I work as a crochet instructor in Brooklyn on Thursdays. So I was planning to take a hot yoga class after work at the Y7 Williamsburg location.
Even just a crochet class, there are some dramas.
Some students feel sad, and inferior, for … all the reasons they are of course entitled to have. Apparently, one student made a comment to someone last week, and one participant got upset and made some requests.. so the management came in and announced and requested certain manners from all the participants.
Now, this is a relaxed adult class, so they often don’t come in on time. There were only 2 participants. I wished they did not announce such a sensitive thing to a class of only 2 people… Later the class had more than 10, but the announcement was not repeated… I mean… what is the point of learning how to crochet…if you have to feel stressed about it? I feel like taking everyone to a yoga class. lol
I was motivated to go to the yoga class… but after the class and a lot of thought exchanges, and somehow the team got busy and could not come to help cleaning up the class…. I was again being behind the schedule… I… I just did not feel like going there rushing again.
I must have known that I may not go because I did not reserve the class yet.
So I came home, and tried to study a little, then the next thing I noticed was my old best friend. The sauvignon blanc spritzer in my favorite wine glass.
Grrrr 😖 I couldn’t win against the lazy me. I just didn’t want to go and take a class and I let myself follow that feeling.
Next thing I noticed, I had a glass of Sauvignon blanc in one hand and chilling with a comedy skit by Jimmy O Yang on YouTube… of course laying on my couch horizontally.
I have been fixated on the ClassPass… but I still am studying online and working (for myself…).
So not only I am being wrong about not taking a class but also I am being wrong with not studying or working or doing something to improve myself.
Thinking, and knowing so… I continued laying around and sipping my sauvignon blanc… oh did I mention, it was actually a spritzer?
I started my first course today at the UoPeople: Learning Theory and Implications for Instruction.
So I read the syllabus, learning guide for the unit, reading and discussion assignments details…
It felt a lot… and these are all for this one week…
I definitely need a plan…
So I decided to make a plan, a good plan! well, I was ready, I had already downloaded a study plan from the UoPeople’s community site. I was well informed the fact that a good planning is the key to successfully complete the learning week!
The study plan that was shared within the students’ community!
It is so amazing, how people are giving!! This study plan helped me to have a clear learning week vision ! I felt so grateful…
but I felt like, I needed to arrange things here and there… So I created this, using Evernote app. I was just going to change a few things…
I customized the study plan template for me!
but then again, I wanted more important info on the plan, so I moved onto the google sheet…
Then it became like this…
Before even coming to this point, I spent pretty substantial time to learn how to navigate myself on the online campus… how to take notes digitally, how to use an online library… and so on….
Now I have spent a good few hours trying to make a study plan TEMPLATE! (not the actual van planning yet… )
So now I finally move on to the real reading assignment… 1st page… oh it’s interesting… I should take a note… and highlight… but wait… how??
Now, we can study at the UoPeople 100% digitally. Even all the learning reading materials are from online and from open sources… Yes, that’s right… We don’t need to go anywhere, and we do not need to buy textbooks! They are all online! Sounds so great!
…but then…
As soon as I started my reading assignment, I realized there are so much more to learn how to read digitally efficiently.
To read a book we open a book and then read. To read a digital book, first we download the PDF (or a book), then upload to an app of our choice, then figure out how to highlight, take notes, etc, ete…
I first try to read it on my laptop… mmm not so great… then I tried to read on the google drive… mmm not so great…. You know what I m gonna use kindle! I know how to use that!! So I uploaded my PDFs on my laptop, then downloaded a kindle app, uploaded the PDFs to kindle, then synced my iPhone kindle so I can read on my phone now!
But I did not see my PDF reading assignments in my kindle… WHY?? I tried to figure out how to read the PDF on my kindle…
It turned out that we have to email the documents to our own KINDLE EMAIL! did you know we had kindle emails??
