It's beginning to look a lot like April...

Florence on Friday

Florence on Monday

How did this happen?
      From this....

                                                 To this....



    Though we are not getting the white Christmas the kids desire, there is a lot to be thankful for/  Here are a few photos from the family Christmas Eve...
                                                  






The Christmas tree with all of the handmade wooden ornaments, over loads of gifts.  There is so much of our life from the Italian pottery we drove to Patti to pick up, to the enourmous can of Kirin beer with the dragon head (a night to remember!), to the chair on the left that my husband's grandfather died in, to the rug I bought with my very first real paycheck.



Joy the cat (and all of us) wish you a very merry Christmas!

It's Worth the Pain

      This morning I was at the vet with my cat, Joy.  Let's just say she was less than thrilled.  She was in for a recheck of dermatitis on her chin.  A few weeks ago she had scratched her chin hard enough to draw blood.  What we had not really noticed was how she slowed down, stopped playing.  I marked it down to age.
        Ten days and a few antibiotics later, Joy is running around like a mad woman.  With all this joy also has come two vet visits, 4 shots, oral and topical medicine twice a day.  It is such a strong parallel to my feelings about 2012.  There has been progress, I am feeling better, but there has been unpleasantness along the way.  The cage I have felt was for my own good, but seriously, ick!

       This was the year I tried to do all the business stuff by the books.   I bought a professional website, started a blog, made a professional Facebook page (or two), bought the computer software... (I could go on, but you get the picture.)  The business had always done well enough, but never well.  I was going to make it shine (and hopefully pay for college...).  It was kind of like this puzzle.  All of the pieces are bright and shiny, but they are in a remarkable jumble.

      The good news is that persistence pays off.  The pieces are beginning to fit and form something.  It will be interesting to see what it is.  All of the computer work has turned into creating a blog for my friend.  Today's post about the Mayan calendar is great.  For me the Great Transformation that everyone is talking about this year, has been in how I look at things.  I've learned how to relax and be at peace in a lot of situations that I really wish I wasn't in.  It has been on the job training of the worst sort, but now, I'm getting pretty good at it.  I also have a lot of tools to give to my clients and students.
     Can't wait until 2013 to see what the puzzle looks like!

Help in Tragic Times

       This Sunday, as I looked out over the congregation at church, almost three quarters of the congregation was dressed in either grey or black.  It was shocking to see how deeply the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary penetrated, even if subconsciously. We pray, we send money, but it feels so futile.
        This devastating feeling, like so many other things, changed when I learned reiki.  In reiki level II, we learn to send reiki over a distance to a person, a place, or even a time.  Sending healing energy to a disaster can be quite empowering.  In last Wednesdays post, I talked about how sending reiki can even change your physiology.

       I've done this many times since I first was attuned, but sometimes it gets interesting.  The Fukushima nuclear disaster really hit me personally.  I have strong ties to Japan and Japanese culture through travel and friends.  Many of my Japanese friends had returned home before the tsunami and I couldn't stop worrying about them.  It was time to do something proactive.
       Each morning when I went out on my walk, I would send energy to a general, vague "those poor people suffering and working to fix Japan."  My worry obscured clarity.  So I would send reiki for the hour or so that I was out and about and return home feeling able to set about my day.
        What was interesting over time is how the recipient became more and more clear.  At first it felt like rain, sprinkling over the tsunami victims.  Not necessarily effective, but just the act of giving reiki made me feel better.  As the days and walks progressed, I began to get a feeling of who I was to.  At first it was just a general sense of where, to the north and east in Japan.  Later that it was near Fukushima, but not in the reactor.  By the end it had narrowed down to a specific male aid worker.  I felt, not only at peace, but also like I had made a difference.
         I urge you to experience the peace of praying and sending reiki to the victims at Sandy Hook Elementary, their families, and the entire community.

Sending energy to a disaster area, my experience with the Fukashima earthquake and now to Sandy Hook Elementary

Let Me In!

 There has been a cardinal hanging around the choir area in our church for nearly a year.  In the springtime, when energy is high, the cardinal flies into the window, demanding entrance with her wings.  Now that we are deeply into fall, she sits and pecks at the window or hops around trying to get in.  These pictures are taken over the course of an hour. She is so persistent.
     The more I watched her, the more I began to identify with her.  This year has been the year of 'trying hard.'  Now, as we all know, the problem with trying means that you are not doing. I 'tried' to do things the way you are 'supposed' to do them.  I had high hopes, but lets just say 2012 has been a learning experience rather than a success.

