finding gratitude

Sometimes, to get away from your own difficulties, you either have to focus on helping someone else out of their struggles or take the time to notice the wonderful things in your own life that you feel grateful for. 

Here's what makes me happy today:

1) this incredible man i get to live with every day. i am so lucky. and i know it.

he's wearing all those beads so that i can just wear the pink, purple, and silver ones we caught so far that day

2) my education. my grandparents put me through both undergrad and graduate school and while i know it's disappointing them to that i'm not currently working as a mental health therapist, i am so grateful for those experiences and everything i learned, and who it made me. plus, i see the knowledge i gained from it helping me out in my every day life. i wouldn't change a thing.

that's my friend Leigh on the left. hi Leigh!

3) A hot rod sno bliz from Hansen's. well, the photo is actually a chocolate milk snoball from Beaucoup ( i wouldn't go that direction again, but their mango is ammaaazing). anyway, on a hot day there is nothing like a snoball from Hansen's but to make it even better you can get a scoop of vanilla ice cream in the middle. i will wait in line for 45minutes in the sun for one of those. it's less than $5 and blissful.

4) Savasana (corpse pose). Lie down on your back, spread your arms and legs wide, shoulders pulled onto your back, close your eyes, relax every muscle in your body, and just be. along with this i'd like to add my gratitude for restorative yoga is immense as it has gotten me through a lot.

5) my general good health. sometimes i think that my wrist pain, bursitis, rib problems, migraines and whatever other little physical ailments i have remind me that overall i am healthy. yes, i have physical problems that bug me and not having health insurance is a pain. but, i am not dealing with any long term physical illness that requires painful procedures or intense medications and i am grateful for that every day.

6) good friends. friends are the family that you choose and i have some really truly incredible ones. ones where you don't see them for a year but you talk all the time and when you're back together it's like a little piece of your heart has fit back into place. 

that canon was burning my thighs 

7) my bike. it's two trillion degrees down here but i'm gonna pump up the tires (why are they always losing air?) and ride to work in a little bit knowing that my body can take me places, i can breath in fresh air, and i don't have to pollute the environment to get around. plus, my car is out of gas. hehe

8) my family (and technology). they seriously drive me crazy sometimes. seriously. and i'm sure i really bug them at times too. but, watch this video of my little cousins from December 2009 and you just have to smile. at one point D punches Ben in the crotch and then goes to get a little gun toy to shoot him. C is so young then and just wants to be in the mix. thank goodness for photos and videos... (i've never posted a video...hope this works!)

9) we have been so lucky to live in some amazing places. I was privileged to grow up in such a nice place as Greenwich, CT. Ben moved around a lot but as a teen he got the land he (truly) needs in NH. I got 8 whole years in Boston before moving to New Orleans. and i'm grateful for what each city has offered me.

Ben, Boston, November 2009 

New Orleans, November 2010

What makes you happy? What are you grateful for today?

hot hot heat

Living in New Orleans, you learn a thing or two about heat. There's just no other way to put it, it is hot down here.

after my first ever full class (at Audubon park) my friend Sora on the left and me (drinking water) on the right

I  recently had the incredible opportunity to take a trip back up North where they suddenly had a heat wave that coincided with our arrival (and we've heard that Nola cooled off with daily thunderstorms). We got to spend an entire day in Boston with my friends having breakfast at Zaftigs, strolling around Newbury Street, and just spending time together out in my former city. (We also ate Naked Pizza, which I think is hilarious because it's a New Orleans company). Anyway, the weather that day said that Boston got up to 103F. Only last year I would have been melting right on the pavement, just like my friends were. But, 103F in Boston does not feel that hot to me anymore, although it is a tad warm :p. Before you think I'm crazy, consider that in New Orleans we live in the mid to high 90's for a majority of the year but we also live in humidity that matches the tropics. The other day the temperature was 92F but the heat index was at 115F which means that the temperature plus the humidity made it so that we were living in 115F weather! Heat + Humidity = swamp like warmth, we're talking about just constantly being sweaty like you're living in a sauna.

Since moving to the south and becoming a yoga teacher I've had to consider the heat quite a bit. I've asked my fiance to teach me about why and how we sweat and cool ourselves (being in his second year in medical school I pretend he knows everything a seasoned doctor would know). I've had students tell me they want to sweat out toxins in class, I've had students tell me it's just too hot to move, I've had times when we left the air conditioner on high throughout the entire class so that they were only heated from the inside using movement and ujjayi breath.

In my own practice I know I'm going to sweat. I bring a bandanna to class to wipe my own sweat when I'm teaching- and that's just walking around the room talking and adjusting people! The humidity down here immediately covers me and in classes where the windows and doors are open I sometimes leave a puddle on my mat. But, I have to say that I'm not one who would take a class (although I have) in an intentionally heated room (i'm talking Bikram and hot classes) because that's just not for me.

