Delicious Sequence

Last weekend I took part in a weekend yoga workshop with the wonderful Jo Zukovich. Oh my, she was spectacular! My body moved and twisted and opened up in the most wonderfully progressive and insightful ways. It has been a whole week and I am still feeling the positive effects of the time I spent with her and her wonderful teaching style.

My favorite part of the weekend was spent seated on the floor experiencing many seated poses and I was introduced to a sequence that my body has craved everyday since. I am very partial to seated poses, they help to calm me and slow me down - especially the forward folding poses.

I pulled out my Light on Yoga book to find those poses I experienced and see what Mr. Iyengar had to say about them. That is when I realized that they are part of a sequence:

Janu Sirsasana
Ardha Baddha Padma Paschimottansana
Triang Mukhaikapada Paschimottansana
Marichyasana I
Paschimottanasana

The first four poses, Iyengar writes, "...are preparatory poses for the correct Paschimottanasana. It is difficult to many to get a good grip on the feet in Paschimottansana even after several attempts. These four asanas give one sufficient elasticity in the back and legs so that one gradually achieves the correct Paschimottanasana."

While it is wonderful to "get a good grip on the feet" it is even more wonderful how my body feels as it experiences each of these poses along the way and then the final Paschimottansana is delicious.

Have you experienced this sequence? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Breakfast of This Yogini

Usually I am challenged with breakfast. I want savory or I want sweet or I'm not really that hungry but in an hour I will be "starving". I put those in quotes because my husband always finds it funny when I say I'm starving because really, I'm not. Anyway...I have come up with a perfect Autumn breakfast to get me through the morning. I had a new addition this morning thanks to my CSA. Included in my box this week were Medjool dates - like candy, really. If you are not familiar with Horchata, it is rice milk with cinnamon.

Autumn Oatmeal

1/2 cup Organic Oats from my favorite Health Food Store
1 1/4 cups water
dash salt
2 tablespoons Organic Pumpkin Pie Mix
1 chopped Medjool date
Splash of Horchata

Bring to boil and then simmer for 10 minutes, stirring a lot :-)

Add 2 tablespoons or more of pumpkin and stir. Add chopped date. Place in bowl and add splash of Horchata and perhaps some ground flax seeds or flax seed oil.

And Kombucha to wash it all down.

Enjoy!

Yummy Yoga

Yoga is yummy. I said that today while teaching and I really liked it (although I think my students thought it was a little strange). The saying "you are what you eat" really applies to yoga too. I feel like I eat or ingest yoga. I can describe yoga as yummy to my body. Every asana I do is like eating a piece of food (good, healthy food). It nourishes and fills me up - that's yoga - and that is yummy! The best thing about yoga is that "yoga calories" don't make you bigger, they make you whole.

I Love November - Snow and Knitting

I love this time of year. The beautiful fall colors first and then the snow!


I spent some time at my favorite yarn store last night...

I'm not telling yet what they are for (ok, a gift) but aren't they beautiful together? And in the snow? I have 3 gifts on the needles right now. I love working on them.

Did I mention that I love November?

...through yoga.

As I was paging through one of my yoga books a few months ago I found the most wonderfully worded Sutra:

Grace, beauty, strength, energy, and firmness adorn the body through yoga. -Yoga Sutra III.47

I was so inspired by those words that it was the theme of the yoga class I taught that day.

When I first started on my yoga journey I was deep into my ballet classes and figure skating lessons. I love body movement and feel very graceful and beautiful while doing it. For me, the strength, energy and firmness were just an added benefit of the movement. Once I stared with yoga, I realized that yoga is also a beautiful thing for me. It also has all of the added benefits and then some! But in the beginning, it was the beauty of the poses and how I FELT in them.

How do you feel when you move your body? If you do yoga, what drew you to it?

Some things to think about the next time you are on your mat.