Black Friday’s Not for Me November 27, 2009

I’m not really sure what possessed me to get out of bed at 5:15 and drive to my nearby Target. There were a list of 5 or 6 “small ticket” items on my list that I thought I could save a few bucks on. I thought it might be fun to save a little money and join the crowds doing their holiday kickoff shopping. Jeff usually goes out every year on Black Friday and usually tells me that it’s not that bad. I ususally prefer to sleep in until at least 9 or 10 and then do some shopping online.

For some reason this year I woke up and bolted out of bed at 5:15, just minutes after our local Target opened its doors. By the time I strapped on shoes, drove the 2 miles up the road, and parked the car the place was already a mad house. There wasn’t a cart left in the store. People were lined up – at least 100 or so deep – to even get near the electronics area. I was able to make it to the aisle where one of my wish list items should have been, but it had already sold out. I promptly decided that the whole thing was probably a nightmare and that I should just roll over hug my teddy bear and fall back to sleep. Unfortunately, I was actually awake in the middle of Target.

I did what any sensible person would do. I made my way as swiftly as possible to the exit and drove home to get back in bed before the sunrise. Then I slept until 9:00, shopped online, and still found great holiday shopping deals. Aaaaahhhhh, why would I ever mess with tradition?

TODAY’S KARMA SCOREBOARD

Nearly lost my cool while visiting Satan’s lair Target on Black Friday (-3)

Definitely lost my cool when Jeff came home toting his Black Friday deals, waking me up from my joyous slumber (-6)

Looking to bounce back on the karma score today by spending some time with Jeff’s family, buying a few gifts for others to start my holiday shopping, and taking my dachshund for a long walk in the park (+5)

Happy Thanksgiving! November 26, 2009

I absolutely love cooking Thanksgiving dinner for my family. There’s something very zen about it. It requires all of my attention to get everything prepped and on the table at the same time while making sure everything is hot (and delicious, of course!) This year the cooking took about 6 hours or so. Thank goodness that tofurkys cook faster than actual turkeys…or I would’ve been up by 4am. As it was I was still up before dawn!

One of my favorite holiday traditions is to take all of the leftover kitchen scraps and make a feast for the squirrels who live on our roof and in the tree out back of our house. It may sound strange but it makes me happy to make those furry little guys happy. Yeah, they ate all of the tomatoes I grew this year. Yeah, they drive my dog nuts with their antics outside on the deck. But on Thanksgiving it just feels nice to share what we have with others. Rather than throwing the discarded scraps away to sit in a landfill – I make the squirrels’ day!

Now that the feast is over I’m totally spent. My belly is way too full and I’m pretty sure I have a good idea what pregnant woman have been griping about all along. It ain’t easy carrying 5 pounds of tofurky around in your belly!

Here are some assorted pics from  Tofurky Day ‘09:

YAY! Putting the kitchen scraps to good use

Happy Squirrel-giving!

Just sniffin’ it out

Let’s go head back inside to finish cooking

Someone found a surprise!

This makes me incredibly happy

Squash seeds are his favorite

My world famous brussels sprouts

My sous chef

Dinner is served!

There’s no way he’s looking at the camera instead of stuffin’

This looks like how I feel after a big meal

Moral Dilemma November 22, 2009

I went to the grocery store today to pick up a couple of items and repeatedly heard an announcement over the PA system that the store was collecting donations of Thanksgiving turkeys for a local homeless shelter. It got me thinking about how really blessed I am to have a roof over my head, food on my table, loved ones to share the holidays with, my health, etc. I decided to step up to the customer service booth and donate a turkey to a family in need. It was quick, efforless – just one swipe of the ol’ credit card and I’d purchased a 12 pound bird for someone else’s dinner table.

As I left the store I felt a little lighter and happier and walked to my car with a little more bounce in my step. Then I started to think about Thanksgiving at our house and how we’ll be dining on Tofurky instead of actual turkey because we’re vegetarian animal lovers who don’t eat anything that ever had a mom. Ugh. Now I feel guilty about supporting an industry that’s cruel to animals. Turkeys shouldn’t have to die for us to celebrate Thanksgiving!

Left with the choice between feeling good about helping others and feeling guilty about our fine feathered friend…I guess I’m going to choose the former rather than the latter.

As “penance” I’m just going to use this blog momentarily to announce that Tofurky is totally awesome and a great alternative to eating turkey on Thanksgiving. It tastes great, cooks much faster, doesn’t have tryptophan to make you sleepy, and won’t cost you any karma points.

