MoBro | Millennial Abroad

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.

I hate November; I loathe it with every fibre of my being. Everything about it feels so gray and gloomy. November for me is sort of like the middle child between the eldest, October, with its colourful foliage and cool breezes, and the youngest, December, with its commanding white, snowy majesty. It seems to read “middle child inferiority complex” all over its sullen face. I actually already documented my disdain for November during my senior year of university for a Montreal-based online magazine, Leacock’s (read here), so you know that I am a true November abolitionist, in favour of striking it from the collective consciousness altogether.

However, much like the approach I employed two years ago, I am choosing to embrace this misunderstood, penultimate, Gloom of a month. Beyond establishing an actual blogging schedule and reading more, I have multiple projects and activities I’m working on during November.

Practicing our setu bandha sarvangasana or bridge pose in front of Gwangan Bridge

First, alongside Jess, I will be doing a 30 Day Yoga Challenge. Both of us purchased a 1 month YogaGlo subscription, a fantastic website that allows you to make selections based on style, level, duration, and even by yoga instructor. My goal is fifteen 30 minute flows and fifteen 60 minute flows for the month – almost a full day of yoga. I’m *so* excited to get my asana on!

Brittany Teacher examining my beautiful handiwork…

Second, I’ve taken up the noble sport of knitting. I visited a yarn store in Gupo Market last weekend and bought some (admittedly weak) chenille fabric to make a scarf for the impending Busan winter winds. I’ve already managed to mess up my stitches and the scarf is riddled with holes and is generally imperfect, but I’m choosing to look at the holey mess as a metaphor for my life: a work in progress. Plus, it’s got this joint Slytherin-Ravenclaw sort of vibe, meaning I’ll wear it whenever I’m feeling ruthless or crafty and will pair it with a cloak or a wry smile.

Memories of the 2012 dad-stache in the beloved #Br0Mansion

Third, for the fourth year in a row, I will be sporting the always stylish dad-stache as a Movember participant. Now, in the past I’ve focused more on simply growing the moustache for two simple reasons: first, it brings awareness to a great cause; second, it allows me to explore the limitations of my hideous facial hair over the course of a month where the mockery I endure from others is more tolerable than in any other month. This year, I’m making an active effort to raise some funds (read: SPAMMING YOU ON EVERY SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNEL IMAGINABLE). If you’d like to donate to me as an individual, please check out my personal “Mo Space” here; otherwise, I really encourage you to donate to someone. Everyone knows someone affected by cancer so help spread the word, donate some chump change, or join the cause as a MoBro or MoSista!

Let’s explore nature instead of our esophageal limits!

Finally, the girls and I are engaging in the hottest new trend: autumnal sobriety! #SOvemBER will be an entire month dedicated to 2.0L bottles of water, protein shakes, and good old-fashioned, non-spiked, virgin orange juice. We’re opting for breezy, power hikes around the Busan seawall and temple visits as opposed to inebriated stumbles around KSU and toilet visits. See you in December/the Philippines, alcohol.

So, in the spirit of (YO)ga, (MO)ustaches, and (SO)briety, I’ve compiled the YoMoSoFlow playlist. These six remixes will last for a 30 minute flow and are the perfect motivation to get your asana on. Namaste!