Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Try not sweating at the gym

Its just an idea.

I don't think that sweating is a bad thing. I do it often!
Not sweating is really not about good or bad. It is about not pushing yourself, and instead being in cool calmness.
The yogic way doesn't make your heart race. The heart stays steady as the yogi moves through or holds difficult postures

Here is an example from the ocean. We bicycle to the beach in the morning and see waves licking the shore. We rest in the sun and the waves still lick the shore. We go swimming and the waves lick the shore (and us!). We throw the frisbee and beside us, the waves lick the shore. We eat lunch and watch the waves lick the shore. We swim again and the waves lick the shore (and us!). We finally go home and the waves ignore our leaving, still licking the shore. All night with no people or volleyballs and only the moon as light, the waves lick the shore.
The waves can be our breath, our sweat, our energy.

And we! We can be as beautiful as the waves, coming, going, splashing, licking, soothing.

Friday, January 23, 2009

obama's hands


Did you know that obama is a lefty??
I'm not sure why that makes me happy, but it does.
Stay tuned for more on Obama's yogic-ness, to go along with his left handedness...

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

the yoga of forgetting your cell phone

I found an advertisement in People magazine that went a little something like this:

(imagine a pretty lady running on the beach with a blackberry in one pumping fist)
"I take my family everywhere I run, I hear from them once a mile. Luckily [praises of the cell phone company's service] which is important, if I get a crisis call about a missing binkie..."
The ad upset me, and still upsets me!
I think we are in serious need of a Forget Your Cell Phone at Home Day

This could be a very exciting day. There could be confusion about plans to work out and worries about meeting who we are supposed to meet. Separation anxiety from our friends and family and the realization that we are actually solo.

This is where yoga comes in. Deep yogic breathing to assuage worries and steady confidence that the day will be as it will be. Maybe the forgetter would even feel the warmth of knowing what is important and what is not so important.

Being a little scatter-brained, I've tried forgetting the cell phone more than once.
You can run around, and no one can catch you.
Really, just like being a puppy off-leash.

Monday, January 12, 2009

The yoga of food


Last night I ate pizza at delicious Amorina. Delicious and classic with red checkered tablecloths, flowery wall paper, warm chandeliers & people.

The girl sitting next to my friend and I was eating her very own pizza. She was by herself and enjoying her food a lot. She also had a journal on the table that she was writing in.

The journal, the pizza, the contented woman would have been enough, but then after dinner she ordered a cappuccino. It was lovely and foamy. I was really impressed.

Then she ordered dessert. Maybe it was ricotta cheesecake? I'm not sure. It didn't matter what the dessert was, only the fact that she ordered it. Though I do remember little caramel swirls on top.

I wanted to be her friend. Actually I wanted to be her, sitting alone with something to write on and enjoying, luxuriating over an incredibly complete meal.

That would have to be the yoga of food, exactly!