Sixty Days: Day 21

Practice with the lovely Miss M (who gives us extra special rest time: shhhh-vasana) and her son, Caspian, the current Boy's Yoga National Champion (*squee*).
Feeling drained and wimpy going in to the studio, knowing my feelings are prone to change with heat & movement. Sure enough, I did much better than I'd expected.
Standing series remains a huge challenge, my balance is still developing! Kicking out in Standing-Head-to-Knee pulls a heretofore unmet screeching muscle all up the inside of my leg, ankle to crotch. Carrying through to Standing Bow Pulling. Yowch! I can take my progress as it comes,  I need not rush things ... One percent the right way, One hundred percent benefit.
To appease the cooperative, non screeching, bits, I bounced deep into triangle pose. My focus is on getting my hips well seated, weight distributed in pelvis, then m'arms be poised for their full expression at toe & ceiling :)
(Photo disclaimer: timer used, taken mid-pose, not full-expression)
Found a big ol kink of sadness in Camel, worked it all out in Rabbit. So cool. So good for me. Three weeks solid. Damn.

Sixty Days: Day 20

Morning practice today, with M. Very chattery monkey mind. Soldiered through an ultimately strong practice. Even on the first day of my cycle!
Even released my conversation about "sh-vasana"

Sixty Days: Day 19

Giggleasana with J-man again! Powerful practice of ev'pose ev'time
Tonight's juicy bits and tips -
Triangle: keep weight centered in pelvis
Locust series: push w/belly & clench glutes
Floor Bow: shoulders down (away from ears, open chest)
Several times today, I caught a quick glimpse of my beautifully shaped & very strong shoulders and arms. A world away from the greatly feared Mrs Vaulkner arms. I took a moment for pride.

Sixty Days: Day Eighteen

30% complete.
Today's teacher, J-man, has the very best laugh which he uses liberally during his stories & during his practice. As a laugher, this is a characteristic I find imperative in one who inspires me. I knew going in, I'd get to giggle back to breath.
My class mantra today: Each pose prepares you for the one next. I found myself posing carefully, to set myself up well for future poses. Deep half moons & an especially intense locust series, I realize there is truth here. I continually wake up new (to my acquaintance) body parts; today was inner thigh bits.
Nearly the end of class and I'm about to put my forehead on my knee (bending my knee to accommodate) for what seems the 857th time and I quickly wonder: What if I don't bend my knee this time? And I happily found out. Oh yeah. Circuit closed.

Sixty Days: Day 17

A loud and chattery practice.
Which means I was sweaty and distracted. Snotty and scratchy.
I actually left the room at one point, coughed to my lungs' desire, and returned to class.
And I finished.
There's nothing poetic to wax nor inspirational to talk about. A tough class. A challenge I face whether I go to yoga or not; showing up at the studio means I'm getting practice with the one tool that works: quiet.

I'm going back again today, Day 18. Focus: Pose, Breath, Stillness

Sixty Days: Day 16

The last two days have been big challenges for my story. Not a specifically diana story, more of a human story: sickness. Hayden returned home from Halloween with some fresh bronchitis germs who happily took up residence in my not-eating-well-enough-Self.
Dragged myself to Bikram, under the weight of my chest elephant and my equally heavy litany of excuses. I was met by J, the sweet looking and gentle sounding drill sargent of an instructor, who said Wait til you get in there before you decide how much you have to offer.
So I stopped the story of limits & chose Wait and See. I found myself sans excuses, sans chatter, and participating deeply in my quiet practice.
Yesterday, now knowing this miracle's availability, I did it again. Every pose, every set. Quietly. Calmly. Efficiently. Well, except when I coughed; I did then jump back into pose. To fall out is human, to jump back in is yogi.
I gave up. A big fat chunk of story, gone. Whew. That feels good.