      Back to the bird, not only did I love the bird for her persistence, but I really began to enjoy her company.  I had gone to church early and was waiting for practice.  I had a book, but it was cold and I was a bit lonely.  She brightened my day.  As I focused on her quest, I didn't notice the cold.
      She also made me think.  Two days before I had a business meeting about something I was dissatisfied with.  Now, I know in any relationship, both parties are responsible for the success or failure, but I just couldn't see what I was doing wrong.  Everything looked right on the surface.  I was working hard, what was wrong?  Turns out, I had a lot in common with the cardinal.

     This cardinal is never going to make it into church through these windows unless we break one of the panes.  The windows don't open.  If she flew around  to the front, we could let her in.  This business thing was a lot like that.  No matter how hard I flew at it, no amount of effort would get me where I wanted to go.  A redirection of effort has yielded immediate results.  Who knew?
      The best part of the story remains the pleasure the cardinal has given me in the course of the afternoon (and judging from the responses to my Facebook post, for many people over the year).  Yes, she gave me a lot to think about as well, but isn't it nice to know that even amidst our difficulties, we bring pleasure to others.  Making the world a brighter place is no small thing.
      If you look at life from a deathbed perspective (do I have good relationships with my family? was I kind to the grocery store check out lady? did I love the cat?),  my 2012 has been a success.  It is a good perspective to take because these are the permanent fixtures in life, not how much money we make, how much we weigh, or does this dress make me look fat.  I am so grateful for the lessons given to me by the 'unsuccessful' cardinal.  In my book, her 2012 was a grand success.

Come to Us, O Rising Sun

     This morning I was driving south to Lexington to pick my son up from college.  The daybreak was very slow and beautiful.  As I watched the sun begin to light up the clouds I was practicing some of our choir's music for Advent and Christmas.  Let's just say the switch from second alto (as low as it goes) to the descant (pretty darn high) has made me practice quite a bit. What made the moment special was the song.  I feel like Advent songs fit how life often feels.  We wait, hopeful and expectant.  We long to be complete.  We await the break of a new day.

Come to us, O Rising Sun!

Come to us, O Endless Light!

Come to us, O Heart's Desire!

Come to us, O Saving Love!

Dance, Baby Dance

Easter, 2010

          Want to stay young? Keep the mind vigorous? Stave off Alzheimer's?  Everyone recommends taking up a new hobby.  I say look to your past for something you have stopped doing.  This year I've found what's old is new.
       Over the years, somehow I learned to sit down and shut up.  Talk about giving up on my gifts.  I remembered to walk, but forgot to dance.  I remembered to talk, but not to sing.  Somehow I became embarrassed about it all.  Who knew?  It seems like the free person on our left only comes out for the holidays like a good dress, then goes back into the closet until the next festive event.
       As I write this, I'm at church and the preschoolers are practicing for their Christmas program.  It's adorable, but they are also learning to conform.  Now this is a big overstatement, but there is this feeling of sit down and shut up (except when I tell you to stand up and perform).  It's important to society that we learn how to be polite and respectful of others, but it can be taken way too far.  Turns out, that's just what I did.
       As we approach the new year, it is a great time to look at our lives, maybe see a few things that we have given up, some of that zest for life that has been lost.  Now, identifying the problem is not nearly enough.  To remedy the situation, we need a plan.  Make a regular, public commitment that will restore the smile to your face.

this is about what I sound like now...
(clip art from Fiddler's Crossing)

        I had never made a New Year's resolution before, but last January I chose 3 areas of my life that I felt I had "given up" on.  I resolved to be a better friend, learn how to sing, and remember how to write.  All things I had given up in the pursuit of being a great parent.  Totally unnecessary, but if you watch What Not To Wear, apparently it is quite common. It was time to become a beginner again.
       What is so cool is that I have made progress in all of the areas.  For me the key was to make the commitments public.  If you set a weekly date to meet a friend, she is likely to make you stick with it, just like an accountability buddy when you run.  I also joined the choir. Even when there are 10 other people singing your part, it is important to the group that you show up for practice and church.  Peer pressure works. As for writing, this is my 127th post. I'm getting somewhere on that promise too.
        It's time to begin thinking about this next year.  I've been tossing around ideas- learning to improve my website, committing to dancing and playing games, I'm not sure yet.  Right now anything is possible for 2013 and I'm so excited.