So, if just one person out there foregoes turkey this holiday after reading this, it can cancel out my poor donated turkey!

TODAY’S KARMA SCOREBOARD

First day off in 13 days – just chillin’ (+3)

Donated a turkey to the homeless (+5)

Purchased a dead turkey (-5)

Made a plea to the world to buy a meatless holiday roast instead of turkey this year (+1)

Live From The Mat – Day 2 November 15, 2009

7:55 am: Feeling sleepy (and maybe I’m getting a cold??) as I walk into class for back-to-back asana classes.

Scoreboard: A little pessimistic about how I’ll do in asana class with fatigue/sniffles (-2); A little annoyed at whoever got me sick (-3)

9:45am: Class #1 is done and it was terrific. Worked on inversions again and did my first ever forearm balance at the wall. And, oh yeah, yoga may have made my oncoming cold go away. I just can’t overestimate the health benefits of yoga.

Scoreboard: Less sneezy/may have discovered cure for the common cold (+11)

11:54am: Lunch break. We just finished Class #2 – a gentle one. Some observations -

• As a more experienced yogi I sometimes overlook the benefits of a gentle class. But we worked a ton on stretching and restorative poses – terrific items to have in your yoga tool chest!
• I could see how teaching beginners could be frustrating. So many people who could use one-on-one attention to enhance poses! How are you supposed to get to them all?
• As we came into savasana (aka deep relaxation pose) I realized how sometimes I struggle with my thoughts that arise while I’m “supposed to be” relaxing. It would be so much more productive to just acknowledge them and let them float away – as thoughts do on their own. As always, the path of least resistance is usually hardest to find!

Looking forward to this afternoon when we’ll discuss yoga for special populations – seniors, children, people with physical limitations, etc. It may come in handy if I get that part-time gig I applied for yesterday as a massage therapist at a 55+ Active Adult community. They offer yoga as well as massage, so I’m hoping I could practice my 2 passions in one place. how cool? I think it went well. Fingers crossed!

Scoreboard: Ate lunch way too fast so that I could blog (-3); About to take a walk to enjoy the sun that came out during our sun salutations this AM! (+3)

4:45pm: We ended the weekend with a lengthy discussion about all the varied health issues our students may have and how to modify poses in our classes to suit their abilities while keeping them safe. It was a little scary to think that I’ll be responsible for others’ safety in such an important way. However, I feel confident that this training will prepare me well for those situations. It also got me thinking about people in my own life who are living with illnesses such as Parkinson’s Disease and Multiple Sclerosis and how beneficial it would be to share this knowledge with them. Yoga truly is for everyone!

We did plenty of poses with props to demonstrate how to encourage both maximum yoga benefit and safety to our students. It brought back memories of my very first yoga classes back when I was an undergraduate at Princeton.  I studied with an Iyengar teacher, and for those who don’t know – Iyengar teachers are known for using all sorts of props! We used chairs, belts, straps, bolsters, blocks, mats, everything but the kitchen sink!

I ended the weekend by doing a supported shoulder stand between 2 folding chairs. One last “upside down” before heading home!

Scoreboard: Stepped up and volunteered to do the first supported shoulder stand (+2)

FINAL DAILY KARMA SCOREBOARD: (+8)

Live From The Mat – Day 1 November 14, 2009

8am: Yoga teacher training weekend is here (again)! I thought it might be fun to try something different and blog from the mat this weekend about all of the experiences here at the studio. We’ll be here 8am – 5pm both Saturday & Sunday, so I’ll share all the ups and downs (and upside-downs) of a weekend on the mat. This weekend will bring us to almost the 1/2 way point of our 2oo hour training. WOW! Time flies!

I’ll also do a running karma scoreboard tally, here goes:

Didn’t feed Dash this AM – no time (-3); Used the neti pot for 2nd day in a row and have the cleanest sinuses ever (+2)

Class is starting – SEQUENCING – gotta go!

9:45am: Sequencing class was really interesting. Tarra really shared some great insights on how to structure our classes. It hit me about half way through that eventually I’ll be up three doing what she does – making decisions about how to lead practice. A thought that is both scary and exciting!

11:35am: We just finished asana practice and are taking a lunch break. A few observations:

• I’m continuously startled when I finish asana and just feel so wonderful. I was feeling physically and mentally tired this AM but now I feel terrific.
• Handstands feel easier now after practicing them consistently for a few weeks. I was over thinking them for a while. Is it time to start over thinking about moving away from the wall?
• Tarra’s theme for class was all about non-attachment to our actions – a Bhagavad Gita core truth. I couldn’t help but feel like the message was meant for me. With all the “busyness” to my businesses it’s easy to forget why I’m doing so much and working so hard. There is a greater good to work for instead of just selfish goals. By keeping that in mind, it makes the hard work seem less hard.