After all these hustle I found out I could not highlight my PDF on kindle…
Please believe me I could use kindle, no problem! I know how to highlight, how to look up the words in a dictionary, how to take notes within kindle!! I just did not know those are not the cases for PDF documents… for PDF, kindle could only bookmark… 😭🥺
I am so shocked… how inconvenient… Anyway… after so many hours, I went back to square 1… reading it on my laptop… but at least I finally started reading … !!!
Thinking… So… it’s like the art of studying… Something we need to sophisticate as we go along with…
I … just… do not think… I have enough time to master this art before the due day in 6 days…
Besides being a fashion designer, as a part of a lifestyle design, I practice and also teach yoga… Currently I have hot yoga classes in a studio called Zen and Yoga in forest hills NY. Yesterday before my yoga class, one lovely couple who come regularly to my class complemented me so generously… I obviously was flattered, but confirmed that people are like mirrors… because I felt the same way about them… They are such beautiful people… they courageously came in to the hot yoga room, and stick to the practice… keeping open minds and coming back to the mats… and they come together every week. They support each other… I honestly believe the world peace starts with supporting your immediate surrounding first… so I have been admiring their beings and efforts week after week… and I see them getting stronger every week, that has been so empowering…
So when they complemented me, I knew that they see themselves in me also… we mirror each other…
If I tell you that the greatest teacher of all for you is actually YOU… do you believe me?
We all have the teacher in us. It is the inner wisdom…
One great teacher can try to teach 100 people the same thing, but they probably will learn it 100 different ways… maybe some do and maybe some don’t right away. It is really up to the person to learn … but when you did learn, you did it, yourself… not the “teacher”.
I do “teach” yoga every week… but my students are also my teachers… they reflect all my elements, happiness, anger, love, compassion, fears, worries, etc etc…
As it may seem challenging as it is… life is so beautiful… because of you… So thank you those who come into my life….
This is the last new moon for 2018… I am setting my intention to believe in myself even more and move forward to spread my B•hū•UR message for the next full moon and year!!
Opening my online store BhuUR.com in August 2018, miraculously, I made a few sales … I so appreciate your support… Thank you so much!!
I was so happy to receive this picture from this beautiful customer (J.J) on her beautiful vacation!! She is wearing one of B•hū•UR’s tops, “I 💖 2cu Happy” french terry top! Awww … She looks SO CUTE!!
I loved this photo so much, first with her permission I put it on my instagram @rikarikastudio, and on facebook… I got good responses on the posts… So I asked her if I can use the pictures for my website…
She said YES! and VOILAVOILA! the first B•hū•UR fashion ambassador was born!
B•hū•UR Ambassador!! yes yes that’s it!! I felt I could connect with the world with my message (Be Who You Are!) more with her example! She made it easier for this top to connect with others!! She is an ambassador!!
I would love to see you happy!! Please send me your pictures wearing B•hū•UR designs and be inspired to inspire others to be who they are!!
Yes! Just B•hū•UR !!
Be the next B•hū•UR model and ambassador !!
Thank you for spreading the love and the message… xoxo
Today one of my Namastees was sold!!! and it will be worn by a lady called Ms.Nama! It is now Nama’s tee!
A few days ago, I taught a yoga class wearing my Namastee-shirt… After the class I was asked by one of the yogis who took my class where I got the T-shirt I was wearing!!
Tada! e-hem… I designed it!!!!!!!! I was so surprised and definitely flattered to be asked about my product!
But the surprise did not stop there… He told me his wife’s nick name is Nama and he would want to get the tee shirt for her… because then it will be really Nama’s tee-shirt!! ( Awww what a thoughtful husband…)
I was so surprised how beautiful and humorous a coincidence can be!! and really loved how my design is so personal to some people even at unconscious level!
I could not help but to customize the graphic for this special occasion…!!
I hope my Namastee will be happy to be Nama’s tee now…
If you would like to customize wordings on some of my products, I will try to accommodate your requests as much as possible!! Please drop me a line!
