So… I’m back.
It’s been a whole month since my last post and I owe you all an update about YoMoSovember! Sneak peak: lots of geriatric living, poses ending in -asana, and hair follicles!
My prettiest pussies and I in the Hwamyeong Eco-Park
First of all, SOvemBER was a total, stressful whirlwind– wait, who am I kidding? It was completely blissful and uneventful, in the best way possible. I woke up every weekend without a nagging headache caused by soju or a mouth that tasted like an ashtray. It was delightful. That’s not to say that there weren’t Friday nights after a nightmarish week at my academy when I didn’t want to drown myself in alcohol, but overall, my month (read: technically 6 weeks, since I stopped drinking as of October 20th) of sobriety was a peaceful and necessary change of pace.
Seasons in transit, yoga in transit
In addition, I completed my 30 Day Yoga Challenge! Well, to be fair, there were two Saturdays where I completely missed my flows and I only completed 21 hours of yoga for the entire month, as opposed to the original 22.5 hour goal. However discouraged I felt about not meeting these entirely self-imposed goals, I smiled every time I made it to my mat, felt myself growing in many unconscious ways (i.e. finding my breath naturally, more fluid transitions into poses, etc.) and felt myself becoming stronger each day. I took a week and a half break from yoga at the beginning of December, but have been flowing for the past week and let me tell you – that 10 day break did not do great things for my flexibility. Alas, all good things come with practice!
30 Days of Grime: The Dylan Doyle Memoir
Finally, I completed my fourth consecutive Movember! Not my finest look, but thanks to over 30 generous donors, my personal campaign raised $520.00 (a whole $220.00 more than my original goal)! Many thanks to the following cherry blossoms for their magnanimity:
My amazing friends: Kristen Pye, Desurée Vandendam, Adrienne Matei, Stephanie Pellett, Sinthya Ngo, Emily Maskell, Maddie Shirriff, Mary Collier, Lauren Owen, Lindsay Veenstra, Paige Halam-Andres, Isabelle Bi, Cicely Johnston, Yusra Khan, Nina Levere, McKenzie Perrin-Hart, Megan Venema, and Jess Sternberg;
Two lovely women responsible for the existence of two of my most beautiful friends: Linda Owen and Laurie Randle;
My fellow (and rosy-cheeked) Mobro: Tim Apedaile;
And finally, my incredibly supportive family: Melanie & Dan Doyle, Kayla Doyle, Sherri & Brian (Helliker-)Doyle, Ginny & Bob Merriman, and Erin & Dave Newark.
In addition, I decided to continue growing my little lip buddy until this past Sunday (the 15th). This decision was met with mixed reception, but I figured it was a good one while I am living in a foreign country where people already think I look strange.
Somehow, it’s already December 18th, which means less than one week until the Philippines, y’all.
Godspeed, Dylan Teacher. Godspeed.
Millennial Abroad 