reflections on a year past

 My Husband and I on our Wedding Day (photo taken by my brother Patrick Tobin) 

     I received a newsletter recently from one of my yoga teachers about how this time of year is about pausing, quieting down, going inward and reflecting on the past year. As I mentioned in my post earlier this week, I am bending around all my limitations and going full force to start the engine of my dream that is to make a living as an artist. This process and these last few weeks have been anything but quiet and reflective. I have been busy running through the incredibly lengthy list of learning and doing that goes into starting up a business. It is frantic and frightening. However, this morning, I did take the time to sit quietly after some slow seated yoga poses and a restorative (that was relaxing as soon as my dog, Tulsi, stopped licking my face). It took me a while to settle, to align my non-rhythmic and scattered mind with the steady beat of my heart, but after a few minutes I did. From that place of quiet,  I reflected on my past year, on the experiences that made my heart soar and the ones that made it sink, knowing that my acceptance and gratitude towards both will help me to move more bravely into the future. 

My Year in fast-forward (although not necessarily in order):

I moved from the mountains of Wyoming to Maine to teach for the very first time. 

I learned more then I knew was possible about my light and my shadow through teaching Art, living in a freshman boys dorm, coaching mountain biking and learning hip hop dance moves at the boarding school where I worked.

I started Grad school at Lesley University studying "Yoga and Creativity" and new doorways of ideas and ways of thinking began to open up all over the place

I received the love of a new puppy who we named Tulsi

Tulsi 

I found Anusara Yoga, did a holiday retreat with Todd Norian last December and then took his 108 hour immersion program and then started doing his teacher training this November

I moved with my fiance to my parent's house in Vermont and lived in my dad's art studio and I worked our tails off getting ready for our DIY  wedding

                           The dirt road I grew up on (photo taken by my brother Pat Tobin) 

I married my best friend on August 1st in my parent's backyard in front of 250 of our friends and family.

I moved from one little Vermont town to another and began to dream about starting a career as an artist/yoga teacher.

I worked at a local teen center where I spent most of my hours doodling with sharpies and listening to ear-trashing music

I moved from one little Vermont town to a big coastal town in Massachusetts where I have been/am writing papers about the Bhagavad Gita and the creative process, thinking about how I need to practice more yoga (and then practicing a little bit), imagining myself taking a Zumba class and meeting new people, AND mustering all that I have to just go for it and begin chasing my art dream down.

Yeah for 2009!  

May this upcoming year be as fruitful, full and flavorful as this past one. May I continue to grow, expand and align with the beauty of my own heart. May I keep learning, evolving and transforming in big and little ways. May I remain steady, still and true to myself even on the days that want to knock me off balance. May I laugh and play and have fun. May I not have to move again for at least another year. 

May all the things that you wish for your new year come true in every way and more.

reflections on a year past