Sun, waves, delicacies, family, friends... Need I say more? We're having a wonderful time. I spent yesterday with my dear friend and teacher Yolanda Pettinato learning some new takes on familiar poses. It was pure and soothing to my still jet-lagged soul. I don't think I've managed to stay awake past 8pm yet! Yolanda also made a delicious lunch of fresh fish and veggie stirfry. It's amazing how the simplest meals here just taste that much better because of the high quality of produce and meats. Every single meal we've had so far has left us mmmmmmming and making other sundry yummy noises. Champagne honey chicken paired with delicate tempura snowpeas.... you get the picture.
I've been celebrating my own yoga practice each morning on the back veranda (porch) with gaggles of birds enjoying my endeavors. One of them makes a particularly funny knocking sound accompanied by a caw. It certainly helps to keep me rooted in the moment!
I so hope you are having your own moments of joy and wonder wherever you are.
With love from down-under,
Jan
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
Back and forth...
Hi friends,
So, you've likely noticed I've been away for a while. Let's just say I've spent a lot of time walking the pup and clearing my mind. It's been good. I'm sorry for those of you who may have worried about me... I should have posted sooner.
Chris Bernal passed away peacefully at home on Sunday, January 31, 2010. This took the wind out of my sails for quite a while but I know he is in a much better place now. You can read more about his passing here:
We leave for Australia tomorrow and with a million and one things to do to get ready I've picked a strange time to post, but I did feel the need to reach out and say "hello" to friends old and new. I hope all is well with you and in your world. I'll see if the posting bug bites me while I am in Oz.
Many hugs to you all,
Jan
So, you've likely noticed I've been away for a while. Let's just say I've spent a lot of time walking the pup and clearing my mind. It's been good. I'm sorry for those of you who may have worried about me... I should have posted sooner.
Chris Bernal passed away peacefully at home on Sunday, January 31, 2010. This took the wind out of my sails for quite a while but I know he is in a much better place now. You can read more about his passing here:
We leave for Australia tomorrow and with a million and one things to do to get ready I've picked a strange time to post, but I did feel the need to reach out and say "hello" to friends old and new. I hope all is well with you and in your world. I'll see if the posting bug bites me while I am in Oz.
Many hugs to you all,
Jan
Monday, January 11, 2010
Avatar Anonymous
Disclaimer: YOGAGALNW is on vacation this week. Posting may be irrelevant and just plain silly with very little at all to do with yoga.
Okay, here goes. I took my daughter and her friend to see Avatar in 3-D yesterday. We left in plenty of time to see a NORMAL movie but apparently the entire world is still bursting out of their houses to see Avatar, so by the time we got there only a few seats were left. In the first row. Literally, the only 3 seats left in the theater.
Now, a normal person would have realized that sitting in the front row of a highly graphic 3-D movie with two 10 year-olds is NOT a good idea. I've never actually been normal. I guess I remember being a kid myself and sitting in the front row of a movie and thinking it was kinda cool. Please keep reminding me I'm 40 and not 14 anymore...
We made it through the preview with my daughter only having her hands over her ears the entire time because of the sound. We managed through the first (totally amazing by the way)15 minutes of the movie only to discover that all 3 of us were nauseous. I mean WAY nauseous. We had to high-tail it out of that movie quicker than you can say barf-bag.
So, I stood up outside long enough to gulp down air and to ask for and receive a refund for the movie. The manager didn't balk at all about the situation. I got the definite feeling that this was happening on a regular basis at this movie or maybe they were simply afraid that I was going to toss my cookies through the little plastic payment slot. Anyway, they couldn't have been nicer about it and I'm very thankful for that.
I managed to drive the kids back to the house where they had fun playing and I fell into bed with dizziness and queasy stomach. Instead of feeling better, I just kept getting worse. It took me 5 hours and a few trips to the smallest room in the house to feel human again. Thank you darling hubby for taking the MUCH more resilient kids out to lunch and then our guest home again.
I think it's hysterical that the movie made me so sick. I can now add this to the LONG list of things that make me sick and not the average person. Along with, driving myself in my car on a windy road, standing on a pier, and watching birds flying by. So, so pitiful! I guess I should just be thankful that standing in tree pose watching the traffic going by DOESN'T make me ill. (I'll likely regret that last statement.)
