Get Your Yoga On

As you might already be able to tell, I like to write. So I'm very excited to be writing about yoga for the Athleta Chi site (if you haven't checked this out yet, now is the time - it is very cool and very inspiring. After you check out the Chi, you can then pop over to the Athleta site for a little retail therapy too). 

My article Get Your Yoga On is about kick starting your yoga practice, and delves into my fave FAQs that I've been asked over the years as a yoga teacher. I've found that exploring these topics usually sparks something in my students - a deeper level of interest in their yoga practice that encourages them to take it further, into a space that really resonates on an individual level. Would love to hear your thoughts - post them on the Chi! Happy reading, happy weekend, and Namaste.

In need of Inspiration

I'm back. I've been here, but I haven't posted because things have just been, well, kind of a tangled up mess. I'm going through an official rough patch right now. And because I consider it my job to aim to inspire, I wasn't sure I wanted to write when feeling less than inspired myself. I'm happy to report that hitting the yoga mat hard has helped, as both teacher and student. The usual negotiating of schedules, timing, etc. that I do in order to practice has fallen away, and it's felt almost effortless as I've been pulled to my mat by a force greater than me, to the only place where I don't feel the tangles tightening. Which makes it more non-negotiable than ever. Thank God for yoga. 

Big Sky Yoga Retreats had a contest over the holidays where the topic was, How has Yoga Changed Your Life? I wonder how I'd be coping with my drama right now if I didn't have yoga. The gifts of a yoga practice keep on giving, no matter what, where or when. In need of inspiration in my present funk, I've been re-reading the lovely entries we received, especially from yoginis who joined us on retreat last year. Read on and be inspired by the entries from two amazing women that tied for first place:

Carole MacLean - Fall Yoga & Hiking Alumna

After my mom's yearlong illness and death last year, I began a journey of retrospection and self-discovery. Realizing the preciousness of life and the delicacy of love, I searched for balance by simplifying my work, my life, and my relationships. It was time to take my yoga practice of 5 years to the next level. I knew that it was through yoga that I could find a safe place to practice being both being grateful and staying in the present. It was through yoga that I could experience balance, peace, and solace while exercising my body and taking care of me. So I set an intention to get on my mat daily, and I joined my sister and five other incredible women for a week-long yoga and hiking retreat. With yoga starting and ending our days, and 5-6 hour hikes in between, I was able to experience breathtakingly beautiful examples of nature including elk, moose, deer, fuzzy rabbits, and the first snowfall. Even now, weeks after returning from that spectacular place, I can return to Montana while visiting my mat. My yoga practice has allowed me to go to a place where I can be still, content, and filled with peace. I may have lost my mom, but I found a new way of living - through yoga - and my life has been changed forever. 

Meg DePriest - Mother's Day Weekend Alumna

I can't think of one aspect of my life, and the way I approach it, that has not been deeply affected by my yoga practice. Yes, my body is healthier than it has ever been before. But more meaningful to me is the solace I find for my soul. I walked away from my practice when I became pregnant. After realizing a year after my son's birth that I was lost in a cloud of depression, I came back to the mat. The quality of my life would have continued to decline if I hadn't. Mothering is a job accompanied by often overwhelming emotions: love, fear, joy, anger, guilt and pride among them. Returning to my practice has helped me to be a patient parent, to stop and breathe before acting, to monitor my emotions and reactions, and to rejoice in my son as he discovers the world and his place in it. My yoga practice ensures that I take care of myself as well as my family. The Mother's Day retreat I attended with my sister gave me a chance to step back, appreciate what I have, commune with other moms facing all the challenges I face, and it reminded me of how important my asana practice, my meditation, my breath work and my self-study are to my health as a woman and a mother. (And the fact that I emerged with a new yogi friend in Margaret was an added bonus.) 

Thanks Carole and Meg. You can read all the winning entries here. Thanks also to Dude Girl for sponsoring our contest - our lucky winners received Dude Girl apparel. 

Project Peace

I'll be honest: I've been struggling since this last weekend. I tend to get things happening in waves vs. isolated incidents. So I've been feeling a bit unmotivated and in need of nurturing. Always a good time to hit the yoga mat and let whatever comes up come up. And also, inspiration can appear from the unlikeliest of sources. This morning I received a facebook message from someone I don't know, telling me that she loved the peace I project to the world with my picture. Really? Me who is feeling nothing close to peaceful right now? But I kept thinking about this message all morning, and how such a simple thing can make such an impact. Project peace, project peace, project peace...if I keep thinking it maybe it will happen. And I started to get it together. Thanks to the kindness of someone I've never met. And it reminded me of one of my favorite benefits of yoga: how it somehow allows so many people that would never otherwise meet to touch each others' lives in positive ways. So thank you, facebook friend, for turning my day around for me. If you're on FB and a Cowgirl Yoga blog reader, connect with me there too! Here's my FB pic. Next up, I promise - more inspiration from some special yoginis, the winners of Big Sky Yoga Retreats' How Yoga Changed My Life contest. Namaste.

