Because it's Friday

and a cold, wet one at that...a good day for some fun photos of Janice and I with yoga mats tied to the back of the saddle, yoga under the big sky and bright sun, Emily sporting her Big Sky Yoga tee in pink, and me holding a....any guesses?
Happy Friday and last day of July!

My Power Animals

After our last Cowgirl Yoga retreat, I treated myself to a new ring. I was browsing in a downtown Boz gallery that specializes in American Indian art, and was drawn to the jewelry with animal imagery by a Lakota artist named Mitchell Zephier. The animals on the ring all represent power animals for the Lakota Indians, and since I've been wearing it, I like to look down and see which ones are turned up and what they might mean for me on that day. Here's what each symbolizes:

• Turtle: Symbol of Mother Earth; strength, well-being, perseverance, longevity of life
• Wolf: Symbol of a guide/teacher; intelligence, steadfastness, protection
• Eagle: Symbol of wisdom and keen sight; courage, strength
• Buffalo: Symbol of life; survival, abundance
• Horse: Symbol of generosity; a journey, swiftness

The ring is named "All My Relations". There is a Lakota saying, Mitakuye Oyasin, that means All Our Relations. As in, we are all related: people, animals, trees, air, water, stones. We are all linked and connected. Pretty cool concept to consider when the stressful minutia (ie, this week's sick dogs, potentially broken washing machine, and guys crawling all over our house all day as they tackle the monster project of repainting its weather-beaten exterior) get you down...

Check out the Indian Uprising Gallery.

Weekend wildflowers, waterfalls & Greek mythology

Continuing with the wildflower theme, I was very excited to spot a new white flower I haven't seen before on my hiking date with husband this morning: the exotically named Grass of Parnassus. Mount Parnassus is located in Greece, and according to Greek mythology, was sacred to Apollo the sun god and was the home of Pegasus, the winged horse. Fascinating how a little wildflower spotting can lead to a Greek mythology lesson...

The South Fork trailhead is located on a public access road that winds through Ted Turner's Flying D Ranch, which is a pretty spectacular place. Great views of the Spanish Peaks abound, along with flower-filled fields; we stopped at the gorgeous Pioneer Falls for a picnic before heading back. Definitely going to add this one to the retreat hiking menu. Now for a bit of post-hike yoga and I'll be set for Sunday evening, aaaahhhhh. Namaste.

Friday Flowers yet again

Because...I unfortunately do not have any pictures from my wild ride in the Bridgers yesterday, where we did some thrilling off trail exploring, saw both a bull elk and a bull moose, and kept the speed up for a good part of the ride. I haven't yet mastered the skill of taking pictures while cantering, and quite frankly, think I'll leave that to Janice. It was one of those incredible days that left my butt a bit sore, my spirits lifted, and my dreams dancing with horses that night...to quote some of our Cowgirl Yoginis, feeling like an Indian Princess. Who needs drugs when you have horses, nature and yoga! It's quite the addictive cocktail.

We only got off our horses once, and I took some quick pictures of the latest wildflower explosion: Indian paintbrush and harebells. Happy flower Friday.

Cowgirl Yoga July Retreat Round Up

A few of my favorite things from last week's Cowgirl Yoga:

• Trail riding with our yoga mats tied to the back of the saddles
• Unidentified animal lumbering across the road in front of us in the Bridger mountains: it took a few moments of stunned silence to figure out it was a black bear
• Healthy, sustainable, local - did I mention GOOD? - food at Bozeman's best restaurants
• Our Cowgirl Yoga comedienne of the week
• Yoga under the Big Sky in the Bridgers
• Montana eye candy: Palisade Falls & Fairy Lake
• Yeehaw moments: cowgirls cantering for the first time at the Ranch, one Cowgirl's Indian Princess ride
• Namaste moments: discovering the joys of Ashtanga, pincha mayurasana, and saddle camel
• MIKE (sorry, you had to be there)
  

It never ceases to amaze me that this is my job: sharing my favorite things about yoga and Montana. As the retreat leader, I too get to share the excitement and add to my own collection of Montana moments. And I've been saying this for years, since I first made yoga my full-time gig and recognized one of its unexpected gifts: I am so very grateful for the new friends I make through yoga that I would never otherwise meet. Yoga makes it all happen. 'Nuf said. Namaste.

Back in the kitchen again

After last week's fine dining at Bozeman's best on our Cowgirl Yoga retreat, including Plonk, the Emerson Grill, and Dave's Sushi, I'm back in the kitchen again (vs. back in the saddle again, for those of you not getting it). Tonight's menu continues the simple summer salad theme.