Never too old, never too bad, never too late, never too sick to start from scratch once again. —Bikram Choudhury

Sixty Days: Day 15

I've become a Bikram believer. I'm taking a 60 day challenge as evidence. Sixty days dedicated to me, my health and my breakthroughs.
For the first time in my life, I am getting to know my body. My real body. This beast of a machine heretofore hidden under layers of baggage and story.
In the weeks of practice (This is yoga practice, not yoga perfect.) leading to my challenge acceptance, I've watched my body magically sculpt into one I'd ne'er imagined. I've seen myself move with grace, ease and control. I've watched forty-four year old skin work hard to shrink. I've felt kilos of emotion release from my spine. I've practiced keeping my peace. I've made friends with my Monkey Mind and practice keeping my mind in my brain.
And it all looks like picking up my foot. Trusting that I can do all that I ask myself to do, to the best of my ability. One percent the right way, One Hundred percent benefit.

Because I can, I owe it to myself to Do.

Committed

Dear Big Joe,
This journey feels as though it should be documented for you, nay, for the me you recognized so very long ago. So with your voice cheering me on, I here log this newest delve into my own discovery of that me and all her awesomeness.
Today I paid for a gym membership, a first in more than 20 years. I've attended 13 classes of Bikram Yoga in 14 days. I'm ready to continue attending classes. Classes that talk of Personal Best, of challenging myself, of listening to the whole internal team, of visualizing success, of practicing not perfection. And I hear you. Your years of investment provided the perfect fodder for this stretching, strengthening, soul-expanding, stage of evolution.
Thanks. And welcome to this Wild Ride.

Crafty Craze Continued

I'll start with now, it's most exciting!
Yesterday was iron & cut day, today was sew with Faith day.
I'm mostly done with the brown/turquoise dress. Black/white to follow soon.

My sewing muse happened by the studio,  I was so excited to see her & show off her inspiration via my work. We're gonna figure out how to do a modern-sewing-bee-esque-scheduled-something at the studio. Contagious!

Looking forward to a busy, busy, BUSY Spring ♥

Tic-tac-toe Training

When we lived in Rapid City, one of my favorite places to bring the kids was Reptile Gardens. The list of reasons is long and varied, though for me I looked most forward to the tic-tac-toe playing chickens! 

For 25¢ the chicken comes out, pecks on a tic-tac-toe board, earning a treat each turn, and the human walks away with a cool postcard, win or lose. (caveat: I know this kind of Conditioned Response training not always the ideal situation for a chicken, few of those honestly exist, not even in my back yard. So I make my backyard and my tic-tac-toe training as loving and as friendly as I possibly can as a flawed human being who has no recollection of ever being a chicken, backyard or otherwise)

Rose Tyler, Rosie, Chick-Chick-Chicken

So, when I ordered my first batch of chickens, I hoped for one of them to be tic-tac-toe trainable. I chose breeds specifically on the conditions of dual purpose (eggs & meat), friendliness, easy to physically handle. At the end of Summer, I'm left with only one chicken. In my world, Rose Tyler survived. (She's an Australorp)

We've had Rose on the back porch all winter, so we've become quite well acquainted ♥ She was friendly before, always riding on my arm, shoulders & head. This winter though, I've been her constant company when I'm outside. 

She's a pecker. Oh my goddess, she is one BAMP (Bad Ass Mother Pecker). She likes my silver hairs, my wiggly eyeballs, food in my teeth (any food I've got, really) and my teeny-tiny diamond earring (in my ear) from Mitch. I like a friendly and non-mauling chicken-friend. I've compromised by redirecting her fascination with all-things-reflective-or-tasty-about-me with my telephone screen. (It's not tactile responsive) I always add a reward to her phone pecks: neck scratches, cooing, petting.  

Training Session 1

Today, I opened up my Tic-Tac-Toe app and grabbed some craisins (she especially loves fruit, they're a perfect reward/treat). She pecked, she got a craisin. She pecked, she got a craisin. Then, she just wanted the freakin craisins & she knew where they were. I tapped the screen with a craisin, she pecked, she got a craisin. Chickens are much easier to redirect than toddlers, FYI. 

We played two games, each winning one.
Next time, I want a post card.