The Weekend

So- we had a great weekend.

I just cannot say enough- and I said plenty over the weekend- about how much I love my friend Darren. He did such a great job teaching and I was so inspired, not just by what he can do, but by his approach to his practice and his love of asana and its intricacies and demands. And I thought his teaching was fantastic. "By the book" yet authentic, creative, inspiring, clear and fun. And wow- I have not met another Anusara Yoga teacher who likes Light on Yoga as much as me. If this weekend did not inspire you to run out by a copy of that book and study it, then you missed what I consider to be a primary teaching of the weekend.

There is lots going on for me personally right now so it was really great to be with everybody this weekend. I got a lot of personal support from the gang which I really needed. Thanks to everyone for making the workshop so successful. It really felt like it ran itself. (And the blankets were folded so neatly at the end that I almost cried! They do care... they are listening...)

One of the things Darren and I talked a lot about together is how far this community has come in the last two years and how down-to-earth everything still is here. There are not a lot of big egos, no major cliques, not a lot of politicking. We are mostly just a group of people who like to practice, have fun (not always in that order either, right?) and who really love each other. My intention is to keep growing this community and to maintain this atmosphere of support and authenticity that is alive right now. That is the vision.

Opening Prayers
Reach for the highest-(With Desire!) Triangle pose
Chelsea, going deeper- lip to heel! (Who knew?)
Anne- Hip Opening at its finest

Jessie, well into things. Note the focus.
Note the ananda.
Katherine
Going for it. (She had been working for-oh, like 4 minutes at this point. She is a bad ass.)
Anne and Jeff

Me, rockin' the scorpion demo.

Also, check out Pammy's blog for more pics and a report!

Saturday Morning

I had a most excellent day yesterday. I luxuriated in actually having an unscheduled day. I did all my morning practices, walked the dogs, caught up on some computer work, puttered a bit (A technical term for wandering around, cleaning a few things, organizing a shelf, fixing my hair, petting a cat, eating a piece of chocolate, checking email, paying a bill, etc. all in no particular order and without being required to bring anything to completion) and did a rockin' asana practice in the late afternoon before making a fantastic dinner of roasted cauliflower and green beans over rice. I did a practice very similar to the Thursday nights advanced class but extended to take 2 1/2 hours rather than the 1 1/4 hours of the Standard YogaYoga class. It was so great to have a nice open window of time to practice. I am dreaming about a two hour advanced class somewhere, sometime. Hmmm.

But in the meantime, several of you asked me if I was going to be doing any group practices during the summer and it just so happens that on Monday from 12-3 Mark and Hannah are planning to come and practice here with me so if your schedule is free, consider yourself welcome and invited. (Talking is certainly allowed but really, let's not just chat- I really want it to be a practice environment, not a social environment. Obviously, a little overlap is just fine but there is a line so don't come if you are unsure about where that line is or uninterested in respecting it!!) As far as money goes, I will just put out a bowl by the Ganesh puja and you can drop an offering into that bowl. If you are totally broke and can only afford the gas to get here and maybe one extra dollar, just drop a dollar in the bowl. Anyway, be ready for back bends. I will plan a sequence and I will certainly be available to help but it is also a time I plan to practice. Drop me an email if you plan to come.

Another fun thing that Kelly and I are enjoying lately is called Greenling Organic Produce Delivery. Check it out. Every week, they deliver organic produce to your doorstep. We personally get the local box, which is a box full of fresh, organic, locally grown produce. They even throw in a recipe which uses one or two of the ingredients in the box. This is where we got the recipe for the roasted cauliflower although I substituted ghee for the butter and a few other changes but yummy! Also, I get them to bring me whole milk from a local dairy that they carry and it is night and day better than the mass-produced Organic Milk I have been getting at HEB or Central Market. Kelly gets local eggs (Until we can figure out how to Katherine's every week, that is!)

At one time in my life I would not enjoyed a kind of luck -of- the- draw basket of produce but right now I find this part very fun. It is like a big surprise and then helps me not get stuck in a food rut. This helpful because when your diet boils down to rice and vegetables 90% of the time, variety is a bit more difficult to make happen! Most of their baskets and things, however you can customize to your preferences and so on so they do cater to the need/desire/habit of "getting exactly what you want".

I particularly love not going to the store to shop. I am home so little that I actually love things being brought directly to my doorstep these days- mail order yoga clothes from Prana's pro-deal (Which if you do not know about you should-- go to http://www.prana.com/ and then do a search for "prodeal" and then fill it out and if you are a yoga teacher then you get a big big big savings!), Netflix, now food. Delightful. Anyway, enough of the Greenling commercial, other than to say that they are super nice with very good customer service on top of it.

Off to walk the dogs. Love.