juicy:sexy.

I feel so blessed to have been given the opportunity to practice with my teacher and dear friend, Jill Manning, this past week at WakeUp Yoga.

So this is how it went: 5 days of practice, 6-8am everyday. Chanting to begin, then asana practice.

The week long workshop was called: Every seed has the tree, every tree has the seed.

There are many, many seeds that have been planted in my mind. It's hard for me to even articulate what I want to say here in this here blog. I just want to say that I have so much "homework" that I'll be working on for a while.

Lots of working on 'floating' to stand. dropbacks. pasasana prep squats. etc.

I am always amazed with how Jillji makes yoga fun and informative. It's chocked full of asana, with very precise breath cues and funny anecdotes, such as "juicy sexy" (you had to be there. ha.)

I hope there's an opportunity to do a week long practice with Jill again soon. She really shatki-fied the space. Much love. Keep it juicy.sexy.

all at once. (words by jack johnson.)

All at once,
The world can't overwhelm me
There's almost nothin' that you could tell me
That could ease my mind

Which way will you run
When it's always all around you
And the feelin' lost and found you again
A feelin' that we have no control
Around a song
Some say
There's gonna be the new hell
Some say
It's still too early to tell
Some say
It really ain't no myth at all

Keep askin' ourselves are we really
Strong enough
There's so many things that we got
Too proud of
We're too proud of
We're too proud of

I wanna take the preconceived
Out from underneath your feet
We could shake it off
Instead we'll plant some seeds
We'll watch em' as they grow
And with each new beat
From your heart the roots grow deeper
The branches will they reach for what
Nobody really knows
But underneath it all
Theres this heart all alone

What about is gone
And it really won't be so long
Sometimes it feels like a heart is no place to be singin' from at all

Theres a world we've never seen
Theres still hope between the dreams
The weight of it all
Could blow away with a breeze
If your waitin on the wind
Don't forget to breathe
Cause as the darkness gets deeper
We'll be sinkin as we reach for love
At least somethin we could hold
But i'll reach to you from where time just cant go

What about is gone
And it really wont be so long
Sometimes it feels like a heart is no place to be singin' from at all

spontaneous healing.

(my new vase + my first ever Iris. on our clean kitchen table... ahh serenity.)

Back in september, during my trip to Providence, while Jill-ji was teaching a morning yoga class, I lounged with Ang and Char (the pups) and read most of the book: Spontaneous Healing by Andrew Weil. I was fascinated by his stories on human beings who healed themselves through natural remedies and the power of the mind. Anyway, this blog is not about Spontaneous Healing(SH), although I highly recommend reading it.. It's about his follow up book 8 weeks to Optimum Health. In the back of SH, there's a mini-summary of 8 weeks. I started to take notes for week one/two, but decided I would go out and buy the book instead of trying to write everything down in my journal. Anyway, I haven't bought the book yet.. but my notes on Week One/Two (of Eight Weeks) has some suggestions for lifestyle changes, etc. For mental health, Weil suggests to buy some flowers to keep in your home where you can enjoy them. I thought about this for a long, long time. I had plants for a while (mostly Jade) and they all died over the winter. So I decided for mental health, I would start to either buy myself a weekly flower or find some trees with flowers and put them in my new vase that I bought recently at the local floral shop (Beautiful Blooms in No.Libs.)

Some other suggestions that I enjoy: Walk 10 minutes a day for 5 days this week. Practice breath observation. Eat fish at least once a week. Buy Japanese green tea, substitute it for coffee (I drink green tea and coffee..). Visit a park/nature. Spend as much time as possible doing nothing in particular. Eat fresh broccoli.

I'm definitely going to buy 8 weeks to Optimum Health. I don't think that every suggestion is right for me, but some are.. so that's where I begin.

my schedule:

Sunday: Serve

Monday: Host

Tuesday: Off

Wednesday: Off

Thursday: Bus

Friday: Serve

Saturday: Off

Come visit me at Dmitri's in No.Lib.s

Woot Woot Woot.

What do people do all day?

When I was a full-time nanny, I used to read this book EVERYDAY with my little dude. Now, I have my days free and I keep asking myself, What do people do all day?

So far for me: I do yoga, drink coffee, eat some food, play on my lap top, walk the dogs, shower, clean up around the house. Some days, I work in the evenings, sometimes I'm free.

I have so much free time on my hands right now. It's insane! I love it. Trying to figure out fun things to do. I'm going to probably start venturing out on my bike and riding around town. This weather is sooooo beautiful!!

a car full of "things"

I often like to think about the things I would take with me if I had to suddenly pack up my car and hit the road.. leaving everything else behind.

So far on my list so far:

My favorite dresses

My low-cut frye boots

Sunglasses

My Chrome backpack

My American Apparel black zip up hoodie

The grey or maybe blue BDG jeans

My lap top

My digital camera and my holga

My most recent journal

A few really soft tshirts

----

So I'm cleaning my room. (shared with Asher)

We have a lot of space and a lot of shit.

Apparently, half (or more) of the stuff we own just sits around. I'm trying hard to get rid of "things" that no longer serve their purposes. If I had to pack up my car right now, there's not much I really would take with me. Just stuff. Nothing really special. Just things. I don't know why it's so hard to let go of the "stuff" that's just sitting around. I'm sitting with this. It's strange. Every time I go to the book shelf, (at least tonight), I've been pulling off books that I don't want. But in reality, most of those books are just part of how I identify with the outside world. When I have friends over, I want them to see that I'm into Photography, Queers, Women, Art, Poetry, Yoga. I really don't need most of my books to survive. Maybe 5 of them are super special. But the rest are just so that when you come to my house, you can see the depth of my "coolness." Just writing this makes me want to get rid of most of my things. Maybe I will.. just maybe.

It's April 1st. It's no joke, I'm free.

Notes on being free:

I'm free to wear dresses with boots & hairy legs, every day if i want to.

I'm free to do yoga.

I'm free to let my tattoos show.

I'm free to make my morning coffee, read a book, and enjoy my mornings.

I'm free to take a long bike ride during the day.

I'm free to cook a meal and savor it.

I'm free to live my own life.

----

those notes are from my journal today. i was sitting in the park enjoying being free from nanny-hood. i still want to babysit (for friends and on a part-time basis). but i'm so excited to enjoy my days!!! :) life is good.