Saturday, June 6, 2009

Christina Sell's Workshop

OK. I am unable to put the pdf of the flyer for the workshop up on this site. bummer. So please contact me for any information and to register. 608-630-0228. Or scoopie7@yahoo.com. 2 weeks folks. 2 weeks.

Things are going well on the home front. The use of the early morning is becoming a reality. One that is working quite well for my family. Hoorah! So tomorrow we will be meeting for practice at 6:30am. Can't wait. Plan to work on lotus variations as well as sarvangasana to setubandasana. Sounds fun hunh?

The garden is going great guns which also makes me very happy. Eating Arugala and Salad greens now. Love it.

Hope everyone is well. See you in the am.

Sunday, May 31, 2009

Something to consider

This morning's practice was lovely. Lovely. I have been getting on to my mat so infrequently that often when I do it just feels like ironing out all of the kinks. But today was a great flow of energy. Did I say lovely? And then after practice we appreciated what a beautiful day it is and how it is hard to get yourself to go indoors on such a beautiful day, even if it is to practice yoga with friends. And now that it school is out for the summer, and it is so light out so early, there really is nothing stopping us from moving the practice times up to an earlier slot. This was the conversation. And then my family arrived. And there was a full meltdown happening. Papa is super with his babes, but Eider likes to take a morning nap right around nine, and he is still really in the groove of mama making that happen for him. Can;t really blame him. So I started thinking. Eider really does not nurse in the early morning. In fact he is usually asleep until at least 7 (sometimes even 9, but I won't go into that) and never wants to nurse when he first wakes up. (Can you tell that he is having a hard time taking the bottle?) So, practicing from 6-8am might really work for my family. I shared this idea with Chris and he was nervous that it may wake folks, especially Maple, up before 6 which would be sad. But it may not. And I think that it is worth checking out. And there is big spectrum of earlier times: 6-8, 6:30-8:30, 7-9. We could play with it.

This brings me to another topic, which is something that I have been thinking about for awhile. I have been thinking about taking a break from teaching for a bit, mostly because of how much I am needing to get my own practice on track. And teaching without having much practice in my own being has always seemed silly to me not to mention downright challenging. So, after Christina's workshop (which is a mere 3 weeks away!), the Friday morning class will become a led practice, just like Sunday morning. I hope that this works out well for folks. I am certainly still available during these times to answer questions and to generally help folks out, but I will be practicing too, which I am much looking forward to.

So this week: Friday class as normal 9:30-11:15. And then Sunday, let try 6:30-8:30 am. Why not? And then we will see how folks would feel about moving up the Friday class time. I think that it will work quite well for folks. Just for the summer.

One final note, Christina Sell is coming! Send me your registration immediately! We are going to have an absolute blast. And if you haven't been exposed to the major marketing campaign of Kathy O'Rourke, I hope that you have the opportunity to experience her in action soon. She is amazing.

I will confirm the schedule later in the week. In the meantime, get into the garden, spend time with family and friends, and enjoy the sunshine!

Thursday, May 21, 2009

No class Friday

Hi Gang,

I apologize for the late notice but we are not having class tomorrow morning. I am off to Maple's Kinderhaus for a sweet little ceremony to send off all of the children who will be going to kindergarten in the fall. Very sweet.

We will have practice on Sunday 9-11am. I am not sure what focus right now, but I am thinking many timed standing poses and some hips, forward folds and maybe sirsasana, sarvangasana. I still have something wicked in my lungs that I am attempting to navigate around.

I also want to take a minute to apologize for my recent neglect of this site. I am exploring some pretty challenging situations in my parenting and between that, the garden and trying to do anything with my own practice, I am left without any time to spare.

I am going to put a link up over the weekend for Christina's workshop so that you can just download the pdf for registration. That should make things easier for folks.

Alright. Enjoy the holiday weekend. It is beautiful out.

Friday, May 8, 2009

reflections

What a lovely class this morning! We had a nice group and I think that everyone had some great openings with the sequence that we did. The magical Anusara template. It is highly effective.

I shared some personal stuff at the beginning of class and I think that softened folks up a bit, and when we can get soft and open like that right off the bat it really makes the practice sweet. Really.

Anyhow. I love teaching, I love practicing, and I love guiding people toward an opening. So with all of that, it was a pretty fabulous morning.

