ATX.

I'm currently sitting in Tampa International Airport. Waiting for my flight to Austin, TX. This is the first time I'm flying with a laptop. I won't lie to you here. I feel pretty fancy and dorky playing on my laptop in an airport. This is normally something I do at home, in pajamas, or what not.. It feels weird to be out in the open with my electronic toy of choice.

Anyway. I'm going to Austin. I'll visit friends. See the city. Check out the diggs.

I'll also be practicing yoga at (click) Ashtanga Austin. (hopefully, time and transportation permitting.)

I plan on sweating it out, tapas style. Swimming. Eating. Drinking. Playing. and deciding if ATX is the city we've all be waiting for.

OH. Asher and Morgan are taking a bike "ride" across the country. 4,000 miles. Virginia to Oregon. I met these two fools, almost 4 years ago.. They told me that this was one of their dreams.. So they are finally doing it! I'll be in Philly, watching the beasts, making some $, practicing lots of asana and going "steady" with myself.

It will be the summer of Amanda dating herself. I'm scared and excited.

My great great friend from TT will be renting Morgan's room.

Follow Asher and Morgan on their blog: (click) One Loud Day

The lightness of being.

Let me set the stage: 7am, alarm goes off, I'm incredibly tired. I had a super busy, hectic night at D's on Sunday and today I wanted my bed. Set my alarm to go off again at 7:15... In a moment of clarity, I remembered a friend might be coming to the Shala for her first mysore practice and I wanted to be there for her.. So I hopped out of bed, threw on my clothes and rode my bike in a sleepy daze over to the shala.

I roll out my mat. I do my sun salutes which I will described as sleep induced sun salutes. It was hazy. I was sweating within 2 minutes of starting my practice. Humidity!!

So I practiced.. By the time I was finished the standing poses, I woke up a bit.

When I got to the floor, things felt different. I felt light. My jumps thrus were almost effortless. It was like I was a feather. I don't know what shifted today, but I just felt a new sense of being.

I know this will change. Everything does.

We are constantly shifting, growing, morphing. I like that.

I'll end with a quote from Fiona Apple that has been floating around my brain:

"I certainly haven't been shopping for any new shoes
-And-
I certainly haven't been spreading myself around
I still only travel by foot and by foot, it's a slow climb,
But I'm good at being uncomfortable, so
I can't stop changing all the time."

10 things that make me happy right now.

1. yoga.
2. cool, early morning air.
3. coffee, home-brewed, home-enjoyed.
4. dancing to lady gaga.
5. pig-tails in my hair.
6. the orchid that asher gave me is still alive and blooming!!
7. going to austin on sunday!
8. selling things on craigslist!!
9. downsizing my things... still on a path of minimalism.
10. sleep. so. good.

tugboat sally.

I was at the art start craft bazaar last Sunday when I took this pic of a tugboat tugging away on the Delaware River. I plan to base my next tattoo on a tugboat. Need to get chugging away on the sketches.

kensington kinetic sculpture derby.

my favorite bike sculpture. a tandem "airplane" bike, with pilot and stewardess. simple, so sweet. i'll post another two or three favorites soon. love.

10 things that make me happy right now.

1. chai tea at the random tea room.
2. spending yesterday doing nothing at all, all day, with asher.
3. selling things on craigslist for cash money.
4. asana practice.
5. cleaning my 'closet', getting rid of things.
6. watching a newbie learn ashtanga from the beginning: it's so cool to watch how the teacher teaches and the student learns. i love this process of learning. one on one, with other's around, breath, driste, bandhas, asana. woot woot woot.
7. my wavy, wavy, scraggly longish hair. and my big, betty page, bangs.
8. witnessing a marriage/union of two people who are madly in love with each other.
9. i love the fact that i put a pink feather into sage's dog collar and it's still there and she looks like a circus dog, i love her for letting my do that. she had no choice really. but still.
10. upcoming adventure travels. secret stuff.

9.

