I meant to post this photo earlier in the week, but it fits better in the Thanksgiving Challege and is my gratitude for today.

Today (and every day) I am grateful for Ed.

After a family wedding on the Cape, Ed and I went back to First Encounter Beach in Eastham and revisited the spot where he proposed.

Every day I am more sure and certain that Ed is the right man and best partner for a long, happy and fulfilled life together.  He has been the best and most patient teacher as I relearn so much about myself and being with someone.

Thank you, Ed.

I am so glad I met you.

I love you.

Listening to Q radio’s podcast commemorating the fall of the Berlin wall, I am grateful for the daily freedoms I have just by virtue of living in the U.S.  I wish that other walls that separate and divide can be peacefully broken down.

To listen to the podcast go here: CBC Radio Q

What are you grateful for today?

This November, and in the days leading up to Thanksgiving, I challenge you to find one thing each day that you are thankful for.

I learned of this challenge from my Mom who has been posting it in her Facebook status.  This idea was present to my Mom by one of her high school friends (gotta love multi-generational Facebook!) and so far there are a lot of other people getting on board.

It was a pleasant change to see a positive and upbeat status update — so many updates, tweets, etc… focus on what’s wrong, what’s made us upset.  I am frequently guilty of venting my frustrations of the internet.  Being grateful/looking on the bright side/counting your blessings is contagious.  Once you think of one nice thing, all kinds of other good things pop into your head.  We are all blessed with so much to be grateful for.  So instead of getting bogged down by negativity, let’s practice thinking positively.  Afterall, abundance creates abundance.

SO….

For the next few weeks, until Thanksgiving Day, I will share one thing I am thankful for.  I hope you will do the same.

November 12, 2009
I am grateful for the opportunity to consciously remember my blessings.

(And grateful for having such a cool Mom.)

I sub-taught a savsani yoga class today.  Wondering what savsani yoga is?  Yeah, me too.  I Googled it, but still don’t really understand what it is.

Anyways, I taught a gentle vinyasa at noon today.  The students were really receptive to it — great breath work!

Gentle Vinyasa
(sub for Savsani Yoga)
50 minutes
10 peeps
music: Boom Boom, Will Dailey and Life Less Ordinary by Carbon Leaf

child’s pose
cat/cow
downward facing dog
down dog to high plank x3
3 Sun As (holding in high push up and then flowing back to down dog)
3 Sun Bs
B1: low lunge with hip opener
B2: crescent lunge
B3: warrior I opening to warrior II
reverse warrior II
triangle
prasritta A/B
pivot to front for airplane
tree
repeat on left from third B through tree
table top
ab work with holding opposite arm and opposite leg out from all-fours (is this a pose?)
half-bow if they want
2 locust
modified pigeon
wide-legged baddha konasana (this is really popular!)
inversion
savasana

Fifty minutes is SHORT!  I kept the class slow moving and pretty gentle.  It was definitely still a vinyasa class (constant motion) but we worked on soothing, even breathing and grounding down through the feet.

alignment

Vinyasa Flow (60 minutes)
Tuesday 11/10/09
14 peeps
Music: Buddha Bar X mix

(I play music as people are coming in and getting set up.  Once we start, music goes off.  It comes back on after the closing “namaste.”  Since the music post was a pretty popular one, I thought I’d note what was played before/after class.)

child’s pose
downward facing dog
down dog to plank (three times on breath)
rag doll
tadasana
3 Sun As
omitted low push up and up dog
3 Sun Bs
1st B with crescent lunge
2nd B with crescent lunge to low lunge hip stretch
3rd B to warrior I and opening to warrior II
side angle
triangle
prasritta A/B
pivot to front and into eagle
airplane
tree
::repeat from last Sun B through tree::
utkatasana twist
padangustasana
utkatasana twist
padahastasana
step back to high plank and lower on 5
2 locust
1 bow
1 bridge
1 10-count bridge or wheel
supta baddha konasana
happy baby
modified hip stretch on back
(3 stage hip opener)
bound-legged spinal twist
savasana

Worked on simple poses with strong alignment, grounding down through the feet, keeping even balance, stillness and breath-work to support an energetic practice.  The cues to ground down through the feet, big toe mounds and outer-edges of back feet really seemed to resonate/work with the students.  The breath was great today and I hope that can carry over to next week.

Low plank to updog transition is still rough and the cues I’ve been using don’t seem to be helping.  Any suggestions for different cues or ways to get students to think about alignment in the vinyasa sequence?

crescent lunge

Mixing up alright! I’m mixing up the posting dates as well!  Sorry for the delay on posting Tuesday’s class.  Let’s jump right in!

Vinyasa Flow (60 minutes)
Tuesday 11/3/09
15 peeps

toes pose for 10 breaths (cruel, but my fav way to start class)
child’s pose
downward facing dog
“broken vinyasa”
slowed down the high to low push up transition to work on alignment
3 Sun As
3 Sun Bs (crescent lunge instead of WI)
on last B, high twist and open to WII
side angle
extended side angle
triangle
prasritta B/A
pivot to front for eagle
bound airplane
tadasana
utkatasana twist
padangustasana
utkatasana and vinyasa back through to repeat from crescent lunge with high
twist though utkatasana twist on left with padahastasana/rag doll
vinyasa to high plank and hold
lower to mat on 5-count
2 locust with block between ankles (hello inner thighs!)
1 bow
downward facing dog and jump through for backbends
1 15-count bridge with block between thighs (hello glutes and adductors!)
1 10-count bridge or wheel
supta baddha konasana
happy baby
jump back through to downward facing dog
half pigeon on right then left
inversion
spinal twist
savasana

I put in crescent lunge instead of Warrior I because I’ve noticed that the alignment of crescent lunge tends to be better than WI for hip opening and for lengthening and strengthening the legs.  A certain amount of openness in the hips, ankles and calves are needed for a good WI and crescent lunge offers a better base to reach that openness rather than just landing right in WI.

