Back to school

This is the first week of term and, after a rather brutal marking schedule, we are back to teaching. I get to teach my two favourite courses of the year: Modern European Drama and Documentary Theatre. Man, I love these modules! They are great fun and really challenge the dear ol' first years. In lecture 1 I encouraged them to roll around in jelly as a performative happening. You get the idea...

Other than that...I went back to the parentals for the weekend as my dad was acting in JB Priestley's When We Are Married. It was a very fun weekend seeing family. And dad was just great. It was rather fun to see him on stage again. I saw lots of people I haven't seen for ages, many of whom seemed surprised that Smelly and I had grown. I guess one grows a fair amount between the ages of 10 and 33!

I don't know if you keep up with my fitness plans but in the past year I have finished two pretty hardcore fitness challenges: GSP's Rushfit and Beachbody's Insanity. I loved both of them so much even though they were really tough. Working out regularly with a definite plan is great and I find it affects every area of your life. Days simply work better when you have laid aside some time to workout. As I have mentioned, January is a month of taking stock and quietly getting back into things. Recently this has included some pleasant walks, some cycling on my bike in front of the telly, some light weights and a tough(ish) run. As February approaches I am about to step it up again. And I have two new workout regimes to go with: Beachbody's Focus T25 and The Ultimate Yogi. The first of these is from the same company as Insanity and is a series of 25 minute workouts. Very good for those times when term takes over and I simply don't have time for any more. The latter is a bit different. When I was in Whistler a few years ago I did this amazing yoga class which I loved so much. Since then I have practiced yoga a little bit on and off. This Ultimate Yogi course makes you practice everyday and involves meditation and hardcore power yoga. Now I'm not totally sure what to make of yoga. As a Christian I struggle slightly with the religious connections, as you might expect. But I so love the peace that yoga brings. I'm going to give it a go and see how it feels. I am really excited about it as the idea of morning yoga practice every morning sounds very appealing...even if it will have to be at 4am in order to get it in! Oooo that is super early! I wonder what you reckon about yoga?

Anyways, the washing up beckons. And then I'd better get everything sorted for tomorrow. Got a pretty exciting few days in store with performances, trips to London, wrestling in Manchester and seeing the fam. Live is full of travels, fun work, writing, reading and workouts right now. Just how I like it!

CSW