I don't know exactly who is going to be reading this blog, so I am not wholly sure how I will approach you, the audience. I think that might mean this will be an almost (in that it will be slightly edited) stream of consciousness about my latest undertaking, a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training. For those who don't know I have just begun a YTT on Oct 3, and will be continuing through until December. Even as I write this, I know that I will most likely continue on being a student forever in all sorts of ways - but the formal training at least, with Sufey and Allowah, will end in Dec.

I titled this post intentions for a number of reasons. First, it is a staple of yogic practice as I understand it, focusing the mind on the things you want to manifest, encapsulate, nurture, or conversely, let go. The intention of each practice makes a difference I have found, and intellectually I think that each time this intention will be the same. Of course it is not, as moment to moment I am not the same so how could my intention be (I am sure this is a debatable point). The second reason is that I wanted to set an intention for this blog. In many ways it is about being seen and cultivating a voice, and fulfilling some requirements, etc.. but I also firmly believe it is a venue for exploration and discussion (hopefully). An infinite canvass (which is one of my new favorite terms). A seedling with limitless potential.

Yoga as it is conceptualized by most of the people I know is but a fraction of what I practiced this last weekend. It is not just about physical poses. It is also about mental poses. About disciple and commitment, about self-love and acceptance and about exploration (among many many other things). My intention with this blog is to document how I experience all of the above. So far, we have been talking philosophy as much as anything else and I find that diving into this aligns well with my own conceptualization of simultaneous nurturing of mind and body.

So buckle-up dear reader, or don't, that is OK too. If you are willing, I invite you to take this bio-psycho-social-spiritual jaunt with me over the next 3 months to see what there is to be seen.

Also - the crew I am practicing with, my "tribe" as I have learned it is called, is amazing. They are all different, and supportive, and strong, and vulnerable and willing - and I think that is rad.

-Jesse