Long-term relationship with yoga

I have recently had one or two really terrible yoga practices. Mostly related to practicing the same things too often AND pushing myself too hard. Who would ever guess I'm a perfectionist?

Anyway, after one particularly humbling class where my hips cramped up after 20 minutes and I then cried for the rest of the class (I'm certain it was one of my finer moments), I had a bit of a revelation once I recovered from my embarrassment.

Here it is, in a nutshell: "Yoga is a long-term relationship, and just like in any committed relationship, sometimes you're going to have really bad days."

Can't believe it took me five years to realize that!

The Horizon

Work has been intensely stressful and non-stop for several weeks. With a major event looming ahead next weekend, I have found myself unbalanced, filled with anxiety, and suffering from stomach ailments. It has been so extreme that I found myself unable to do my favorite Western-style exercise yesterday, which is riding on my stationary bicycle.

Today, I realized that the only thing that would possibly help was - you guessed it - yoga. And I was right. I had an hour to myself this morning, so pulled my mat out to the porch, and listened to the birds and felt lovely spring breezes on my skin while I practiced. It was a fairly basic routine, but one which I knew I could accomplish without too much frustration, and it was absolutely the right thing to do.

These past few weeks I have come to realize just how precious yoga has become to me. What a wonderful addition my practice has been to my life! I feel blessed to have found this kind of peace.

Namaste.

Rules of thumb

I have decided I will occasionally post "rules" here, probably random things that I decide are important. And I can do that if I want, because this is my blog. (Ah, the POWER!!!)

Today's rule is: "Never say it can't get any worse." I'm not going to go on about Murphy's Law or tempting fates or knocking on wood. For whatever reason, declaring to the universe that there is no way it can get any worse is just too juicy of a dare for said universe to resist.

Alexander Valley Merlot 2006

Alexander Valley Merlot 2006 (Alexander & Fitch Winery) is a wine that I would like to like. The label sounded so promising, but I should have been more wary that it only told the story of how the winery was founded and said nothing about the actual wine in the bottle. This is certainly not the worst wine I've ever had, but if I opened a bottle of white that was this poor quality, I'd put a bunch of ice in the glass to dull the taste. This wine is just too astringent - nice berry notes and bold flavors, but I expected the acidity to dissipate as I let it breathe and that just didn't happen. Disappointing. I give it "2 glasses" and I didn't even ask my husband to taste it, because that would just launch a gripe session focusing on this being the reason that a lot of people can't stand to drink red wine...

Trentatre Rosso Salento

We picked up a bottle of this wine at Trader Joe's over the weekend. When I first opened the bottle, it seemed a bit too fruity and bright for my husband, but our tastes are different and he prefers a much more mellow red. I enjoyed it: the forward berry, clean and bright finish, the way it made my taste buds kind of perk up, though it was a bit too acidic for me. However, by the second night, this bottle had taken on a richness and depth that was far superior, so I guess it needed to breathe. I think it would be great with a spicy marinara sauce, but since I didn't try it that way, I can't be sure! I'll give it "3 glasses." Good but not the best.

HRM Rex Goliath Merlot

Holy smokes this wine is delicious!!!! (See following crummy picture - taken with my phone because our camera is on the fritz.)

I was so taken aback by the pleasure of drinking this wine from the first sip that I am having trouble describing it. The label on the back says "big, fruit-forward flavors" and I certainly agree with that. But even more than that, this wine has a buttery feel on the tongue, has a smooth but crisp finish, definitely calls to mind flavors of berries and it was great with chocolate. Oh, AND it was still terrific on the 3rd night ater I opened it. This wine is worth a lot more than the $10 that it is retailing for!!!

I can't recommend this one enough - I give it a rating of "whole bottle" with no reservations at all. I can't wait to drink it again.

Spring! Spring! Spring!

