Jill-ji!

another photo from yoga squared. jill (the woman in red!) is one of my dearest teachers. she heads to mysore, india today to study ashtanga yoga, sanskrit, harmonium, etc. i can't wait to hear of her journey. peace with you jill-ji! we miss you in philly, have fun in india!!

yoga squared, now y2.

i will miss this space. i had such an incredible journey at yoga squared and i will never ever ever forget those good times, hard times, funny times, mysore times, led times, tired times, baby times, informative times, cleaning times, grand ole times.

yoga squared is now called y2!! awesome. the space we will practice is at another local studio, renting their morning slots for mysore.

jill heads to india this week! kcdv is also making the journey in january over to mysore. i'm so jealous and happy for these incredible ladies. i would like to make that epic voyage to india to practice with sharath and travel around india.

i'm off work on thursday and friday and have so much yoga planned!

Thursday: -Renata at Wakeup in AM.

Friday: -10:30 David G. Led Primary Y2 @1611 Walnut St.

-in the PM, 2nd Series workshop.

Saturday: -2nd Series workshop in AM.

-practice teaching yoga with JN in PM.

Sunday: -Mysore in the AM.

-2nd Series workshop after.

Happy New Year's to everyone! (Anyone making resolutions? I think i'm changing some food habits again this year, not for weight-loss, but for health and political stuff. might update about that after I get it all squared away.)

ps-the pic is of jill's foundations first workshop from january '09. wow how time flies!

staying public for now.. been a while.

I've been meaning to blog. Lots of stuff happening recently.

Jill's workshop was fabulous! I had to really make the effort to get there in the blizzard!! It was worth the walking, the freezing, the soreness. Everything. I learned so much over the course of the weekend. Lots of working on leg-over-head and pasasana. Jill has some awesome tricks up her sleeve. Thank you for sharing them with us. I had a home practice, at work, yesterday. I did full primary, plus the 1st 3 poses of 2nd series. I'm really sore today. I tried to practice a little bit at work today, but I just didn't have it it me. I've noticed that having a sore throat and using ujayi breath doesn't feel so great.

a favorite quote from the weekend: "I'm not concerned where you place your hand in Triangle, I'm concerned with the state of the Triangle." Fabulous.

After work, I shoveled my car and bike out of their spots and fed myself food from Honey's Sit and Eat for dinner. I have the apartment to myself for a week and last night was kind of sad for me, but tonight I am making the most of it. I will probably watch a movie and hang out with Huckster and Pig. Asher and Pixel come back on Sunday! Yay!

We're on a break from TT until January. I need to do some studying, but it's been nice to not think so much about Asana and Philosophy on a daily basis.

I'm working on Christmas which is good and bad. Good because I have no plans otherwise, Bad because i'd rather just sleep in and do nothing all day. My bosses will see patients in the morning and then come home and eat Chinese food with their son and I. After that, I think they will go to a movie. When i'm off, I might take myself out to a movie at the Ritz, if they're open.

I'm going to see It's Complicated on Saturday with a nanny friend of mine. I love Meryl Streep! Can't wait!

Just got a haircut recently from Anthony at American Mortals, he comes highly recommended!

Well, That's all for now. I'll be blogging more hopefully, but who knows. Happy Holidays!

things happening.

trip to baltimore for chanukah this weekend.

one more TT class next wednesday and then a much needed break.

jill's winter solstice workshop on the 19th and 20th.

my parent's are coming to see my place at the end of december... finally.

the end.

so fun. right?

salambhasana a & b

learning 2nd series has been a slow process, but today i learned salambhasana a/b. i really like 2nd series, it's hard and challenging and exciting. i still can't bind pasasana on my own. but i'm down with just trying to for now. i'm tired. had a long weekend of TT. i taught surya namasakara b yesterday and revolved triangle to eagle today. both went well. that's all for now.

meet pixel.

this is the new pup. his name is pixel. we also call him precious. he's the sweetest pup i've ever met. sage and him get along well. he's already pretty much housebroken. he goes to the litter box almost 100% of the time.

---

david keil was in town and it was an amazing week for me. 6 practices straight (1 w/ noah, 5 w/ david). it's a lot, i'm not used to doing mysore every day...(because of TT), but it was amazing to reconnect with the practice. i fell in love with ashtanga all over again. i took a mini-break from wakeup to practice at yogasquared. i miss wakeup though and am looking forward to practicing there soon. maybe corina's vinyasa on monday and then definitely yin at 730 with adam and maybe caitlin.

