Talk about badass biological transformation.

Typical life cycle of a jellyfish:

I’ve noticed that something has been happening for a little while. I am changing. I haven’t changed yet, but I can feel the process. It has everything to do with how poorly I’ve treated my body for the past 29 years of my life and now as I approach 30 and have been introduced to Bikram Yoga, I am a flower petal blooming. I am a polyp ephyra budding.

My yoga instructor calls me Gina. This is not my name, my name is Martina. It’s been about four classes since the name Martina turned into Gina. It took me a while to figure out she was talking to me, but I respond to it because I respond to everyone’s corrections and now it has just stuck. My instructor is so helpful. She has given me so many mind blowing adjustments, it’s like she’s created a whole other person, we’ll call her Gina. So, the other night she conducted such an awesome class for me that I’m going to say it was my best ever. Afterwards I wanted to tell her how fantastic it was and remind her my name, but by the time I got dressed she was nowhere to be found, so I am still Gina.

I realize that I enjoy being Gina. She gets a lot of attention. She is young and fun and spontaneous and she eats and drinks whatever she wants. She lives in the moment, rarely giving thought to the future. She enjoys life to the fullest but at times looses balance.

In a few months though, she is getting married. It is perfect timing as far as her age is concerned, but it is not a product of following the next step in her relationship nor the next step in her life cycle. It is a product of wanting to take that step with the particular person who is standing beside her. And for the first time in her life Gina has found herself thinking about the future and loving it: she can imagine her priorities, goals, and passions. Her future fellow aisle walker (fiancée) has already found a new passion too and although they are totally different interests they still talk about them together as if they are the same. In so many ways they are: the passions are both wickedly difficult and challenging, physically and mentally. Both passions are changing their bodies drastically and encouraging them to eat and drink the right things and not poison their bodies with the toxins both passions are so good at ridding. It makes so much sense that on two totally different paths, this couple can still travel together.

So it may be a while before I happen to have another class with the instructor who calls me Gina. Maybe the universe will decide when; maybe it will be when I have fully transformed into the image of my greatest potential.  Regardless, I am looking forward to that day when the polyp becomes a jellyfish and Gina becomes Martina.

And wow-dang, I might even have a new last name!