As I have all of this swirling in my head, I’m looking out the window at people smoking in the parking lot below. I feel compassion in my heart for them and wish they’d stop.

Scoreboard: Feel more connected to my world through yoga (+5)

2:45pm: We just finished the anatomy section of the program! Looking forward to asana class #2 for the day.

Scoreboard: Feel lighthearted and happy (+5)

4:30pm: Day 1 is done! I really enjoy the asana classes where it’s just the teacher trainers with our instructor Tarra. We always seem to go deeper than when we’re with the other mainstream folks. We did a bunch of inversions – which I love! Handstand is always fun. We started working on forearm balance, too. I’m also a big fan of backbends and we spend a good amount of time on those as well. We started working on dropping back into a backbend while using the wall. It’s so amazing to even THINK about doing these things which would’ve been totally inaccessible even a few months ago!

Scoreboard: Heading home feeling the “good tired” (+4); Excited about an interview this evening for a part-time massage gig (+2); Calm and at ease after 8 hours of yoga (+5)

FINAL DAILY KARMA SCOREBOARD: (+20)

Happy Birthday Dash! November 10, 2009

Dash's Birthday

Happy Birthday to the smallest, squiggliest, handsomest little pup I know. It’s not actually his birthday, but more accurately his adoption day. When we got him a year ago today he was approximately 2 years old and living with a woman who’d rescued him from a shelter in South Jersey. I’d never had a dog before. Heck, I’d never had a pet before other than a goldfish when I was 6. Having Dash has enriched my life in so many ways and I’ve definitely learned a lot from watching him. He always wears his heart on his sleeve…er…tail (there’s just no hiding a very happy or stressed out tail!) He is bold and daring facing any challenge (or delivery man) head on. He is adventurous and will unflinchingly climb the highest piece of furniture in the house or trudge through the muddiest patch he can find. He knows how to relax and unwind and makes it a point to sleep at least 16 hours everyday – even in the laps of folks he’s barely met. Ahhhh, to live a dog’s life…

Thank you, Dash, for a great year with us! I look forward to learning more from you, little guy.

TODAY’S KARMA SCOREBOARD

Totally missing all of D’s birthday with work and school commitments. WORST…PUPPYDADDY…EVER! (-10)

Monday? Really? November 9, 2009

Is The Weekend Really Over?

Poor Dash. He spent the whole weekend with his 2 favorite peeps and then Monday comes along and we have to go back to the real world.

Just as Dash showed me today with his reluctance to let go of the blissful weekend away, I’m going to follow his lead and honor the insights from our recent trip. I’m going to keep my mind as focused on now as possible today. I even practiced keeping my commute peaceful this morning by opting to turn off the radio for a change. It made for a much more pleasant experience.

In any case (get it? in any case? like a suitcase?…ah, forget it!) I’m totally grateful for the time away to recharge the batteries and recenter for the path that lies ahead.

It’s Oh So Quiet November 8, 2009

It’s 9:30am at the lake house. The sun is up. The sky is clear. I think it’s going to be a relatively warm day for early November. And it is unbelievably quiet. Several times since we’ve been here I’ve made a mental note of just how quiet it is here. There are so many times in my regular world back in NJ that I think it’s quiet. But I can still hear cars passing, planes buzzing overhead, people talking, or electronics humming. Here there’s just…well…NOTHING. Every now and then a dog will bark in one of the houses dotting the landscape (sometimes mine) and it’s startling how much that sound carries across this starkly quiet place.

Quiet is so important and I’m realizing it’s an increasingly scarce commodity these days. We’ve all heard of the saying,

Walkin' with Dash

“You are what you eat.” I think a more accurate line might be, “You are what you hear.” In the busy world we live in our minds are constantly analyzing, processing, projecting forward, looking backward in a seemingly never-endingsymphony of thought. No wonder we all seem so stressed out all the time! We never get that quiet time to readjust, assimilate all of that input, or just rest our weary minds. It’s stunning what happens when the background noise shuts off. In this place where stillness is the norm I’ve noticed how much slower my thoughts are – that’s a good thing! Andhow much easier it is to live by following my heart rather than my head – also a good thing!