---

this time last year..

i'm feeling nostalgic. david keil is in town. i just finished his weekend of yoganatomy for TT. it was informative and fun.

anyway. david was here last year around the same time. i had just started practicing mysore stylie in october of 2008 (was doing led primary for a while before that). i'm feeling so lucky to have found such an incredible ashtanga community through yoga squared (as well as an amazing community at wakeup yoga). last year during my first week with david, i was only practicing up to navasana. he was the first teacher to "officially give" me a pose, bhujapidasana. he took me up to supta kurmasana before he left.. and now a year later, i've got primary under my belt (for the most part.. there are a few poses towards the end that i'm still really working on.. well now that i think about it, i'm always working on all the asanas... it's constantly changing and growing and that's all part of it). david garrigues started me on 2nd recently which is another boat entirely... a boat in which i feel is insanely rocky.

today is day one of david keil mysore and it was a blast. he adjusted me in supta kurmasana and had me go into handstand from it. i'm pretty sure it's a teaching tool to show me what it feels like to lift out of the pose and jump back. it was neato. but i'm no where close to doing anything like that on my own.

i stood up from a drop back, sloppily, yesterday during mysore with noah w. i understand the quality of dropping back and standing up. still working on it though..

anyway, again. nostalgia is making me feel warm and fuzzy.

i'm also watching slumdog millionaire on tv right now, which came out around thanksgiving last year and i saw it with asher on thanksgiving day. this movie makes me cry. but i love it none-the-less.

lots of stuff happening.

ok here's a roster of events coming up:

jill manning: led primary @ yoga squared on nov. 7th, 10am.

jill manning: foundations first workshop on nov. 7th (1-5pm) and 8th (12-4pm) @ yoga squared, ($90 for weekend, or 50/day)

yogasquared.com or jillmanning.com for details...

david keil is having a special led primary class @ yoga squared on nov. 14th, 9am.

david keil is also doing a week of mysore (nov 9th to 13th) @ yoga squared, i think most spots are filled but there might be a few openings for the 11am group. call yoga squared for details!

----

so i'll be submerging myself in ashtanga love this upcoming week. can't wait.

i had this insane eye migraine yesterday after practice. my vision went wackadoodle. i was seeing spots and swirls. then i vomited, while driving my car home, luckily i had a bag in my lap just in case.. ( i was feeling super nauseous). i spent the rest of my birthday on the sofa. horrible!

so tonight, i am doing a re-do of my birthday. morgan, asher and i are going to bar ferdinand on my bosses bday tab/present for me. and then we will see saw 6. will be loads of fun.

the end. infinite love.

where the wild things are...

makes me want to crawl into a nook or something small and daydream all day.

i want to build a fort around my bed.

----

i went to yoga squared yesterday for the first time in two weeks. wow. good energy. good peeps. new teacher, who i love, noah. he rocks. i'm excited to see him there for a bit.

i'm so insanely sore from practice yesterday. my practice was great though, but my arms and a little part of my neck are sore. at least it's not my legs this time.

most of my practices are at wakeup these days. been crazy busy, but teacher training is rad and i'm learning a lot.

those moments where we get to teach are just little sips of what's to come. i'm making some amazing friends. and just got my mentor, which is micki! yay~

all for now. gotta go write a paper. (and clean mouse poo out of my apartment.)

an update on my life.

super busy it seems. lots of yoga. lots of response papers. lots of practice. work work work. etc etc etc.

recently saw "whip it," which was so cute and i love ellen page and all the other ladies in the film were just awesome to watch, especially when they were skating.

trying to go see where the wild things are, ASAP!

went to southhampton spa with adam and some other folks on saturday night. wild experience. definitely fun. ate fish jerkey and pickled grapes. weird, fun, goofy, steamy.

i also recently went to a wake/funeral for my old nanny/house keeper, daisy. she passed away last week after battling lots of things, and my family and i got to say goodbye to her on friday at the wake. it was super intense. never been to a wake before. i got to hear some amazing gospel. and we got to see daisy's family, which ended up being really nice.

nothing else to report. just trying to get some practicing in. maybe now. maybe later.

pendle hill.

we had teacher training this weekend at pendle hill for our retreat. it was so intense. so fun. we laughed. cried. told stories. bonded. learned. taught.