I hope to see some folks on Sunday. I know that it is mother's day, but I cannot really think of a better way of starting mothers day than with a practice. I am going to follow another JF sequence. Magical.

Also, please let me know soon if you are interested in Christina's workshop. It is only 6 weeks away!

Thursday, May 7, 2009

mmmmmm

Springing into summer that is for sure.

Well, everything is moving here, that is for sure. It is pretty much non-stop. All thrilling of course.

Kids are great. Maple is almost a free bird for the summer and I think that she will be a bit sad about that unless her mama comes up with a slew of brilliant activities. I am thinking lots of friends and lots of swimming... Eider. Well Eider is just splendid. we are all in-love and in-awe of Eider.

I have opened up a huge patch of earth for the new garden. Nothing is planted as of yet as I wait for it to stop raining so much and for my neighbor to get in there again with his super tiller. But the plans have been made and that is exciting now as we watch them unfold.

The chicken plan is still in the works. I will keep you updated. But hopefully many chicks sometime in June. We need to refab one of the sheds for them. Can't wait. Really.

Also, Chris just got me a new bike which I am both very grateful for and also very excited (scared!) to learn how to ride. The women's group ride is starting up this Tuesday and I hope to be there every other week when Gramma is here. I need to get out sans bebes and get my but in gear. We all need that of me...

And Yoga. Hmmmh. Lets see. Where to begin? Well, I need to come up with a better plan than my current one. That is for sure. My current one has me with child(ren) non-stop from Monday until sometime on Thursday by which point I have officially lost my mind and I do not even know how to go anywhere once given the opportunity. So my practice is really suffering for it and I am needing to reconfigure my use of time. I am even contemplating hanging up my hat after Christina's workshop (nigh 6 weeks away! Oh My!). But there is no telling as of yet. I just need to strengthen my relationship with my own practice. Which for anyone who knows me knows that this is a very big deal as this has most often come very easily for me. I am blessed in this way as far as my physical practice has been concerned. That is not to say that it is not hard for me it is more to the point that getting and being on my mat has never really been very hard. Right now, different story. Which is kind of catapaulting me into an identity crisis of sorts. More on that later perhaps.

So this weekend is mothers day and as a gift to you and to me, class tomorrow is going to be a led practice, free of charge. Sequence a la John Friend. Wahoo. So I hope this pleases.

I am off to put the eyes on Maple's horse. It turned out very well (in case there are any knitters who actually read this...)

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

another update

I am on the upswing after what was really a very horrific experience. My much belated apologies to any mother who once told me that she had mastitis and to whom I smiled and nodded sympathetically without understanding the full gravity of their condition. I am so sorry. Again. Wow. But thanks to the support and suggestions from many folks in the area I am feeling almost as good as new. Almost. I hope to make it in to practice tomorrow with my little audience of one (this is an entry for a later date, because oh, there is so much to say).

I was thinking today about why I have not been writing for awhile. I have really not been contemplating anything deep or anything that I thought has been worth sharing. Chalking it up to baby brain. But today I realized that what is really happening is that I have been deeply captivated by the simplest parts of my day. The way the wind blows the maple buds directly onto my porch, the way sod slumps when it is in a roll, how spry goats are when chicken are not sitting on their backs, my three year olds dream sharing, a simple and delicious recipe, the standing pose sequence in the primary series, the breath, how soft children look in sleep. And then I realized that these are all such comforting and lovely things to let my thoughts go to and that really aren't they in some ways where I am trying to get when I am working through different contemplations?

So that is that. Spring is here and I am full of glee. My girl is sleeping in a fairy dress and I am loving holding young ones and then breathing and stretching my body. How lovely. It occurs to me that if we ever want to dip into the sensuous we should read what someone who loves food or nature has written about it. It is full of bliss. Just the experience. Not the directions toward the experience. Yum. Anyhow.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

quick

This is just a quick note from an errant blogger...

I completed a whole long entry about a week ago and then somehow never put it up or saved it. i think that I must have been distracted by some sort of baby adventure. I will give more of an update soon.

This morning, however, I just need to let folks know that there will be no practice. I think that I have my first case of mastitis (I never had this with Maple in almost 3 years of nursing) and was up all night with a fever. And all there really is to say about that is WOW. I had no idea.

But I had a great sequence planned and I hope to save it for next weekend. I will let you know. There may be a little bit of shuffling next weekend as Chris may have a race.

Love to all.