Always a Good Policy

A sobering first reflection for the morning... :)

Peace On Earth (or at least in your heart)

click on the picture to contact me for free reiki

    For so many of us, peace is the last thing we associate with the holiday season.  It can be so frantic and unhappy, even as we do so many things to make others happy.  I have discovered a very interesting solution.
     When I first learned reiki, I was told that as I gave reiki, I would also receive a treatment as the energy flowed through me.  Two for the price of one- bonus!  As I have worked in the energy healing field,  I have observed this to be true, both for myself and even my least experienced students.  During the holidays, however, sometimes this knowledge is just not enough.  I need something that helps me now.
       Here is where life gets really cool.  I have been part of the beta testing for the Basis band (the review is in the works).  It looks just like a watch, but does so much more.  One of the things this device does is constantly capture your heart rate, so you can measure fitness and how hard you are working out.  What I never imagined was what I learned about reiki and it's affect on the body.
        Each Monday at 10 am, I give an hour of free distance reiki to anyone who asks (click on the cats above to request free reiki).  The basis band says that when I give reiki, my heart rate goes down, usually to 54 beats a minute, just like when I meditate.  This is even lower than when I sleep.  Turns out reiki is more relaxing than a nap.
        I really can use a little more of that in my life because I am a people pleaser and few people can be pleased around the holidays.  Performing reiki has such a strong focus, it is usually easier to find than meditation when you get caught up in life's craziness.

World Peace Grid at North Pole

        If you don't have any friends or family who will accept long distance reiki, I have a great solution.  The next World Peace Meditation is on Wednesday, December 17, 2012 at 7:30.  Here is the information from the International Center for Reiki Training and here is the card to use.    It can be a very powerful and very peaceful experience.  One of the lines on the card is "May the followers of all religions and spiritual paths work together to create peace among all people on Earth."  Now that's a Christmas gift worth giving.  Blessings.

Nine Years! (and counting...)

    This morning we celebrated 9 years of yoga at Saint Timothy Church!  It has been such a blessing to me.  When I first began, I was brand new to teaching yoga.  I knew I had a lot to offer, but I was way intimidated by teaching adults.  To be honest, I have never gotten over my disbelief that people will do what I say.  Once in every class I think, "why are they listening to me?"  As a student, I know that if I have driven to the class, I'll do what the teacher says.  But these lovely people just keep showing up, Tuesday after Tuesday (450+ times!).  I am truly blessed.
      Another remarkable thing is how much I still need to learn.  Each time I practice on my own, attend a class or teach a class I learn something new.  Just this morning, I learned how to get deeper into Garudasana (eagle pose) from watching one of my students.  Who knew that if you lifted your top leg a little more, the whole thing gets easier (I'm definitely going to need to work on this one when no one is watching... like I said last Thursday, lately I've been having a falling down practice, not a standing practice).  When the teacher and student salute one another with a "Namaste" at the end of class, it is truly felt on both sides.  I have learned a lot from my students.  Thanks.

         What better way to say thank you than with gifts?  The table was full of sugar scrub and healing crystals for my faithful students.  Now, what I'd really like to have here is a picture of the food, but someone came to class unprepared (yes, that's me of course) and my phone's battery was dying.

          Later in the day, I had a meeting with the great folks at Netcrafters.   One of the topics we talked about was who my target audience is.  In the traffic jam on the way home I figured it out!  All of my students loved the red chile chocolate cookies-  these are my people.  If you want to join the tribe, here is the recipe (we like them so much we keep them frozen and only cook one serving at a time. It is not energy efficient, but it does save the expanding waistline).

Red Chile Chocolate Cookies
1 1/2 sticks butter
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
dash salt
1 1/2 Tbsp. cayenne pepper
1/3 c. cocoa
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 c. flour

Preheat oven 350.
Mix first 8 ingredients on low with a mixer until just blended.
Mix in baking soda and flour.  
Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Scoop dough into 1 Tbsp. balls and bake for 8-10 minutes.