Orzo & Feta Salad

• 1/2 lb orzo (about 1 cup uncooked)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/2 cup parsley
• 6 oz cherry tomatoes
• 1/4 lb feta
• 1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Toast the pine nuts, put everything else together and add the cooked orzo last. Top with pine nuts.

Tuna with Roasted Peppers & Pine Nuts
Make a double batch, it goes fast.

• 1 red bell pepper
• 3 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, cut into 1/2 inch dice
• 2-3 tomatoes, roma or on the vine, coarsely chopped
• 8 oz. can albacore tuna, drained and broken up with a fork

Roast the pepper under the broiler or on the grill until charred all over. Put pepper in a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap, let cool. Peel, seed, and coarsely chop. Cook the onion in olive oil until soft, then add the pepper and tomato for about 3 minutes. Mix everything together.

Serve both at room temperature with fresh, crusty bread.

Cowgirl Yoga highlights and pictures coming soon, promise. If you are on Facebook, the pix are already up on the Big Sky Yoga Retreats group page.

My movie moment

Whoa, what a week! I am blissed out and beat up, in a very good way, after a rockin' week of riding, yoga-ing, and lots of eating healthy and sustainably. To sum it up simply, we had so much fun. And I had a true movie moment during our day at the Cowgirl Yoga ranch, when we rode - oh baby did we ride! - and reveled in being surrounded by horses and mountains. When we arrived, we were short a horse, as there had been a lot of cow moving going on earlier that morning. So I stayed back and waited happily in the front porch swing for Rocky's return. I watched the Cowgirl Yoginis way out on the ridge doing their first canters. About thirty minutes later, Rocky returned, and I ran to switch with his rider and catch up with everyone. He spotted them out there too, along with his herd buddies, and let out an excited neigh. As soon as I swung myself up into the saddle we headed their way at a brisk trot.

In my world, speed breeds fear, so my tendency is to hold the horses I ride back at the trot or canter before it all gets too carried away...this time, I did not. We were gloriously in synch with our movements, and once we crossed the creek, started to canter. The fields filled with purple wildflowers flew by. Rocky was as excited as I was to catch up with everyone, and he started to move faster. I still didn't hold him back much, even though at one point I felt warm liquid on my reigning hand, which I briefly noted to self was likely blood (left riding gloves at the tack shed). Who the hell cares if you're bleeding when you're having a movie moment?! It was just Rocky and I moving together under the Big Sky, the sound of his hooves pounding the ground beneath us, the feeling of my heart pounding inside my chest, and WHOA there are very few other times when I have felt this completely alive. I am still on a high from this brief 15 minutes of my life that will be burned on my memory forever. This is the kind of experience I seek to share with my Cowgirl Yoginis, this is why I live here. Yeehaw & Namaste.

More of a CY recap coming tomorrow...

4 hours in the moment

Today was the Back Country Horsemen's Annual Poker Ride, which to sum it up, is a 12 mile romp on horseback through the Bridger mountains. Yes, there is some sort of poker game involved (I would not be the one to ask for more info on this), lunch, prizes, and 350 people riding out. Whoa! I was lucky enough to be part of the pre-ride trail check with my Cowgirl Yoga partner Janice - so we were off by 7:30 am ahead of all the other riders. My boy for the day was Rocky, an Appaloosa with attitude. Just look at his face and you can see it. It was a gorgeous summer morning: the lupine was is full bloom, the trail was in great shape (note perfectionist Janice, with reigns in mouth, making a few finishing touches to the ribbon markers), and I had on my new chinks that I was determined to get dirty. As we rode the "backcountry" terrain fairly quickly, my attention was entirely focused on a. not getting too close to trees b. constantly shifting my center of balance over Rocky's, as we went up, down, and all around c. ujjayi breath, after I would realize I was holding it. These three tasks kept me in the present moment for the full four hours (perhaps with the one exception being when we briefly dismounted for a potty break). Ah, nothing like putting your yoga into action in the saddle! I came home and took an hour long savasana (uh, nap).

What a great start to a fun-filled week - our July Cowgirl Yoga begins tomorrow. But first, husband and I are off to the Dinosaur museum tonight, aka the Museum of the Rockies, for their Wine Classic.
Yeehaw, Namaste, & Cheers!