I recently came across this article on elephantjournal called "Are supporters of excess heat & sweat in yoga class just full of hot air?" by Dan Pitko that I really liked. He has done some research and makes everything clear and to the point. He makes the argument that yogis need to exercise caution when practicing in a hot room that is also humid.

I'd love to know what you think about heated yoga. Do you need a heated room to feel warmed up enough to stretch? Do you believe that the warmth of your movements and breath is enough? Have you ever felt woozy in a heated yoga class (I have!). Leave me a comment!

(Also, no matter what type of yoga you're practicing and where please make sure that you are staying hydrated and always do what is right for you (ie take breaks when needed and lower your head to the ground to cool off)

#winning

I've had some good fortune on the interwebz lately. For the past few months I've been keeping my eyes open on twitter and facebook while playing around and entered into a few contests. 

For instance, all I had to do was retweet a blogger's tweet and I won this beautiful rose necklace from Odelma (on Etsy).
Then, I commented on SlowSouthernStyle's blog and won a Emma Graham skirt!
Then, and I can't even remember how, I won a book called Writing Yoga from YogaDork.

Last weekend we were able to go to the International Piano Competition Finals because I won tickets on twitter from 89.9 WWNO, which I saw on twitter! We were soo lucky!! Also, in case you ask, Ben made us leave right before they announced the winner...so we could think of them all as winners- they were Incredible!

Then I saw a post on Yogitoes' facebook asking us to post a photo of our vacation or staycation with our Yogitoes skidless towel and they would choose 5 winners. There were beautiful scenes with gorgeous asanas but I thought I had something special. So, I posted this photo of Benjamin in vrksasana (tree pose) near this amazingly beautiful old New Orleans tree:

i can't find the original! so i had to nab this from facebook...

this is my yogitoes skidless towel that i use over my mat when i'm sweaty (ie all the time)

And I won!! Probably due to my great model. For a while the five photos that won were on the front page of the Yogitoes website. 

As a winner, yogitoes told us they were sending a special little something along and I recently received this package in the mail:

Yay! How fun! 

Those are four bright and summery Yogitoes hBANDS which are headbands, wristbands, eye covers in savasana...or if you're my fiance they're awesome things to wear on your thighs while you run around the house. We may have also wrapped them around our heads like gauze :) hehe  What a great present!

But, it gets even better. Two of my most favorite things in the world are yoga and chocolate. And Yogitoes gets this... I also won my choice of whatever flavor fearless chocolate bar I wanted!!

I chose Exploding Coconuts, which is a bar of "rich raw coconut flakes detonate in palm sweetened (low glycemic!) cacao bliss...70% cacao." The ingredients are only organic raw cacao, organic coconut palm sugar, organic raw shredded coconut. 

Awesome right! Ah, but there's more!! Fearless Chocolate also sent along a one month subscription to their chocolate-of-the-month club, which they call Eat Mail. You pay your subscription dues and then each month they send along whatever they think of making!! I received two whatta-a-melon seedy bars.

front and back

If you haven't tried Fearless before go check them out. It's a really great company. Their icon is a toy elephant, my favorite animal! The chocolate is 100% Kosher, Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Soy Free, and they don't overcook the chocolate so it's technically RAW meaning there's so many more antioxidants than regular ol' chocolate bars from the corner store. One day I will be wealthy enough to be in the Eat Mail chocolate club. Until then, thank you so much to Yogitoes and Fearless for the great prizes! 

Next time you see a contest and think "aw i'll never win," give it a try! You never know what could happen :) 

beach daydreams

It's Wednesday and halfway through the work week for some people. I remember my short stint in an office setting (after counseling and before yoga teaching) where I didn't see the sun from 8am to 5pm and my butt didn't leave the chair too often. When you're sitting in an office all day it can be rough- I know I just could not ever do it again- and a lot of people put up photos on their computer backgrounds of the beach or daydream of beach weekends. While it's getting hot down here and a beach day would be a scorcher, it's still perfect beach weather up North. So I thought I'd post some photos of our beach trips from two weeks ago! :-D

Starting with some from the Cape

Tobey's Island, Cape Cod 

 

 

 

Ben brought me on a little row in fatty knees 

not either of Grampy's boats...just one I liked

This sums it up, I lie on the dock while Ben jumps in and out of the water and climbs on things

Now we're up in Mass at Nantasket Beach in Hull. The water was perfect.

beach houses

soft sand

foot tan from my Toms

the water is so clear!