we each had two opportunities to teach. on saturday, i taught how to be in tadasana and transition to urdhva hastasana. we had to include benefits and alignments. i rocked the house! (at least i think so.) today, everyone got to teach one half of a lunging surya namaskara. i'm so glad that i practiced this a bunch on my own and a little with some of my fellow TT mates. i had so much fun teaching this. i really felt like this is it. i want to do this. i want to teach yoga. it was super empowering. i can't even believe how much i learned this weekend.

this morning, while using my neti pot, i had taken out my septum piercing and decided that during our early morning pranayama practice, i would leave it out. during nadi shodhana, i had this realization that i didn't want my septum ring anymore. i finally really connected with my breath and it was so amazing. i just had this moment where i thought, you're not putting that metal back in your nose. so i didn't. i feel free.

i enjoyed learning dinacharya (daily rituals). we all started using our dry brushes and oils this weekend before showering. it feels delightful! i only neti pot when i need to, as i don't want to overdo it. but i did neti pot today because i've been having bad allergies in the morning.

i'm soooo tired. i have so much to do already again. have to write a paper for wednesday and start really reading all the books that are in store for the rest of this program.

ok. goodnight folks.

nothing new to say.

just been busy. not much going on here. the weather is lovely today. i took myself out for breakfast at honey's. i'm working for a few hours then going on TT retreat. i'm excited to immerse myself in this training. i did my class observation of victoria's class last night. it was awesome to watch her in action. i took 4 pages of notes. again, nothing new to say.

see you sunday.

weekend review.

this weekend was fun filled to the max.

friday night: dinner with adam at le virtu for his bday. lots of laughs, lots of pasta, good times had by all. i came home and had the apartment to myself. it was freaky at first, but i loved it. it was quiet beyond belief. wild. i listened to the rain as i fell asleep in my big comfy bed.

saturday: yoga asana practice with micki at wakeup fairmount. i biked there. from there, i went to mugshots and journal-ed. then biked to yoga squared, went shopping at anthropologie, got 2 sale dresses, then went to heather marie's ball rolling workshop. it was wild. good people. lots of weird noises. lots of body open-ness. then i went to rittenhouse and did some slack-lining and acro yoga with 2 girls from TT and another girl we know. funnnnn. then biked home.... hung out and studied for TT and finished my take home test. (7.5 miles on bike)

sunday: yoga asana practice with patrick at wakeup south. i biked there. from there, i went to B2 and journal-ed. then biked to yoga squared and cleaned the studio. then i biked home, walked my pig, and made dinner with sara b. (10 miles on bike)

i think i'm actually exhausted. i'm so excited for bed and it's only 8pm. i loved having the apartment to myself. it was seriously thrilling. that's all for now. TT retreat next weekend, soooo excited to get away. no internet, no phone. just yoga yoga yoga.

adam k, guest blogger: recipe for "vege thingy."

Vege thingy

basic idea is ratatutioe with a little

zucchini, yellow squash, roasted red pepper(yes you can use canned bottled etc), onion

colors, green, yellow, red, and who does not love the onion

tomato sauce...jarred like classico due to no corn syrup(worstest food piece ever invented)

best mixed up with a bit of pesto, love the pesto, just love it love it love it the fresher the better, store bought fine.

oil du olive what not used spread on flesh of loved one and self....wrestle

chop veges 1/8 inch thickly, just barely cook zucc, squash, onion

do each type separately in large vat of hot water with some salt in it

cool down veges so not over cook...trick sheet pan place in freezer or in ice bath(like have fever like in house md episode) take out of ice bath very very quick go soggy.

pan with sides about 1-2'' tall coat with oil du olive and those Italian spices

coat loved one and self with rest of oil du olive....wrestle

an hour later....................

Whew ! that was fun and now back to cooking

layer on veges in nice pattern with also interspersed with tomato sauce and the fruit of Olympiad Parmesan Cheese like in the green shake container

I think of this cheese and cry.

one moment please

get all set don't forget to sprinkle about in the interspersed with Italian spices and salt und pepper

top with a bit of extra parmesan cheese

bake it do not shake it for it may fall

at like 375 till done

yes I know what you say... what is done

till all hot all the way about and in, use tooth pick at thickest part

feel if all hot and steamy and ready for action

take my guess about 20-35 minutes

and then

Give it up

weekend update.

i have the apartment to myself this weekend. just me, huck and pig. should be nice and quiet and contemplative.

things i have lined up:

friday: dinner with adam in south philly!

saturday: 10-11:40am: micki's class @ wakeup fairmount. 2-4pm: heather marie's yamuna ball rolling workshop @ yoga squared. (night time plans are open, but i might go see whip it!)

sunday: 10-11:40am: biz's class @ wakeup fairmount.

