Balance is in the Air

Today its like someone turned on a switch and summer was gone. I was chilly for the first time since spring today during my lunch scramble to pay bills, buy lunch and stock up on groceries before I returned to work.

This has been a difficult summer for me, well difficult as in I was working off high levels of energy and am just now feeling I might have the space to rest.   While still in Tainan, my gym went out of business which was a dampener to my energy even tho I worked out at the park with friends or did yoga twice a week.

Also, this was the first summer in six years, we did not go somewhere. I find travel exhilarating, thrilling, it restores my energy not depletes it.This time I didn't have the money or time for it. I needed my money entertaining my family, moving, paying for a deposit on a new apartment and a car.

This summer I was mostly packing, looking for apartments online, getting rid of books, clothes and more packing. My folks came to visit, and that took a lot of energy. I ate out a lot, and worked out less. Working out also gives me tons of energy.

After I moved to Yilan, it was a week off to move in and then I was teaching the summer program for my new school. Its a big learning curve for me, teaching Junior High all levels, elementary and kindergarten. I am teaching 26 classes a week and am breaking all my ingrained Tainan rules: no skipping lunch breaks,  bringing work home or over-time. I'm bone tired! Evidence of just how busy I've been is I hadn't the time to go shopping at the traditional morning market on Saturday until last Saturday-I've been in Yialn since July. On the plus side, weekends in Yilan in summer have been amazing. There is always something wonderful outdoorsy to do to enjoy the fresh air. Now that the rain has started....

Yilan Sports Park last weekend, a perfect October day

I noticed this week that the ever so slightly cooler temperature invites me to slow down. It was 70 degrees Fahrenheit at 6 am, which felt chilly. I'm telling myself I need to be balanced. I started working out for ten minutes (all flat out, no rests like Zuzka's or the 12 Minute Athlete) before breakfast, I have a new yoga buddy for Saturday mornings, and started getting into my neglected TRX again 3x during the week. I am going to make an effort to  breakaway from my school during my lunch break and hit Yilan Sports Park, which is a million times better than any gym. But now the rain has started.

I came home from work yesterday and it was dark. The days and night seems to be evenly the same-another sign of balance. Heaven is a sunny day in Yilan in October. October grounds me.

Finding the balance in Svarga Dvidasana, Sunday at Yilan Sports Park