I’m left to ponder – how do I keep this silence and nurture it in my everyday world? Well, less artificial noise would be a good start…turning off that TV in the background while at home or that radio in the car while I drive…could be a start. It’s probably also a good idea to talk less. So many of us (myself included) just love to hear our own voices so we can marvel at our clever thoughts. We could all probably get along with saying a lot less.

I really do love quiet. And whenever Jeff and I get away we usually end up in a place like this far from a big city in theheart of someplace naturally beautiful. I usually vow to keep this stillness with me when I return home but it’s always easier said than done once distractions and deadlines of daily life abound. I wish I could record what I hear right now – the gentle sound of my pencil scribbling these words, the peaceful snoring of my guy and my dog both dozing up in the loft, and an occassional rustling of leaves in the breeze. Then I could play that recording REALLY LOUD and drown out all of the noise back home!

 

Family Portrait

YESTERDAY’S KARMA SCOREBOARD (part 2)

Taught 1-on-1 yoga class to Jeff and it went awesome (+10)

Had a wonderful special dinner for Dash’s birthday (+10)

Enjoyed the hundreds of stars in the night sky (+10)

TODAY’S KARMA SCOREBOARD (so far)

Moving slow this AM (+2)

Trying to stay in the moment and not worry about what’s waiting back at home…sometimes successful (EVEN)

Just (Remember to) Be Now November 7, 2009

Just over 2 months ago I started this blog sitting on a hammock at a yoga retreat in Maine. Right now I’m sitting in a rocking chair on the edge of a lake in Massachusetts. I’ve got the same mostly blank sheet of paper in front of me and the same intent to change my life one blog post and one moment at a time.

I feel like I’ve achieved much since then. The massage business is growing and I finally got my state certification card. I’m a third of the way to being a registered yoga teacher. My practice has deepened and I can do handstands (usually) at will now. The one thing I feel like I’ve been lousy at – or at least “hit or miss” – is this whole living in the now concept that helped me start this blog. At yoga retreat living in the now is simple. Every now is perfect. Who wouldn’t want to live in the now while enjoying a beautiful hike or sharing a wonderful meal with friends or swinging on a hammock in the late summer sun? The tricky part as I’ve learned is living in the now while standing in line at the grocery store, multi-tasking your butt off to make deadlines at work, or taking care of mundane household chores.

Last night’s trip up to this lake house with Jeff & Dash was a comedy of errors at best. The 3.5 hour trip took well over 5 hours. Some highlights included a detour through Jersey City where Dash wanted to attack a gas station attendant, getting stuck at a drawbridge while the SLOWEST…BARGE…EVER passed below, and routinely picking the toll lane behind the guy who didn’t have any cash. At times we laughed, at times we screamed (or barked) but mostly I just desperately wanted to hurry up and get here so I could relax. Um…sound like an enlightened yogi to you? Not so much. As I write this I’m embarrassed by it. I’d broken the cardinal rule of “just being now”. All of my fussing about needing to hurry up so that I could get here and relax made it even harder for me to relax once I got here.

There’s one thing that I really need to try to remember. Wherever we are, whatever the situation, it is probably always preferable to slow down, breathe, go with the moment and not make life such a struggle.

So 2 months in to my Just Be Now blog and I feel like it’s time to hit the reset button. No more going at a pace that’s faster than I can comfortably handle. The best thing I can do for myself and this world is to stay as present as possible now and do everything I can to make this now the best it can be.

In the spirit of nowness I’m going to stop writing and start being. The crisp autumn air feels refreshing. Some rusty leaved tree tops are peeking at me from across the lake. And I’ve got a crossword puzzle and a rocking chair. Time to chill!

TODAY’S KARMA SCOREBOARD

Slept in (+5)

Took Dash for a walk to explore (+3)

Made a pupcake for the birthday dog (+4)

Letting go of the horrific drive here (+8)

Still trying to “control the fun” on our weekend getaway (-6)

An Idea Worth Sharing November 6, 2009

This is an amazingly powerful video shared with me by my yoga instructor. It’s a talk given by a woman who tells the story of how she woke up one morning to find that she was having a stroke. As a neuroanatomist she had the unique experience of studying the changes in her own brain during her stroke from the inside.

I’m particularly struck by how peaceful she felt once the linear, thought-producing, stuck-in-the-past-or-future left hemisphere of her brain shut down. Her tale of surrender to the moment and her experience of oneness with the universe is truly remarkable. As someone who practices yoga regularly it’s an amazing tale of what can be possible when we open up to the power and beauty of our true consciousness.

She can tell you about it much better than I can…so view the video for yourself. It’s about 18 minutes, but well worth it. It just might totally change the way you see yourself and the world around you. Enjoy!