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when i'm home, i plan on reading the anatomy of the spirit. i plan on working on and finishing my take home final. i plan on watching the movie australia. i plan on drinking tea and sleeping and taking the pig on extra long walks. i'm excited for my weekend of me.

out and about.

i have visitors in town. chelsea, iris, zach. chels was catching up with an old friend, so iris, zach and i went around rittenhouse and had sushi, on our walk up and down chestnut we came across this pretty pink bike with this "i <3 your bike" note on it. so cute! i've decided i'm glad i have an undesirable bike. no one wants to steal it. yay! i'll probably never get a cute card like this on my bike, but i'm totally ok with that!

TT in full swing

just completed the first weekend of wakeup teacher training (TT). woah nelly. lots of info. lots of talking. lots of asana-ing. i love the group of women i am learning with. we have 3 awesome teachers. i am seriously looking forward to every meeting we have together. wednesday nights are now a staple of my week. i don't have much to blog about, but i did get to teach a lunging surya namaskara. i didn't fail completely, but wasn't exactly on point. i need to find my "voice."

i'm stoked for our retreat together. i'm stoked for david keil coming in november. i'm stoked for some manorama-ji. i'm stoked for jill-ji's winter solstice workshop weekend.

my friend in california has this tattoo on his ankle. "fun is fun is fun" it's in a circle. so it keeps going and going and going.

remember to have fun! it's so important.

things for me.

swinging. yoga. yin yoga. biking. eating well. sleeping well. being present.

tina-ji says:

"when you practice yoga, you practice love."

love, practice. practice, love.

ass up in the air.

i think it's inappropriate to come talk to a yoga student about things other than that asana while her ass is up in the air during supta konasana.

done. and done.

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on another note. i'm stoked for teacher training this weekend.

on another note. my bosses decided last minute not to send their child to playschool today and expected me to answer their phone calls and texts at 8 in the morning. i told them i would be at yoga. (and i was because i didn't have to work until 11ish and i didn't rush through my practice and i didn't rush to get there and it was nice!) so i answer bosses pleas around 8:45.. i think they were having a collective heartattack because they needed to get to work and i was nowhere to be found! hilarious. they asked if i could pick j up from school (as it turns out they tried to take him to school as a last result because nanny was missing.) and i told them fine. even though i had a morning of reading to do and coffee to drink. and now i have to keep my cell phone on my mat on vibrate if i ever practice on tuesday or thursdays so that i can be reached in case of "not going to school today" emergencies. BULL SHIT.

the journey starts today.

day one of yoga teacher training.

2 hours. all women. lots of info. my brain feels full and i decided for my brain's sake i will NOT look at TT manuals tonight, but will bring them to work and will dive into them tomorrow.

this upcoming weekend is our first intensive. i'm excited for them, but more excited to get to know the women in my class.

i'm partnered up with a woman in fishtown, there wasn't a third person that lived close enough to us, so for now, it's her and i. maybe someone from the southphilly group will join us eventually. who knows. i'm looking forward to getting a mentor.

i'm not gonna lie.. i totally totally totally, FOR real, cried during the opening chant at TT tonight because i missed jill so much. i know that this training WILL BE AMAZING, but i can't help but think of how fun it would have been to have jill as my TT teacher.. i also just miss her saturday morning classes, drop back workshops, practicing at y2, drinking coffee at la colombe.

i'm so beat. night.

the life and times.. or the basil versus the bonsai.

the bonsai is asher's. the basil is mine (well, ours..)... hmm. look who's thriving in my no.libs. apt! the basil! apparently the bonsai is having a rough time.. i heard they are hard to keep alive and i think that is an understatement!
my mom gave me a slow cooker (crock pot!). we are initiating it's use on the same day we got it! that's pretty rad. me and the asher and the morgan decided to make a beef stew: carrots, onions, garlic, 17 beans and lentils mix from tj's, potatoes, and some kind of beef stew meat on sale. it's going to cook overnight and when i come home from work tomorrow, dinner is served!

yay.