Anyway, that's my posting for your amusement. I hope it made you laugh a little. Believe me, it really was very funny. I'm thinking of starting a support group for people who can't make it through Avatar without hurling.
Hugs but no hurls to you,
Jan
Okay, here goes. I took my daughter and her friend to see Avatar in 3-D yesterday. We left in plenty of time to see a NORMAL movie but apparently the entire world is still bursting out of their houses to see Avatar, so by the time we got there only a few seats were left. In the first row. Literally, the only 3 seats left in the theater.
Now, a normal person would have realized that sitting in the front row of a highly graphic 3-D movie with two 10 year-olds is NOT a good idea. I've never actually been normal. I guess I remember being a kid myself and sitting in the front row of a movie and thinking it was kinda cool. Please keep reminding me I'm 40 and not 14 anymore...
We made it through the preview with my daughter only having her hands over her ears the entire time because of the sound. We managed through the first (totally amazing by the way)15 minutes of the movie only to discover that all 3 of us were nauseous. I mean WAY nauseous. We had to high-tail it out of that movie quicker than you can say barf-bag.
So, I stood up outside long enough to gulp down air and to ask for and receive a refund for the movie. The manager didn't balk at all about the situation. I got the definite feeling that this was happening on a regular basis at this movie or maybe they were simply afraid that I was going to toss my cookies through the little plastic payment slot. Anyway, they couldn't have been nicer about it and I'm very thankful for that.
I managed to drive the kids back to the house where they had fun playing and I fell into bed with dizziness and queasy stomach. Instead of feeling better, I just kept getting worse. It took me 5 hours and a few trips to the smallest room in the house to feel human again. Thank you darling hubby for taking the MUCH more resilient kids out to lunch and then our guest home again.
I think it's hysterical that the movie made me so sick. I can now add this to the LONG list of things that make me sick and not the average person. Along with, driving myself in my car on a windy road, standing on a pier, and watching birds flying by. So, so pitiful! I guess I should just be thankful that standing in tree pose watching the traffic going by DOESN'T make me ill. (I'll likely regret that last statement.)
Anyway, that's my posting for your amusement. I hope it made you laugh a little. Believe me, it really was very funny. I'm thinking of starting a support group for people who can't make it through Avatar without hurling.
Hugs but no hurls to you,
Jan
Friday, January 8, 2010
Marathon yoga teaching...
Hooray! Celebrate with me. I've just finished teaching 18 classes in two weeks and I feel great. It was a joyful, exhausting, and illuminating experience for me and I hope for the students I taught.
A true gift was given to me by a student that I've taught for a few terms now. She is a classic "push yourself harder" type of student. One that I'm steadily easing into a gentler space. A place of grace and acceptance. This week she told me that she had finally found a place opening within her by NOT striving for it. YES! I felt that I had truly made a difference in her life and hopefully in the lives of others.
I simply love my job and I am so grateful for the growth, kindness, and blessing of living this life. I read in a magazine today that being a celebrity means simply living a life filled with celebration. That's exactly how I feel. Come be a celebrity with me and exult in your wondrous life as well.
Namaste peeps,
Jan
A true gift was given to me by a student that I've taught for a few terms now. She is a classic "push yourself harder" type of student. One that I'm steadily easing into a gentler space. A place of grace and acceptance. This week she told me that she had finally found a place opening within her by NOT striving for it. YES! I felt that I had truly made a difference in her life and hopefully in the lives of others.
I simply love my job and I am so grateful for the growth, kindness, and blessing of living this life. I read in a magazine today that being a celebrity means simply living a life filled with celebration. That's exactly how I feel. Come be a celebrity with me and exult in your wondrous life as well.
Namaste peeps,
Jan
Friday, January 1, 2010
Happy New Year... Happy New You!
Instead of celebrating a calendar date let's celebrate us! Our hopes, dreams and aspirations. Let's make this new year be all about achieving our fullest potential while simultaneously being grateful for what we've already got right in front of us. Happy New Me and Happy New You!
Hugs from my heart center,
Jan
Lessons from Mount St. Helens: Life is constant transformation...