Practice Makes Perfect

        You know how every once in a while you are in a sweet spot, a time where you are leaping and growing.  Right now, that is me with yoga. It feels like I am understanding more and more deeply, but also like I am more and more of a beginner because the depth of my ignorance is clearer. I'm loving it.  Almost every class I teach begins with the disclaimer "I've never taught this before, so let me know if you understand what I am saying..."
      I was not sure what was different for quite some time, but then it came to me.  Slowly, almost imperceptibly my home practice has been increasing.  There were years where my practice was limited to 10-20 minutes, a few times a week, never when I took or taught a class.  Recently I have been practicing a little over an hour six days a week (Sunday is for God and family).

     What a difference it makes!  The best description I found for the power of practice comes from
  Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain.  I have read about the 10,000 hours needed to master a subject, but listen to how she describes practicing...

         "What's so magical about solitude? In many fields, (Anders) Ericsson told me, it's only when you're alone that you can engage in Deliberate Practice, which he has identified as the key to exceptional achievement.  When you practice deliberately, you identify the tasks or knowledge that are just out of your reach, strive to upgrade your performance, monitor your progress, and revise accordingly.  Practice sessions that fall short of this standard are not only less useful- they're counterproductive.  They reinforce existing cognitive mechanisms instead of improving them."

       Classes are important, they introduce new ways of thinking, and through the years of my very weak home practice, the date with my mom for yoga class each week kept me moving.  But...

"If you want to improve what you're doing, you have to be the one who generates the move.  Imagine a group class- you're the one generating the move only a small percentage of the time."

For me the perfect mix is to take two very different classes a week (one hot, one flow), teach several classes (because I think more during a class), and six days of home practice.  So, it took my 15 years to figure this out.  Some of us are slow.

Honoring our WWII Vets

John on his honeymoon

      Today is Pearl Harbor Day.  My father in law, John's, birthday.  He was born in 1920 and grew up in through the Depression.  When we first met, he told me funny stories about his father who made the best bathtub gin during Prohibition (and the batch of peach schnapps that exploded in his bedroom).
      Many years later, he told us about training for WWII.  Living on Goodenough Island near New Guinea to prepare for the South Pacific and getting into trouble at basic training.  Even later we heard stories from the fighting in the islands. There were funny stories in the trenches (especially the guy who was so afraid he urinated in his helmet during shelling to throw it out of his foxhole, but would never be issued a clean helmet), to the crazy hospital where he learned to take care of chickens, to some of the horrors.  Let's just say, his protests to keep the moral high ground meant that my father in law was busted back down to a private by the time he made it home.  I couldn't be prouder.

John and Gloria with wedding gifts

      His service to us changed his entire life, changing his faith and his belief in the underlying kindness of mankind.  It gave me the freedom to write my crazy blog and the husband I love.  What great things to come from WWII.
       His 21st birthday was Pearl Harbor Day.  He spent the day going from recruiting station to recruiting station in a vain attempt to keep out of the Army.  He couldn't get into the Navy because he was too thin.  He told us about riding home on the Staten Island Ferry crying his eyes out because he knew the front lines were his only option.  His sacrifice made my adult life possible and I am so grateful.  Thanks and Happy Birthday, Grandad.

John with grandsons, Daniel and John

P.S. The funny part of the story is he gave birth to a future Naval officer, who married a Naval officer (me!) and tomorrow is the big game, Go Navy! (Beat Army!)

Fall Seven Times, Stand Up Eight

      In yoga, poses performed while standing are called (gasp!) standing poses.  Let's just say that today I had a falling down practice rather than a standing practice.  I was so frustrated that I took a break from my practice to run over to the table to scribble down some thoughts on what true courage and perseverance is (because, by God, didn't I need to pat myself on the back for continuing?).
     Is it more courageous to step off the diving board or get up every morning when you are frustrated with your life?  What about charging onto the battlefield or patching up wounded, dying soldiers day after day?  Is this way too deep for your average yoga practice?  I find that my home practice brings up the deepest thoughts.
     Now, I know we are talking about different types courage (or maybe perseverance).  But lets just say, I was falling over constantly and calm and peaceful were the last things on my mind.  I kept up my practice, falling over and getting back up, and all of the sudden there was a sharp warmth in my shoulder and it felt like something warm was flowing in my arm.  At the time, I was wondering if this was a good thing or had I injured it?
     The end result is remarkable. I regained about 15 degrees in the range of motion in my left shoulder.  There is no pain, even hours later.  This would not have happened if I stopped the first (or fifteenth) time I fell over.  It would not have happened if I got frustrated with the pace of my progress and quit my home practice. 
      I have been teaching for nine years and practicing for fifteen.  The major breakthroughs can be counted on my two thumbs, but each time I come to the mat, I maintain my present level and learn a little something new.  I am grateful for the little things, but it was wonderful to spend a little time on the mountaintop.