Elvis Cake.

go to a full plate. eating elvis cake. smile. enjoy. xo, amanda

ps. i took myself on a date to the movies yesterday after work. i saw the september issue which is a documentary on anna wintour and the making of the vogue september issue. i loved it. i love fashion. i think i will start taking myself on more dates. maybe once a week if i have a time. if not, then 2 times a month sounds good. you gotta have fun with yourself.

10 days off, back to work.

it's hard going back to work after not working for 10 days. seriously hard.

i went to providence. i practiced. i ate good delicious food. i rejuvinated.

i came back to philly. did an immersion practice with corina on friday. rejuvination!!

jp came to town and we hung out for the weekend. fun times. coffee drinking. amazing weather yesterday. i also made it back to y2 to a solid practice yesterday.

i didn't make it to y2 this morning, but i just threw down my mat for a few sun salutes. i feel really sluggish. not sure if it's the work thing. or the staying up late thing. or just whatever... i might try to hit up wake up tonight for a class. i think starting this week i have tuesday and thursday mornings off until 11:30, which will be awesome because i can go to practice later! yay.

ummm. yoga sutra closed down in philly. didn't expect that to actually happen. wow. ok.

back to work. back to work. back to life.

ashtanga yoga providence.

the seeds have been planted... all around town. a flyer for ashtanga yoga providence outside of julian's (we ate there last night).
me on jill's comfy chair being comfy in my sweatshirt. 

after practicing, we ordered delicious mexican food from la lupita and ate it while hanging out in the park by the armory basically all afternoon. we played this frisbee game, sat and talked, did a little sun salutes, talked to strangers.. then we went home and made dinner and had some drinks and played this crazy card game that has little beans on the pictures. bohnanza.

i'm loving this town. i'm loving hanging with jill and mike and their RISD buds and RISD wives.. everyone is so nice and we're having a blast. we're going to flyer the city some more with ashtanga providence flyers. this city is so ready for some mysore style lovin'.

also, i dropped back without fear today in the presence of my friend and teacher jill. thank you for sharing your practice and your space with me. i loved it. tomorrow i will work on standing up solo. 

also, i've been taking pictures with the digital camera adam gave me and some pictures with my holga. i will post the digital ones when i get back but for now you get these lovely phone pics! night night!

blogging from RI

i left philadelphia around 12:45 yesterday and made the solo journey to providence to visit jill, mike, angie and charlie. i missed the nj turnpike, but other than that, it was an uneventful trip. hit a little traffic around the g.w. bridge in ny. i remember driving through new york when i was a kid and always being fascinated with the scenery. i had to remind myself to keep my eyes on the road. i had an awesome trip. listen to good music. ate some dried mango, beef jerky and pumpkin spiced granola. i made it to providence by 6pm, with one bathroom stop and on less than a tank of gas!! killer!

when i got here i was freezing, so i changed into warmer clothes... and we went out to dinner with some friends at julian's. good food, good friends, good times. good sangria! 

came back to the house and lounged around a bit and then went to bed. yoga room to guest bedroom in less then 5 minutes flat. it's peaceful here. i wouldn't mind living here for a little chunk of time. life is nice and i like it here. 

just practiced in the yoga guest room with jill-ji. now off to eat and play some frisbee in the park and relax on this lovely labor day.

welcome morgan!!

This is Morgan in foreground, Asher in middle ground, Stranger in background. We went to Higher Grounds (pictured) this morning! First time there. What a lovely place to drink coffee. Great atmosphere, lots of art, lots of space. I like it better then OneShot merely because it's bigger and you don't feel like you're sitting on top of strangers. We also went to N. 3rd for brunch, I had two fried eggs with chili on top of a delicious corn bread. The food was fab! We hadn't been there either. A day of firsts. We also went to Art Star and I bought a pair of earrings. That store is going to be where I spend money on things for me or special gifts for friends. It's truly amazing.

