How I Became A Yoga Nazi

Welcome to another Blog This! challenge. This time around the challenge goes something like this:


Tell your readers a tale. About something you learned. Be it driving, scuba-diving or maybe another language... riding a bike, learning to read, learning to cook a special meal - make it interesting or funny or shocking!

When I moved to the USA to take up a year long job as a nanny ( to three gorgeous boys – M, T and H ) I’d really thrown myself in at the deep end – my first time travelling overseas, going to the opposite side of the world from all my family and friends, to live with people I’d never met before. I figured if I was completely overhauling my entire life, why not my body aswell? And so, after 7 or 8 weeks of living in the US, I became brave enough to go to my first ever yoga class.

I’d always wanted to try yoga, but I’d never been brave enough before. I’d always thought I was too fat ( I wasn’t ), too unco-ordinated ( I wasn’t ) and too embarrassed ( I wasn’t ) to give it a go. But living in a town where you know hardly anybody has its advantages – it means hardly anyone knows YOU, and that gives you a certain amount of anonymity. So I thought “ Hell, if I mess up too badly or do something too embarrassing, I just wont go back!! “ But I got there, and I stole a spot at the back of the class, and I followed along as best as I could…. And I didn’t stuff up, I didn’t do anything embarrassing, and I loved it! And I’ve loved it ever since.

My first yoga teacher, Cindy, was a tiny, blonde, whirlwind of energy but when it came to yoga she was patient and calm and encouraging. She’d come through class and if you weren’t aligned properly she’d ask if she could help you with your pose. Through this way of teaching I became pretty good at yoga ( if I do say so myself ) – and very obsessed with proper alignment. Cindy would push or prod you in the right direction and eventually I learned when my body wasn’t doing something right and corrected myself. When I came back to Australia the obsession continued and I asked my new yoga teachers to tell me when I wasn’t lined up correctly in a pose.

Now I notice when others in class aren’t aligned right in their poses. I want to walk over and push them and pull them or whisper in their ear “ Pelvis forward, shoulders up, back and down “ – but that would be rude. ( I also want to walk up and bitch-slap the women who talk and giggle to each other through the class but that would be very un-Yogi of me… ). I’ve even considered taking Yoga teacher training but that got thrown on the backburner when I fell pregnant. Its still something I’d love to do down the line though. So, if you're ever in Dub-Vegas taking a yoga class and a small brunette with glasses glares at you from the back right hand corner of the room – that’s me, the Yoga Nazi. I may want to push, pull, prod or punch you, but its only for your own good…..

My Weekend by the Numbers

So I totally stole this idea from Miss Em, right down to the idea of having a picture of numbers ( but not the same picture - that would be a little too Single White Female.... ). Feel free to steal it from me if you like ( but not my picture, I have dibs on that one ). Here goes:

30 - dollars spent on my almost-three year old neice when I took her shopping with me.

5 - dollars wasted when she only ate the icing off her donut and decided that her milkshake was too cold.

4 - goals scored when my brothers soccer team won their semi-final. That would be 4 - nil - bring on the final next week!

30 - millimetres of rain that fell on DubVegas over the weekend.

12 - how many of the soccer boys i predict will be getting pnuemonia after training and playing in all that rain.

55 - minutes spent practising yoga on Saturday afternoon.

1 - apology from my yoga teacher for subjecting me to one too many " roll ups/ roll downs " during my classes this week. No worries, my stomach is looking all the better for it!

800 - approximate amount of calories I consumed when eatingmy Dads homemade lasagne. But its Dads lasagne and its so delicious and cheesy and.....

0 - number of naps I took. Yes, i missed out on my weekend naps. What a travesty....

1 - book that i finally got around to finishing: " On Chesil Beach ", by Ian McEwan.


A little disappointing after " Atonement " but certainly not the worst thing I've ever read. It actually took me a little while to get into it, so i think that may have been half the trouble. Plus, and this might just be me, but one of characters is just really unlikeable, no matter how much the author tries to explain her perspective. Its hard to like something when you dont particularly like one of the protagonists....

Just call me Aphrodite

I wasnt going to go to the gym this afternoon but, seeing as i had been reading Fitness and Health Australia magazines for an hour or so, i figured i'd better go. I'm glad i did. A run on the treadmill and a yogas class and now i feel like a goddess.....