Can I hire someone to kick me in the ass every morning to get me to yoga? I am finding myself in a HUGE slump and while I know in my head that I would feel much better emotionally and physically if I got to yoga, when I wake up, I feel so glum and disorganized it all goes to hell in a handbasket!
Having a yoga Buddy is an important thing to me. Often my boss's wife, Ashley, will go, or our Asst. Sound, Sara, but I haven't even tried to organize them into pepping me up and I NEED to. Although maybe if someone were always bugging me to go like I bug them maybe I would just want them to go AWAY. How do you all organize your days so you fit the Bikram in?
I wish I had the kind of will power that made me pop out of bed each morning eager to begin the day, but lately that has not been the case. I am sure in my deep seated psyche, I am still grieving the loss of my father. I have read enough self help books to know where my brain goes awry. I just don't know how to reactivate it.
Maybe the first thing I need to do is text Ashley and Sara and maybe even post a note on the company callboard so that I get my fat ass out of bed in the morning and go? Ok, I am going to try that and will let you know the outcome.
But any other suggestions are welcome!
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Bikram Yoga Tempe!
After a week of hiking in Sedona, AZ and the Grand Canyon, I am back at work in Tempe, AZ and thus must make my way back to yoga at Bikram Yoga Tempe. Last time I was here, 2 years ago, I was very inspired by a man who took class who was paraplegic. I know I have healed a lot of mental wounds by doing yoga and I also feel that one of the reasons I am fit enough to do my job is because I practice yoga. It opens your body and mind to so much and allows faster healing of bruises whether inside or out.
The Bikram studio here has an incredible amount of classes and tomorrow I am available for the 9 am, noon or 2:30. I will let myself sleep in a bit and then decide! It is nice to have so much choice and I know that so many studios can't because they wouldn't be able to operate with that cost. But a noon class for those of us who work long shows (2 hours 50 minutes) and wake up late, (9am most days, though most of the crew doesn't get up until the double digit hours)is absolutely the best!
Have a great night and look forward to tomorrow, another performance of Billy Elliot is due to begin!
The Bikram studio here has an incredible amount of classes and tomorrow I am available for the 9 am, noon or 2:30. I will let myself sleep in a bit and then decide! It is nice to have so much choice and I know that so many studios can't because they wouldn't be able to operate with that cost. But a noon class for those of us who work long shows (2 hours 50 minutes) and wake up late, (9am most days, though most of the crew doesn't get up until the double digit hours)is absolutely the best!
Have a great night and look forward to tomorrow, another performance of Billy Elliot is due to begin!
Friday, April 15, 2011
This is not the blog you think it is....
I just read a book called "This is not the story you think it is" by Laura Munson. No, its not a yoga book but yoga has led to meditation and self help issues for me and that has led to a lot of alternative writings and thought so....well, it isn't like I have anyone actually reading this on a regular basis and I feel like telling myself and anyone who happens on this my peculiar philosophy. Anyway, here is a link to an article where she addresses Inner happiness/freedom, and I think it is very interesting:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-munson/choosing-your-emotions-in_b_845897.html
I think that Laura Munson was able to pull together so much of what she has read (a prodigious list of self help books, poetry and literature that she keeps alongside her bed) and really make a few succinct statements.
One of her "ideas" that of course, I am probably paraphrasing wrong, is to start ignoring the bitchy evil whiney kid in your head, who constantly reminds you WHY you should be unhappy. She even names her little kids, Sheila, to address her more firmly. The first time I went to Bikram Yoga in Chicago, I looked in the mirror and thought about how fat and old I looked. I was envious of the slim tight muscles the younger yogini's had. I almost threw up when the guy ahead of me poured out sweat in standing bow pulling pose.
I put my "evil twin sister", Renata in the past now and I feel like I am a different person now.
I see a 47 year young woman who is reasonably strong and flexible. She has a relatively peaceful look on her face, sometimes. She can finish a tough pose and let go of it and not mentally chastise herself for not doing it better. She has taken the phrase that was burned into her head when she was younger, "Your sister is the pretty one, and you are the smart one", and finally gotten it out of her mind.
I can be pretty and smart and I AM my own happiness!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-munson/choosing-your-emotions-in_b_845897.html
I think that Laura Munson was able to pull together so much of what she has read (a prodigious list of self help books, poetry and literature that she keeps alongside her bed) and really make a few succinct statements.
One of her "ideas" that of course, I am probably paraphrasing wrong, is to start ignoring the bitchy evil whiney kid in your head, who constantly reminds you WHY you should be unhappy. She even names her little kids, Sheila, to address her more firmly. The first time I went to Bikram Yoga in Chicago, I looked in the mirror and thought about how fat and old I looked. I was envious of the slim tight muscles the younger yogini's had. I almost threw up when the guy ahead of me poured out sweat in standing bow pulling pose.
I put my "evil twin sister", Renata in the past now and I feel like I am a different person now.
I see a 47 year young woman who is reasonably strong and flexible. She has a relatively peaceful look on her face, sometimes. She can finish a tough pose and let go of it and not mentally chastise herself for not doing it better. She has taken the phrase that was burned into her head when she was younger, "Your sister is the pretty one, and you are the smart one", and finally gotten it out of her mind.
I can be pretty and smart and I AM my own happiness!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Back from the beyond!
It has been ages since I have sat down and written anything good, bad, or ugly. I had a few very busy months flying back and forth to Ohio as my father slowly lost his fight with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. No one tells you when you are young that right when you have YOUR life together and are happy that one of the best people in your life will leave you feeling so lost you don't think you will ever feel good again. I am a work in progress every day, and I miss him every day, just like I have missed my mom since she passed away 8 1/2 years ago. It really does feel like you are suddenly an orphan, that no one will ever love you as much as those two people did.
