Vacation time!

As a teacher in the Northeast, I have the distinct pleasure of experiencing "Mid-Winter Break"!  Growing up in NJ, no one went skiing, people went to Florida in the summertime, and certainly no one went to the Caribbean, so a week off in February was unheard of.  Even now, knowing the week off is there, I don't usually have my act together enough to plan something.  Once, 2 years ago, we did take a trip to Orlando, but that was at the hands of my darling husband.  It was lovely to be able to escape the cold, but sometimes I relish the time to just "decompress".  This year, more than ever, I really need to have absolutely NO committments for a week.  I even turned off the alarm clock!

It's been a non-stop stress fest around here since Christmas.  There is always so much running about involved with the holidays, and my in-laws came to visit for an extended (6freakingweeks!) stay (I'm still looking for shit they misplaced in my kitchen), so that was hardly relaxing.  While they were here, 2011 decided to show up with one stressful thing after another.  I don't need to go into the gorey details, just suffice it to say, I need this week off.  And I'd like to spend it doing yoga.  I'm quite content to live vicariously through my contemporaries and their Florida ski trips to the Caribbean.

I am off to a good start - I took the Saturday class yesterday to stretch-out a week of bad form on the elliptical, and it felt great.  Today, I think I'll try for a DVD, and I think I can make it to classes a few days this week.  Will I do DVDs on the other days?  Will I squeeze in a Studio class?  Will I rest my muscles a day or two?  I don't know, and it's not important right now.  I don't want to work myself up into a stress fest on my vacation.  One thing's for sure...it's going to feel SO good to wake up when my body is ready and not to the sound of a beeping alarm!

Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured and endure what cannot be cured - B.K.S. Iyengar