I'm enjoying having Morgan as a roommate. I love being on vacation. We went to Ray's Happy Birthday Bar in South Philly to celebrate J.D.'s bday last night. It was crowded, smokey (they allow smoking apparently), and kinda nutty, but it was nice to be there with a bunch of good people I know. We biked there from No.Libs. It's a little over 6 miles round trip. Now I am relaxing. Off to Providence tomorrow for a mini-road trip to see Jill and maybe connect with my Holga again.

what makes a practice?

someone once said that a single downdog is a practice.

what constitutes a practice? connecting to your body? breath? following a particular set of asanas?

i know that the answer for me is connecting to my body. calming my mind with some breath and movement. i don't feel attached right now to series of asanas. i think that bodies and minds need certain practices on certain days.

today i did sun salutations. i feel good. what about you?

things i'm looking forward to:

(one for the history books: jan. 2009, katie's graduation party)

jp visiting.

morgan moving here.

a week off of work.

a trip to providence.

chelsea and crew visiting.

rosh hashanah.

autumn.

wake up yoga teacher training.

my 26th birthday. halloween. 3 year anniversary with asher. (all happens on the same weekend!)

winter solstice celebration led by jillji at wakeup.

so many things to look forward to. i'm just full of anticipation for this coming year.

yin yoga; hard yoga?

this image is from fitsugar.com, it's called "lizard pose."

imagining doing this pose and holding it for 5 minutes! and then doing something equally as uncomfortable and doing that for 5 minutes. then doing another pose for 5 minutes. then doing it all on the other side of your body. f-ing a man! that was hard. i wanted to go to corina's 545 class at fairmount, but time was against me.. so i decided to venture over to wakeup south for the first time. i've never been and i wasn't sure if i knew how to get there, but magically i had the address memorized and i knew the cross streets... so i got there. planned on doing vinyasa with jill b. but i was the only taker on that note, so her and i took mickey's yin class. i'm tired just thinking about. i'm interested to see how my body reacts to such a class. i was blissed out of mind afterwards. i seriously was high. i didn't know my way home from south philly (well i do know how to get home, but not the fastest route) so i just rode and rode and found 3rd street and took it alllll the way home. it was a 25 minute bike ride. talk about my hammies & quads. they were burning up afterwards. i'm ready for bed and it's 9:15. i don't really go to sleep til 10 so i will finish watching hell's kitchen with my boytoy and pack up my stuff and see if i can make it to early morning mysore tomorrow. (haven't been since monday, home practice tuesday, yin today.)

clutter is the symptom, hoarding is the disease.

my sister and i are watching a show on people who hoard. it's seriously intense.

----

although i've been living on my own now for a few years, i still have some of my belongings at my parents house. mostly old art and photography stuff. stuff that i can't really lugg around from apartment to apartment to city to city to city. ya know? i have most of it in tubs and some of it on shelves. i'd like to get rid of some of it, but i'm emotionally attached. so it stays for a while, in another 6 months i'm sure i'll be able to get rid of more. it's a slow process. i'm not a hoarder, but i do get these strange attachments to stuff from my past and i keep it for a while, then one day when i'm over it, i throw lots of things away.

---

i have sooo many old journals. from middle school. highschool. college and beyond. some of them are majorly embarassing. but i can't get rid of them. i like to read them sometimes and see how much i've grown, changed and blossomed.

one of my journals is from when i roadtripped with my bff jp and then moved to california. this was 2006.

here are some quotes that i had written down in it that i enjoy:
-"i told my mom my own theory of why we like birds- of how birds are a miracle because they prove to us there is a finer, simpler state of being which we may strive to attain." from douglas copland's, "life after god"

-"i have to remind myself that time only frightens me when i think of having to spend it alone. sometimes i scare myself with how many of my thoughts revolve around making me feel better about sleeping alone in a room." douglas copland, "life after god"

-life lessons from the road (these are from the road trip with jp): when you see it, do it. know that people can be cranky, it doesn't mean they don't love you. try new things, ie: oysters. stop for scenic views. sometimes it just rains. take 2 lane roads. sometimes it's nice to sleep alone. (there were many of these life lessons from the road, but these were my favs.)

stencils that were on Valencia Street in San Fran:
'i've waited my whole life for you.'
'you make my dreams come true.'
'your existence gives me hope.'
'i couldn't love you anymore than i already do.'
'you bring me to my knees.'
'your love is all i need.'

(i wonder who stenciled these quotes and who they were for. it's kinda cute/romantic.)


"in landlessness resides the highest truth." -moby dick

------
i've been fascinated with birds and the ocean for years. this journal is 3 years old and most of it still holds true.

Ashtanga Insight: Guest Blog by Adam K.

