April 10, 2009
i love that phrase! especially now, in the early weeks of spring. spring is a funny thing in chicago. march 20th- the first day. probably in the 30’s or 40’s – very wintery. a week later… hoping, hoping- ahh finally above 45 on a consistent basis. then… a few 30+ degree days and a surprise snow storm. another week… hovers just below 50- almost there. another week- more consistent 50 degree days. is it here to stay this time? nope! just kidding- more 40 degree days.
this is the cycle i go through almost every year. this week it’s hovering around 50. i can’t complain, but i’m just so ready for warm weather and flowers.
as i write this, i think about my practice. a couple weeks ago i was finally coming up from karandavasana… as i keep a consistent practice, i’m feeling legs further down my back in dwi pada and i’m also feeling my back really start to open up in kapotasana. practice is feeling great these days- focused… and the energy in the room has been amazing. i’m considering starting to add back the rest of the 2nd series poses next week. i’ll do a couple poses at a time. very slowly- and being mindful of how each new pose affects the rest of my practice.
all is coming…
March 28, 2009
practicing non-attachment is important for everyone but it happens to be one of the things i’ve been working on a lot in my practice. for over a year i’ve been practicing all of second series. i was starting to get greedy and lust after the 3rd series poses, but on one in my area is certified, so i would need to travel to explore some of these poses with a teacher. there were, however things i still need to work on in my second series practice. to name a few… get deeper in kapotasana, dwi pada, and come up (on my own) from karandavasana. so…a couple weeks ago i decided to pull back my practice and only practice through karandavasana until all three of those things were solid.
fast forward two weeks. i’ve been practicing more consistentaly- which seems to be key. eka pada and dwi pada are getting deeper. i’m finally almost coming up from karandavasana. so i think i’ll keep it here for a couple more weeks before slowly adding in the last few poses.
after letting go, i’ve realized there is a peace and a contentment that came with it. i feel my practice getting stronger. my wrists hurt less. i have fewer injuries in general.
on another note- i’ve really let my food nerdy-ness run too far. the moment i thought i couldn’t own any more cookbooks- i pick up a few more! i recently got a copy of padma lakshmi’s book, tangy, tart, hot and sweet. i’m a huge top chef fan, but i didn’t necessarily have high hopes for the cookbook. i ended up loving it. there are such great flavors and unusual ingredients. i have many rare ingredients in my kitchen but her book has introduced me to even more. i’m going to start a food geek blog. well, maybe i should just stick to this one – what makes me think i can handle two blogs when i haven’t been able to handle one. so… in addition to talking about yoga, i’m going to devote this blog to food. glorious food! there are two food blogs that inspire me. well, there are many, but two that inspire the way i want to write about food. one is 101 cookbooks. i know it’s a very popular food blog. when the author realized she had more cookbooks than any one person should – sounds familiar- she decided to start a blog and cook through her cookbook collection. the second blog that inspires the way i would like to write is alinea at home (same author who wrote french laundry at home). the blog follows the author as she cooks through two of the most challenging cookbooks. (i’ve been to alinea- once- and have yet to go to french laundry). i love the way she talks about her experiences cooking the recipes. i guess the blogs are similar- cooking through recipes- but one is much more technical.
so i will talk about my experiences with cookbooks i have- some easier recipes, some challenging (like my charlie trotter RAW). most vegetarian- some fish. this summer i’m getting a weekly CSA box from the well-loved angelic organics farm and will discuss cooking with those ingredients. i will also discuss interesting food i eat out in the chicago area, and geeky food facts i run across. so… stay tuned!
February 15, 2009
i’m slowly getting back into a daily (well pretty much) practice. i practiced 5 times last week. couldn’t get up to do it today because i was up late… however, i’m going to do school work and use it as a break later today. my focus is deepening my practice. someone once told me to explore the space between the poses. i have to fight the urge to feel rushed- many mornings i get to the studio late and only have an hour to do my practice. it takes me about 1:20 to do the entire 2nd series and finishing poses. my wrist has also been hurting lately. i know what causes it, but in the midst of the movements of tittibhasana, pincha M, karandavasana, mayurasana- it’s hard to think so closely about the alignment of my wrist. i usually come out of that sequence with a throbing wrist thinking i should have focused more on it.
i love love. last night mia and i hosted a valentine’s day singles’ event. there ended up being around 70 people there near the end. i wonder if anyone hooked up. hope so. regardless, it was such a blast we’re going to do it again in a few months- once the weather warms up. we held it in a cozy party room above a local bar. there were so many great people there. i’ve always enjoyed setting people up- so far, i have 2 successes- married with kids. sometimes i feel like i’m channeling jane austen’s emma.