When Life is a Pain in the Neck, Part 2

    Earlier this year, I posted about an easy acupressure technique to release a stiff neck.  Here is the YouTube video to demonstrate the technique.

   We have used this in the past several yoga classes, but I would like to add something that I discovered today.  When I looked at my students after we had done the technique and thoroughly warmed up the body, though the necks were moving freely, there was still a lack of motion in the upper body.

   Now, I'm not sure where I learned this so I can't call it an acupressure point, but I do know that today's students experienced more freedom of motion after pressing it.
    Start on your weaker side. To find the correct place, lift your arm to over 90 degrees with your elbow bent.  Pressing around in the back curve of your armpit, you'll notice a big plate of muscle on the back wall of the armpit.  The point that you are looking for is just in the front of the muscle.  Dig in gently and (for most of us) the body gives a pretty strong pain reaction.
  After you have found the point, let your arm relax down by your side.  Hold the point until your pain diminishes (or your arm gets tired).  Move to your stronger side (for most of us, this is the dominant hand).  Find the point, relax your arm by your side, and hold the point.
      Usually the act of using the weaker arm will aggravate the shoulder again, so go back to the first side and do the hold again.
       Finish with a bit of deep breathing and go back to enjoying your day, this time with a bit more freedom of motion.

Divine Insecurity

    Today's quote I discovered at the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit. It captures a feeling that I haven't been able to put into words.  The older I get, the more I love possibility, the act of encountering things I can't explain.  The world is far wider than I ever imagined as a young woman and I love it.

“The art of reading requires that you develop a beautiful tolerance for incomprehension. The greatest books are the books that you come to understand more deeply with time, with age and with rereading.”
― Michael Silverblatt

Beat Army, sir!

25th Company, Plebe summer 1984

Army Navy game.  One of my favorite sporting events of all time.  Even as you read this, the energy and craziness are building at both academies in preparation for the game on December 8^th. 

     When I was inducted into the Naval Academy in 1984, my uncle described it as entering a place where they “took away all of your God-given rights and gave them back to you one at a time as privileges.”  Here we are about a month into Plebe Summer. (Freshmen are called plebes, a short version of plebeian  referring to our lowly state.) I'm behind the camera, somehow off slacking in my room while my company mates are working in the sun...

that same group under the influence of the game

     Plebe year is all about conforming, following orders and learning. Every once in a while, they unleash the beasts and it gets really crazy.  This is the same group during the week before the Army Navy game.  The feet in the middle belong to our midshipman company commander who is about to get his head stuck in the toilet.  Glad I was behind the camera again.  Notice all the upperclassmen rooting the plebes on.

     This week was always one of my favorite of the whole year.  I love pranks and they abounded.  Unfortunately, though my love of pranks is great, it is not matched up with a good poker face.  I got away with a few dirty tricks, but most were quickly uncovered. Retaliation was swift to follow.

payback is hard to clean up

   Thinking about it now, I don't think there was a can of shaving cream or baby powder left in Annapolis during the run up to the game.
     My favorite teacher plebe year had to be in Chemistry.  He came into class and asked us if it was hot in here.  He said the Army got him so mad he was hot, then proceeded to strip off the top half of his uniform revealing a Beat Army tshirt. I also got A's on a Chemistry quiz for  all of my classmates by going down to the front and leading a cheer.

best ransom note ever!

      Some of the tricks were a little gentler.  Almost every year my stuffed animals either committed suicide or were placed in compromising positions.  At right is my all time favorite ransom note.
       As you may have figured out, I was a cheerleader.  This lovely action shot below of a punt in the 1984 game is graced by two cheerleaders in the upper right.  I'm the one in the skirt.