And the winner is...Zuzu

So, husband was looking up the meaning of the name Zuzu - it's a character in the movie 'It's a Wonderful Life' - but it also means Lily in Czech. Right before he stumbled upon this fact, Morgane announced she wanted to name the dog Lily. Add to this that husband's dad's family is Czech. There you have it, we went with Zuzu. She's been a real sweetheart, luckily not a spastic puppy. Very calm and relaxed. That's the energy we needed around here. 

Don't worry, back to yoga tomorrow...and, more winners then too.

One reason why little girls' clothes are so much cuter

I was just flipping through the most recent arrival of a catalog I normally really like, of clothing for both kids and adults, when I saw t-shirts for boys with a huge spider on one, a scorpion on another, oh and a cobra too. The only non-poisonous creature to grace one of these babies is a grasshopper. I can only imagine the product development meetings that produced this idea: "yeah, poisonous insects on boys' tees, right on!" I'm neither a fan of insects nor the mother of a little boy - but even if I was, I really don't think I'd be buying these. Way to widen the cuteness gap between little girls' and boys' clothing design, Garnet Hill...

Shake it Up

I crashed and burned today. I'm usually pretty full of enthusiasm for everything in my life, but today I started out anxious and overwhelmed (after a crappy night's sleep, I might add...and I can't even blame it on the puppy. Maybe I can blame it on being all worried about the puppy?). I could not muster up my usual efficiency to get everything together and hurl myself out the door. So I didn't. And I'm glad I took a time-out, I needed it. I was pondering this and realized that there's been a lot of shake-ups in our routine-driven household lately. You know that advice many life-coaches give about the psychological benefits of shaking up your routine and doing things in a different way? Well perhaps we've overdosed a bit. Since the new year we've had the following changes:

• Morgane in school all day on Tuesdays - thought it wouldn't be a big deal but apparently it is
  
• I'm teaching a new yoga class on Monday evening - you should know that I rarely leave my cozy nest on weekday evenings...who am I kidding, on weekends too - just call me OMbody (ha ha)
  
• A sweet 8-week old girl puppy was added to our family yesterday - need I say more? 
  

So it shouldn't be any big surprise that everyone is adjusting to all this new scheduling. For some reason I felt a lot better just acknowledging that. The only constant is change, right? So give yourself a break when your mind and body is craving it, without guilt. 

And puppy makes 3

I'm afraid my world has been rocked, but I knew this was coming. We brought home an 8 week old puppy today (we already have 2 dogs). Why, you might ask, would I do this to myself? I'm not sure. I trace it back to holiday spirit that runneth over: husband forwarded email from colleague that had picture of cute-as-can-be puppies needing a home, and I, no doubt enjoying one of many glasses of wine consumed in the latter part of December, enthusiastically replied, "sign us up for one!" Reality set in after new year's, like it always does, as I made frantic runs to pet and book stores figuring out what all needed to happen here. Yes we have 2 Boston Terriers, but the youngest we started was at 5 months and it was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. And Lola and Rocco are now, well, quite civilized. 

And actually, I stand corrected - it's not so much my world that's been rocked, but the BT's. Rocco appears to be shellshocked. Lola looks at me as if to say, this doesn't mean I can't sleep in your bed now, does it? Day 1, so far, so good. Now all we have to do is settle on a name for her...what do you think? Zuzu or Jasmine? 

My Hero

So yes, my quads ended up quite sore after Saturday's many ski runs in lots of fluffy snow. A very good time to practice my favorite après-ski yoga pose, virasana, aka "hero pose". It stretches out the front of the thighs and all around the knees, and just feels like the right thing to do in order to just give them all a break. Here's a little how-to:

Virasana

Stand on your knees, and reach back and hook your thumbs on the inside of your calf muscles. Move them out to the side by gently rotating your hands; the idea here is to get them out of the way so you can sit back in between your feet. Don't let the feet splay out; work to keep all five toenails on the floor, with the toes pointing straight back. Once you gently lower your seat down, lift the crown of your head up to keep lengthening the spine and keep you from collapsing weight into your seat and knees. If you are really comfortable here, you can slowly and carefully lower onto your elbows behind you; next step is to take the crown of the head to the floor; full pose is to lay back and take opposite elbows above your head on the floor.