Hugs from my heart center,
Jan
Lessons from Mount St. Helens: Life is constant transformation...
Monday, December 21, 2009
Stress-Free Holidays Embrace Imperfection.
My first real post of my new blogging life. A fitting way to start the new year I think.
So, I've been thinking quite a bit about the stress of the holidays for many people. I've never had to worry too much as this is not a big family time for us as Hanukkah observers, but I feel empathy for many of my students and friends. Time spent frantically running around trying to make things "perfect" for family and friends. Nothing could be more stress-inducing than that one word, "perfect". It sets my teeth on edge just typing it.
Perfect implies no room for error. Do or die to get it right. The perfect present, the perfect meal, the perfect hostess. In some ways, perfection even elicits a sort of inhuman robotic quality to mind. Martha Stewart has a lot to answer for in my mind. (Just kidding. Kinda.)
I'll never forget the few times in my life I thought my life depended on doing something exactly right. Bringing home a newborn baby was one such episode. For the first few weeks of her life I fretted and worried more than I ever have in my life. If anyone so much as breathed on that child I broke down into tears fearing that she would be irreparably harmed. I had the pediatricians office on speed-dial. I once called because her hands were too cold, "didn't that mean something horrible was happening?" I asked the poor advice nurse. My daughter's first few weeks of life on this planet were cooked into a stew of anxiety, worry, and fretting over perfection. I think of this now and realize that my child is often anxious, worried, and concerned with doing things perfectly. Hmmmm. Maybe the way we approach things sets the tone? Maybe if yoga and meditation had been a part of my life way back when, my daughter would now be a relaxed and fearless adventurer? I don't know the answer really, but I do know that since I've let go of being the "perfect" parent I smile more and worry less. I know that life is going to throw us curve balls and my husband and I will either catch them or let them go. The world won't end and we'll be happier at the end of the game.
So, this very long-winded post is really about reminding you to take stock of how you're feeling right now and deciding if it's worth it to feel stressed and out of control for a few days or if maybe setting the tone of "good enough" will make the memories sweeter for a lifetime. What do you think? I'd love to hear from you on this.
Sending you all wishes for a joyful and relaxed holiday season and New Year.
Namaste,
Jan
So, I've been thinking quite a bit about the stress of the holidays for many people. I've never had to worry too much as this is not a big family time for us as Hanukkah observers, but I feel empathy for many of my students and friends. Time spent frantically running around trying to make things "perfect" for family and friends. Nothing could be more stress-inducing than that one word, "perfect". It sets my teeth on edge just typing it.
Perfect implies no room for error. Do or die to get it right. The perfect present, the perfect meal, the perfect hostess. In some ways, perfection even elicits a sort of inhuman robotic quality to mind. Martha Stewart has a lot to answer for in my mind. (Just kidding. Kinda.)
I'll never forget the few times in my life I thought my life depended on doing something exactly right. Bringing home a newborn baby was one such episode. For the first few weeks of her life I fretted and worried more than I ever have in my life. If anyone so much as breathed on that child I broke down into tears fearing that she would be irreparably harmed. I had the pediatricians office on speed-dial. I once called because her hands were too cold, "didn't that mean something horrible was happening?" I asked the poor advice nurse. My daughter's first few weeks of life on this planet were cooked into a stew of anxiety, worry, and fretting over perfection. I think of this now and realize that my child is often anxious, worried, and concerned with doing things perfectly. Hmmmm. Maybe the way we approach things sets the tone? Maybe if yoga and meditation had been a part of my life way back when, my daughter would now be a relaxed and fearless adventurer? I don't know the answer really, but I do know that since I've let go of being the "perfect" parent I smile more and worry less. I know that life is going to throw us curve balls and my husband and I will either catch them or let them go. The world won't end and we'll be happier at the end of the game.
So, this very long-winded post is really about reminding you to take stock of how you're feeling right now and deciding if it's worth it to feel stressed and out of control for a few days or if maybe setting the tone of "good enough" will make the memories sweeter for a lifetime. What do you think? I'd love to hear from you on this.
Sending you all wishes for a joyful and relaxed holiday season and New Year.
Namaste,
Jan
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