In the last 10 years, the Navy has been on a winning streak.  Given the picture below, I'm thinking we are safe again...

BEAT ARMY!

Sometimes Progress Feels Like Retreat

relaxation and rest

    Yeah, it's frustrating.  The world tells you that happiness is where it's at.  Keep a gratitude journal.  Take time to do what you enjoy.  Relax like a cat.  But what happens when your path takes you through darkness?
    The first time I ever experienced this was in a yoga class.  The class was at the old Tri City YMCA, taught by Shalini Latour (aside from being a yoga teacher, she makes gourmet chocolates, yum!).  The class focused on neck position.  In each pose she would talk us into correct placement of the head and shoulders.  About 45 minutes into class I began to cry.  Tears flooded down my face.
        It was like there was a cyst of unhappiness in my shoulder and when the muscles relaxed, it released all of the poisonous emotions stored there.  At the time I was mortified, but everyone just let me be and  I finished the class.  Of course, later I learned that emotions can be stored in the body, and are often expressed on the way out.

Me, trying to get into the Elephant camp
 Chang Mai, Thailand

        At these times, it is important to remember the glass is half full.  Here we are, working so hard to be positive. To get there, sometimes you have to plow through yesterday's troubles to get to tomorrow's peace.
       This picture is of me in Thailand.  It is in 1989 and I am at my young, fit best.  Look at my body posture. I'm terrified.   Notice the fear in my body. This fear (or anger or grief or whatever other emotion) happens all the time.  If you don't let it out, it get's stored in the body.
       It is important to remember that the healing crisis, whether it be physical or emotional, is part of the healing process.  Let the unhappy feelings wash over you, then return to your emotional center, the calm of a cat sleeping, safe and secure.

Another Reason to Get Up in the Morning

This morning's sunrise.  I just had to share!

Piece of a Cake

from La Dolce Vita

    Last night as I was winding down to bed, I was frustrated.  You know, you say your prayers, offer your day to God and then apologize that the day was such a poor offering.  I've been working for days on a YouTube video and am having difficulty putting it together (lets just say, it's still not posted).
    So in the free association that happens before bed, I remember this horrible cake my sister and I made for our mom one birthday. In our minds we were making a beautiful offering like the Amaretto cake pictured at left (my personal favorite cake ever made).  This cake, however, was a yellow cake, straight from the box.  We had mixed it up according to the directions and set it in the oven to bake.  Sounds like a great beginning, yes? Well, let's just say the end did not live up to the beginning.

from Breezy Cheetah Pop

      As we removed the layers from the oven, one was dropped.  We took the good layer, then spread the bad one on top.  It looked a bit like freshly mixed cement.  Then it was time to decorate.  This was long before the advent of Wilton's concentrated coloring, so to make a frosting of the lurid red I remember, it must have taken two bottles of food coloring.  To complete, we added multi colored sprinkles.  Of course we did not take pictures, but the cake at right has the same feel of our sorry cake.
      My thought last night was how gracious my mother was in accepting her ugly cake, then it came to me how much I would enjoy it from my kids as an expression of love.  Maybe the day was not such a waste.  Later, I told my husband about the different ways to see the day, he said "Who cares, it's still cake!"  I guess we could restate it as "Any day above ground is a good day."  Hope you all have many more good days, and I promise, the video is coming.

A Little Wisdom from Henry Ford

Henry Ford
from biography.com 

     After Thanksgiving dinner, as we all sat around rubbing our bellies, my brother pulled out a group of quotes.  He is a cross country coach and gives them out before each meet.  Here's the one we were given...

There isn't a person anywhere who isn't capable of doing more than he thinks he can."- Henry Ford

    For me, the clear message here is not just the possibility of doing more, but also, to choose wisely where we do more.  If I go to church, and don't like the message, do I spend more time bad mouthing the speaker or trying to love him?  Loving what drives you crazy, now that is doing more and doing it well.

 

Who Needs Big Brother?

