My London Christmas

And so, I capped off my tumultuous time getting settled in London with getting royally sick. I actually do not remember the last time I was this sick. Almost as if on cue, we walked in the door to new fab flat and I came down with the works. For a week. On one bad day last week, I was in bed for eighteen hours straight. The timing of this, just before Christmas, made me want to throw a tantrum, but I didn't have the energy (plus I'm too mature for that). Our much-anticipated Christmas in London didn't end up exactly as I planned. And now that I mention it, I never exactly planned to be in London for Christmas, anyhow.

This is the time of year that I live for, which is made even better by two key things: festive food and drink, and the joy of having a small child. This year, I couldn't taste anything and had no appetite, and it was all I could do to make sure that Santa made it to our new flat. I got up in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve and looked at our super-small, non-Montana sized tree and the very few gifts under it, and just about cried.

I know, I know, it's not about how many presents anyone gets. But it was more than not getting to indulge my 5 year old the way I really wanted to; it was feeling like I had the holiday joy sucked out of me by stress and sickness. And then, she got up on Christmas Day and exploded with all the joy I had been missing, at the wonder of it all - Santa had been to visit us; he ate the cookies, left her a note and even gave his reindeer the snacks she had left for them. And after that lesson on joy, I did cry.

Now, I'm back on my feet and my mat; I've made it to yoga class at Jivamukti London two days in a row, and am utterly delighted by my new OM away from home. Like a dried-out sponge (which actually, is a fairly accurate description of the way I've been feeling), I soaked up the rich tapestry of all things yoga that these two classes poured over me. We began class yesterday with a chant from the Bhagavad Gita: If one offers me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it.

It may not have been the Christmas that I wanted to offer my family, but it was offered with love and devotion, and it was accepted with delight. Here's my girl at Trafalgar Square, Christmas Day.

Hope you and yours had a very Merry Christmas.

Holiday Cheer on Horseback

Here's a visual that would make the grinch smile - head Cowgirl Yoga wrangler Janice on head herd horse Bridger, singing Christmas carols to folks last week at the Bozeman Senior Center. Janice and other members of the Gallatin Equestrian Partnership mounted up to spread their own special brand of holiday cheer on horseback. They were mentioned in the Bozeman Chronicle and on the local news!

Frazzled? Fold forward.

If you've been following this blog, you'll know that my recent yoga practice has primarily consisted of one-pose wonders...relocating to another country, even if only temporarily, can throw a wrench in your yoga practice/fitness endeavors. But I was inspired by a recent post on elephant journal to do my best to accept what is. In other words, take what I can get. Today was a special treat: my daughter occupied herself quietly while I practiced the standing and finishing postures in the Ashtanga series, and she even came and massaged me while I was in savasana. Bliss! Tomorrow, we move into our new, much more spacious flat, and Sunday - gasp - I may even be able to attend my first yoga class in London.

IMHO, some of the best one-pose wonders are super simple. Not much to 'em, and you can easily do them almost anywhere. It doesn't get much simpler than this one: folding forward, with a restorative twist - balance your bum on a wall. And stay there for awhile.

The How-to:

• Stand up with your back on a wall, your feet about a foot (or less) away from the wall.
• Fold forward. Slowly. If your hamstrings are tight or your low back sensitive, bend your knees as you do so.
• Take hold of opposite elbows.
• Be sure to let your head and neck completely relax, and keep your knees slightly bent if needed. Otherwise, work towards straight legs to open up the muscles in the backs of the legs.
• Let all your holiday stress pour out the top of your head.

If you're overloaded at work, short on sleep, or even in the middle of a holiday fête, you can take a breather with this pose and soothe your frazzled nerves. Happy Holi-daze.

Accepting What Is, again

I mentioned this blog post from elephant journal the other day, but I have to revisit. Since finding it, I've read it over and over. I could have written this (maybe not quite as eloquently); I should have written this. I cannot get over how directly it has spoken to me/for me. OK so I don't have three kids. But I do have one, and a lot of juggling to do. Point being, I think we could all make a long list of reasons why we don't have time to practice yoga. But underneath all that, we know how good we feel when we do, and as the author put it, how crappy we feel when we don't.

The last few weeks I've been with my 5 year old 24/7, in a new country, finding our family a new home and new routine. I've yearned body, mind and soul to practice yoga, but it's barely been possible. I've eked out a few short practices here and there, but to be totally honest, I couldn't focus on it. Ironically, in the time I needed it most, I could not do what was necessary to get grounded. That's ok. It was temporary. I told myself what I always tell my students when they worry about not getting on their mat: yoga will always be there for you when you come back to it.

