Day 9 I Am Canadian After All

So you saw my breakfast yesterday and you saw my dilemma about the honey. Well, Heather suggested I use maple syrup. Maple Syrup people! Of course. I am Canadian and of course I have pure maple syrup in my pantry. What was I thinking, or better yet, why wasn't I thinking? This morning I doubled the fruit and added a small handful of walnuts and drizzled the plain organic yogurt with CANADIAN maple syrup. What a difference. I loved it. It is now my favorite breakfast. I told my husband that I was going to make it for him in the morning. He replied with "Will that be after my sausage and eggs?" Men.

I had a lot to do today so I really did not want to practice yoga. I made myself anyway. I put on a CD and rolled out my mat. I felt the need to do some Sun Salutations but today I did them super slowly. I mean really slowly. I was mindful of my body during each position. I was moving in unison with the breath. I made subtle adjustments that made each pose more accessible. I must have done at least 15 salutations. Each one more slowly than the last. It felt good. I also added more twisting asana than I would have liked. There must be a reason I hate those poses so I am determined to add more to each yoga session until I come to like them. I also worked on hip openers because my hips always have been oh so tight. Full lotus is a far away goal for me, but I am working toward it. Like I said before... baby steps.

Shortly after that I went outside to tackle the weeds in the front flower beds. I really wanted it to be a Zen-like experience. It was anything but. The ground was rock hard from lack of rain and way too much wind and the weeds seem to be outgrowing the annuals I planted. I was hot and windblown and I raked and grabbed at the weeds like I was a crazy woman. Crazy I tell you.

I was so tired and worn out by the end of this 2 hour weeding session that all I wanted to do was sit on the deck and have a glass of wine.

And that is exactly what I did. Again, don't judge me. :)

Day 4 Rodney Yee Is In The House

As you can tell by now, the change I have decided to work on first is to rededicate myself to my yoga practice. So far so good. 4 days running I have managed around an hour practice, give or take a few minutes. I am so pleased with the way things have been going. The body has a memory to be sure. In some ways its like I never left the mat. In others, I feel like a complete beginner. My muscles are still very sore, especially the triceps from the dreaded yoga push up. I still feel a lot of tightness where before there was none. I am beginning to be more aware of my body and how it feels. I notice some progress already. So all in all the first step is going well.

I got my DVD set in the mail today. Naturally I opened it right away and got to it. I opted for the Core Yoga Workout section. I was very disappointed. I got the Yoga Now set with Mariel Hemingway and Rodney Yee. I guess I should have expected it with an actress involved . Mariel talked about how you can achieve a beautiful body and lose weight. Not impressed.



Don't get me wrong. I know I decidedly do not have a beautiful body (unless you ask my husband then I have THE most beautiful one) and I could stand to lose some weight but this is not my reason for doing yoga. I am more about the Body/Mind/Spirit connection than about the six pack abs and yoga butt. The workout was a little odd as well. Arm swinging, jumping etc... I am hoping the other two DVDs in the set are better. I really wish I could get my hands on one of those small TVs with the VHS player attached. They only make them with DVD now. I have so many great yoga tapes but they are on VHS. Anyway, on to other things.



The garden is doing well. I thinned my beets and got a whole load of greens. Nice tender greens. Paul asked if I would make Borscht, which of course I will. I really enjoy leftover borscht cold the next day. Yummy lunch on the deck with a nice piece of crusty bread. Can't forget a dollop of sour cream.

I put in a climbing rose last year and although it is little, it flowered profusely. In fact, most things are doing well this year despite some disappointing losses.

On a funny note, all my girls and their families were over for a Mexican feast a few weeks back and of course I made Mojitos. Everyone enjoyed them. This week I went out to the herb garden only to discover to my shock that I used... OREGANO for the mint portion. Can you believe it. Funny thing was, nobody noticed. I never mix up herbs. I was obviously totally distracted. We now have a new summer drink. Oregojitos. Try one for yourself. :)

Day 2 Where Are You Rodney Yee?

Ouch! That was my first thought this morning when I woke up. My shoulders and chest were so sore. I guess 5 Sun Salutations was too many. My thighs felt so tight. Perhaps I held the standing poses too long? I ached all over. Athena thought if I just ate breakfast all would be well.