Me on the iPad

     Last night I made an interesting experiment.  I have always wondered what I look like when I do yoga.  I've spent the last 9 years demonstrating, but have never really been sure it was clear.  I finally figured out how to know.  I set the iPad up on the floor next to me as I practiced.  Now the bad part was that the iPad is angled, so I had a triple chin and my belly was huge, but I noticed some very interesting (and reassuring) things.
     First a caution, watching yourself is not for the faint of heart.  You will be surprised how often you fall down, grunt, pant and possibly curse, but what we are looking for is the overall picture.  The thing that I found the most reinforcing was how my downward dog just kept improving as the practice went on.  In each pose, with each adjustment I was both marshaling my energy and expanding outward.
      I also noticed easy fixes for poses that feel problematic.  In my cat-cow, the heads of my arm bones are rolled forward. In today's practice, rolling them out and back felt so much better.  In standing poses, bend the front knee more, in eagle pose (garudasana), sit down further.  All of these changes were so easy and really improved my practice. It let me be my own teacher.
     Now don't go overboard and tape each practice.  A home practice is about inner correction and knowing, but sometimes, an outside perspective can help.

Your Inner Fountain of Youth: Yoga for the Face

He reminds me of Jackie Chan
"Take this, wrinkles!"

    Do you remember how your mother said "If you keep making that face, it might stay that way forever!"  Turns out she may have been right.  We hold so much tension and suppressed emotions in our faces, often we don't look our youthful best.
    Over the past weekend I had a booth at the Victory of Light festival in Sharonville, Ohio.  I was lucky enough to be right next to Sebastian Rey Skin products.  The men at the booth were so much fun, it was like having a floor show all weekend.  Even more important, they looked so young!  As the Expo began to wear down, we had more free time to talk.  Now, a girl never tells, but these men looked about 20 years younger than they were.  Talk about a ringing endorsement for self care.
     Tuesday's yoga class brought this into the physical by relaxing and restoring the face from the inside.  It is always so interesting to find how much tension we store in the eyes and jaws and how easy it is to release it (if only for a little while).  Here is a shorter version of the practice to use at home. (Writing this blog post has been very relaxing, because I keep doing the acupressure points to figure out how to accurately describe them.)
     (The beginning massage is loosely derived from Acupressure's Potent Points: A Guide to Self-Care for Common Ailments.  I highly recommend this book! It explains acupressure, then offers relief for what ails you.)

image from Healing Journeys

• Begin by taking a comfortable seat in a chair or on the floor. Settle into the present time and place. Notice your breathing for several rounds.
• Move to more conscious breathing.
• Inhale and imagine it enters through the front of your throat (your fifth chakra).
• Exhale and imagine it exits through the front and back of the throat.
• Allow the breath to settle and bring your hands into prayer pose (anjali mudra).
• Tip your head gently forward and bring the joined hands to your forehead, touching the index fingers to the third eye (the point between your eyebrows). Rest here for a few breaths.
• Keeping the index fingers in place, spread your palms (keeping palms facing one another) and gently place your thumbs on the bone at the outside our your eyes (right where crow's feet begin to form). Rest here for a few breaths.
• Place the index fingers on your jaw, right below your ears.Keep hands off of your face. Rest here for a few breaths.
• Move the index fingers to the back of the neck, about half way between shoulders and base of the skull.  Slide the index fingers about an inch from center line and gently hold. Rest here a few breaths.
• Place index fingers on the base of the skull (occiput). Rest the index fingers about two inches out from center line on the big tendons.  Hold for several breaths.
• Complete by brushing down the whole body. Begin by gently brushing the face with your hands, moving down the neck and whole body. Crown pull, moving the fingers out from center line on your whole scalp, massaging the head. Pull hands out from center line for the neck, top to bottom and finish by pulling hands over base of the neck to shoulders.

Cat-cow (Majariasana)
from Women's Health

• Come to table pose (svanasana) on your hands and knees.Exhale, round your back into cow. Inhale, arch back and look up into cat. Move through cat-cow (majariasana) with your breath for several rounds.
• Allow the body to settle back into table pose (svanasana).
• Move through cat-cow again, but this time inhale into cow (not cat!), arching your back high.  Imagine that you are inhaling through the back of your heart. Exhale, opening the front of your chest, moving into cat. Continue for several rounds.
• Now time to add the face. As you exhale for cat, open your mouth and eyes wide, sticking your tongue out just like the guy in this picture (keep those eyes open). Continue for several rounds.