January 8, 2009
the title pretty much says it all. commuting was not pleasant today. two trains and a half mile walk. but i shouldn’t complain because i spent some of the coldest, snowy-est, days yet on “la isla bonita” in san pedro. before i left, my doctor told me i was vitamin D deficient. i have thought about a lot of vitamins and minerals since i don’t eat meat, but vitamin D was not one of them. and apparently the way to get it is by being in the sun. no wonder- living in the midwest in the winter… so, while in belize i spent many hours soaking in all the vitamin D i could, while sipping pina coladas…
the whole trip seems like a dream now. travel is a funny thing. you can be sitting in a small island town, watching the sunset one night and back in the icy cold the next. worlds apart.
i didn’t practice today. i started feeling sniffle-y last night and decided to sleep in. tomorrow i may do second series instead of first.
so i’m still trying to figure out exactly what muscle to flex, or engage when coming up in karandavasana. getting down, ok- hard, but ok. getting up… yeah, no clue. i feel like i engage every muscle i have and… nothing. i’m going to try playing around with shifting my weight. in jump throughs/ jump backs and in mayurasana that was the key for me, shifting my weight. so i’m thinking it might be here, too.
January 7, 2009
well, looking back i realize it’s been half a year (!?!) since i’ve posted. it’s also been awhile since i’ve practiced on a regular basis… so i’ve gotten back to my practice and it’s coming back slowly. i’m currently trying to strengthen my second series poses. those i’m currently struggling with are: dwi pada without a curved back, coming up in karandavasana, and handstands. coming out of the headstands with more control also tends to be a challenge. so i’ll continue to try to work on these aspects of my practice. more importantly, i’m trying to explore the space between poses and focus on the meditative aspect of my asana practice. more to come…
most recent fun thing to share- we went to belize this christmas. it is an amazing place. there is so much to do in a relatively small area. we started out at the zoo. the belize zoo is unusual in the fact that they do not take animals out of their natural habitats unless they need help. all of their animals needed some sort of rehabilitation before returning to the wild. they nurture animals back to health and return them to their natural surroundings, if they can. we tood the day tour- pretty impressive, and then later we returned for the night tour. the night tour was especailly impressive because the guide had food to feed the animals. many of them came right up to the cage and hung out for awhile. we saw many cats- big jaguars and smaller, house cat sized animals.
after the zoo we spent 3 days in san ignacio. we went caving and trekking around some ruins. the last part of our trip was spent in the cayes. caye caulker was a beautiful little island town. it was great, there were signs everywhere that read “go slow”. we snorkled and swam with sharks and sting rays. below is a pic with my new shark friend. if you’re travelling in the near future, i highly recommend belize!
June 15, 2008
i’m getting concerned because it seems like we’re losing the spring season entirely. one week it was 50 and COLD and the next it was in the high 80’s. i’m not exaggerating! i’m beginning to think chicago spring is a contradiction of terms. like san francisco spring is redundant. isn’t it always spring-like there? which is why, after the phd stuff, i’m moving to the northwest.
spring is my favorite season. why? because it is a time of renewal and rejuvenation. fresh- full of hope. i wonder what it will be like in a place where it is always spring. will i appreciate the idea as much? speaking of renewal and rejuvenation- i’m starting a raw detox. i know, i know- if you’ve read my blog previously that hasn’t worked out so well in the past. but the last time i tried to go raw was in the fall. not a good time for a vata person like me to try to eat all raw foods. but summer is a good opportunity to try it out. and i’m not going all raw. just mostly raw until dinner. i have this great book, The Raw Food Detox Diet. the great thing about this book is that it is for real people- like me- who want to try raw and cleanse their systems. there are 5 levels so you try a level that is comfortable for you. i’m a level 2 or 3. i’m going to try level 2 for the next couple weeks and see what happens. i’ll keep you all posted.
yoga- i skipped yoga today. well the day’s not over so i could still squeeze in a practice. i don’t know if i move too quickly or what, but the entire 2nd series has been taking me about 1 hr 15 min. my teacher encourages me not to rest too much between poses- so i think that’s part of it. i try to take 5 slow breaths in each pose. except the headstands at the end. i tend to take fewer because i’m still getting used to them. especially the 2nd and 3rd.
today is a beautiful day- well there is rain predicted later- but while it’s beautiful i’m going to walk over to this great burger joint and indulge in a decadent veggie burger before i start the raw detox tomorrow!
