yoga

The Week of Breakthroughs

12 August 2012 / pictures, ronni, yoga

One-Legged King Pigeon Pose (Eka Pada Rajakapotasana)

Had a really cool week of yoga breakthroughs. Sunday, I taught a yoga class at Musecon and at the end of class, I went into my very first Supta Virasana (Reclining Hero Pose). Never thought I’d be able to do this because that pose typically hurts the top of my feet and my butt doesn’t really sit on the floor. Granted, I ~~probably~~ did it wrong, but it felt nice.

Wednesday, I did my first ever Pincha Mayurasana (Forearm Balance). OK, forearm balance is a challenge. Not going to lie. The prep for it is super challenging. BUT I did it, with some encouragement from the apprentice. How surprised was I when I floated up there?

Then yesterday, I got to take a workshop with Kathryn Budig, where I did my first ever Parivrtta Surya Yantrasana (Compass Pose). (How funny that the article highlighting this is written by her!). It was awesome!!!! I also did a variation of Visvamitrasana, and that was pretty sweet. 🙂

So, needless to say, I’m pretty tired today. So, you get a short and sweet entry. 🙂

Night!

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OK, Then.

10 July 2012 / pictures, ronni, yoga, yoga teacher training

I almost put “Happy Monday” as my subject, then I looked at my menu bar and saw that it is indeed, Tuesday. Of COURSE it’s Tuesday; I had my teacher training today. We worked on seated twists. It was good. One of the twists–I went into a bind (with some help) and I DEFINITELY felt it where I get my side pains. I’m hoping the twist wrang out whatever causes that pain. Cause that’s what twists do, you know. They wring out your organs and detoxify them.

I kinda got my wish Sunday. I didn’t get to be in a TON of nature but I did get to sit under a tree and read. 🙂 I had to do some yoga poses. Here’s my favorite:

Rock ‘n Roll Ustrasana

I had a good time at the park. The weather was perfect, I had my tree, and it was peaceful. Definitely needed that recharge. 🙂

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Better Day

24 June 2012 / music, pictures, ronni, videos, yoga

I feel way better today. 🙂

I’m feeling more like myself. I have more energy and I’m feeling less overwhelmed.

I decided that I needed to hear a certain Mozart song, even though I had no idea what it was called. I had the Baby Mozart CD when Aidan was a baby and I knew that the song I wanted was piano and there was a really bouncy part where I used to bounce Aidan around to. I really wanted to hear it. Well, I found a Mozart piano radio station on iTunes and darned if that song wasn’t the second one to come on. Piano Sonata in 11 in A, K 331, Mov. 3 Turkish March.

Now I know. I even went over and bounced Aidan. It was different, trying to bounce a nine year old, though…

But hearing that cheered me up quite a bit.

This morning, I headed to Moksha for a music class with Arjun Baba. I am sad I missed his kirtan last night, but I needed to be home. Probably the kirtan would have done me a world of good, though. But I got to see him today and hear him sing and HIS VOICE IS AMAZING. *He* is amazing. Usually, when Moksha gets special guests, they don’t have a lot of time to just relax and talk with us students. But he and his drummer were hanging out and chatting with us and it was so awesome. I need to get some of his music ASAP because you guys, seriously.

Video doesn’t do him justice. But video and recordings never do these things justice.

Moksha is a healthy place for me. To walk in and be embraced almost every time I go there. I went again tonight for Nina’s candlelight restorative yoga class. Which is likely my favorite class of the week to attend (followed closely by Mia’s tantric hatha class). It was just what I needed. It’s ALWAYS just what I need.

Sometimes, I feel bad because I don’t really go for the aggressive asana. If I do any level 2-3 classes, it’s likely going to be a Hatha rather than a Vinyasa. You won’t catch me in a led Ashtanga class (although I might get up the nerve to try MySore one of these days). I feel like I’ve talked about this before, but maybe only in one of my drafts that I abandoned. Still, I feel like, as a future instructor, I’m going to be crap if I can’t do a handstand or any of the advanced arm balances. I just don’t go after those inversions and advanced poses like a lot of my classmates do, and I wonder if I’m doing it wrong.

Anyway, tomorrow is the start of another week, kicking off with a tantric hatha yoga class (if I can drag my butt outta bed), a meeting, and then a trip to the post office to mail a package I should have mailed months ago. It’s been sitting here READY to go… God, I don’t even want to deal with the post office. Every time I go, the APC is broken and the line is always two hours long and there’s always only one clerk working and everyone in front of me has 95 different things to mail. I might just suck it up and pay the surcharge at the UPS store. It might be worth it to check *something* off the list of things at the back of my mind, anyway. My planner looks empty, but my brain is not. Work work work (at least it’s from home), reading, yoga teacher training, newsletters, laundry, yoga classes, life. I’m tired just thinking about it. (Kinda hungry, too.)

Well, here’s to a good week. *raises glass of spa water*

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Had A Good Week

27 May 2012 / disney, dork, happy, life, living in chicago, pictures, recap, yoga

loving the sun and warmth!