I guess I didn't take any photos of Pirates Cove in NH. Also a lovely beach. I was probably too immersed in talking with Ben's mom and watching him out in the ocean spearing things while jumping off rocks. Our beachy vacations were wonderful!

I hope wherever you are you are enjoying your Wednesday and get to enjoy a beach day at some point this summer!

a timely gift

When you invite negativity in, it brings all its nasty friends.

Ever have one of those days? Well, I feel like I'm having one of those weeks...or more.

When I told my mom I was going up North to Boston and to visit Ben's half of the family, she said that it'll be so nice but definitely hard to leave and come back to Nola. I told her, no way. I completely thought I would be fine just having a short visit and then returning back here. I am liking New Orleans and doing fine.
But then I came back. It's too hot to be outside and I immediately missed the fresh air and nature. I miss our family. I miss my friends. I love being back in our own home and I definitely missed my bed. But I remembered how nice it was to be back where our "home" was for a while with the people we love. Mom was right.
Then, this week, I thought that I finally found a place that I liked and we could afford for the wedding. It's been 4 months of hell and a lot of tears over trying to find a place that's convenient for everyone but us, affordable so everyone can come, etc. Well, looks like that's not going to work, and on top of it I'm arguing with my Grandma. Who argues with their Grandmother for heavens sakes? My skin is literally boiling into what looks like bubbles all over my torso. Gross!!! AND that's frustrating because I don't have health insurance- which is why my wrist is just wrapped up and i'm guessing it's carpal tunnel. Then, I looked over the old doctor bills that I can't pay and that have gone to collections and got even angrier. I'm now ruining my credit and in debt. Ahh, what a crazy downward spiral this week has taken!

So, yesterday I ran errands. I cleaned the house, I filled the fridge, I made the bed, I did the dishes and the laundry, I wrote, I had a lovely jivamukti practice (but had to sit out a lot of it in leu of the wrist). But, I felt sick and negative still.
So I baked. I baked scrumptious 7 layer bars and got in bed early. Then in the middle of the night I awoke to noise in the kitchen- it was a rodent eating the 7 layer bars!! Ben had told me he'd put them away safely. So, those were ruined.

I woke up this morning in a funk. Still feeling sick, I skipped breakfast. I cancelled my yoga practice since I think what may be carpal tunnel has set in for a while. And I went to the post office where I knew a package was waiting.

Here's what was in it:

pretty exciting- it's a huge box!

this is 10 pairs of shorts and one denim skirt!!

3 pretty shirts and a lululemon power y

a pink lulu bra, 2 pairs of brand new leggings, one lulu groove pant, and hard tail yoga pants!

skirts, tops, etc!

wow, the loot

Yup, all of those free clothes!

I was talking to my sister a little while ago and mentioned I don't have any shorts- i'm always in yoga clothes. She said she was going to give some away...and she sent these all to me! Besides those two leggings and a few tops (which my Grams bought me) the rest are my sister's "old" clothes that she is giving me. Crazy! This is probably almost as big as all of the clothes I own (at least my summer clothes collection).

So, this wonderful gift came at a good time. And I realized that getting out of your tiny little world and focusing on helping someone else is an amazing way to jolt yourself out of the negativity spiral. So, I'm off to figure out how to do that today (as my Grandpa says, how to make the world a better place today).

Crescent City Food Porn

By now you know that the Nola farmer's market is the place to be. 

There's the Tuesday market at Broadway (I heard the St. James Cheese Company sells some meals there!!), the Thursday market in MidCity on the Bayou (sometimes I can get chocolate mousse and chocolate caramel shortbread there), and then the popular Saturday market downtown at Mag and Girod. When we're free we make it to all three of the markets each week. Most of the time it's only the Saturday one. It's important because the produce is way more fresh (and therefore alive/good for you), it supports our local economy, and it's fun. If you haven't been before, go on a Saturday and ask the peach guy to let you try one- it will blow your mind and change your food buying experience forever.

Here's some snapshots (nothin' fancy) of what we picked up this morning at the Saturday market. 

fresh pears (something new for us)

i got two of these everything bagels!! and super good-looking okra

you can see Creole tomatoes, fresh corn, butternut squash, an everything bagel, and okra

Ben can't live without farmer's-market feta. i like the other cheeses better.

baby potatoes and beans mmmmm

ice coffee in a to-go reusable nola style cup

9 peaches, a huge zucchini, creole tomatoes, mushrooms, baby potatoes, beans, corn, kalamata olive bread, green peppers, butternut squash, feta, okra, coffee....

those are some super good peaches

new corn guy cuts the end off so there's no bugs...i can live with that. look how nicely those shrooms are wrapped up! 

cute little green peppers and a fresh kalamata olive bread

What's missing from these photos are the two tamales I ate in the car (one bean and one cheese) ahh they are so good early in the morning. We go through at least 24 eggs a week but they were all sold out by 9am (it opened at 8) so we'll have to do with store bought this week. Also, all of Ben's meats and fishes which he hides away from me when we get home are not in the photos- i think he got beef and fish, but he usually also gets whole chickens. We've been getting fresh beans from the bean guy (love his accent) and next week he promised me fresh red kidney beans!

