Day 177

Awake at 5, lingered in bed until 5:15 and on the mat at 5:45. I had a very ordinary practice, worked hard, but not too hard. Was distracted at times, but managed to rein myself in. I've noticed that since I started doing daily meditation practice, I've been less distracted during my yoga practice. Probably not so surprising.

Musical Sirsasana was 'A New England' by Kirsty MacColl (3 minutes, 33 seconds).

I'm experimenting this week with bigger breakfasts in the morning. After practice today, I threw a sweatshirt over my yoga clothes and headed into the kitchen to prepare my meal: a small egg white omelette with spicy black bean tofu, an apple quarter and half a banana, sliced, and 100g of probiotic peach yoghurt. And, of course, a pot of green tea.

Sitting down to this small, but hearty breakfast was such a pleasure that I'm now kicking myself for not doing this before. It reminds me of the time I spent in Europe and all of those leisurely breakfasts with European friends. Europeans know how to do breakfast right. They always seem mystified by the North American habit of skipping the meal.

Now I'm getting all nostalgic. Those first moments of the day, with tea and yoghurt and cheese on the table, pleasant conversation and snow drifting over a European city as church bells ring...good memories! And a good ritual to take up, I think.

(writing about this makes me realise why, when I have the money to travel, I tend to head back to Europe rather than some more exotic location)

The ice rink in the park isn't ready yet, not even close. The ground isn't cold enough, so we're having a tough time getting down a base of ice, even with the icy temperatures here. I skated at my regular rink yesterday after volunteering at the soup kitchen. Now I'm headed down there in a few minutes. Incredibly, later on today it's supposed to *rain*.