Also please sign up for my newsletter for future sales and new products info!
Life is beautiful and fun! Thank you for being a part of it!!!
For me, it was a very organic month… It really felt like it allowed me to go with the flow… I started teaching more yoga organically, reconnected with friends organically, traveled organically, decluttered my place and rearranged my furniture organically… lol
Organically means I did not plan to… I was just ready to…
I was asked to teach more yoga classes… I was not looking to… but I wanted to… so I just said YES when I was asked. I subbed a few classes too, so taught in a hot room, regular room, in an office, and even in a gym! It is challenging but so much fun to put myself out there with what I love… a bit like designing products… lol. and, I got more phone calls and text messages from random friends, and just embracing those opportunities I was surrounded by good friends, including my college friends that I have not seen for many years!!… I also visited some of my friends’ places that is located a few hours away from my place, and it felt like vacations! You see my picture? That is me on a farm in NJ with my friends’ dog Rosie! it was so relaxing and so nice to be in touch with the nature and the (halloween) season… and oh wow… I am not sure if I am happy about this, but I rearranged my furniture because I got mice in my apartment while I was away for a few days!! Boohoo… I was looking for the holes on the wall and I moved and rearranged some furnitures now… it looks actually much better than before though…!! and since … mice had a party in my place, I throw away some items otherwise I would have still clinging on to… and this was something I wanted to do for a long time… lol.
As for creative activities as a designer, this too unfolded organically… I could not do a lot of things I planned to such as opening my Etsy store (lol, coming soon) and move forward to more design works… (lol coming soon too) but I got a new SSD and Hard drives for my MacBook! My friend who is super talented at apple products helped me to upgrade my vintage 2012 MacBook with Max Memory and high speed performance!! Whoa!!! So now I have no choice but to perform my best as I cannot blame my “vintage” MacBook for slowness anymore… lol
Sometimes embracing the NOW is not easy… because I am not certain and could always have the sense of being out of control… but we have to trust intuition more… because at the end.. it all works out organically and sometimes even more perfectly than perfectly planned plans…
So cheers to the organic month… Looking forward to what November will bring to us…
Wow! Time flies! and it is already October and another new moon…(yesterday)…
It is a good time to set and renew our intentions for this cycle… It may sound silly but it helps me to keep myself being guided.
Around the last full moon, I got a new offer to teach a weekly class at a yoga studio… I setted an intention to teach more yoga classes on that cycle… and voila, it fulfilled… Now it is time to set a new intention… what could it be…?
Teaching yoga in NYC is really interesting… Sometimes I am mesmerized by the contrast of the super busy life styles of New Yorkers and the super dedicated yoga practice of theirs… and we have so many great yogis in this urban environment…
I really enjoy both sides of life, New York and Yoga… and that inspired me to create this new “Namaste collection… “
It was a therapeutic design approach coming from my fun spirit and I enjoyed building the collection… I was already so satisfied to just see the products in my online store… but awww I am so thankful that some people actually bought the items!! This makes me feel I am connected to them.
So have you had a chance to look at my “Namaste collection” ?It is now available in my store…
In the collection, I have a new favorite tee called “Namastee” lol.
It is a Tee shirt saying Namastee on the chest and why it says so… teehee. I wanted to make this design when I needed to run from a yoga class in Brooklyn I had just taught and needed to run to teach another yoga class in Queens… My hands were busy getting the paperworks, my mat, my bags, my water, and then as I was leaving I was saying good byes and namastes to the clients… just without the hand gesture… omg isn’t that important? Oh well… what can I do? I am a busy urban yogi… lol. but I do care!! A LOT!! so the Namastee was born.
Let’s see if this tee shirt will bring me more peace for the next class… lol
Are you like me?? Need this Tee shirt? Please sign up for my news letter to get a sales info and special coupons!!
Being B•hū•UR 