June 13, 2008
just finished the last week of the school year. (for new readers- this is my first year in grad school- Learning Sciences PhD program) looking back it seems like it flew by. i know that sounds cliche- but it did. i was also recently given the last few poses of 2nd series by my teachers. i think there are a few similarities between these two meaningful benchmarks. i will elaborate:
both seem like the end of something but are really just the beginning. this first school year is over but i’m only beginning to think about my research. this summer will be a time of focusing and trying to narrow down my diverse interests. similarly, having been given all the second series poses allows me to begin to view the series as a whole. what a beautiful series of poses! i’m beginning to understand how the poses fit together. each pose almost feels different in this bigger context.
other thoughts and comments:
being a grad student is hard!
i love the seven headstands- although i need to work on softer landings (for the sake of my toes and everyone in the room!)
it takes me a long time to read technical papers
kapotasana really is one of the hardest poses- second only to coming up in karandavasana
“practice and all is coming” – guruji , applies to purely cognitive endeavors as well.
April 5, 2008
so i’m trying to get caught up on all the things “kids” are doing these days. i decided to join facebook. i’m still trying to figure some of it out… like how to add things to my page. so far i’ve been kind of successful but i still have a lot to learn. i don’t know what the etiquette is… for example, there are a bunch of my professors who have profiles. but do i add them as ‘friends’? i’ve had some of my students try to add me (before i actually had an account- which is another thing that confuses me) and i didn’t mind that. i don’t know if i have the patience for this… i do have a myspace account but that seemed a little easier to understand at first.
my elbow still hurts and i’m starting to get concerned. i’m going to practice tomorrow and i hope i’m not making a mistake. non of the actual yoga poses hurts seems to hurt it but i think some damage may be happing since i tried yoga a few days ago and when i woke up the next morning, it seemed extra stiff and tender. lino miele is coming to our studio next week and i’m so psyched to be able to practice with him- hopefully the elbow will be ok…
friday i went to an ayurvedic dotor for the first time. he took my pulse and said i had weak lung energy. it figures, i’ve been slacking on the pranayama. he also prescribed a bunch of herbs, none of which i can pronounce. i’m debating ordering them. i probably should because otherwise i wasted $100- but coming from such a scientific background, i want to know what they do and why they were prescribed. there wasn’t time for that in our 45 minute meeting. maybe this is something i should research a little more. i’m happy with the ayurvedic practices i’m already partaking in and don’t know if a mixture of herbs is completely necessary at this point. on the other hand, i’m curious. will i feel that different if i take the herbs? maybe i will place an order and see.
April 3, 2008
ok so i’ve been completely obsessed with the show top chef. this season it’s in chicago so it’s fun to see the local celeb chefs as guest judges. above is a picture of yesterday’s winning creation. Smoked Salmon with Faux Caviar & White Chocolate Wasabi Sauce. you can find the recipe here.
this obsession started out with the show iron chef. bz and i sit around and watch these shows for hours. i’ve decided if this whole phd thing doesn’t work out i’m going to become a chef.
in the meantime i can try to be creative with the box of organic food i get weekly. because this term has been so busy i’ve usually resorted to chopping the veggies and eating them raw with ranch dressing or stir frying them with coconut oil and curry spices. we both love that and it’s so easy.
since the next few weeks are lighter i’m going to try to be more creative. i’ll let you know what i come up with. =)
April 1, 2008
it’s been nearly 3 months since i’ve posted a blog. in that past 3 months i’ve finished another term in school. this one was difficult- hours of fieldnotes, writing computer programs, reading copious amounts of material, and writing 40+ page papers. but that extreme quarter is over. this quarter i’m taking a more reasonable class load. so i’m going to try this blogging thing again.
practice has been great. well, except for a few injuries. my most recent injury is from exiting karandavasana. i had sweat so much while in the pose that when i exited, my hand slipped and i landed on my arm, with it folded beneath me. i think i sprained my elbow. i took a few days off and then yesterday and today tried to practice again. yesterday was fine. probably because i was off for so long. but today- a different story. my elbow was very stiff during and then after. i just got done icing it. i’ll pop a few advil later (even though i hate taking them) and maybe ice it again later. has anyone else had slippage problems exiting pincha m? i think i’ll experiment using the yogitoes- although i’m always afraid i’ll get tangled up in it.
other fun practice stuff— i’m finally getting handstands. i think dropping over has helped me because i’m not afraid of going too far over. before i wouldn’t get to the point where i could balance because i would stay too far forward so i could come down the way i went up instead of flipping over. now i don’t have that fear. it’s liberating.
hello, and welcome to my blog. here you will find random musings about all things yoga, food, music, and math. enjoy! 