Yay! Had a happy week. Got to work at BOTH places I enjoy freelancing at, my other project’s finally kicked in, and that means $$ will be coming in for me again.

This is a good thing. No. It is an EXCELLENT thing.

Tuesday’s teacher training was canceled, which was a YAY because I got an extra free day, but the reason was a BOO because my teacher had a family emergency. 🙁 Still, I got to go to Mia‘s class, which I haven’t in months, and it was so nice to be there again.

I’m seriously drawing a blank about Wednesday, except there was an AWESOME Amber Cook class involved. But that’s all I remember. Weird, right?

Thursday night, I attended a food healing workshop with Moses & Zeina. Oh my goodness. I learned SO MUCH. And got to taste some yummy things (cheesy kale for the win!)…. and I got to taste some things that made my tongue very angry. Yeah, pesto made from cilantro and onions? NEVER AGAIN.

Friday night, I attended a Kundalini workshop (another Moses & Zeina special) that included a fire ceremony and gong meditation.

OH MY GOD.

I never realized how beautiful a gong could sound. My fault for only really knowing of them from The Gong Show, I suppose. Anyway. Every savasana should include gongs. Or wind chimes. (I once took a workshop and there were wind chimes and that was also amazing.) But this GONG. Wow. I’m actually looking up gong meditation albums on emusic.com. I don’t know if my iPod can replicate what it’s like being in the room with a gong, but seeing as I’m not going to be carting one around with me, listening to it in my iPod will have to do. 🙂

Although, I believe Kundalini Yoga In The Loop has gong meditation regularly….must research this more. AND THEN ATTEND ASAP!!

Speaking of Kundalini yoga… I’ve done it before, but wanted to try it in a class setting. It’s so so so different from what one thinks of as yoga. There are no asanas; there are kriyas, which is a set of kundalini exercises. The thing about Kundalini is that it’s hard core. It can bring up some stuff. The kriyas are uncomfortable, confrontational, and cleansing. Therefore, they are awesome. And scary.

I am so grateful for the opportunities I’m getting during my teacher training. Chances to push my practice. Chances to meet great people, learn new things. It’s seriously been insane in the best way possible. And I’m only what, 10 weeks or so into the program? There is so much more learning to be done, so many more experiences to have. I’m excited!

This journey is filling me with so much joy, and I want more! 😀

(I also got the cutest pair of yoga pants. Tie-died and pink with purple piece signs on the butt. My friend Christine says they give new meaning to the phrase “Piece/peace of ass.”)

The weather’s been great all week! Nice and warm, hot some days. Beautiful. Blue skies, sunshine. My favorite! Of course, it’s going to get cool and rainy by the end of the week, but for now? Loving it! This is the best Memorial Day weekend weather I’ve had since I moved here!!

I’d forgotten that I’d purchased a Disney Parades CD when I was at Disney World during one of my trips. Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade is a track on that album. WHAT. That song had only been stuck in my head for months since I was in the parade. OK, and only that first part because that’s the part of the parade Adam and I were in, so we only heard that loop over and over for 20 minutes BUT THAT’S NOT THE POINT. The point is that I’d had this CD, and had apparently already imported it onto my computer. I could have been listening to the parade all this time! And also hearing the REST of the parade at that. So, I’ve been making up for lost time. 🙂 Brings back happy memories!

I also looked on YouTube to see if anyone happened to record and post a video of my parade, but NOPE. Someone posted one from the DAY BEFORE, though. Oh well.

**many hours later**

OK, so I started this entry many hours ago. This is what kept distracting me from finishing:

1. Aidan called.
2. I ate dinner.
3. Aidan called again.
4. I ate a 2nd dinner while watching the O.C.
5. Aidan called again.
6. I talked to my mom.

So now, it’s 1am, I’m trying to decide if I should get this gong meditation CD: Gong Suite: Six Meditations, but I need to be braiding my hair and getting to bed. LONG awesome Sunday ahead, and I need my beauty sleep!

I leave you with a photo of me reading one of my favorite magazines, more than 12 years running:

I’ll decide about the CD tomorrow/today. Right now, I’m going to sleep. Well, I’m gonna braid my hair first, probably have a snack, THEN sleep.

Byeeeee! 🙂

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YOGA: Yeah, Oh God, Again

21 May 2012 / confessions, pictures, ronni, videos, yoga

You all know how much I love yoga. I love the way it makes me feel, I love my community at Moksha, and I love everything I’m learning in teacher training. But I’m not perfect, and my mind isn’t always overwhelmingly positive. So, I give to you, my dear friends, my yoga confessions.

1. Sometimes, in the middle of class, I think to myself, “I hate this, why am I here? These standing poses are killing me. Oh please God NOT WARRIOR III dammit we’re doing Warrior III. I’m totally going to fall. I don’t feel like a warrior AT ALL in this pose. I feel like an idiot. Oooh, I hope we do headstand. Crap, it’s forearm balance AGAIN. I SUCKKKKK at forearm balance!! I want savasana NOW!”

