More Last Things in Sydney

These last days at work, I've been busy training my replacement(s) to do my job and wrapping projects up with the practitioners in clinic. Surprisingly, I didn't have to work past regular hours any time yet this week (fingers crossed!). Today, I even got off early.

Since I didn't have time for my usual Wednesday trail run, I made the most of my early afternoon to pay one last visit to our neighbourhood gym, Crunch.

I got in a quick 40-minute run:

It was hard. I tried to read some blogs on my phone as I warmed up, but it was too jarring for my eyes with the bouncing and all. How do others do it? Doesn't it hurt your eyes to read while you run? What's the secret I'm missing here?

This was the best part of my day, by far:

I got this card from my employer, a naturopath with a love for travel. She and I had been working on a number of projects during the time I was with her. Even though she had told me repeatedly how much she appreciates the work I put in, she still got me this cute little card. Simple things like these make leaving both awesome and hard. I remember my first real-person job; teaching English in a small suburb in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. My students (oh my heart) put together a huge "Passport" full of notes and hand-made cards and pictures of how much they enjoyed my classes and how much they'd miss me.... *tear*

And this isn't even my REAL last day yet...

My Last Week of Work

Next week, Steven and I are leaving Sydney to embark on a 3-week long trip to Perth, Adelaide, Uluru and the small opal mining town of Coober Pedy.

That means this is our last week of living and working in Sydney. 
:(

 
I will miss my job SO much!
I know that this is probably weird for most people. My job was possibly one of my favourite parts of my time here. 
I learned a lot and developed a huge appreciation for naturopathic medicine. I have also begun to really think about what i want to do when i return to Toronto in terms of a real adult person career and direction. 

I am going to miss the people in my office so much! And i am so grateful for all the opportunities they have given me. At the same time, I am excited to get home and put all of my plans for the future into action. 

Why do some yoga teachers have "spiritual names"?

I am publicly admitting it.

I think poorly of teachers who publicize their "Spiritual Name."

Very poorly.

As poorly as I think of "Snooki" or "The Situation."

There is disdain, judgment, and scorn thrown in there.

Don't get me wrong. I think most yoga teachers with spiritual names are probably good at their job.

And maybe that's why people don't guffaw when they announce that they want to be called Sunshine Child of the Everlasting Elephant.

To me, the "Spiritual Name" is like a label. It screams, "I'm so legit, I'm oh-so-legit, now pay me more money to teach you some simple postures that you can find online for 1/4 the price!" It's a marketing gimmick.

Which leads me into the whole marketing gimmick of The Yoga Teacher. The earth-friendly products. The perfect skin. The eternal youth and bulging deltoids (yes, I'm jealous). The demi-gods who don't have one negative thought, whose response to a hard question is always easy and flowing but doesn't really make any sense, whose actions are in perfect harmony with YOGA.

It's not fair.

And worse of all, I realize the necessity of playing into this marketing gimmick. Most teachers work very hard for very little, and any sort of publicity that will give them work (i.e. food, rent, bills, dog toys), is part of the work.

But no one sees this.

I'm not saying that Oh-My-Life-Is-So-Hard-Pity-Me-I-Lack-A-Spiritual-Naaaammmmmeee!

No, no. I just wish more people would be willing to show the world that yoga, teaching it, doing it, is not easy.


So I propose this: a marketing gimmick that shows yoga teachers doing everyday things. Things that people do, like:

• - struggle with body image and diet
• - fail at forgiving someone
• - feel lonely and friendless
• - forget important things 
• - lack appropriate tact (a.k.a. say the wrong thing at the wrong time) 
• - spill secrets
• - rail on someone for some stupid inconsequential little thing and then regret it later
• - regret, regret, regret
• - not have enough money and get a second job
• - get on their hands and knees and clean their bathroom
• - get hungover
• - watch The Real Housewives of Vancouver (that shit's addictive!)

I want a marketing campaign so far away from the enlightenment of "Sunset Sea Turtle In the Mist" that it looks like normal people doing normal things and sometimes f*king up. Because that's what being human is all about.

And humans are far more interesting than "Loving Lotus Blossom In Harmony with the World."



What would you like to see yoga teachers do in my awesome new marketing campaign?

Anyone else think "spiritual names" are stupid?