And the Accepting What Is author practically knocked my socks off with this reminder: ...don't beat yourself up about the days you don't get there. That's part of yoga too: accepting what is at that moment. To be fully present in your life, without being preoccupied by what you're missing, or getting caught up in your constant inner dialogue. Yoga tells us to move from equanimity in all things.

In January, my daughter will be in school all day, five days a week here in London. This involves a lot of letting go for me; back home, I (selfishly?) still had her in half days because the kindergarten year was the last chance I had for that. Lately, I recognized that maybe it wasn't such a good thing for either of us, and she's not a baby anymore, even if I still want her to be. This upcoming transition for her marks a big opportunity for me: I will be committing to yoga class 4-5 times a week, an opportunity I haven't had since before she was born. Knowing what it's like to long for just ONE nice juicy practice a week, I feel pretty confident that I'll take full advantage of it, and that the benefits will be enjoyed by myself and my family. I'm looking forward to sharing my London yoga journey in the new year. Meanwhile, I'm accepting what is with a few poses a day.

Life vs. Holiday

Living somewhere that many people go on vacation is very different from going there on vacation. Since we arrived in London a little over two weeks ago, we've slogged through the mundane tasks of setting up life in our new home for six months, vs. basking in the pre-Christmas wonder of it all. Up until this weekend, my sightseeing consisted of the following:

• almost every real estate office in town. I'm surprised that my phone didn't have to be surgically removed, after two weeks of clutching it with sweaty palm, as if I was a teenager waiting for a new boyfriend to phone. Instead, I was awaiting news on apartment offers via text/email/calls.
• walking tours to locate possible schools for my 5 year old, and when fortunate, inside tours of said schools.
• slow-motion navigation of the grocery store - it may all be English, but who knew that "rocket" = arugula or that eggs here aren't refrigerated?? seriously? are we just dairy-paranoid in the US...?
• the Apple store at Covent Garden (the largest in the world!) when my brand new MacBook Pro died. It was worth the hassle just to see the store, I must confess.

This weekend, we could finally let our hair down and relax, after securing a fabulous flat and being on the receiving end of our own Christmas miracle - having our daughter get accepted to a school about 4 blocks from fab flat. As my Londoner friend commented, I couldn't have planned that better had I tried. With the air let out of my balloon of angst, it felt joyous to watch my daughter ride the Christmas Carousel, to take her to visit Father Christmas a.k.a. Santa in his "grotto" (that's where you visit him in the UK), and to spend the day at the Christmas market in Bath today. This picture of her on the carousel is exactly how I've been feeling.

I knew this was going to be tough before it was easy. I had much fear of the unknown. I don't do well with uncertainty (must. plan. ahead.), or disruption of routine (yoga? when? poor 5 year old has been with me, every step of the way. So how much did I love coming across accepting what is on elephant journal? very much.). But damn it, I feel like I just climbed a mountain, and even if it wasn't all graceful, I got to the top. And from here on out, my hope is to share my American Cowgirl in London adventures with you. Let the games begin. Yeehaw & Namaste.

Yoga Gifts

So it's already December 8 and I haven't blogged once from London. As you can imagine, I've been caught up in a vortex of the energy required to settle us in here, right before Christmas. And much to husband's dismay, I've been a total girl about it all (read: too emotional). But more on that later, since today I am going to melt in a puddle of relief as we have managed to find a flat AND get my 5 year old into a school for January. So before I launch into the "American Cowgirl in London" episode of this blog, I felt the need to try and get in the holiday spirit, instead of curse December as being perhaps the worst time to flat-hunt in London. I also intend to get back on my yoga mat today, for longer than five minutes. Holiday spirit + yoga = warm fuzzies for me.

Do you have yogis on your holiday shopping list? Chances are, they don't need another yoga mat...so help deepen their practice with everyone's fave fallback gift - books and music. But wait! These aren't just any yoga books and music. There's a big selection out there, so I've narrowed it down to ones that I know work, because I've been on both the receiving and giving end. Check out my Yoga Gift Picks on the Athleta Chi. I'd love to hear your top picks for yoga books and music too, please post in the comments.

Here's to much more yoga and holiday spirit this month! And to the gift of yoga, above all in its practice form. Namaste.