So, I made it yesterday without any wine. It was a lot easier than I thought. At 4pm I started thinking about having a glass. At 5pm I thought about it more. By 6pm I was in the back yard swinging on the swing set with Athena, walking around the yard pulling the odd weed and watching a storm roll in. After she was bathed and in bed I had totally stopped thinking about it. Phewsh! That was better than I expected. Only trouble was, apparently the wine worked well as a sedative. Sleep did not come easily. In fact I was wide awake at 10:30 pm, which never happens to me. Oh well. Maybe tonight.

Today I managed to get on the mat for about 45 minutes. I was not satisfied but I had to pick Athena up from her Summer Playground Program, which she calls SUPER FUN PROGRAM. I didn't do any Salutations but I did work on some standing poses, a few back bends and a couple of inversions. I am pretty sure I compacted my spine an inch or so in headstand. I'll have to measure myself later to find out. I had a small personal victory today though. It was the first time EVER that I was able to gaze at my upper hand in Half Moon pose. Yeah me! I was so inspired by this small accomplishment that I came down to the kitchen and dumped a full 235g bag of Old Dutch ripple chips right down the garburator. True story! I LOVE chips.

As I was practicing without instruction (my new DVDs have not arrived yet) I heard Rodney Yee's voice, giving me little modifications along the way. Rodney was my first great teacher. I went to his class every other day for years. I knew him well. His voice, ever present,was guiding me along through my practice. And now, he sits, in VHS form, downstairs in the TV stand, right where I saw him last. My new DVDs cannot get here soon enough.

In other news, tomorrow I am getting a new haircut. A long overdue haircut. Sorry Mom. I know you like my hair longer. I cannot wait. I don't know what I am getting yet or how it will turn out but I am excited and optimistic. I'll post a picture of the before and after tomorrow. Maybe.

I also have all this waiting for me:

To turn into something grand for this little one:


And then I plan to do a PM yoga tape tonight after Athena is in bed and afterwards have a long lavender infused Epsom salt bath. No wine again. I can do this thing!
PS Paul has been away for a few days but is back tomorrow!

Day 1 Here We Go

I have had many calls and emails about my Birthday present to myself. All are wondering what I mean, what I will do. I do plan to document my journey from day to day. More for myself and to monitor my progress. You are welcome to read along if you like.

Today is day one. Day one of the new me. Day one of authentic me.

I got a new Yoga room this weekend. We spent some time moving our Guest Room from upstairs to the lower level where Paul's office is. This worked out better than we thought. He moved around his furniture in his home office and we put the futon in there. Not only is it more private and quiet for guests but there was also room for an end table, lamp and clock for anyone who will be staying with us. Nice too for him as he seems to have more room now, not to mention a couch to take afternoon naps on.

Anyway, I now have about 90 square feet of our home all to myself. All for my yoga practice.

It looks wonderful. It will be always ready for me and it is all mine. So this morning, I managed a 50 minute practice. It was pure bliss. I was so happy.

Since I have been away from a consistent yoga practice for a while now, I noticed that things were different. Quite different.

I still had strength for the Sun Salutations. I did them close to the end of practice so I only had time/energy for 5 of them. But hey, 5 is better than none, no? I also noticed that my belly got in the way terribly for Revolved Triangle and some forward bending. Ughh. That will have to go. As I lay in Savasana at the end of my practice I felt hot and sweaty, my body also felt open and relaxed. I felt a smile begin to grow on my face as I realised how I missed this and how glad I was that I did this for myself today. So now that I have my own yoga studio, I plan to practice at least 5 times a week, no matter how short or long a practice. This is one thing I am going to do for myself.

Which leads me to the second thing. I am not going to have any wine today. Not a drop. Not tomorrow either. I plan to get rid of my belly by stopping my 2 to 3 glasses a day (yikes!) of wine habit. That will be tough but I will do it. Paul says I should just have 1 glass a day. I am opting to go cold turkey. At least for a while. So there it is. I've said it for all to see. I will not have any red red wine for a yet to be determined length of time. Keep me to it.

M