Grab on and Give it Your All
posted by Jill @ 9:02 PM
Life always offers chances to learn and if you are looking for those chances they are there... all you have to do is grab on and give it your all.
I'm back in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. The blue waters of the Caribbean, sunshine and palm trees have all welcomed me back to paradise. I lived in Playa del Carmen two and a half years ago before my family and I began our adventure in China. Pancho and I had always talked about coming back here and we've made that reality.
My direction has changed. I'm finally doing what I always said I wanted to do - yoga and performance.
I'm teaching yoga. One day, while visiting a hotel hoping to sell performances I ended up in a conversation with the special events coordinator. I had brought along my resume and when he saw all of my experience in yoga he asked me if I would be willing to give two yoga classes on the beach to a special group. I happily agreed and gave a trial class a few days later to that same director of special events and to the director of the spa. I thought I was being asked to do a couple of classes on the beach but it turned out that the spa was also in search of a yoga instructor for their private and daily classes. Well, my trial class went over well and I've started giving private lessons to the guests at the hotel. It's been a wonderful way for me to do what I love and be paid. Each lesson is different, depending on the participants, what they are looking for and their previous experience. I meet new people all the time and we spend our hour stretching, breathing and opening up while taking in the view from the guests' private terrace. Many of my clients have booked extra classes after enjoying their first meeting with me and I'm glad to know that I can make their vacations that much more enjoyable. Que rico! I'm now talking with the spa about the possibility of starting the daily classes for the resort. I feel so fortunate to have this opportunity to grow as a teacher and learn more as a practitioner.
My yoga classes are almost always in the morning and when I leave the hotel I head straight to rehearsal. For a month now six people and I have been creating a show. We have combined circus arts, dance, live music and song together in a show called Avatar and the elements: water, earth, fire and air. The rehearsals have been intense and it has been, and is a continuing lesson in performance and in life. Trying to ensure that seven people arrive daily to practice together can be trying at times and especially in a culture that condones lateness and absenteeism. Keeping everyone motivated and focused once we're all at rehearsal is a responsibility I share with a couple other members of the group. Even with these challenges, we've been able to put together something beautiful that grows and matures daily. We began this past week presenting parts of the show in front of the public in order to polish our numbers and gain stage experience with the show. We are a diverse mix of talents and some of us are beginners (or close to it) while others have years of experience under their belts so we need time to work together in front of an audience. It can be exciting and nerve-racking to put myself in front of the public, and with experience my mind is calming and I'm able to focus more and more on the job at hand and my role in making the show come to life. What an adventure!
Apart from the onstage duties, there are also all the preparations that need to be made off-stage. I've been buying materials, designing costumes, dreaming up props and mounting and dismounting plenty of circus apparatus, not to mention writing and checking off list after list after list. It's rewarding to see how our work is coming to life little by little.
Did you think that was all? Not yet. Three times a week I take a class in the aerial hoop. What´s that? It's a metal hoop with more or less a meter diameter. The first week of training was abdominals and arms strength building in preparation for the actual hoop. As with many circus acts, the hoop looks easy; yet one of the biggest challenges is the most basic - getting up. After our first month of training we have a routine and now it's all about attitude. For me, the strength training wasn't as difficult as just adding style to the exercises. How to move the arms and legs to create art - that's the part that I've really hd to work on. My teacher, Sergio, calls it casting a spell, and even if you aren't that advanced in the hoop, if you can cast a spell, an audience will love you.
Speaking of casting a spell, I've also been partaking in fire performances two or three times a week. I find this is another moment where I practice my attitude. Fire performance here in Playa is always sleek and sexy. Black and silver are the costume colors of choice. I'm not a hard core kind of girl but then again, it is performance. When I go out to spin fire I put on a spiked collar, leather bracelets and belts with chains. I wear black hot pants and crop tops and top it off with lots of crazy makeup. When I look in the mirror before I go on stage I still wonder if the people in the audience think I'm a masochist. It's all part of the show and what is portrayed to the audience and I make sure they know it's not really that dark.
With all this business I've had to plan out my days off so as to take advantage of the fact that I live near a beach. I managed well today and relaxed in the afternoon on the white sand beach and then went out on a hobie sailboat for an amazing ride out over the Carribean. Ahhhh...
The long and the short of all this is that things are changing and I'm both driving and riding the change. I'm having fun, making money and learning all at the same time and I don't think I could ask for anything more... wait, I could use a couple more hours in the day. Laugh, learn, love, and most of all, travel (even if it's in your own mind)!
