starting over – HOORAY!

so my new yoga client and i were talking about ways for me to introduce her to what i call “the finer side” of yoga. and we decided to start with the yamas. we’re gonna take one a week and be mindful of practicing it for the week and talk on our friday lesson about what we’ve discovered. i try to be mindful of the yamas and niyamas all the time but actually having weekly discussions and teaching her about them to is like starting over and learning them all over again. and it’s so awesome to freshen up and renew that passion for my non-physical practice. and in re-reading judith lasater’s “living yoga: translating patanjali’s yoga sutras into everyday life” in “the joy of yoga” i got a nice little kick in the ass when i came across this in reading about ahimsa (our focus this week):

“to practice ahimsa is to be constantly vigilant, to observe ourselves in interaction with others, our thoughts about those interactions and the intention behind our words. try practicing ahimsa by observing your thoughts when a smoker sits next to you. your thoughts may be just as damaging to you as his cigarette is to him.”

wow. point taken.

(i am really proud of my bf. he’s been holding strong and using the gum to keep him from smoking. he even made it through an entire night of our friends’ wedding (which by the way was great! the venue was having 2 events that night but it was well arranged and all was well) -plenty of drink and plenty of temptation- without smoking a single cigarette! still walking the line between being supportive and not nagging or judging. but i know we can do this!)

saving the day

tonight i was watching tv – well, ok, i was hanging up clothes and the tv was on so i could hear the weather forecast and fight off that creepy feeling i get when the bf is at work & i’m home alone at night – anyway, i hear this ad for the local symphony’s concert this friday night and the “after-party” they are having AT THE SAME VENUE ON THE SAME NIGHT AT THE SAME TIME that my friends are having their wedding!!!
so of course, i call my friends – the male 1/2 answers and in his totally un-alarmist nature says “oh yeah, my mom called and mentioned something about that today”. so in my calmest voice i suggest, strongly suggest, he check into that ASAP. but i get off the phone with him and am still not satisfied i’ve sufficiently saved the day so i get online and check it out. and there too the website indicates that the venue is double booked for friday night. AAACCCKK! so i send out an email to the symphony folks to bring it to their attention just in case my guy friend really IS dense enough to go “oh, i bet the ad’s just wrong”.
and i realize i’ve done more than my share.
and i should leave well enough alone – but it’s eating me up inside because i want to KNOW! and i want to make it right if it’s wrong! i want to save the day!
but i must surrender and let the chips fall from here – crossing fingers it’s not as much of a (excuse my potty mouth) clusterfuck as it appears!

on another note – i had a super strong practice today. felt good (except i had to be cautious about my low back a bit) and did lots of cool inversions i hadn’t gotten around to in a while! nothing beats standing on the ceiling

ah, so i finally have time to blog and my mind is blank.
guess i’ll start with the fact that things seem to be better with the bf – he’s back to trying to quit smoking and doing quite well. we’ve had some pretty serious conversations about “us” lately – marriage, babies, “the future” and the fact that if any of those things are gonna happen i need his catholic mother to know ahead of time that i’m not down with the catholic faith and those imaginary babies won’t be either. all of that is brought on by the christening we attended for the bf’s nephew this weekend. it just got under my skin to sit there and hear that priest hold that precious, beautiful child and say over and over again how he was “unclean with original sin”. i’m sorry but i think that baby (all babies) are perfect – no sin – clean slate. hell, i do my yoga practice just to be like that sweet being!
ANYWAY….
the conversation about babies was good because he knows i want them someday but he has apparently been freaking out that i want them much sooner than he would be ready for. and yes, it’s hard when my friends are getting married and having babies (or at least planning for it) and i feel that anxious little thing creep up in my belly. i kind of wish it didn’t because i’m not ready yet either. so, i’m thinking of it more as an awakening… a “head’s up” so i can at least think about it… and we can talk about it. and maybe in a few years i’ll be ready and he won’t be so freaked out.
my guy friend claims that no man think’s he’s ever really ready and that they think of it as the ultimate gift they give to the woman they love…. until they are a part of the miracle of birth and then it all comes home when they see the face of their own child. i don’t know if that’s true but it was interesting to consider.

teaching is going well. got a new client amazingly enough! she inquired about lessons via email and i wrote back saying my schedule was super full but i could offer her these two days at these two times (thinking the chances were slim she’d be available for them) and she said “great, i’ll take them!” so i’ve added her on twice a week. very nice woman – very high powered – and extremely rich (like the kind that allows her to have an outwardly beautiful and immaculate life and makes me a little nervous if i have a hair out of place). haven’t quite felt her out just yet… we’re still getting aquainted but i think she’s a good person and means well. she confuses me though because one of the things she stressed in our first lesson was how she really needed to get away from the physical (she has a personal trainer for that) and delve into the more meditative and spiritual side yet she’s said several times since then that i can “push her more” and she seems to be really attracted to the fancier postures… hum?….. one good thing is that she is really eager for me to help her learn the sanskrit names and so i’m having to freshen up on those!