• Settle back to table, relax your face, turn your toes under and stretch back to downward facing dog (adho mukha swanasana). 
• Since this is our first down dog, stretch out your legs, moving from side to side to open the backs of the legs and hips.
• Settle back to your downward facing dog, then begin cat-cow just like the last time on your hands and knees. Inhale, round your back up to the sky, breathing in through your heart. Exhale, open your mouth and eyes, sticking your tongue way out.  Move through cat-cow for several more rounds.
• Walk your feet up to your hands, coming to uttanasana (standing forward bend). Place your hands on your hips, inhale to mountain pose (tadasana).

    Now that your face muscles are awake and alive, on to your regular practice.  Do a few sun salutations paying attention to relaxing the face, particularly the eyes and jaw.  Soften the eyes and give a small smile (think smiling Buddha, not Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland).

    I like the first sun salutations to be very gentle, walking back and forth rather than jumping, and making the poses very gentle variations, continuing to pay attention to the face.  Work your way gradually up to jumping back and forth between uttanasana and plank and more vigorous poses, always softening the eyes and jaw. 

    Continue to inversions and standing poses while relaxing the face. End with corpse pose (savasana), setting an intention to relax your face consciously every day. Dip into your inner fountain of youth.

Happy Thanksgiving!

from Blacksheepsite

2012 first pie

      Happy Thanksgiving! As I sit to write, the first pie is out of the oven with more to come. I just love a holiday all about food and family, from the families we were born in to the families that we create.   I was blessed to be born into a large crazy family.  My Grandma, Henrietta, lived with us 4 days a week, and this Norman Rockwell painting shows how she would cut the edges of the crust off the pie.  It was one of the great goals of my life to be able to hold that pie up and cut off the edges.  Thanks, Grandma.  Here is a picture of as her with the grandkids in 1973 (yours truly is sitting front and center in the yellow dress).

     Those families we create are next on my gratitude list. My little family began in Cincinnati (with just me), but over the years has grown.  I have cooked turkeys in Annapolis, the Philippines, Sicily, Florida, Cincinnati and Florence.  In each place there has been a wonderful gathering of people to share it with.  My favorite turkey was one in Sicily.  It was the first with one of those red buttons that pop to tell you the turkey is finished.  The darn thing stayed firmly in the turkey after three or four hours (it felt 5 hours...).  I actually called Mom back in the States.  Calm and collected, she said stop worrying, just shake the leg, see if it's loose.  Can you imagine getting a call from your frantic daughter six time zones away?  Thank God for my mom.

from Timing the Perfect Turkey

I also give thanks for all of the things I have learned this year and especially to my teachers:

•  JoAnn, Wendy, and Sianna in various classes
• my friends at bible study who continue to expand my mind
• my students; yoga, reiki and others
• most of all, my family, Greg, John, Daniel and Joan

My teachers also come to me through books.  From Pavel Tsatsouline, who teaches how real men stretch, to Steven Pinker, who proves the decline in violence, to Susan Cain, who taught me that I was an introvert, I am truly grateful. (By the way, her book got me interested in the Meyers Briggs personality test.  Turns out I am an INFJ which is only one percent of the population.  It explains a lot of things and frees me to be myself.  What a gift!)

from Carlos Flores, USNA class of 1988

     My next offer of gratitude is for those who serve our country in the military.  The definition for veteran: someone who has written a check, payable to “The United States of America”, for any amount up to, and including, their life.  This post from August is about our gift of Thanksgiving to the country of Grenada by invading in October of 1984. I am especially grateful for those who continue to serve, keeping our family gatherings possible through your service.
      A small side note of gratitude goes to my internet.   I have been having problems until this morning.  Let's just say I have 13 draft posts and four more rough ideas caught in the files of my computer.

From Tewksbury Rod and Gun

     One final note of gratitude goes to the beloved American Turkey, who gives his life annually that we might have a great dinner.
      If you would like the pleasure and health benefits of adding a bit of gratitude into your life, let me recommend Happy Rambles.  It is an online gratitude journal.  Each day they send and email requesting your entry and store your replies online. It makes you realize there are things to be grateful for every day.

P.S. I am truly grateful for my boys who are in the kitchen pealing and chopping potatoes so I can post on my blog.  I have been showered with blessings!  Happy Thanksgiving!