Our strategy is to each take $20 and split up, buying whatever catches our eye and then meeting back together. I never spend my full $20....but I might have today. Ben is a serious shopper while I chat with everyone we run into, sample the pesto, and buy croissants :)

Here's a link to the CC farmer's market page that shows you what's fresh when. They also have recipes, directions, etc. http://www.crescentcityfarmersmarket.org/index.php?page=what-s-fresh

See you there! 

Affordable Yoga and even...Free Yoga!

We've all been there- you know that a daily yoga asana practice is essential to your physical and mental health. You've been upping the number of home practice days since your budget is tight but you're craving the community, the vibration of 20 other people ommmming with you, the teacher's adjustments, the way you can just let go and not think, the props, the music... you need a yoga class in your community that you can afford right now.

New Orleans has some of the most affordable yoga classes I've ever seen! The most affordable being at Life Yoga which offers $9 dropins, $6 student dropins, and even better packages. That's where you can find yours truly teaching :) However, the most expensive class you take in New Orleans will still only be under $20!! And these are really good classes with amazing teachers. I know, gotta love it. 

Sometimes you find that you're eating ramen noodles ("at 4:30 in the morning, when we barely could survive, I was never more alive"...had to put that song quote in there, hehe) every night that week and can't scrape together $15 for a yoga class. So, I'm putting together a little list of the FREE and cheapest classes you can take in the city. Because yoga studios feel that it is only yogic :) to offer some sort of affordable class for the community you'll find one at almost every studio. I love this logic- it's in the mental health counselors' code that we have to offer some sort of free/discounted/affordable service and I love that yoga studios do it too. 

Here's what I've come up with (in no particular order). Please comment and add anything that I'm missing. Nola has 22 studios, apparently, so I haven't mentioned even half of them!

Life Yoga (5422 Magazine St, Uptown)

$6 student drop in. $9 drop in (all others).

$5 community classes Saturday 9:30, Saturday 4pm, Sunday 4pm

Balance Yoga and Wellness (120 S. Cortez St, Midcity)

$15 drop in

Free community class Sunday 10:00-11:30am and Tuesday 7:15-8:45pm

Freret St Yoga (4608 Freret St, Uptown)

$15 drop in

Free community class Mondays 7:45-9:00pm

Wild Lotus Yoga (uptown and downtown locations- see website)

$15 drop in

Free (by donation) community class Wednesday 7:45-9:15pm

Also various $7 community classes- uptown has 3 a week. 

lululemon athletica showroom (802 Nashville Ave, Uptown)

A clothing store that has complimentary classes every week. Each month they showcase a different studio  and free classes are on the weekends. The website currently talks about last week's free class in the park with their own staff and shanti teacher Lindsay so you may have to call and ask an educator. 

I'm sure there are more free classes to find around our city- these are just the places I've been to. Here are a few more studios offering very affordable classes. Also, please note I live in the GD so I mostly looked uptown. Would love to know about other studios in the Marigny, Downtown, Met'ry, etc...

Yoga 108 (Bikram studio, 8229 Oak St, Uptown)

$18 drop in

Couldn't find any community classes here. All are Bikram and one is Silent Bikram. I have never practiced at this studio since I'm no the biggest Bikram fan but you could call and see if your first class is complimentary. 

Audubon Yoga (Iyengar studio uptown)

$15 drop in

No community/discounted classes but there is a by donation meditation 'class' Friday mornings 9-10:00am.

Shanti Yoga Shala (3582 Magazine St, lower Garden District)

$14 drop in

No discounted or community classes but recently did a $20 for 20 class livingsocial.

Swan River (multiple locations)

$14 drop in

I had trouble locating a community class at the various swan river locations but you could call and ask. The first class here is free. I really like these studios and would totally Love a community class.

Yoga Bywater (900 Louisa St, Bywater)

$12 hour, $15 90 minutes drop in

Sivananda classes are on a sliding scale from $5 to $13 and all other classes are as stated above. No community classes and I've never been here so I can't vouch for it.

The Yoga Room (Ashtanga Studio, 4905 Freret St)

$10 drop in (great!)

All Mysore Ashtanga classes, one led class and one intro class each week. No community or discounted classes.