2. Every once in a while, when I’m doing a pose that I know is good for me but I’m not loving, I dread knowing that I have to do it on the other side. (As an old yoga friend/teacher of mine once said: Yoga means Yeah, Oh God, Again!) People say that poses I struggle in or hate the most are the poses I should be working on. But really? Warrior III? Forearm balance? Do I have toooooo????

3. Sometimes, I just don’t want to take a vigorous class. Or any class. I KNOW. But yesterday, I went to the restorative candlelight class, and you know what? It was perfect!

I wish Moksha had more restorative classes.

4. I feel guilty when I skip class. Because if it wasn’t for a good reason (e.g. I was busy, working a gig, visiting family or friends, etc.) then it was most likely because I was just being tamasic (aka LAZY).

5. I’m really glad the yoga studio is a seven minute walk from my place. Cause there are so many times when I get the bug, about 20 minutes before a class starts, to head on over and practice. Usually that’s when I have the most awesome classes.

6. Level 2-3 classes still scare me a little bit, even though I’ve been to two and they obviously didn’t kill me.

7. I love yoga pants. Not just ANY yoga pants. The moisture-wicking capri leggings. You know why? Cause I have many pairs of non-moisture wicking yoga pants that are grey. And they show sweat in not so nice places. Yeah.

8. I always say I’ll never buy anything from lululemon for various reasons, but I’m totally lying! I am seriously coveting a few pairs of their awesome yoga crops and if I had a few Benjamins to drop on some, I’d do it in a heartbeat. And they have super cute tanks, like the No Limits tank. I’d totally wear the heck out of that tank.

9. I have a couple of tanks that I ~~think~~ know need to be retired. Every time I wear one of them, I’m afraid the “girls” are going to pop right the heck out during a forward fold or down dog.

10. I wear yoga clothes more than any other clothes these days. My laundry basket is almost all yoga clothes.

11. Ashtanga yoga and me? Not so much. I tried it once in April of 2010 and decided that I was done. Then I was in a class last week where the instructor was definitely Ashtanga-inspired, and I hated it. It’s just not for me. Mysore might be a different story–I haven’t brought myself to do it yet. Maybe this week will be the time. atha yoga anusasanam

12. For Christmas, I think I’m going to ask for a Jade Harmony yoga mat, some lululemon gift cards, and a bolster.

13. When I’m in a pose and it feels really good/easy, I worry that I’m not doing it right. Yoga is not supposed to hurt, that is true, but I should be feeling SOME sort of sensation, right? But as Daren (my teacher) says, there are always ways to go deeper into a pose so that I am feeling something. I just haven’t learned all of them yet.

14. I could do forward folds all day every day. I LOVE them.

15. I really want to do this, and I CAN, but I worry that my knees won’t allow me to do so for long. 🙁

Source: tumblr.com via Ronni on Pinterest

16. Watching Meghan Currie‘s practice videos is super inspiring. She moves so smoothly and beautifully.

I like this one because her cat gets in the way like Crookshanks gets in mine.

The teacher I am apprenticing with, Amber, has a beautiful practice like this, too.

Maybe someday I’ll feel confident enough to put a practice video of ME up on YouTube. But I doubt it.

17. On the first day of yoga teacher training, Daren asked us not to eat McDonalds or any fast food. I thought it would be hard, and it was at first. I LOVE(D) McDonald’s you guys, as terrible as it is for me… but the more I go without it, the easier it gets. And I feel all the better for it.

18. Getting an adjustment in savasana is the best.thing.ever.

19. I’m scared to do a handstand. I know I can do it. I have the strength to do it, and in class Thursday, the teacher spotted me and I floated right up. These are the things he said:
a.) I have good control when kicking up.
b.) I have the strength.
c.) He didn’t have to assist me almost at all when I went up.

So I know it’s a mental block. I’m scared I’m going to fall and hurt myself. I don’t trust that I *do* have the strength/balance to do it. The teacher gave me some neat exercises to try so that I get more confident in the strength I have.

20. As much as I love yoga, I worry that it’s inaccessible to a LOT of people. Going to a studio isn’t cheap, although I was able to play it so I was able to take three classes a week for $19. (This was before the days of my work study career there.) Not everyone can do that–their schedules may not permit it or the location just might be way too far or inconvenient. And yes, one can buy a DVD, or just practice from a book, but honestly, it’s nothing like having a teacher there to guide you. And the clothes. Of course, one doesn’t have to wear lululemon to practice yoga. Actually, a lot of my pants come from Old Navy or Target or TJ Maxx and they work fine. But it’s easy to get caught up in the “Am I good enough because I buy discount yoga clothes?”

Or maybe that’s just me. Yeah, it’s probably just me.

Still, even with those crazy thoughts bouncing around in my head, I love yoga and feel gratitude every time I get to practice. I am grateful that my editing and marketing skills are skills that Moksha finds valuable enough to offer me free yoga in exchange for my services. I’m grateful that I was given an extraordinary opportunity with the teacher training, so I get the chance to stretch my practice and my life in ways I never thought imaginable.

Yoga RULES!

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