Today I leave for California. While there, I’ll be taking a month-long yoga teacher training course at YogaWorks in Costa Mesa, California – right in the heart of Orange County. When not at classes, I can indulge myself at Laguna, Newport, or Huntington Beach, visit DisneyLand, see the giant Hollywood sign, or drive an hour-and-a-half to San Diego. While this sounds like a vacation (and I’m sure it’ll turn into one Friday night-Sunday night), I’ll actually be quite busy taking classes.

Come August 31, I’ll have earned my 200-hour certificate which means I can teach at smaller studios around the world. There is such thing as a 500-hour cert and people who attain those can teach at major studios and can also teach others how to be a yoga instructor. Throughout the next month, I’ll be taking classes from 7:15-4:15 every day, as well as a multitude of yoga classes outside of the training. In the end, I’ll essentially be “doing yoga” for 200 hours in a month! There are training courses where you can attend only on the weekends, but doing this would take months and months, which frankly I don’t have. Without a steady income at the moment, I need to get done with schooling as soon as possible so that I can start my new adventure. Doing this intensive training course means that what takes most people weekend upon weekend upon weekend, I’ll be done with in 4 weeks and I’ll be doing it in California!!

Will I teach yoga when I’m finished? At this point, I really hope I can find places to do it. I’d like to combine my editing and writing efforts for freelance positions then teach yoga at a studio (or studios) all in the comforts of Chicago. That’s my plan now…who knows what’ll happen come September. Wouldn’t it be nice to not have to work 7-4 every day?

I’m excited (albeit a bit nervous) for the coming weeks mostly because this is a dream that I’ve had for a long time and I’m taking my destiny into my own hands to do something that I love. My moving to Hong Kong was my first step in becoming me, this is the next. Here’s to a great month continuing to figure out my life!