I'm back in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. The blue waters of the Caribbean, sunshine and palm trees have all welcomed me back to paradise. I lived in Playa del Carmen two and a half years ago before my family and I began our adventure in China. Pancho and I had always talked about coming back here and we've made that reality.
My direction has changed. I'm finally doing what I always said I wanted to do - yoga and performance.
I'm teaching yoga. One day, while visiting a hotel hoping to sell performances I ended up in a conversation with the special events coordinator. I had brought along my resume and when he saw all of my experience in yoga he asked me if I would be willing to give two yoga classes on the beach to a special group. I happily agreed and gave a trial class a few days later to that same director of special events and to the director of the spa. I thought I was being asked to do a couple of classes on the beach but it turned out that the spa was also in search of a yoga instructor for their private and daily classes. Well, my trial class went over well and I've started giving private lessons to the guests at the hotel. It's been a wonderful way for me to do what I love and be paid. Each lesson is different, depending on the participants, what they are looking for and their previous experience. I meet new people all the time and we spend our hour stretching, breathing and opening up while taking in the view from the guests' private terrace. Many of my clients have booked extra classes after enjoying their first meeting with me and I'm glad to know that I can make their vacations that much more enjoyable. Que rico! I'm now talking with the spa about the possibility of starting the daily classes for the resort. I feel so fortunate to have this opportunity to grow as a teacher and learn more as a practitioner.
My yoga classes are almost always in the morning and when I leave the hotel I head straight to rehearsal. For a month now six people and I have been creating a show. We have combined circus arts, dance, live music and song together in a show called Avatar and the elements: water, earth, fire and air. The rehearsals have been intense and it has been, and is a continuing lesson in performance and in life. Trying to ensure that seven people arrive daily to practice together can be trying at times and especially in a culture that condones lateness and absenteeism. Keeping everyone motivated and focused once we're all at rehearsal is a responsibility I share with a couple other members of the group. Even with these challenges, we've been able to put together something beautiful that grows and matures daily. We began this past week presenting parts of the show in front of the public in order to polish our numbers and gain stage experience with the show. We are a diverse mix of talents and some of us are beginners (or close to it) while others have years of experience under their belts so we need time to work together in front of an audience. It can be exciting and nerve-racking to put myself in front of the public, and with experience my mind is calming and I'm able to focus more and more on the job at hand and my role in making the show come to life. What an adventure!
Apart from the onstage duties, there are also all the preparations that need to be made off-stage. I've been buying materials, designing costumes, dreaming up props and mounting and dismounting plenty of circus apparatus, not to mention writing and checking off list after list after list. It's rewarding to see how our work is coming to life little by little.
Did you think that was all? Not yet. Three times a week I take a class in the aerial hoop. What´s that? It's a metal hoop with more or less a meter diameter. The first week of training was abdominals and arms strength building in preparation for the actual hoop. As with many circus acts, the hoop looks easy; yet one of the biggest challenges is the most basic - getting up. After our first month of training we have a routine and now it's all about attitude. For me, the strength training wasn't as difficult as just adding style to the exercises. How to move the arms and legs to create art - that's the part that I've really hd to work on. My teacher, Sergio, calls it casting a spell, and even if you aren't that advanced in the hoop, if you can cast a spell, an audience will love you.
Speaking of casting a spell, I've also been partaking in fire performances two or three times a week. I find this is another moment where I practice my attitude. Fire performance here in Playa is always sleek and sexy. Black and silver are the costume colors of choice. I'm not a hard core kind of girl but then again, it is performance. When I go out to spin fire I put on a spiked collar, leather bracelets and belts with chains. I wear black hot pants and crop tops and top it off with lots of crazy makeup. When I look in the mirror before I go on stage I still wonder if the people in the audience think I'm a masochist. It's all part of the show and what is portrayed to the audience and I make sure they know it's not really that dark.
With all this business I've had to plan out my days off so as to take advantage of the fact that I live near a beach. I managed well today and relaxed in the afternoon on the white sand beach and then went out on a hobie sailboat for an amazing ride out over the Carribean. Ahhhh...
The long and the short of all this is that things are changing and I'm both driving and riding the change. I'm having fun, making money and learning all at the same time and I don't think I could ask for anything more... wait, I could use a couple more hours in the day. Laugh, learn, love, and most of all, travel (even if it's in your own mind)!
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