Warm heart, cold nose

Cutest thing ever: When Princess Fur sits on the floor near the window seat and begs to come up for cuddles. My heart MELTS. Also: there are few things more blissful than cuddling a warm, furry dog in my arms while sipping tea and gazing out the window at fluffy little snow flakes drifting around. The Princess is still up here, her head nestled against the instep of my left foot as I blog.

*happysigh*

I'm well-prepared to soak up every blissful moment of this weekend. Yesterday, I woke at the usual time, but instead of doing yoga (I went to the evening Bikram class instead), I did the grocery shopping, cleaning, some extra laundry, prepped meals for the coming week and ran errands. With all of these tasks complete, I was able to sit around and read a book in the afternoon. And It feels good to move into the weekend with these mundane little tasks complete!

And thank goodness I cleared the time, becauseI have big plans for this afternoon: Tax preparation. *sigh* On the bright side, once it's done, it's DONE and I can pass if off to my accountant. I'm hoping to get through it today.

I have an excellent incentive. I can return to this book:


It's wonderful! I'm dying to see the film now...

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A brief practice report, such as it is...

I heated the apartment this morning in preparation for my full Astanga practice then realised that my LH had arrived. Boo! So I did the Suryas, fundamental standing poses, my Intermediate poses, three Urdhva Dhanurasana and Padmasana. Then I put my legs up a wall and chilled. It was the perfect compromise!

My shoulder is feeling pretty good. Actually, *both* my shoulders are a bit sore right now, but that's to be expected (Hello, Chaturanga...it's been awhile, hasn't it?).

There are a few postures that trigger the pain of the injury, mainly anything that introduces an intense inward rotation of the right arm while reaching my arm around my back (Prasarita Padottanasana C, most binds). Bhekasana is still not fun, but Dhanurasana is fine until I move into Parva Dhanurasana, which is VERY painful. I don't generally do it unless I've laid a blanket to the side as my 'shoulder landing zone'.

The next few days will be light on yoga and heavy on rest, but I'll keep in touch...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Astanga

Today was more-or-less a day off, though I did do a short practice: the Suryas and fundamental poses, then finishing. No backbending!

I still woke up early though, at 5 a.m. I prepared a mug of tea and went back to bed with the Richard Freeman book. It was a great way to while away a morning.

It's amazing how well my body has adjusted to this crazy, early schedule. I get about 7 hours of sleep at night and another half-hour during my daily nap. It's really working for me. I even get tired in the afternoon around the time I should be taking a nap!

I shot the State-of-the-Backbend photo on Thursday this week. I was NOT having a good back bending day. But here it is:



See that? No bend in my upper back! And my shoulders have been really tight lately.

I feel like I'm regressing.

The Great Purge of 2010 continues this weekend with my desk, which I've decided not to sell because Princess Fur likes to camp out under there and hide from the world. It makes her very happy and I don't have it in me to deny the Princess her happy place.

I went through all the drawers and cleared out the junk, though. Note to self: You NEVER need to buy office supplies EVER again. I'm officially cut off from stationary stores. My plans for this desk involve keeping the surface clear of clutter.

After I finished the desk, I cleared out the bathroom cabinets. I now have three bags for the trash, a bag of stuff to give away and still more clothing to donate to the Sally Ann.

I've had a tough time letting go of some of these clothes, even though most of them are HUGE on me (thanks to Astanga, I've gone down many sizes). I'll never wear this stuff again, but the memories tug at my heart.

Next up: The kitchen cabinets. Then, three GIGANTIC binders of papers from YTT 8 years ago. My filing cabinet is also on the list.

I'm surprised by how much I'm enjoying this. Skippetty described this type of cleaning task as 'cathartic' and I completely agree. I also agree that it's only cathartic when it's *your* stuff. Cleaning up someone else's mess is no fun at all.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Vinyasa

I more than made up for my productivity yesterday by doing * absolutely nothing* today. I mostly sat around and moped. I’m in ‘a mood’, as my sister used to say.

I think it may be time to bring out my artificial sunshine for the season. For almost six years, I’ve been using light therapy in the winter months and it’s made a *huge* difference in my mood and energy levels. I was raised in the tropics, closer to the equator, so I didn’t grow up with these dark, ominous winters. The days are getting shorter and I can actually feel it in my bones.

The light therapy is really effective. I was initially skeptical, but after a couple years of regular use, I don’t get S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder) at all anymore. Often I can feel the effects of the light therapy within 24 hours of starting it. I usually begin during the first week of September, warding off S.A.D. completely. I’m a bit late to the party this year but I’ll perk up quickly.

I’ll need to get up 20 minutes earlier to accommodate the therapy. I usually take my daily dose of therapeutic light right before I meditate, but I’ll have to figure how this fits now that I’m taking also salt bath before my practice.

On the plus side, I can return to my morning habit of daily journaling. Last winter, I was writing free-form in a notebook for the 20 minutes, making the whole experience therapeutic on multiple levels.

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I practised for a half-hour today. I did the Suryas, the fundamental standing poses, Sirsasana and the three closing Lotus poses. Simple and easy, just to keep the prana moving. I did my practice at the gym before teaching.

Usually, I enjoy the change of scenery but today, it was busy and LOUD. I can usually tune out the bedlam, but I felt very crowded by the traffic. I may start doing my simple practice at home from now on. I’d hate to get knocked out of my headstand by a weight-lifter!

Vinyasa

Today is the new moon, so I didn’t practice Astanga in the morning. When the alarm went off at 5:30, I turned it off, rolled over and went back to sleep.

