What I’ve Learned in 2010

Last year, for the first time in many years, I set some goals and resolutions. I’ve never been much of a resolution-maker, thinking that making them just sets you up for disappointment when they get broken.  A bit of a perfectionist, (understatement of the year,) I never saw the point in setting goals unless there was absolute assurance that they would be completed to the very best of my ability and with 110% satisfaction.  Oh how things change in a year!

Guest Teacher at Rangeley Region Fitness Center!

Hitting the slopes in Maine this holiday?  If you’re in the Sugar Loaf, Saddleback or Sunday River area, come warm up and stretch out with me at the Rangeley Region Fitness Center!

I’ll be guest teaching the week after Christmas and am so excited to return.  RRFC hosted me last year and we had a great time!

Teaching dates and times are:
Sunday, December 26th, 10am  – CORE FLOW YOGA
Monday, December 27th, 9am – VINYASA FLOW
Wednesday, December 29th, 9am – POWER YOGA
Friday, December 31st, 9am – VINYASA FLOW

random yoga class somewhere on the interwebs

My Favorite Things

Oprah does it (in a big way).  There are websites dedicated to tracking it. It’s even a song in a pretty well-known musical
Though I’m not usually a bandwagoner, (for most popular things I tend to take the perverse teenager response of “I’m not gonna and you can’t make me” until the hype dies down and then I’ll quietly check it out … see iPods, netbooks, most popular fiction and music), I thought it would be fun to compile my own list of my favorite things.

So here’s a list of things new and old that I am loving.  I hope you’ll share your lists, either on your blog space, Facebook or here in the comments!

Books:
The Hunger Games Trilogy, by Suzanne Collins
How Yoga Works, by Geshe Michael Roach & Christie McNally
Romance Novels: I love a good, steamy, laugh-out-loud funny romance novel.  What I love even more than reading romance, is trying to get non-believers to give the genre a try.

Music:
Mumford & Sons: obsessed with their sound and vocals.  It was love at first listen by then took me three months to figure out who they were/remember enough of the lyrics to Google it to find out.

Enter the Haggis: perennial favorite but their latest album continues to be on high rotation on the iPod.

Fitness:
Yoga Mat to 5k!  On Week 5 of the Couch to 5K program [redubbed for my purposes as Yoga Mat to 5k].  Who knew running could be so much fun!

Lotuspad Yoga Mats:  I bought this mat ages ago and it has only improved with use and age.  Cushy, lightweight and sticky it’s the best I’ve found.

Lululemon Run:Dash Pullover: I ran in this pullover, with a lightweight fleece vest, in 20 degree temperatures over Thanksgiving.  The “cuffins” (fold-over cuffs that double as mittens), excellent warmth AND wicking make this a top I live in.  No joke.  I wear it all the time to run, out to dinner, on the weekends and in yoga. Pricey but worth it.

Food:
Portobello mushroom pizzas: little tiny pizzas inside a Portobello mushroom cap.  Scoop out the gills and trim down the stem. Add fillings of your desire, spoon in some tomato sauce, top with a sprinkle of cheese and stick in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  Bon apetit!

Making my own breakfast bars.  Quick, delicious and with some recipe modifications, way less sugar than any breakfast bar out on the market.  Next up, I want to try making my own energy/protein bars!

Menu planning, food shopping and saving recipes.  I love to think about and make food and while I rarely follow a recipe exactly (a big reason why I’m a crappy baker) I love to read recipes and cookbooks.  I save all online recipes over at delicious.com.  Need some inspiration? Take a look!

What about you?  What are your favorite things?

Yoga Mat to 5K: Run #9 & #10

HALF WAY THERE!
Just completed my first installment of “week 5″ so I’m technically about half way to being able to run for 3.2 miles.  [Let's overlook the fact that is was a full seven days in between runs #9 and #10 shall we?]

Also in exciting First Time Runner News: my fabulous roommate K and I signed up for a 5K [my first official one]!  We’ll be running Somerville’s Ras na hEireann on March 13th.  Registration’s still open if anyone is interested in running with us!

Of course, just when I hit half way, Mother Nature decides that it really is winter and slams Boston with seasonal temperatures and biting winds.  My running has been moved indoors for the time being (March).  Any suggestions for keeping fit on a treadmill?  I’ve heard mixed reviews about running indoors.

Run #9
time: 33 minutes
distance: 2.9 miles (got stuck at a traffic light for EVER!)
average pace: 11.27 m/min
terrain: Charles River trail
music: Podrunner Intervals, week 4

Run #10
time: 35 mins
distance:2.63 miles
average pace: 13.31 min/mile
terrain: treadmill
music: Podrunner Intervals, week 5

What I Read – November 2010

YAY!  November’s “Month in Books” is finally here.  Let the villagers rejoice!

As always, links will take you to my complete reviews on Goodreads.com and asterisks mark books that are on the FAVORITE shelf.  (As in OMG YOU GUYS THIS IS THE BEST BOOK EVER!)

While we’re on the topic of discussing books, here’s a bookish holiday question: are there any books on your Christmas Wish List?  If so, what are you hoping Santa will bring you?

Focus

Everyone’s been in one of those yoga classes where things happen that destroy your focus.  Someone’s cell phone rings, a digital watch beeps, late arrivals or early departures, a crash landing from a headstand or arm balance, noise from the street interrupts your moment of zen.  There are a thousand and one things that can take us our of focus in our yoga practice, mostly our own minds.

Today I experienced true focus.  At the generosity of the Harvard Varisty Fencing team, my Wednesday night yoga class is held in their space in the fencing studio.  Today, upon entering the room, it was half full of boots, bags, backpacks and fencing accoutrement, leaving little space to roll out a mat.  Luckily a gym staff member came by and noticed our predicament.  She went and talked to the coach who promised his students would be quiet upon re-entering the room to get their stuff.  “Oh boy,” I thought. “This is going to be great.”  But I tried to smile and roll with the punches.  After all, this is a true test of yoga right here, in the moment.  Can I, as the instructor, stay calm and lead a class where the students feel empowered enough to maintain focus in the face of major distractions? Can my students stay with their breath and flow even while people are packing up and moving around them?

Wouldn’t you know it … THEY DID!  My students are SO FREAKING AWESOME.  They never even batted an eyelid when 20 extra people suddenly entered the space.  The breath barely wavered.  I have never felt such intention and focus in class before.  Sometimes adverse situations really do bring out the best we have to offer.

Today, my students brought their very best to their mats in so many ways.

I am awed and humbled by their dedication and focus.