Monthly Archives: June 2011

I <3 YOGA! 20 things I've learned from my YOGA practice...

I <3 YOGA! 20 things I've learned from my YOGA practice...

I know 20 things is a bit much for the SEO rules.  Oh!  You don’t know what SEO is?  Search engine optimization.   Blogging experts suggest writing about 7 to 10 items.  Odd numbers are better.  Perhaps I will stop at 19?  Would that please the SEO gods?  Do I really need to please them?

My mat, water bottle and yoga bag (a Christmas gift from my son Peter’s thoughtful girlfriend, Breezy) create a poignant still life in the back of my Mini.  Add recycled bags for Trader Joe’s and life is good.

Yes.. life is good.  And yoga makes it that much better!

Here are some of the things that I have gleaned from my yoga practice:

  • Showing up to class is half the battle
  • Find a yoga studio that is on your way home from work.  If you miss class you will feel extremely guilty when you pass that exit!
  • Yoga is an undulating spiritual practice that you can delve into and never know everything about.
  • Yoga makes me happy.. very happy.
  • People who love yoga are generally very wonderful people.
  • Communities form around a yoga studio.
  • It’s all about me in yoga!  My practice!  My progress!  My effort!
  • I will never look like the person next to me in triangle pose.
  • I may never be as flexible as the person next to me because I’m a one hip diva.  But I am flexible enough. It is MY practice after all.
  • Happy yoga teachers make happy yoga students.
  • When the instructor talks about letting go of stress in the pose I realize that I have historic stored stress.  Letting go takes a lot of effort and concentration.
  • Yoga is not for wusses.  I dare ya.  Go do it.  There are days I’d rather have a root canal.
  • Yoga develops discipline.  Discipline to show up, to participate, and to be humbled.
  • Yoga is a moving prayer. The instructor often asks you to set your intention for the session.  I always pray for one of my sons.  Whomever needs it most.  I feel so close to them when I am doing yoga.
  • It doesn’t matter how early I get to yoga class, there will always be someone in the way of my being able to see myself in the mirror.  Another humbling experience.
  • If you hang in there for 90 minutes of class there is always a happy ending.  That is an awesome guarantee.
  • It’s ok to smile while doing yoga
  • In every yoga class I learn something new… feet here, arms there, push here, let go of that…
  • The philosophical underpinnings of yoga are rich and the lessons endless.
  • I am becoming passionate about yoga.  Being passionate about something in my life makes life worthwhile.  Amen.  Alleluia.
  • I <3 yoga!

Do you do yoga?  I’d love to hear about your experience.

Namaste..

 

 

 

My Garden/Myself

My Garden/Myself

The rotting trellis groaning under the weight of the wisteria.  Bricks buckling and relinquishing control to healthy roots tapping deeply into dark recesses of nourishing loam.  Flowers willy nilly competing for sun, space and attention.  Prolific roses growing out of control, energy unharnessed.

My garden is a perfect reflection of the imperfect me.

I am the willy nilly flowers… not a good candidate for the five year plan.  Opportunities that arise out of nowhere allow me to move without restriction into another space with better light and nourishment.  Loosely planned pandemonium is more my style.

I am the boundless roses.  Not always perfectly groomed.  Still longing for straight hair and skinny legs but accepting myself for who I am at this point in my life.

I am the faithful trellis, succumbing to the weight of the thriving wisteria and the responsibilities of motherhood, friendship, citizenship and a significant relationship.  Continually holding up, supporting and affirming the just cause.

I am the winding, reaching, emancipated wisteria- roots extending downward into the rich soil, challenging the limiting parameters of the brick- displacing and rearranging them to accommodate new visions and fresh landscapes.

unruly

…guilty

attention seeking

…guilty

disobedient

…guilty

 

Outrageous

…guilty

 

 

Someday I will sell this big house with its’ labor intensive back yard and the new inhabitants will snap their fingers and raze the bedlam to make room for the more modern hard-scape, built in BBQ, Jacuzzi tub and water-saving antiseptic nirvana.

Until then, I will revel in the peace and validation of my imperfect garden
and find forgiveness.