Supplemental

Posted on December 14, 2010 by

I am snickering as a I write this. Never in my life did I imagine that someone like me would be throwing in an  additional supplemental yoga  practice to the one she is actually paying for. I am “concerned” that the classes I am attending do not include any of the finishing asanas, no padmasana, no headstand, and of course no jump through. Not to say that it is not an enjoyable sweaty one hour practice, I have even been shown ways to improve and enjoy some  asanas. But if I just do that practice,  I will loose Bhujapidasana, all my binds and will probably never stand on my head. So beginning last night, I started a rogue “short form” with vinyasas in between. Now that I think about it, It is even more hilarious that I feel more like an outlaw while adding on more to my practice. Thank god for Sundays at the shala, and may I find a good solution for attending a mysore room in the new year.

Posted in Ashtanga, Daily Life, Fitness, Yoga | 2 Comments

Sacred Sleep

Posted on December 13, 2010 by

One of the things that make my life a pleasure is the opportunity to sleep soundly. Well get ready for TMI because my sleep pattern is under attack. I was convinced that a partial hysterectomy back in the 90′s had liberated me from the lady’s holiday euphemism which for a lot of us was/is the lady’s mortification. In my abject ignorance I also understood that what my MD was describing post operation was immediate menopause and over and done with. Uh, no. 14 years later I am drenched in sweat and burning like I have dengue fever. I can deal with being soaking wet and burning up but NOT while I’m trying to sleep!! I have a pattern of tossing and turning and have it  under control and I sleep through it. I cannot throw in a new kink into the pattern and make it work. I am exhausted and full of self pity.  At least  it is winter and there will be times when  I’m glad I’m hot and not freezing. Maybe hot flashes (what a dumb term) help purify and even help if they happen during a a practice? I’m already sorry that I wrote all this. Whatever.

Posted in Daily Life, Rant | 2 Comments

What I Brought Back

Posted on December 12, 2010 by

From London: Two recipes for crazy good tasting and awful stomach feeling. One from my favorite fish and chips place and and the other one from my favorite Lebanese place. Neither of them is really baking, just sandwiching  whipped sweetened cream or ricotta between crusts soaked in the best butter you can afford. I am rotating these to bombs when I get asked to bring dessert to the family holiday parties. I can’t believe I asked for the recipe (sort of joking really), and they gave it to me at both places! Banoffee pie for tonight’s pot luck and Osmalieh for next week’s  wing ding.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you really want to make these let me know  and I’ll tell you how to whip, sweeten, and crisp these two  disasters.

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First One

Posted on December 11, 2010 by

We were away for my husband’s company christmas party, But the other ones  are coming down the pike speeding. Tonight, tomorrow night and then in two weeks the crazy. I do not have a religion only a meditation practice. I do not use disposable materials to decorate for just 3 weeks, and I don’t buy into any holiday (mother’s day/valentines/easter/christmas) spending frenzy. You will only  get a card from me wishing  you well for the coming  year if I have to fly or drive a long long way to see you, I lost your phone # and you don’t have email.   What I’m trying to say is: I am an old hippie. I’ve been like this since the early 80′s but certain people act all suprised year after year like the re-enactment of those civil war battles you hear about, or that mormon play in upstate new york, or that really long opera in some small town in germany. So, I’m putting on my black funeral/party/interview outfit on and going to this place tonight and hope to get away with a club soda and lime that looks like a gin and tonic. I am going to Sunday primary tomorrow and that is that. I miss jumpbacks and jumpthroughs, I miss halasana, I miss the closing sequence.  I miss hearing Samasthiti. Did I just say all that?

Posted in Ashtanga, Daily Life, Rant | 2 Comments

So I Went

Posted on December 10, 2010 by

Remember the new yoga place a block and a half (less really) away from my house? They offer 7 days for 30 bucks for first time students. That’s a good deal, so I decided to check it out. By check it out I mean I started googling all the teachers in the website along with all sorts of other borderline stalking, until yesterday when I impulsively bought the seven day pass as I returned from visiting  my friend. Equally impulsively, I decided to go to the evening “1 hour  flight” right after my salt/procrastination bath. I will mention that the  owners and many of  the teachers all include Ashtanga in the yoga “styles” they are experienced in and one day I will gather the gumption to  ask what makes you look elsewhere (besides no shala nearby!) So I fill in  the form. They ask me what my favorite pose is,  and my least favorite,  and if I had any experience in yoga. I write Trikonasana, Shirshansana, and Ashtanga. So, the instructor comes over and says I see you do ashtanga and I mumble something about half primary, and he says something like I hope you  find this engaging and right there I have this paranoid thought that  he is going to try and kick my butt. Or in yogic terms, teach me to surrender. I think we  surprised each other. I will go again this evening to something called  “happy hour”.  I am grateful that there is  a place to go to so nearby, but at the first opportunity I’ll be back in a Mysore room in a heartbeat!

Posted in Ashtanga, Spirit, Yoga | 4 Comments

Rest Helps My Practice

Posted on December 9, 2010 by

I am going to say this fully aware  that I might be hexing and jinxing all over myself. A four or five day rest from practice is very restorative and beneficial to me. I hear stories about how after an illness or an insane work schedule you return to practice and can barely do the surys, but for me that has never been the case. If you have read my mumblings before, you know I am no type A  gladiator. I do a primary up to bujapindasana that will never be videotaped for obvious reasons. So I am not comparing myself to people who are athletes and their practice is their conditioning and many times part of being prepared for how they make their living. All I know is that my first practice after a 3, 4, or even 7 day rest is full of energy, ease, and yes low expectations maybe. But the full combination of those factors make up a very enjoyable and invigorating practice where even for example yesterday, I made huge progress by touching the floor with  my head during Prasarita A. I have been very close to that for months but stretched to the point of fearing the sound or feeling of snap somewhere. Yesterday, it was stretch-fold-land just like that. I also find that an occasional  rest speeds up my five mile “walk”. Yesterday was cold outside and I was flooded with scullery work after my trip, so I jumped on the treadmill. 60 minutes later: 5 miles. Yeah running on a treadmill is easier  than doing it against the wind, but running anywhere with full lung capacity and no hardship is nothing but fun. Ask any kid. I really hope I did not hex myself.

Posted in Ashtanga, Fitness, Yoga | 5 Comments

Oh Time Does Fly

Posted on December 8, 2010 by

Thankfully. Kids have that one down right. If time is crawling it is because you are being tortured by boredom. I was reminded of my childhood today when someone mentioned that today December 8th is the day that all the Christmas lights go on in many Latin American cities, mine included. It is a day when people line their sidewalks/ windowsills/rooftops with candles, and yes every year many houses do burn down. And no, I don’t get it either. I just wanted to mention that this memory though ancient feels recent and vivid, so I guess that means I’ve been having a good time! A year ago tomorrow I typed wordpress.com  on my lap top and started messing around with the idea of blogging as an antidote against making up stories about why I can’t- fill in the blank. Time flew by. It did not happen exactly the way I outlined the “proposal” but it happened and it continues to happen. Tomorrow I will begin planning my next blog. All writing, a good teacher will tell you, must have a beginning a middle and an end.

And as I plan that, here is some advice I received today from my favorite fairywitchpriestess:

“If  you can’t boil down what you’re up to in one concise paragraph, you don’t have a good grip on it.”

Danielle LaPorte

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