Rob - Day 19: Vinyasa

Oh Boston. Sometimes I loathe you and the weather which you spout, but this weekend you've been SO kind. It's been cool and sunny and I LOVE it! Fall is definitely my favorite season and this Labor Day weekend has been such a kind welcome to the autumn.

So due to the holiday Mysore this morning was a self practice. I've been really letting myself take it easy these past few days so I eschewed my morning practice for the day. I slept in a bit a cleaned up my room. I always forget just how much having a clean environment supports having a clean mind. I feel so much more calm and collected when my space is in order. I'm definitely going to make a consistent effort to maintain the cleanliness around here. It's so much more yogic anyways, right?

So after a day of cleaning I was quite tired and thinking of doing another home practice. But it was SO nice outside that I decided to head downtown and take Vinyasa with Nicoline. Given the holiday weekend and the splendid weather I assumed that it would be hard to find a spot so I left super early. For whatever reason I found a spot on the first go around, within a few blocks of the studio. This seems to be the case consistently and I really don't know why. I guess I have good "Parking Karma?" I was really thankful for the extra time. I spent about a half hour walking through the public garden, soaking up the sun and delightfully cool air.

Class too was quite lovely. Nicoline's classes are always really flowing and calming, even though they can be quite challenging at times. She often integrates QiGong like movements in the poses which is a great way to feel your PranaQi outside the body. Even though Ashtanga is still my main practice I'm finding within this commitment that doing a little "cross-training" is pretty beneficial. It gives me a chance to get into different poses that aren't part of my regular practice.

After class I went out with friends. Since the studio is closed in the morning on Monday for Labor Day I decided to stay out much later than I normally would and even (TISK TISK) had a few drinks. I don't know if it's the daily practice or what but my tolerance is GONE. I only had three drinks spread out over several hours but I was quite tipsy. Definitely something to be mindful of especially given my Fifth Precept (I'm a practicing Buddhist). But I had a great time and it's probably worthwhile for me not to get too caught up in my routine and OCCASIONALLY act my own age (26...not 66) :).

Heather - Introduction and Day One

Hello Curiosity seekers, fellow yogis, friends, Romans, and countrymen (he-hem women too) alike!

I am Heather: An opera singer, yoga and meditation teacher, Starbucks barista, yoga studio supervisor, and avid reader (The Wheel of Time is rockin' my world!!!). While teaching Yin Yoga on Sunday night, I got an inspiration to begin this 365 day commitment to my own yoga practice. Two years ago I walked into a beautiful little yoga studio in the heart of Red Sox country and walked into the next chapter of my life. I took my first yoga class and was hooked. So within a month I started a daily Mysore practice, and enhanced it with splashes of Vinyasa, Forrest, Restorative, and a weekly Yin Yoga practice. I lost fifty three pounds, got healthier, happier, and more ability to create the life I had always wanted - still a work in progress of course! But, over the last few months, my work has changed, I was in an opera with a lot of late nights, took a meditation retreat that had me reeling, got a boyfriend who is NOT a morning person, and I started teaching three classes a week. So, now, my life needs a new form of balance and my yoga practice somehow became a near fatality in the fray. I picked up a book recently: "Meditations from the Mat" by Rolf Gates which has 365 reflections on yoga - by way of the yoga sutras of Patanjali and the eight limbs of yoga. I have chosen that as my daily inspirational reading along my journey. While teaching my Monday class after a truly delicious Vinyasa class with Nicoline Valkenberg, I was inspired to ask one of my sangha members and ex-co-workers to join me in my yoga endeavor. He was taking my class so, he was set to start right along with me. He said yes. AND, he and I will be sharing the blog spotlight - so to speak.
Now. What do I hope to accomplish with this practice and/or with this blog???? Good question. Everything and nothing. Yoga is union. I hope to reunite with my daily practice which has given me such a solid foundation of health and joy in the past. I hope to inspire others to join me even if it is only for a week or a month or 108 days or some other meaningful number. I hope to discover the truth of the selfless divine that unites every sentient being in the universe - even if only to touch it for just a moment. Am I nervous? Mmmmm, yeah, maybe a little. I hope I can live up to my own goals and ideals. Am I excited? Hell yeah!!!! I freakin' LOVE yoga dude! So, with that in mind, I am not going to set up the structure of how this blog will go right now. I want to see it evolve as Rob and I do.


WishiNg you happiness and metta from a little dot in the universe called Boston,
Heather


PS. Anything that makes this blog look cool is TOTALLY 100% Rob's doing. If I even THINK about doing something more than checking email and using iTunes on my computer I practically have an anxiety attack! It's true, just ask my boyfriend how I reacted to trying to get iChat set up on my computer with him talking me through it step by step. I almost started crying at one point, didn't I, George? =P