Balance on the ocean...

Take this with a grain of salt, but as a Libra, I've always found that I am searching for balance in my life. As a workaholic, it's really easy for me to let work totally take over my life, and as a teacher, it happens incredibly easily. It really isn't hard for me to magically find myself spending 60 hours a week on lesson plans, creating content, developing supplements social/emotional lessons, grading papers, or digging through weekly assessments to help case managers prep new IEPs for upcoming meetings (have I mentioned lately, that I teach special education?).

That's partly why the trip that SunStars and I recently took to California was so great. We took a day off of school and gave ourself a long weekend away from it all. We ended up going to Disneyland (I finally got to cross that off my Wanderlust list) and we also ended up visiting the botanical gardens, which has been on my list of things to see in Ventura since I started visiting my dad there after my move back to the states 3 years ago.

Something else that has been on my list for years is taking a paddle board yoga class. Having been a dancer and/or dance teacher for most of my life, my balance is usually quite decent, but I have a bit of a secret: I do not like to put my face under water. I love the beach, being on top of the water, watching the ocean, listening to the waves, etc., but the idea of going all the way into the water makes me supremely uncomfortable. That being said, I've truly wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone, but by doing something that I am generally comfortable doing (i.e. yoga). See how I created balance there: discomfort by comfort?

We ended up not having enough time to take an actual class, but since we'd rented a convertible and the harbor is just down the road from my dad's house, SunStars and I loaded up the car and went for a bit of a paddle and I was able to push myself a bit.

Truth be told: it is very scary to balance on one foot on a paddle board. Maybe it's just because it was chilly and windy, but holy cow, was this a struggle. The best I was able to do was a three-legged dog, though I attempted (and nearly face planted right into the ocean) tree pose. I was able to pull off a Warrior 2, but as soon as I turned it into a Peaceful Warrior and had to shift weight/turn my gaze away from a steady, central location, I was wobbling all over the place!

It was most definitely a fun challenge, and I would love to try again in a real class in the sun and with an anchor to keep me from drifting away completely!

Have you ever tried paddle board yoga?