yoga

Kaitlin ImageHello friends! I’m so excited to be writing as a COM ambassador for the first time. I hope you’re getting excited about starting your COM journey with all of us! It’s going to be an amazing experience that I’m sure you’ll never forget. And with that, there are few moments in our lives that can truly be considered milestones. Finishing high school, entering college, obtaining your first job, getting married. But for me, my biggest milestone so far in my life was reached last weekend. After 200 hours of training in six months, I officially became a certified yoga instructor.

I’ve been a yoga practitioner for quite sometime now, but I have Boston to thank for my pursuit of a teaching certification. At the beginning of my freshman year, I started to miss going to the yoga studio all the time as I did back home on Long Island; I had the blues. So, I started to explore the Boston yoga scene on the internet, eventually leading myself towards Back Bay Yoga Studio (BBY), which is right off of the Arlington T stop on the Green Line. First off, if you’re looking to begin practicing and don’t know where to start, this is the place to go. BBY offers an awesome new member special, which includes two weeks of unlimited classes for only $25. This is exactly how I got my start. I found myself going everyday, sometimes more than once, diving into the awesome facilities the studio has to offer, and learning from the city’s best and most well-known teachers. I learned so much, and I automatically rediscovered my deep passion for the practice.

My decision to go through teacher training wasn’t a hard one. I was profoundly inspired by my main teacher Ame Wren, and when I learned she was leading a training with the studio’s owner Lynne Begier, I called my dad right away, and told him I was investing the $3,000 that I barely had to my name into the training. It was the first time I found myself so incredibly excited and ready to begin a new journey.

But it wasn’t so easy.

As I mentioned, it was a 6-month long endeavor. I often found myself in the studio for more than 20 hours on the weekends. I was assigned various book reports and other extra homework on top of my work here at BU. Nonetheless, I cannot explain how worthwhile the reading and writing was. I had the pleasure to work alongside thirty wonderful people, all of whom were going after the same achievement as me. We shared unlimited tears and laughs, and I feel so lucky to have them all a part of my life!

This experience transformed the way I think, look, act- basically my whole way of life. I pay so much gratitude to every thing I learned about yoga, myself, and the world around me. I’m so eager to start teaching, of course, but I also simply look forward to growing my own practice and to continue expanding my mind and keep learning.

If you’re interested in starting yoga, please don’t hesitate to let me know! I’d love to help out and give some suggestions on where to go, who to see, what to wear, etc. Among the stress that comes with being a college student, sometimes all we need to do is sit on a mat, close our eyes, and breathe.

IMG_0610-1