If you cannot lower your seat all the way down, place a yoga block or a rolled-up blanket under you to bridge the gap. As your quads and knees become more open, you can gradually reduce the support. 

Hold either option for 3-5 minutes to really maximize the lengthening of your muscles. Questions? let me know. Namaste.

First tracks

2 quick things: yesterday was Morgane's first time on skis, and I take back what I said about my quads never get sore. My quads are very, very sore after skiing in powder conditions. Coming tomorrow - My Hero - but meanwhile enjoy these pix of Morgane and husband helping her ski. Earlier we were watching her lesson and trying to figure out if she was crying or not - the high pitched noises she was making turned out to be squeals of joy. 

Disney & Me

Just a warning, this post really has nothing to do with anything I normally post about.

I am wondering, why is it that all the Disney movies my daughter is in love with make me CRY?! Pocahontas, Mulan, The Little Mermaid, Ariel's Beginnings...tear-jerkers, all of them, with the music, the family stuff, the happily-ever-after themes...what the hell? thoughts? 

Me ski pretty one day

Today was my first day of a four week women's ski clinic. I'm not sure why I get so anxious about this; it's a great opportunity to work on fine-tuning my technique. And it's sure kinder and gentler than skiing with husband, whose technique borders on professional level, and who thinks falling and losing a ski 50 feet from where I fall means I'm challenging myself. But I think I get a little bit of performance anxiety knowing that I'm there to be critiqued, in the name of improving...and I decided that who the hell doesn't?! It's tough to accept criticism, no matter how constructive or what the ultimate goal behind it is. I'm convinced that many would-be adult learners don't try new things, especially sports (or even yoga), because they don't want to not be good at it. I learned to ski as an adult, and although it's been many years now, I have not lost touch with my "beginner's mind" for skiing. It keeps me humble and open to learning. And when I'm doing good, I experience a nice, even-keeled confidence - but have the ability to back off if need be, since I also still possess a healthy amount of fear. Yeah, some days suck and I feel like I'm a beginner again; but there is something about this that keeps me coming back. I think it is the way it forces me to be present and ever aware of what I'm doing. And when it all comes together, wow does it feel good. Kind of like my yoga practice. 

As we watched our instructor demonstrate something, one of the women said she hoped she could make it look that pretty one day. And the rest of the time I had the refrain of "me ski pretty one day" in my head. I like it, it breaks down where I'm at with my skiing. And I definitely think that yoga can help your skiing feel and look pretty; the fourth chapter in my skinet.com series came out today: Tone your hips & legs with yoga. 

Happy skiing.

Yoga for skiers

Today was our fourth full day of skiing since Christmas, with our second round of visiting friends here to ski, among other things. It's been great snow, and an added bonus is that I've got some sweet new skis, Salomon Jewel Origins. This weekend, I also got the chance to really test out my gear against below zero temps (report: everything held up great with the exception of my gloves, but I've got problem hands that are always cold, and I fixed this situation by walking into one of the many outdoor stores around and asking for the warmest glove they had: the answer = Black Diamond Mercury Mitt). Big Sky touts itself as the "Biggest Skiing in America" for a good reason - combined with its neighbor Moonlight Basin, there are 5,512 skiable acres and 4,350 feet of vertical drop. That translates to a lot of terrain, which translates to it's pretty tough to ever get bored. I love the drama of Lone Peak - suddenly you turn off 191 and there it is, all 11,166 feet of it. A simply stunning mountain that demands that you be in awe of it. 

Interestingly enough, after our first two days of hitting a lot more runs than I thought we would last weekend, what was most sore was my core. Which I took to be a good sign; I was using it for stability while getting my muscles to remember what to do on the slopes. I'm always intrigued by the number of people who say that their quads end up sore after skiing. OK yes my quads get sore too, but they don't scream at me. First of all, I've got to believe that a regular yoga practice with quad strengthening poses like warrior I, II and good old utkatanasana (chair pose) will prevent you from blowing out your quads while skiing. Second, if you use your core and and other body parts properly, the quads don't have to take the hit for every move you make. 

This season I'm writing a six-part series on yoga for skiers on skinet.com; check out the 5 Warrior warm-up, Twists & Abs for your core, and Yoga's got your back. And coming next I'll share my fave apres-ski yoga pose. 

Happy Healthy 09

I'll make this short and sweet: wishing everyone a Happy & Healthy 2009. May it be full of ample opportunities to blissfully yell Yeehaw, and serenely utter Namaste.