The Splits

Let's just say that I've always assumed that I would never be able to do the splits, I remember trying to slide gracefully in this pose when I was a little girl, when your limbs are supposedly the most flexible. I saw all the gymnasts do it on TV and thought, why not try? So try I did...I mean if it's on TV then anyone can do it, right?? :) I only made it down so far but could never quite get my legs flat on the floor. Oh well, eventually I decided that it just wasn't physically possible for this little girl to do. 
Fast forward about 20 years and that little girl now sees people, in real life, doing the splits right next to her in yoga class almost every day! Yoga has become a huge part of my life, since I started practicing just over two years ago. I started out incredibly "unbendy" and now find myself contorting into poses that I stared in awe at people doing in the very first class I attended. I'm not an advanced yogi by any means, but do strive to someday be able to do headstands and even the scorpion pose, among other advanced poses. The splits, though, has never been on my list of goal poses. It's just something I thought I knew my body could just never do because there are limits to my flexibility and I assumed this was one of those limits, therefore just kind of accepted that fact. It's not like the splits were going to change the direction of my life or anything.
In addition to yoga being a large part of my life these days, I've also been consumed with decision to attend grad school to get my MBA and ideally I want to start next fall. In order to apply for grad school, I need to take the GMAT test, which intimidated me to no end, especially the math portion. So to prepare for this test and in order to feel confident in my math abilities, I enrolled in a GMAT prep course. I attended the first class this past Sunday where they presented all the students with a stack of at least 15 study books, including a guide to preparing for grad school, with information on the timelines, what admissions at the top 10 schools are looking for in candidates, etc. Pretty intimidating for someone who hasn't been in a classroom in 6 years, but I was actually really excited to dive into the material and start learning again. (Guess that means I really am ready to go back to school, ha!) I've been researching all different MBA programs and of course, drooling over the programs at the top 10 schools, but pretty much knowing that I wouldn't be able to get into any of those schools. I mean, I didn't attend an ivy league college with a major in neuroscience, while saving the children AND the rain forest in a 3rd world country...so why look or even try, ya know? And course, after looking just to torture myself, I fall absolutely in love with one of the ivy league programs...what can I do to get into this program that received over 7,000 applications last year, but only accepted about 300 candidates?! I dived into the MBA guide book to discover what I needed to do...and it basically told me that I'm screwed and if I want a shot that I should wait another year to apply, but to go out and save the world in the meantime to strengthen my application. Yeah...not the answer I wanted and the frustrating thing is that I'm not getting any younger and I know if given the opportunity I would absolutely thrive at this top 10 school...and I just love the program, but at this point, a lot can happen in a year, waiting would be hard to do and I want to get started now. So what do I do?? Wait for a year to potentially get rejected or try now with almost certain rejection? 
And neither option is appealing to me, I needed to clear my head, so off to yoga I went. Usually going to one class makes my world crystal clear and puts me back on track. Not that day. I was not only mentally conflicted during class, but also distracted by the actor who came in late and set up his mat right next to mine. I wasn't distracted in the star-struck way because he comes to class all the time, but distracted in the annoyed way as I wanted to focus on yoga, but now I had this actor next to me which was taking some of my attention because I was half-hoping for something funny to happen while we were practicing to also distract me from my grad school thoughts. 
It wasn't something funny that happened at all, we're nearing the end of all the standing poses and doing the final deep stretches, which is when the Gumbys of the class slide effortlessly in the splits, normally this does not bother me at all. Oh, but that day, when I see this actor right next to me, who had just started going to yoga less than 2 months before, start sliding into the splits position, I was annoyed. He is not the lean, slender, typical yoga type, definitely not the type you'd expect to see doing the splits. How could he do that?!?! How could he do the splits and I couldn't?? Suffice it to say, I didn't leave class in my usual state of bliss that day. 
I went back to yoga the next day having forgot about the splits incident the previous day, but still confused about my life's direction, even after consulting with two of my wisest and logical friends. This class was much better, no distracting actor today and when we got to that same deep stretching point...I don't know what possessed me, but without really thinking about it, I started to slide into the splits...and it was almost effortless, before I knew it, I was almost parallel with the floor and it didn't hurt!! My jaw was probably on the floor because I had no idea that I could do what I was just doing...without a problem!! I kept looking at my legs as if they were not my own, I had never seen them do this before. How did I not know that I could do the splits?!?! Granted, it wasn't perfect splits form, but it was on it's way. I was shocked, I really had surprised myself, I did something that I had no idea that I was even capable of doing and I had pretty much assumed I couldn't do it, so I hadn't tried before. And I was able to get up from the pose as effortlessly as I started it. 

After I shook myself out of my state of shock, I realized that this was kind of the whack on the head that I needed for my grad school dilemma. I have to just go for it, all of it, this year, not a year from now...I have to try because I could surprise myself again, I could do something that I had no idea I was capable of doing! And if I don't get into the top-10 school, then it wasn't meant to be...wherever I end up in a year is exactly where I'm supposed to be, but I have to try now, to give myself that opportunity to see what happens. Who knows...maybe I'd be one of the first yogis, who can do the splits, at this top-10 school? Ya never know! 