I will say, as quickly as I can because while this is not yoga but it is about life, my dad was my hero! He worked his whole life from the time he was 8 when his dad died. He and mom who had also lost her dad young, did an amazing job at raising us with love, tenderness, morals and ethics and anything we have done wrong since then is PURELY our fault!
ANYWAY, I have been to a couple of "Bikram" yoga studios in the last month, Breathe Hot Yoga, in Seattle, WA,and Cel Rejuvenation Center in Portland, OR.
Breath Hot Yoga is a very nice open studio with a lot of room and a very interesting set up in the yoga studio. They have two rows up front where the heat is 105, then as the rows go toward the back the intensity of the heat dissipates to 85. The first day I went after a long time between any kind of yoga at all, I was in the third row and was very comfortable. When I moved up, that was great too since I have grown very fond of the sweat falling into my eyes.....
The teachers are very good, they do a few different routines that the first day were a little strange but grew on me. The yoga on the floor they do one of each of the 4 positions then they rest then do them again. Then the first two sitting postures are ganged together which is a little less fluid but worked for me. The teachers are very good about correcting people here an there without being obnoxious about it. This studio has a very nice changing room with plenty of space too! They have yoga mats and towels for rent and sale and a few yoga clothes. They also have a personal trainer to teach other methods of physical fitness.
One of the things i liked about this studio and the Cel Rejuvenation Center in Portland, is they have wooden floors. I do not have super hyper sensitive sense of smell but I do have to say, I have been to a few studios that have a pungent odor that no amount of carpet cleaning will ever dissolve. The wooden floors really do away with any smell at all and they just FEEL cleaner!
The Cel Rejuvenation Center (CRC) was the former Bikram PDX, still owned by the same woman but they now have this center with a lot of different types of yogas, Nia, and Yin to name two. They also have a massage therapist and a Live Food Cafe. The official Bikram is now across the river but they still have some Bikram classes at this studio. When I was first trying to find it on the map I kept coming up with different information because of the remake of the Bikram and the renaming of the original to CRC. When they were told of the difficulty of doing a web search the people at the studio were on top of it to make sure it wouldn't be hard for anyone else.
The owner has taught the three classes I have been to and she is very good. She has a great patter and a feel for when to help people to get the most out of the pose. They have a great heat there and a natural Portland humidity right now since it has rained every day for two weeks!
I am off to Sedona, AZ next week and haven't yet had a chance to research yoga there. Hoping to do a few classes between some major hiking and meditation!
Speaking of meditation, I did a great set of private classes in Charlotte, NC with Ranjit Deora, http://www.charlottemeditation.com/
He is a fantastic teacher and mentor with tons of experience! While I still have problems sticking to my schedule, Ranjit gave me a lot to work with in the future and keeps in touch via email!
I will say, as quickly as I can because while this is not yoga but it is about life, my dad was my hero! He worked his whole life from the time he was 8 when his dad died. He and mom who had also lost her dad young, did an amazing job at raising us with love, tenderness, morals and ethics and anything we have done wrong since then is PURELY our fault!
ANYWAY, I have been to a couple of "Bikram" yoga studios in the last month, Breathe Hot Yoga, in Seattle, WA,and Cel Rejuvenation Center in Portland, OR.
Breath Hot Yoga is a very nice open studio with a lot of room and a very interesting set up in the yoga studio. They have two rows up front where the heat is 105, then as the rows go toward the back the intensity of the heat dissipates to 85. The first day I went after a long time between any kind of yoga at all, I was in the third row and was very comfortable. When I moved up, that was great too since I have grown very fond of the sweat falling into my eyes.....
The teachers are very good, they do a few different routines that the first day were a little strange but grew on me. The yoga on the floor they do one of each of the 4 positions then they rest then do them again. Then the first two sitting postures are ganged together which is a little less fluid but worked for me. The teachers are very good about correcting people here an there without being obnoxious about it. This studio has a very nice changing room with plenty of space too! They have yoga mats and towels for rent and sale and a few yoga clothes. They also have a personal trainer to teach other methods of physical fitness.
One of the things i liked about this studio and the Cel Rejuvenation Center in Portland, is they have wooden floors. I do not have super hyper sensitive sense of smell but I do have to say, I have been to a few studios that have a pungent odor that no amount of carpet cleaning will ever dissolve. The wooden floors really do away with any smell at all and they just FEEL cleaner!
The Cel Rejuvenation Center (CRC) was the former Bikram PDX, still owned by the same woman but they now have this center with a lot of different types of yogas, Nia, and Yin to name two. They also have a massage therapist and a Live Food Cafe. The official Bikram is now across the river but they still have some Bikram classes at this studio. When I was first trying to find it on the map I kept coming up with different information because of the remake of the Bikram and the renaming of the original to CRC. When they were told of the difficulty of doing a web search the people at the studio were on top of it to make sure it wouldn't be hard for anyone else.
The owner has taught the three classes I have been to and she is very good. She has a great patter and a feel for when to help people to get the most out of the pose. They have a great heat there and a natural Portland humidity right now since it has rained every day for two weeks!
I am off to Sedona, AZ next week and haven't yet had a chance to research yoga there. Hoping to do a few classes between some major hiking and meditation!
Speaking of meditation, I did a great set of private classes in Charlotte, NC with Ranjit Deora, http://www.charlottemeditation.com/
He is a fantastic teacher and mentor with tons of experience! While I still have problems sticking to my schedule, Ranjit gave me a lot to work with in the future and keeps in touch via email!
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