(this is an excerpt from an article about Pattabhi Jois from the Yoga Journal)

As it was Guruji and Manju's desire to come to America, in 1975 Nancy Gilgoff and I brought them to Encinitas, California. They stayed in our home and conducted daily Mysore-style classes for two months. On the final night before Guruji was to return to India, we were in the kitchen chatting. Manju was translating.

I asked, "Guruji, you have seen my life, you have met my friends. As a big yogi to a little yogi, do you have any advice for me?"

"Yes," Guruji replied. "Each morning wake up. Do as much yoga as you want. Maybe you'll eat, maybe you'll fast. Maybe you'll sleep indoors, maybe you'll sleep outdoors. The next morning, wake up. Do as much yoga as you want. Maybe you'll eat, maybe you'll fast. Maybe you'll sleep indoors, maybe you'll sleep outdoors. Practice yoga, and all is coming!"

"Thank you, Guruji," I said. "That is just what I wanted to hear. Every other adult has told me to get a haircut and get a job. You are telling me to practice yoga, and all is coming. OK, I am ready!" -David Williams


----------------

This excerpt keeps popping up in my head. It's the only part that I clearly remember... do as much yoga as you want. then do as much as you want the next day, etc.

I'm finally at a place in my life where I can do as much yoga as I want. I wake up at 7am. Ride my bike to the shala. Practice for however long I want. Sometimes I shower, Sometimes I don't. Sometimes I babysit after practice, sometimes I wait tables at night. Sometimes I drink coffee, sometimes tea..

The constant variable here is my practice.

I'm finally ready to do my practice. Everyday!! (except for moondays, saturdays and the occasional ladie's holiday).

I've been practicing steadily since May 2nd. I will continue on this Ashtanga Path. I find that practicing this method allows me to 'feel things.' I feel my body. I am in touch with the turnings of my mind. I find my breath. I more aware and focused.

I know that I can do this practice at home. Or I can pay to go to a shala. (which I will, if $ is ok..)

What I'm really trying to say is: I am ready!!

Love. Love. Love.

Don't Eat Shit Diet.

I've been thinking about food versus 'food products.' So much of our food these days is full of fake crap. It really grosses me out.

I'm not going to rant about this.. but instead, i'll send you over to a blog I love. Twwly talks about her ideas on food, she calls it the "Don't eat shit diet."

100 things.

I was reading Prescribing Yoga recently and linked through to Minimalist Muscle's blog and I found the 100 things project. (It's worth googling.)

I have this thing for minimalism. Although, I am not a complete minimalist, I'm a minimalist at heart. I have been googling '100 things' all night long. I've been reading people's lists and their rules. I find this project fascinating.

So I decided to start getting rid of stuff. and more stuff. I have a big pile of stuff if you want it.. I definitely don't have 100 things.. I have more. I can't count yet.. But I've made some rules for myself to start.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Amanda's 100 things rules and regulations which are bendable and breakable...

-shared stuff between me and asher and morgan doesn't count. (includes bed, sofas, dishes, appliances.)
-dogs + ferret and their stuff doesn't count towards 100 things.
-shoes are considered 1 item for now. They are in a storage container and are therefore 'contained in one space' so that equals 1 item.. I have probably around 15 pairs of shoes (includes winter boots, sexy boots, 1 pair of flipflops, 1 running/fast paced walking shoe, leisure shoes, etc..)
-underwear= 1 item
-socks= 1 item (i have numerous amounts of socks and underwear and plan on reducing the size to probably 14 pairs of each?)
-work clothes for dmitri's is 1 item, it's all in one pile and it's stuff i'll get rid of eventually with time.
-yoga clothes, 1 drawer full = 1 item. I've got the drawer down to a minimum of stuff i definitely wear. Since I practice around 6 times a week.. I definitely want to have 6 yoga outfits for the week and can wash the stuff on saturday or a moon day.
-books- got my stacks down to 10 yoga books, 10 or so books i love and can't part with and a stack of yoga research+journals that i refer back to.