More Friday Flowers

Gracias Tres

Today was one of those days that sounds good on paper but in truth left me a little frazzled. Morgane (my 4 year old) and I were not in synch, there was a lot of crazy energy going on at horsecamp (our once-a-week mom and daughter fun with horses and lots of other young girls) husband is still recovering from surgery and went back to work much to my chagrin, and I'll stop right there. But there was a very soothing soul present amongst the chaos, and his name is Tres. As in uno dos tres. Morgane usually rides Tres, a sweet, small half Arab that is wonderful with kids. I've ridden him too, and been surprised at the pep he exhibits for a bigger rider. So we already were getting along quite well. Today, I went to catch Tres to saddle him up for Morgane, and while looking out to see where he was, could not spot him. Turns out he was laying down behind the shelter. And unlike most horses responding to the pull of instinct, he did not immediately and quickly come to his feet when I rounded the corner. Was he sick? Was something wrong?! He opened one big eye to gaze up at me. I knelt down to pet him. He lifted his head and sat up, but made no move to stand. I was astonished, as I've never been this close to a reclining horse. As I spoke softly to him and pet him, I felt tension leave my body. This sweet boy trusted me! After a few minutes, I encouraged him to his feet and haltered him. As Morgane and I brushed the dirt from his coat, I marveled at his gentle interest in her, the way he turned his head back to see what she was doing, how he allowed her to touch his velvet nose over and over and even dropped his head to let her do so. I felt that ever-present ounce of fear I always have around these beautiful and powerful animals leave my body too, as I witnessed this exchange between my daughter and horse. All my other concerns melted away; it was one of those moments where you want time to stand still. Gracias, Tres, for your gentle energy today. Here's Morgane doing her saddle camel on him.

Summer Quickie

Since I picked up our first CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) bounty on Thursday, I've been busy finding ways to use up all this yummy fresh stuff. I figure if I can make one thing each week to put in the freezer, we'll end up with some great quickie meals this fall and winter. Today the kale started to wilt, so I whipped up kale and cannellini bean soup for my first freezer contribution and was pretty pleased with myself. But what I just made for dinner this evening is definitely going to be on the summer repeat list - it's fast, it's fresh, and I used up my CSA green onions and parsley, woohoo. Lastly, it goes really well with that 2007 Sterling Vineyards Organic Sauvignon Blanc I mentioned a few weeks ago. Sipping on it now.

Try it, you'll like it:
Bulgur Salad with Edamame & Tomatoes
from June '09 Cooking Light

• 1 cup uncooked bulgur
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 cup frozen shelled edamame
• 1 pound of chopped cherry tomatoes (or roma)
• 1 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1/3 cup chopped mint
• 1 cup chopped green onions
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper to taste

Combine bulgar and boiling water in a small saucepan, cover and let stand one hour. Cook edamame and drain. Add edamame and everything else to bulgur and toss well. Let stand at room temp for about an hour.

Here's my other favorite summer quickie, Mango & Black Bean Salad.
If you've got any good ones to share please post 'em.

What if your yoga mat had 4 legs?

There are many similarities between practicing yoga and riding a horse, which is how Cowgirl Yoga, a merging of horses and yoga, came about. Despite the similarities, there is one very, very big difference between yoga and riding: when you practice yoga you are on your mat, an inanimate object; when you ride a horse, you are on a living being that possesses its own feelings, intuition and instinct. Most of the time you can be pretty sure your mat is not going to fly out from under you — this doesn’t necessarily hold true for the horse.

Read on for more of my musings on yoga and horses on the Athleta Chi: Breathe. Feel. Trust. Giddy up. And the July Cowgirl Yoga is rapidly approaching, would love to have you join us!
Pictured: Cowgirl Yoginis doing Saddle Camels.

Behold the Beargrass

My fascination with wildflowers continues, which makes me wonder if this and my other new passion for birdwatching means that I am becoming eccentric...? (don't answer that.) During our weekend away in Northwestern MT's Swan Valley, we saw oodles of beargrass. My favorite description comes from my pocket naturalist guide that I always make sure is in my hiking backpack: star-like creamy flowers bloom in a dense terminal spike. These elegant, 5 feet tall flowers are definitely stunners. Other interesting factoids: beargrass blooms in 5-7 year cycles, and Northwestern Native Americans have traditionally used the stems and roots in basket weaving. Someone in my family who did not want to be quoted likened their almost ghostly glow to a forest filled with fairies. Here are some of our glimpses of the enchanted forest. See more on one of my new fave MT blogs, Montana Outdoors.