Do What You Love - episode one: Afton

*This is the first in a series of posts that I will be featuring here on Monday mornings that I made for the Gap, you can read HERE for more info about how this series came to be, and the finer details of what it's all about. In short: This is the first in a new series that will be featuring women who Do What They Love for a living. Women who are living their lives on their own terms, and finding success.

This is Afton. I have known Afton since she was 18 years old, working & living both here in Florida, and in Tokyo, Japan for a dance company. She was the first person that I had ever met that was living her dream. At that age I was mostly surrounded by friends "stuck" in temporary jobs in the service industry, or still fighting it out in school, or they were just starting to figure out how to get to the life they wanted. Some of the friends had already succumbed to the idea that dreams are unrealistic, and had given up on theirs, and encouraged others to do the same. So Afton was an early hero of mine, and a great example that you can manage your life, get your bills paid, and have a social circle while running down your dreams. Over the years I have watched her make her living by doing exactly what she loves, first as an accomplished ballet dancer, then next onto mastering yoga to a staggering degree of skill and precision. In order to protect the connection that she had made while practicing yoga as a student, she pushed forward to complete the training she needed to become a teacher/instructor of Bikram Yoga. In just five years time (because of how dedicated she is to her life) she went from student, to teacher, to just last year winning 3rd place in the National Yoga Competition held in Los Angeles. She is that person that sets her sites on a goal and then runs it down, without running other people over.

Through all of her training and dedication both as a student, a teacher, and an athlete in training, she also still holds down a job as a bartender. Balancing two completely opposite worlds that satisfy both her connections she has with her friends and being social, along with her connection to yoga. She speaks of life as walking a "tight rope" when I pressed her about not being able to ever let loose and have fun with friends or be indulgent in food and drink: "If you want to have a drink, have a drink. If you want to eat birthday cake, eat birthday cake, it's just a matter of flushing that stuff out of you so that it doesn't effect you as harshly. Everyday is a balancing act, your body is constantly changing, chemically, physically, you feel different, you think you look different, and it's about learning to walk that tight rope. Not falling off one side or the other, finding the balance to your own life, and that's what yoga does for you. It helps you learn how your own body works. So that you can keep the balance every day."

I love that the same person that I can sit down and have beers and a laugh with, is the same person that I can look to as a role model for being fit, both in the mind and body. She truly has found her balance, and walking around in her world for the time it took to make this piece was a joy. It isn't often that you really sit your friend down and get the bottom of what they are about, and what they are accomplishing every day. It was incredible to get the chance to really focus on my friend this way, realizing during this process just how influential she is to me. How important it is to me to be surrounded by people that live their life on their own terms, and that is what this entire project was about. When I approached the Gap with this idea for a web series, they very simply said, we love it, go for it, so in turn they have given me the chance to do what I love.

Please enjoy the video below, we ventured out early in the morning to the beach for a sunrise walk and some yoga, and on the way home, we stopped and enjoyed a coffee and a chocolate croissant-- a sunrise, some yoga, and chocolate, a little bit of both worlds that morning. A great example of the balance. Thank you Afton for being a part of this project.

1969 Legging Jeans (Faded Gray Wash) by: Gap

I think this answers the question of whether or not Gap's legging jeans are comfortable or not :) **All of the clothes seen in the images and video were provided by the Gap for this series, you can check out the entire 1969 collection HERE.

The Music was provided as always by the band: Rabbit! - Song: Fireflies & Mercury - This song is not yet available for purchase, but will be soon.

I should also say that if you are in the Central FL area, Afton teaches at a few places, not just here in Orlando, but as far as Merritt Island. Let me know, I'll get you some class info and you can get your butt kicked by Afton in a class. I am actually going to take a class after talking to her so much about it. She is an amazing athlete right? Why isn't this an olympic sport?

All the Love in the Universe ~ Me

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