Ashtanga Insight

The Virtuous Feedback Loop

A few years ago I heard David Williams speak about ashtanga and he mentioned that it was a feedback loop. That idea has stayed with me and developed.

Early in the mornings coming back to the mat to work on/do primary series. What do I find? I find how I have been for the last like 24 hours. I find out with attention how it feels to get enough sleep or not get enough sleep. To notice the effects of overeating at 10pm the last evening. What it is like to have had a beer and a little bit of some old scotch the night before. So what I find on the mat is what my mind and body is like with how I been treating myself. It is mostly finding out what the consequences are of my time off the mat.

I've tried a mental construct to work with. Let's presume that practicing ashtanga is wholesome/skillful/good for the body-mind. So then those things that create for better practice are the wholesome actions to undertake in one's life. These actions would include bodily actions enough sleep, moderate eating, little to no booze. The mornings after a more than one drink evening my body is much more stiff. There would also be wholesome mental actions. For unwholesome interpersonal relationships and mental actions causes the mind to want to seek escape, quite stressful. So not lying, not stealing, not killing etc, wholesome actions like joy, generosity, kindness, restraint, focus. Humm... seems like clean living that does not diminish enjoyment of life.

Each morning because of the repetition and need to attend to the body and mind during practice I must notice the consequences of the time away from the mat. I notice how much attention I can muster, how my bowels feel, what my breathing is like. The awareness makes me notice, and the noticing does affect how I act off the mat. The awareness and mindfulness (the remembering) builds and during the day I remember a little more what works well and what does not. Choices are more available that have differing consequences. With the insight then there is the opportunity to change so that there is more space for joy, and the small parade of horribles visits a bit less.

This yoga practice is experiencal, see and find out for yourself what you find that works for you.

With this practice I like to remember what a couple of accomplished ashtangis have said:

"Yoga will ruin your life." -Richard Freeman

"Don't let yoga ruin your life." -David Swenson

hell's kitchen?

asher and i are watching hell's kitchen on hulu.com. we don't have a tv anymore. haven't had one for a really long time. recently we've been watching the office also. i just got bit by a mosquito 4 times while in my apartment. how did that little bugger get in here? hmm. itchy itchy.

life is good here in northern liberties. we just need a bookstore and a movie rentals place and maybe a food store. the food store is not essential. we go to trader joe's, whole foods and the asian food market down the street. (we went to the asian food market tonight and it was heavenly! there are so many choices!)

i'm heading to baltimore this weekend to see my family. we have my grandmother's unveiling on sunday. i get to see my aunts and uncles from both sides of the family. it will be really nice. i might go to the femme show at load of fun on saturday night to see some of baltimore queers! also, if i can i will try to go to led primary at charm city yoga. but i might just have to practice at home.

tomorrow is led primary really really early. today was a moon day. i slept til 7 and it was lovely. what else. hmm. don't know.

also, i got accepted into wakeup yoga's teacher training program. it starts in september. i'm super juiced about it.

pasasana = noose pose!

um. unexpectedly i started 2nd series yesterday. i didn't think that was in the cards for me right now, but i guess someone else sees the potential. i'm dropping back on my own, but still need help standing up. i'm very close though. pasasana, the noose pose pictured above, is the new pose. i haven't had a new pose in a very very long time it seems, probably since the spring. i have a new soreness in my armpits and ribs especially. i definitely need work on this. it's so hard to balance and bind, but i'm excited for the newness of learning something new and hard. very hard.

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i partied this weekend a bit with boytoy. i had a really fun time. we did some time at the standard tap. some beer time at home. some abbaye time late night after the tap. oh what fun! i can't wait for morgie to get here so we can show her our new home and new digs. i hope she loves it here as much as we do.

i'm tired. didn't make it to practice this morning, but i'll be practicing in the kitchen while the baby sleeps. wish me luck on the pasasana.

philly book co.

adam and i found this special warehouse full of cheap & amazing books. i will have to go explore one day and buy all the books i've ever wanted!

the hidden gem of fishtown. check it out: http://phillybookco.com/Cart.aspx.

secret agent yogi.

often in the early morn, before the sun has risen, i feel like secret agent yogi. a yogi on a mission to get to the shala in time to practice and shower. and then once the sun is up, i feel like not-so-secret agent nanny on a mission to get from yoga to work successfully (which means on time, alive and with coffee in hand.) mission complete.