What do you think?  Do you prefer WI over crescent lunge?  When you teach Warrior I, what cues do you use to get your students into alignment?

For once, I am praying that the old saying “as Maine goes, so goes the nation” does not hold true.

Born and raised in the state of Maine, I have always been a proud Mainiac.  Many friends would say my pride goes to the point of snobbishness and they would be right.  Maine is, in my opinion, a great state.

Until today.  Today, 53% of Maine voters repealed a law to allow same-sex marriages.  The law would have redefined “marriage” as a the “legally recognized union of two people” rather than that solely of a man and woman.

The outcome of this vote  sickens me with disappointment in the people of my state, a state I have long touted as being warm, open-minded and thoughtful.

It also feels like my own upcoming marriage in Maine has been lessened, cheapened and made slightly sordid because many, many people I know will not be able to choose to make this same commitment.  A commitment of the heart, soul and mind.

A comment on Facebook this morning pointed out that many people used to feel the same way about interracial marriages.  The Loving vs. Virginia case in1963 legally declared that interracial couples could marry and that laws prohibiting couples from marrying were in violation of “one of the ‘basic civil rights of man’”.

During the initial trial in Virginia, Judge Leo Bazile declared:

Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix.

Does this not echo the very same arguments being made against same-sex marriage?   Bazile’s view of racial division and interracial marriage seems almost quaint and certainly bigoted and old-fashioned by today’s standards.

Perhaps that’s our challenge here in this century – in this decade.   To overcome the bigotry that prevents a group of individuals from having the same rights as others.  To stand up against this blatant discrimination.  To make right what has gone so very wrong in the state of Maine, so that someday we can look back at this issue, with a shadow of shame, and comment on how foolish and quaint it once seemed to deny people the right to marry.

October was a more introspective month with a lot of yoga-related reading, though the best yoga book I’ve ever read I just finished, so you’ll have to wait until November to see it here on Perusals.  Unless of course you are on Goodreads – then you can see it now.  ::wink::

A few reminders:
*’s mark books that were really wonderful
All links take you to my reviews on Goodreads

Without further ado …

Falls the Shadow, Sharon Kay Penman (Welsh Trilogy, book 2)

*Worry, Edward M. Hallowell

Julie & Julia, Julie Powell

*The Book Thief, Markus Zusak

The Perilous Gard, Elizabeth Marie Pope

The Hindus: An Alternative History, Wendy Doniger
(Didn’t finish this one.  It had to go back to the library before I could even get past the introduction.  Dense but good.)

*A Return to Love, Marianne Williamson
(This was a re-read from yoga school.  I wasn’t ready for this book back in October 2008 and I am so glad I revisited it.  Both reviews, from 08 and 09, are included.)

Happy Halloween!

Wanted to share a couple of fun pictures from the Halloween weekend.

The Husband-Elect and I wanted to find a “couples costume” but didn’t want it to be lame.  So here’s what we came up with:

Sam Adams and St. Pauli Girl

I missed getting a picture of Lori and Nathan’s awesome Little Red Riding Hood and Wolf Grandmother’s costume, but I did get Rob and Sam.

Lobsterman and the Daily Catch

I don’t know about you, but I think they win for cutest couples costume

courtesy of ebaumsworld and super-librarian

There was a short blurb in Yoga Journal’s Yoga Buzz blog today about the obvious clothing bias in the yoga world towards curvy yogis.  The blog cites a recent Vancouver Sun article that shows the Lululemon flagship store no longer stocking size 14, despite claims by corporate headquarters.  (Makes me want to head over to the Prudential store here in Boston and check  what their largest size is.)

Looking at the major clothing companies like Lululemon (the obvious first choice), Lucy, Gaiam and PrAna, it’s clear that there is little to no clothing marketed for women with significant curves or for women who aren’t at least 5′6″.  Sorry all you petite yogis, you’re not wanted either.  Because apparently short/fat/curvy/tall or muscular people can’t do yoga.  Oh, and men?  This means you, too.

Excuse me while I go bang my head against the wall.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am a “skinny minnie” yogi.  At 5′6″ I’ve always been pretty thin and, thanks to my teacher discount, tend to wear mostly Lulu clothing.  I like the fit and they are the best I’ve tried for heated practices in wicking sweat away. BUT, even I have gotten the “up and down” when walking into a Lulu store.

Am I their target market right now?  Yes.  Will I be when I’m still practicing at 40 and have had children?  Probably not.  And that’s a damn shame.

As a teacher, I consider my most successful classes are those when I get a good cross-section of men and women, ages, sizes and abilities, and EVERYone leaves class with a smile on their faces and glowing from the inside.  That is successful yoga.  Successful yoga is not wearing $98 pants that hug your size 2 ass.

So, three questions for you:

• If you’re an extra-petite yogi or a yogi with curves, what do you wear to your yoga classes?
• If you were going to purchase yoga clothes, what kind of clothing would you like to see?
• Has not having appropriate clothing kept you from trying out yoga altogether or from trying a different style/type of yoga?