Bridge to Nowhere

The name sounds ominous, but it’s really quite the opposite…while Fresca and I were searching for the Bridge to Nowhere on Saturday, I stumbled upon somewhere I needed to be. One thing about me that is important to understand is that I don’t like to give up, it’s something that I used to equate with failure. I’ve come to realize that giving up in certain situations isn’t failure at all. Instead, it’s having the courage to realize when to let go in order to move on, or in this case to turn around before making it to the Bridge to Nowhere.

I’d have to say that when it comes to adventures with Fresca, we’re not going to take the easiest or the shortest route, we’re going to take on as much or more than we think we can handle. This is how we got started on my first 9-mile hike in the San Gabriel Mountains on our way to the Bridge to Nowhere. Unlike Fresca, I’d like to note that my most recent hiking experience prior to this adventure was a quick jaunt through Runyon Canyon’s paved and identifiable dirt paths where there’s really no chance of getting lost. I have been hiking before that though, in the real wilderness in Oregon, while camping with my cousins when I was much younger. My uncles would take us on a “hike”…which really meant, “let’s wander through the forest and not really know where we’re going, but we’ll figure out how to get back to our campsite at some point, oh and don’t forget to find a walking stick.” Hours later, after us kids were sufficiently worn out and my uncles finally took out their compasses, we’d stumble back into camp. The Bridge to Nowhere hike was a mix of both of these experiences, minus the compass…however, it was decided after this hike that a compass would be a necessary companion for the next nature adventure.

 We probably got started on our adventure a little later in the day than we should have, given that it was 2pm when we made it to the trail head with 9 miles to go before the sun went down…I’d also like to note that we’re both Italian and sometimes when the two of us are together, as much as we try to stick to a schedule, time just slips by as we have perfected the art of doing nothing, but everything.

The hike started off really well, the path was easy to find, there were a lot of people passing us, finishing their hike as we were beginning ours. We thought we chose the path that only involved four river crossings, instead of the 16 crossings that our buddy Herb from the ranger station told us about. (We don’t actually know if Herb is his real name, that’s just what we decided to call him.) I definitely wasn’t the most excited about the forging through the river especially when I forgot my old running shoes and only brought my new ones…I tried to tiptoe my way through the river on the rocks to avoid getting my feet wet, but that didn’t work too well. By the fifth or tenth crossing (who’s counting?) and yes, there were more than four because apparently, somehow, we ended up on the river path instead of the other one…so, by the fifth or tenth crossing, whichever it was, I was in the river past my knees with Fresca in front, laughing at me, as I was concentrating on trying to tiptoe through the river trying not to get any more wet. Yes, I know…I was knee deep in a river, trying not to get wet, kind of an oxymoron, but still, I gave forewarning that I don’t like to give up, even when it comes to keeping dry while half-submerged in a river. But I did find a walking stick to help get me through the river, up the rocks and around the mountain…it’s one thing I picked up from hiking with my uncles and having this necessary object was reiterated by the two gold-panners that we came across mid-way through our hike.  Not lying, I know that the gold rush is waaaay over, but they were real-life gold panners, complete with backpacks filled with gold-panning gear, a bucket, sifters, and shovels in hand. They were also very insistent that we find walking sticks. After meeting the old panners, with their shovels, and then seeing Hiker Bob playing with his knife while walking in front of us, we decided it was probs a good idea to pick up a large stick for the remainder of the hike and that we were definitely bringing a knife on the next adventure.

So we continued on after we passed the gold panners, after Hiker Bob decided to turn back, after we followed shoeprints and dog prints in the dirt to pick up the trail we lost somewhere along the way…it was when we were standing in the river, no visible trail on either side and the sun was starting to disappear behind the mountain, that we decided the Bridge to Nowhere wasn’t going anywhere, so we might as well come back and find it another day. The trail, at that point when we started to head back, wasn’t hard to pick up and of course, we saw where we missed it after we already turned around…and again, of course, the first set of hikers we ran into on our way back told us how close we were to the bridge when we turned back, probably less than 15 minutes away. Ohhh welll…it will still be there when we go back, and my madre would be proud, that we made the smart decision to turn around when the sun started to go down despite the fact that we were soooo close. :)

Even though we didn’t make it to the Bridge to Nowhere, somewhere in the midst of the river crossing, rock climbing and following footprints (and pawprints), I realized it wasn’t about getting to the bridge that really mattered and as cliché as it sounds, it was getting lost along the way there, then trusting our intuition to find our way back was what I really needed to experience that day. I am learning, however slowly, that sometimes it is best to let go of the desire to always push forward no matter what, to finish, to not give up because with this tunnel vision, it’s possible to lose sight of the trail I’m on. Instead, I’m realizing that it’s the journey along the way, getting my feet wet in the river, is what this crazy adventure we’re on is all about anyway. And remembering to bring a compass and a knife on the next nature adventure…andiamo!