Ah, Spring!!! She has arrived in full force here in Ohio, and we are ever so grateful. I can't remember an early warm spring like this, at least not in recent enough memory, and oh it is such a treat. My back porch is proving to be a spectacular spot for yoga. We live in a quiet neighborhood with a big yard, and since ours is a 3-season porch with indoor/outdoor carpet, it's nearly perfect for yoga. If only my husband weren't washing the car right in front of me every time I spread out my yoga mat...

I spent a lot of time in the garden this weekend, prepping the beds for both flowers and vegetables. This weather is a temptress - I fear a lot of people will put their flowers and veggies in too early; since we are still about 7 weeks away from the last frost date for our area, that would be a big mistake!!! I will resist!! Except, I am going to go ahead and sow cilantro and basil outside. I'll start some on the porch too, just in case the weather zaps the ones outdoors. But that's all, I swear, I won't put in anything else outdoors yet.

Unless I just can't resist, that is. I have a feeling there will be lots more to report on this garden saga this year.

Anticipating Sunshine

After such a gray winter, we are all looking forward to today's predicted high temperature of 66 degrees! With sunshine! I'll say it again: with sunshine!!!! I'm thinking that if it's warm outside this evening, I might skip my usual workout and do sun salutations for a while out on the back porch. Sort of my own personal offering to Mother Nature, for this gift of spring.

And then, of course, I will have a glass of scrumptious cabernet sauvignon to cap off my night. Perhaps we'll even drag out the fire bowl for the backyard? Aaaaah. Sounds magical!

Wild Rush

My newest friend is Racquel, a yoga teacher, who stayed with us last weekend. She brought us a bottle of Wild Rush 2009, South Africa, Chenin Blanc. My husband is not much interested in white wines, but this was not a bottle of wine that had anything to do with him. This wine was feminine and friendly - and I don't mean overly sweet! It was a gracious, drinkable wine, with notes of butter and citrus, dry but not too dry. Definitely suitable for giving to someone who you do not know very well but have reason to believe will become a friend.

Overall, I give this wine a rating of 3.5 glasses. And I did enjoy finishing the bottle after it had been open for 24 hours, and it held up quite nicely in our fridge!

Covey wowed me (or, Universe, I'm Listening...)

One of my favorite new books/philosophies on interpersonal relationship and business management is "The Speed of Trust" by Stephen M.R. Covey (of FranklinCovey and CoveyLink). So I wrote to him several days ago to tell him how much I appreciate his book and his research on the subject of trust. And today, HE WROTE BACK TO ME!!!! I won't stalk him or seek his counsel or presume him to be my new best friend, but I am seriously impressed.

The universe has overwhelmed me with greatness over the past few days: first the weekend with Rebecca Lerner (and Vicky Elwell and Racquel Graham, I must add) and now a personal email from Stephen M.R. Covey! Makes me wonder what else is in store for me? I'M LISTENING, UNIVERSE, with all of my senses and a heart open to hearing the message. What is it you want me to hear?!?

As the CoveyLink people would say, "Keep making waves."

First weekend workshop with Rebecca

(Update and note: having just re-read this post, I think it's a bit technical, and possibly I'm using the wrong names for some of the poses, so apologies in advance if you're just a casual reader - or if you know WAY more about yoga than me and I've gotten something wrong!)

Having just completed my very first complete weekend workshop with Rebecca Lerner, I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. I managed to keep up with most of the class, which is saying quite a lot, considering the curriculum and who some of the students were...

I feel somewhat overwhelmed by the amount of information I tried to take in this weekend, and I am mentally as well as physically exhausted. I did learn that I am ready to begin pranyama studies (as if I have time to add something else to my busy schedule - ha!) and I think I honestly need the pranyama. Racquel (who also stayed at our house this weekend) tells me there is a wonderful guided pranyama sequence on CD, by John Schumacher, and I will investigate picking up a copy.

