hum of locusts and air conditioners

Refiguring my to do's, my importants, and my no thank you's.

Learning to acknowledge things that are hurting me -- letting people know that I feel this way, and not feeling guilty about it.

Wanting more nature in my life...wearing the color green now more than ever.

I have a chronic wrist issue now.

Addicted to coffee.

Excited to mingle with old friends again.

Establishing myself as a yoga teacher. In two weeks, I will only be teaching yoga for income.

It's been a very enjoyable summer.

I don't need a vacation to feel free, relaxed, and detached.

Thankful for new people in my life.

Committing to a sense of curiosity for where my career is going, and maintaining a compassion for myself and my journey along the way.

Loving the colors burnt orange, maroon, pretty purples..

Seeing Britney Spears in a matter of days.

Need a dance community in my life. Some sort of group that does modern dance/yoga/ish stuff. Ideas? This is my missing link in my life right now.

Power Vinyasa Yoga is my dance at the moment.

Learning to talk less, be more.

Reading when I want to, which isn't much these days. Not feeling bad about it.

So happy I don't have cable.

Meditating a bit, but whenever I do I cry. This is ok, even needed.

Missing some old friends pretty badly.

Always coming back to The Walkmen, my old reliable.

So not a city person at the moment, but probably will be again once fall arrives.

Loving the scent of lavender and its relaxing qualities.

It's been a Dave Matthews in the car with the windows down kind of summer.

Grateful for many things, including the love of my life who puts things into perspective for me.

the powers that be

So I been practicing power yoga a lot these days. I'm doing a teacher training at Power Yoga Works which is totally sweet and awesome and everything I need in my life right now. I'm so tired right now but I told myself earlier that I would update this darn thing so I am.

Last weekend we worked on backbends and I think I found the closest thing to a cure for my back: get over yourself and do full wheel in every class, more than once. As it turns out, I was babying my back. It's very important to baby my back, but I need to compliment that with the strength building back bends. I usually practice bridge or modified bridge with a block, but turns out that's not really what my back is looking for. After two days of practicing locust, camel, bridge, wheel...I felt freakin incredible. No pain. Going into it I thought that the opposite would result, but no. I was so...wow. Stunned, really. This discovery was one that only reinforced my decision to do this training.

Now I love me some Yin Yoga, don't get me wrong. But too many forward bends, especially when they are held for minutes and minutes, can actually do more harm than good for my low back, with its herniated discs, stenosis, degeneration and all that. I was on a break from yin but now I am back. It's definitely helping me. I think because I'm taking my backbends more seriously in my "other" yoga practice...

In other non-yoga news, I love my dog and we're going to cuddle now and sleep.