Restorative Yoga this Weekend

This Sunday night at 5:15pm - please pre-register, maximum is 16 unless you can bring your own chair! Hope to see you there at the end of the beautiful day we are suppossed to have!

More from Charleston...

Here is another picture - this is Jennifer, my dear friend from Charlottesvile. She hosts Tim there once a year and David as well. And that is Tim - below is a link to an article that Tim wrote - good reading.

http://ashtangayogacenter.com/alchemy.html

Hello from Charleston!

I almost don't want to post these pictures as Dan told me that there was still snow on the ground there! I hope you enjoy them - we've had a really nice trip, I'll be writing about more of the details later. I found an ashtanga studio "the practice space" to practice at and may have re-ignited the yoga bug for my mom and her two sisters. Tim Miller was here last weekend so I spent some time with him, he did a mysore class, a led primary series class, and what he calls "improvisation" which is a lot like what I do on saturday mornings, he also did a lot of talk, most of which I had to miss, except for the sutra discussion, which is always good. As some of you know, Tim was one of the first westerners to practice with Guruji, and has been teaching this method for nearly 30 years in Encinitas, CA at The Ashtanga Yoga Center. My good friend Jennifer Elliott from Charlottesville, VA drove the eight hours to Charleston to see me and Tim which was really amazing of her. We have one more day, and then leave tomorrow night. I'll see you all this weekend!

Philosphy Study Group this week...

Tuesday night, March 25th at 7:15pm, no experience necessary, all are welcome. Counts as one class.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Come celebrate with us today!

Vacuum bags and more...

When we make the choice to come to class, to put down our mats and to practice we may also be making any of (not limited to) the following choices: to hire a babysitter, to not clean the house, to not make breakfast or dinner for the rest of the family, or to leave babies, or children or spouses or __(fill in the blank)_______ . Any number of things must fall into place in order for us to actually make it to our mats. Some days are better than others, some excuses to not come to the mat are better than others.

For me today the issue was vacuum cleaner bags. Some time last week our vacuum cleaner bag at the studio was totally full and I tried to empty it out so that I could keep using it, but in doing so ripped it. Alas, I was going to have to go out and buy some new ones! You might not think that vacuum cleaner bags could really be that integral to the running of a yoga studio but let me explain something. We often use the analogy of "peeling back the layers of an onion" to describe the process of yoga. Well what we don't mention about that is the peeling of layers of skin, toenails, and hair that is also a part of the process. You might not believe how much of this, plus all of the dust and fibers from blankets that we accumulate on the floor after just one class. So we use the dry mop to sweep the floor, and then we vacuum the debris from the mop - so the vacuum cleaner is pretty important.

So what I now know is if you are in need of vacuum cleaner bags don't go to Walgreens, Fred Meyer, Albertson's or Target (at least if you have the kind I have). After these four trips, finally I went to JJ's Vacuum Store this morning and after two trips there, I finally had the right bag.

This, was what was almost going to keep me from my practice today. Two things made me do it, one is that I feel better when I practice, it is fun, I enjoy it, it is a time for me to focus on myself and on what makes me me, and two because Lars was going to meet me :). As I started my first sun salutation I smiled thinking to myself "do your practice...all is coming...even vacuum cleaner bags..."

On to the green mats...

The new eco mats that are coming out are pretty much made out of rubber - Mary sent me some great information about them. Thanks Mary!

Rubber, being tapped from trees (as is maple syrup) is a natural material that turns to dust in the landfill. I just got my new one, a Harmony mat, from matsmatsmats.com http://www.matsmatsmats.com/yoga/yoga-mat-fusion.html

Their Fusion mat is 5/16" thick and 8 pounds. I bought the Pro mat which is only 3/16" thick and about 5 pounds. I may regret it in the long run...don't know yet. They both come in 68" or 74" lengths.

We both remember the "carpet pad" mats and how they ate up your feet. This commercial rubber mat does NOT--at least not to my experience so far. It feels much much cushier than the carpet padding too.

The cons of rubber are listed on the website:

This mat should not be left outside in the sun, since natural rubber is very sensitive to direct sunlight - the material can dry out, harden and lose its grip.

Natural rubber always has a "rubber" odor that will diminish over time [never completely in my experience-you have to get used to it]

People with latex allergies should avoid natural rubber.

I can attest to the first caveat -- the summer of "108 days of yoga" when I came to class virtually every day, I left my mat in my car much of the time. And yes, it started to slide all over the floor at practice. I deep-sixed it out of frustration! With my new one I must remember NOT to do that. But I loved the deep red color (Sedona red) of my new one and bought it as much for that as the "green" aspect. We'll see...