About the only things I can remember right now are: "posing and then reposing" to correct and readjust asanas; giving your own body directional touches to train various parts to move in the right direction for particular asanas; two particular adjustments - using hands to physically "pull" the armpits forward so they don't get stuck in the triceps and using thumbs to sort of "push" the flesh of the buttocks down. I'm not yet quite ready to try to incorporate a discussion of "opening the mouth of the anal sphincter" though I suspect it should be a vital part of my practice...

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend. Which is a good thing, considering it was my Christmas present! And a big shout out to Racquel, who was a delightful houseguest and very tolerant of our children and our informal lifestyle.

Namaste!

PS I will definitely post soon about the important role wine played in my survival of the weekend!

UPDATE: It's Monday morning, and I remembered a few other things as I was driving to work. "Open door" vs. "closed door" poses - refers to hips, shoulders, chest; the strength in paryankasana (sp?) (head balance variation that's on the elbows, with head off the floor and hands pressing a block) comes from keeping the shoulder blades deeply into the back and moving towards the buttocks; sarvangasana II (headstand with forearms and hands flat on the floor) is a dynamite pose; and somersaulting into viparita kirani (legs up the wall) is delightfully fun!

Painting and yoga

As it turns out, my painting project had everything to do with yoga. That is to say, the stamina required for many yoga poses was required throughout the completion of the project. As I suffered through a mighty sore hand (applying three coats of paint within 36 hours can have that effect), shoulders and even buttocks. And then faced a shortage of paint, having purchased an insufficient quantity to finish the room.

A word on deciding what quantity of paint to buy: it was a decidedly, monstrously rookie mistake to not buy enough paint to finish the room!!!! After all these years of painting, having painted so much I simply can't calculate the number of rooms I've painted, I should have known better. And yet, there I was, faced with a wall that I could not finish because I did NOT BUY ENOUGH PAINT. Grrrr.

But I digress. So, I dug down deep and drew on my reserves of patience and perseverance (gleaned from my yoga practice, thank you very much!) as well as my years of painting experience. And I was actually able to finish the room after all, though I could not use a roller to finish it, and ended up painting it with a paintbrush to stretch my supply of paint.

In the end, I was so efficient with my brush technique and remaining paint, I had some left over that I can save for touchups! Thank you yoga and life experience!

Decidedly NOT yoga!

Am about to embark on painting the guestroom, in anticipation of (gasp!) having a guest next weekend, a yoga teacher who will be staying with us during the Rebecca Lerner workshop.

This painting is not nearly as ominous as it must sound! In fact, I used to be a scenic painter for theater, so I have no way of calculating how many square feet of wall to which I have applied paint over the years. The main difference is that now, on my own walls, I use really high quality paint and apply it with really high quality rollers. And I take my time and pay attention to every last detail. Which is most decidedly NOT how most of scenic painting is done (at least not for a theatrical production that runs for only 3 days before you tear down the set!).

Nevertheless, I will be glad to have this project done. I plan to stick my MP3 player's earbuds in my ears and listen to music, or, at the very least, PRETEND I am listening to music so that everyone will leave me alone to get this done!

As I said, this is not yoga, but since it's in support of my yoga habit, I think it's fair game to post about it here!

Fear

My yoga teacher read something about fear to us as we were preparing to sink into savasana (corpose pose) in class on Monday night. Basically, the reading said that you cannot conquer fear - rather you must understand it, embrace it, and work with it as a partner in your endeavors.

Taking this idea a bit further, I have found that my own fears are something to be understood one tiny piece at a time. This is becoming easier for me as I age, I suppose largely because I don't expect such immediate results out of anything. I have simply learned that's not the way it works, that most things that can be accomplished are done in small increments. Perhaps, even, that they are BEST accomplished one little piece at a time.

In my own yoga practice, I have been at various times afraid of headstand, full arm balance, and shoulderstand. One thing that became clear to me early on was that I was afraid of being upside down, of having my buttocks up over my head. This understanding made it dramatically easier to approach inversions in general, and now, they are one of the strongest parts of my practice.

That could be all the wisdom I have in me today. Enjoy! And leave me comments about your own journeys through fear. Namaste.