Tuesday, October 1, 2013

I Need Yoga

I recently read a blog post by James Altucher called: 

THE ULTIMATE COLLEGE CHALLENGE TO FOOL MY KIDS INTO NOT GOING TO COLLEGE


In his post, he explains his belief that since everyone has a college degree, it's pretty much worthless in the workforce now and those four years could be better spent by really learning something or advancing in the workforce.  He told his kids to do one of the following things if they wanted him to pay for college.  They could try many and fail at them, but try they must, gaining experience and knowledge above and beyond that which they could've obtained during their college years.  

A) Make a youtube video (or channel) that has five million real views.
B ) Get past the second series of Ashtanga Yoga. (at least part of this has to occur in India).
C) Make a business that has over $50,000 in revenues in the 12th month.
D) Write a book (or set of books) that has more than 5000 paying readers
E) Create a blog that has over 100,000 unique monthly readers. Note: you don’t have to be the only writer on that blog.
F) Take 50 or more courses on Coursera. With me.
G) Intern with someone who is among the best in the world at what they do.
H) Organize at least 20 meetups of twenty people or more around a specific topic.
I) Run for political office and get at least 30% of the vote in a primary.
J) Have 50 people write to me explaining, in detail, how you saved their lives.

www.jamesaltucher.com

I, myself, am working on this list for my own benefit, partly because I have already done some of it and partly because I want to try more.

A) Youtube video...maybe not, but who knows.
B) Ashtanga - A definite possibility
C) business - SUCCESS!
D) book - in the process
E) blog - in progress
F) Coursera - signing up.  Not with James.
G) intern -  eh...I won't rule it out.
H) organize a group - Not sure about this one, either.
I) Definitely will not be running for office.
J) won't happen either.

But still, I like the gist of his list and the challenge he presents.  I just recently went back to yoga.  I used to be really 'into' yoga.  I practiced rigorously and became a certified yoga instructor and taught some classes.  I attended workshops and practiced on my own.  Then I sort of stopped.  Post-BMT, I just recently started Pure Barre again and today was my first yoga class.  I decided to return to my roots, where it all began, and made the trek down to Midtown Yoga.  My mom went with me and when I picked her up, we looked at each other and agreed that we never thought we'd be doing this again.  Our first yoga class was together, when I was a Sophomore in high school.  We would go to Midtown Yoga together often until I started taking harder and harder classes and we started going more often separately.  It has been a long time since we went to a class together.  Driving down, we chatted the whole way.  It's funny, my dad pointed out, that after 6 months together we still have stuff to talk about.  We walked into the studio and remembered why we used to drive all the way to midtown for yoga.  It's peaceful.  There's just something about it.  We had a great class with a gentle instructor.  After, we drove through the Love Shack for some juice and java.  We talked about the class and I realized how much I had needed yoga back in my life.  I am very competitive with myself when it comes to working out.  It probably stems from my days as a dancer, and I was no different in yoga, despite the whole POINT of yoga to achieve inner peace.  I tackled yoga like a sport, like a dancer tackles ballet.  I pushed myself harder and harder, advancing to the most advanced classes.  And while I think the athletic side of yoga is great too, for other benefits, I have also found that I need the 'easier' classes for my mental wellbeing.  I need the stretches and breathing to find my peace of mind.

On another note, I feel like I have cancer hanging over me.  Like it is an inevitable part of my future, specifically because of my suppressed immune system.  It makes my heart race daily, like there's a ticking clock running alongside of me.  For those of you scared of cancer or diagnosed with cancer, I recommend another blog: chrisbeatcancer.com.  Chris is from Memphis, lives in Midtown, and (you guessed it) beat cancer with food and exercise.  He's got an amazing story and shares other people's equally amazing recoveries.  He does a ton of research on the subject and while I did not have the option of no chemo and no transplant if I wanted to survive, I find his blog inspiring.  It helps me feel like I have some control in minimizing my already inflated chances of getting cancer, and I'm a control freak at heart.

I need to go back to yoga.

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