(this was my facebook status a few minutes ago).

um. so i really feel like a yogi on a mission. especially the mornings when i have to be at work by 8am. today was one of those days. luckily asher doesn't have to work today, so his mission is to take out sage and feed her so i don't have to wake up 15 minutes earlier to do that. my alarm goes off at 5:40. i contemplate going back to bed. thinking to myself, it's still dark out? i haven't been up this early since... i don't know when. now that i live in northern liberties, my bike ride to yoga is longer and harder. it's more "uphill" and more turns.... i used to go straight down chestnut to yoga squared. now i go up 2nd, to spring garden, left on 21st and then left onto chestnut. today i made the mistake of going down 19th but then realizing that the circle was ahead, i cut down callowhill to 21st to finish the commute. took me 17 minutes today, but i think it will take less time if i didn't have such a heavy back pack (which i did today, full of towels and food and clothes, etc.) also, had that little detour.. anyway.

yogi on a mission. i have to lock up the bike, go up the stairs, unload my stuff, roll out the mat, check in with my breath and then BAM i'm practicing. so much goes into this. it feels like its not worth it sometimes. like maybe i don't want to do all this extra stuff, like riding the bike, unloading, reloading, practicing, biking again. etc. i enjoy waking up, taking out my dog and going straight to work. practicing at work is quite enjoyable and also practicing at home is as well. for now, i will continue my daily morning rituals and missions to get to yoga and do my practice with all my buds at yoga squared. ps- the merger is cancelled. so yoga squared stays! yay. but if i get accepted into wake up yoga's teacher training, my practice will be mostly there (vinyasa classes! which are wayyyyy fun. :) ) and then on the days i don't go there, i will do in home practices. i don't think i'll have the time or effort to be going to y2 as much. but it's ok. i have a solid practice now. and i feel competent to do it at home, in the park, in the shower, on the streets, anywhere really.

my arms are extremely sore right now. i'm challenging myself in so many ways now with my practice and my arms are feeling brutal. my wrists have a soreness that hopefully will go away once i develop more strength in my core. who knows.

i want adam to guest blog on here. so i'm saying it out loud. right now. so adam! you will guest blog. whatever topic you choose (yoga?)

that's all/

signing off,

secret agent yogi.

liberty lands.

saw this amazing poster on the bulletin board in the liberty lands park that is a mere 2 second walk from my apartment. the graphics next to the poster are what really caught my eye. i need to go back there tomorrow morning and take another two photos of the artwork. i just snapped this with my phone while walking the pig-beast this morning, was kinda in a rush.

top ten things i love about my new place/area:

1-my room used to be an attic, it's cozy and it has the cutest little nook windows.

2-a quick 10 minute bike ride to work instead of 20 minutes.

3-i'm right across the street from the piazza.

4-1shot coffee is my new coffee shop and it's adorable and it has sofas.

5-liberty lands park is behind my house and it's amazing.

6-honey's sit and eat is a 5 minute walk from my apt.

7-my apartment is quiet and has central air.

8-my apartment is mold free.

9-my dog is happy. (she has stairs to run up and down now and so much more space)

10-my apartment is officially the LOVE NEST.

will blog more when i get some more time. gonna take some pics tomorrow once we get some stuff up on the walls.

night night.

south philly burrito explorers.

these two pieces are right next to each other in south philly. close to 8th and wash.

asher and i went burrito advent-uring.

no luck with what we ate. any burrito suggestions? we'll keep on trucking til we find something delicious. aren't these murals amazing?

nyc. you defeat me.

it rained it poured. i bought a poncho and when i opened it, this is what i saw... officially a tourist in times square after a long day of photo assisting.
this is mr. gilbert. he's a puppy. very cute.
my very first strand bookstore bag. swanky pigeons.
defeat sticker on bike in alphabet city.

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this is my second trip to nyc recently and i always feel defeated afterwards. i feel no desire or urge to live in that city. ever. never. even if i was a millionaire. it's extremely tense there. i find myself walking much slower than everyone else and i get pushed around a bunch. philly is a good place for me. i'm tired.

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i practiced mysore at yoga sutra nyc. john campbell and his assistant constanza roldan. got an amazing assist in supta kurmasana from constanza. she's so great! i like practicing in a new place and not knowing anyone. no drama. no fuss. i keep to myself on the mat and it's nice. back to yoga squared for a few days before making the big move over to yoga sutra philly. hope everything goes smoothly for everyone making that transition.

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