i'm at a starbucks, which is an hour walk from the studio where i'm living and doing my teacher training. i paid 13$ to have internet access for the day so i can catch up on emails, banking, blogging. thankfully they have an outdoor patio with umbrellas, so i can be outdoors and not in the freezing aircon. the downside of the patio is that many people smoking. like the guy across from me, who downed a cup of jo and has since smoked at least 5 cigs in the last hour. just sitting there, smoking in his white Hilfiger polo and trendy jeans. he holds his cell phone flips it open every once in a while like he's hoping for a call. he doesn't look very happy, and despite his muscular physique its hard for me to imagine he's very healthy. but these are all of course my superficial judgments. i don't feel much that i fit in on this patio after a week of intense yoga practice, hours of stimulating esoteric discussion and delicious vegan eating. but we're all human: smokers, coffee drinkers, vegans.

so let me tell you more about teacher training at Heaven Studio. we are a group of 11. the diversity of background, age, geography is refreshing- everyone brings different strengths and energy and i really love getting to know everyone. there R. who is a high-up government deputy in ottawa, he's in his 50s. there's A. who is a montrealer with lebonese background, she's in her 30s and is burnt out of her career in marketing. there's Ap. and N. from New Brunswick, they're francophones and have both doing training in Reiki. just to name a few.
(update: someone called the unhappy guy. and i think he just might have even smiled.)

we start at 7:00 with a vigourous physical practice of asana and pranayama (posture and breathing) until 9:00. then we have a breakfast break. Then we have morning session. lunch at 1:30. Then afternoon session until 6ish. In the morning have teaching and discussion philosophy, demonstrations on anatomy and alignment, activities on communication, interpersonal and personal development. we also have practice teaching session and an exam each friday. About half of us sleep over at the studio and the rest live close enough the can go home in the evenings. in the evenings we eat, study and relax together.

its hard to imagine life get much better than this- learning, moving, bending, stretching, opening, forming new relationships, going deeper into understanding of self and spirit, enjoying the sun and blue sky and breeze, eating well, sleeping deeply, breathing fully.