I was having a fantastic dream that I was driving a luxury RV through a dessert. Don’t ask. It had nifty cup holders and a good sound system. There were tumbleweeds rolling past! And I was eating Smart Food, which technically I’m not supposed to eat because I’m a vegan.

At least, I’m trying very hard to be a vegan. The slippery slope just became a lot steeper.

It’s much easier to be a vegan if you can eat soy products. There are so many good vegan things to eat that are soy based, many of them excellent replacements for things that vegans can no longer eat (like milk and cheese).

Alas, I’m rediscovering that I can’t eat soy in some forms. I have bad reactions to it. It all came to a stunning conclusion this past weekend when I recognised the same symptoms from the last time I went through this. My bad reaction to soy isn’t a new thing; I knew it was a problem. I was in denial. I faced these same issues when I first became vegan years ago (and it was one of the reasons I gave up and went back to being a garden-variety vegetarian).

This morning, I biked to the store and returned the yummy vanilla soy milk, the soy yoghurt that I love so much and the soy creamer I was using in my chai.

And I replaced the soy milk with rice milk. I was curious to see if any significant improvements has been made in rice milk technology over the past ten years. Nope. It still tastes like sugary chalk-water. Next time I’ll get the almond milk (which is actually pretty good).

I also bought...*sigh*...organic dairy creamer.

I know, I know! But chai is one of the great joys of my life. I’m NOT going to give it up. And there doesn’t seem to be an easy alternative. So I’m a very bad vegan, but this time I’m not going to give up because of the slippery slope. I’ll do the best I can. For now, this is it. I’m going to do some cream research. If I have to buy it, maybe there’s a cruelty-free-super-organic alternative.

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I did a 45 minute practice today at the gym before teaching a class. I really love doing this! Today, I had the entire room to myself. I shut the doors and put some fun music on the stereo. I did the Suryas, the fundamental poses, then moved into some hip openers and light backbends.

I worked on Laghu for awhile, my new favourite pose. I love going up and down! :-) I’m still struggling a bit to find my ‘edge’, to keep it challenging without being impossible. If I cross that line into ‘impossible’ I just fall back into Supta Virasana and then I need to haul myself up with my arms. Laghu FAIL.

It bugs me a bit that I’m never sore in my quads after these marathon Laghu sessions. I feel like I should be *feeling* something, maybe I’m not working hard enough. The pose is gradually getting easier though, so I guess that’s progress.

I’ve switched up my strategy for working on ‘standing up’. I’m dropping back against a wall, as far down the wall as I can. Then, pushing against the wall with my hands, I push my hips forward so they’re over my feet and I stand up. Well, sometimes I stand up. Often, I fall back again and need to walk my hands up the wall a bit further. I’m trying to develop some muscle memory around the body mechanics and the positioning of the hips.

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Monday was my iPad-iversary. On Tuesday, I called Bell and cancelled my DSL Internet service. I’ve successfully transitioned to my iPad for email, scheduling, Twitter, Facebook, RSS feeds and blogging. I rarely use my laptop anymore. I take my iPad with me everywhere.

I love it! It’s been useful in ways I never imagined. For example, I used the GPS and maps function as a roadmap to get to Quebec and then to find my way around Montreal and Quebec City. The iPad trumps the ‘TomTom’ because it pinpoints your position on the map, a bit like Harry Potter and the ‘Marauder’s Map’. It’s a boon for insomnia: I can’t read in the dark with my Kindle, but the Kindle app on my iPad gives me that option. I also have a large collection of photos on my iPad. I’ve enjoyed showing these to friends. It’s reawakened my interest in iPhoto and my photo collections.

And one day, when I was sick to death of being stuck indoors on a beautiful afternoon, I took my iPad to the beach and for an entire afternoon, I used the beach as my office!

I’m totally sold on this idea :-D

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Vinyasa

We left Montreal in the evening and drove up to Quebec City, arriving very late.

I was so exhausted by the time we approached our destination that I decided (okay: ‘insisted’) that we stop at a hotel just off the highway, outside of the city. It looked clean and reputable. I was charmed by it because it was decorated in little white lights. I knew as soon as we talked to reception that it would be fine. In fact, it’s fantastic!

We’re staying two nights and not bothering with lodging in the city - we’ll just drive in to see the sights. We would have had trouble anyway - all the good hotels are booked. It’s high season here.

One of the things that appealed to me was the exercise room. This hotel has a lovely, clean Salle d'exercice available to guests. I moved aside a squishy exercise mat this morning to make room for my Manduka. I never saw another soul there as I practised - I had the room to myself. I turned off the T.V. and turned down the air conditioning, but it was still pretty chilly. But it was quiet and spacious and I could practice without waking my mother with my Ujjayi breathing!

I did a short practice this morning, just enough to iron everything out. I’m pretty stiff from all the driving I’ve been doing (I’m not used to it). I did the sun salutations and fundamentals and closed with the last three poses. No backbends today. I wanted to keep my practice brief so I could sleep in a bit. I’m sleep deprived and facing a 10+ hour drive tomorrow.

The life of a travelling Ashtangi! Yoga mat and yoga clothes set out for morning practice on top of the cooler of vegan food that I'm SO glad I brought.

Quebec hates vegans.

My mother is being more tolerant (with both my diet and my practice) than I ever expected, but a rude server actually laughed in my face when I asked about vegetarian options.

I'm eating a lot of 'pasta primavera' and 'veggie wraps'. There's some compromise involved, so yes, I'm cheating occasionally. But I'm doing my best.

And I'm eating, eating, eating! Restaurant food is heavy! I'll gain five pounds on this trip, at least. How ironic is it that I *finally* get Pasasana, but I’m getting too heavy to do the pose?!

:-D