1. laptop+charger+protective case
2. cellphone+charger
3. yoga mat (1 @ home, 1 @ studio)
4. shoes (1 container full)
5. underwear+ bras
6. socks
7. work clothes
8. yoga clothes
9. bike+lock
10. wallet
11. keys
12. red spring jacket
13. lululemon lightweight jacket
14. black down coat for winter
15. puffy vest for in between weather
16. digital camera+it's parts
17. holga camera
18. ipod
19. sleeping bag for travel
20. makeup (for special occasions and work)
21. hair straightener
22. neti pot+salt
23. drybrush+sesame oil
24. toothbrush+floss+paste
25. deodorant
26. chrome bike back pack
27. yellow strand pigeon bag
28. fabric horse biker's belt
29. blue+red bird bag I made in california
30. books
31. jewerly (minimum of stuff, can't decide if i want to break this section down yet.)
31. yogi toes
32. bandanas (5 or so, I use them as snot rags and sometimes for yoga when i'm sweating.)
33.

I am not in the mood to count up all my clothes tonight. (I had a beer and I'm kind of tired..)
Hopefully this will be a continuing project and I will update more as I get more done.

Rules about clothes: Can only keep stuff I am currently wearing.. drawer's must not overflow. that's it for now.

Could you live with 100 personal things?

10 things that make me happy right now.

1. random tea room & curiosity shop.
2. ashtanga yoga, mysore style. it's the best.
3. afternoon, dream-filled naps.
4. handmade jewerly
5. my cousin's wedding this saturday!
6. the orchid asher bought me today.
7. acro yoga!
8. bike riding as a way of commuting around town.
9. my eyebrows growing back in. they are getting nice and full and juicy. love them. bringing bushy eyebrows back.
10. jumping through from down dog to dandasana with much more ease, less effort.

so i guess this means i'm a yoga teacher.

Last night we had our final celebration for yoga teacher training.

It was a fabulous time.

It was part pot-luck, part gift exchange. part sadness, part joyful.

This photo is of me rocking the bindi and my new tshirt from my friend Flea.

We all gave presents. It was really great.

I'm happy to be done, but sad to not have a weekly meeting time with all these fabulous yogis.

Now... onto the real world.

Judaism to Yoga and back again.

I've struggle with being a Jew for a very long time.

I was raised Jewish, but there have been times in my life where I needed to stray from the teachings of Judaica in order to explore my life a little bit more.

After many years of exploring, I want to return to my Jewish roots.

There have been many moments where teachings of yoga has lead me back to teachings of Judaism.

So, I'm at a point where I love my yoga practice and I love the spiritual side that yoga has to offer.
But I also like Judaism and that's my religion. Yoga is not a religion for me. It might be for some? I do not know the answer.

I am devoting my life to being a Jewish Yoga Practitioner.

Not a Yogi who does Jew.

But a Jew who does yoga.

I feel really good about this. I'm getting back on track.
--------------------------------------------

"Gadol k'vod habriyot - Great is the value of human dignity." - Talmud

Saraswati.

सरस्वति नमस्तुभ्यं वरदे कामरूपिणि ।
विद्यारम्भं करिष्यामि सिद्धिर्भवतु मे सदा ॥

saraswati namastubhyam varade kamaroopini ।
vidyarambham karishyaami, siddhirbhavatu me sada ॥

O Saraswati, I bow to you, the giver of boons and the giver of form to desire. As I begin my studies, may success always be mine.

10 things that make me happy right now.

1. AIR CONDITIONING.

2. the fact that the northern liberties piazza hosted the equality forum party yesterday and the neighborhood was flooded with so many fabulous GLBT folk & allies.

3. my dogs snoozing on a bed together, so sweet.

4. month of mysore, month of may. bring it on!

5. ashtanga yoga, primary series. serious love.

6. being employed and still having time free during my days and nights to play. life is good.

7. passing my final graded yoga class for teacher training on saturday. f-yeah!

8. yoga teacher training party on friday night, yay yay yay!

9. v neck tshirt, cut off jean shorts and frye engineer boots. all together, on a daily basis.

10. walking in the warm rain this morning.

i did it!

I taught my final graded yoga class for teacher training today! The room was full of teachers, teacher trainees, friends and some strangers. It was amazing energy. So glad to be finally done with this and to move onto actually teaching yoga.

I'm so stoked.

Seriously. Stoked.