Archive for ‘yoga’

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February 28, 2010

Perspective

One day last week I walked into a Vinyasa yoga class and had my world rocked. It was a class that I had heard about for a couple of years now from my hair stylist. She would say "if you EVER get a chance to go to Mark's Wednesday night class, you HAVE to go." It is a little longer than most of the classes – 105 minutes as opposed to 90. 90 minutes somehow doesn't seem so long, even though…it is. But 105 minutes? That is an hour and 45 minutes. Almost 2 whole hours.

But I was ready, so I went.

Here is what rocked my world the second I walked through the door:

All of the yoga mats were turned the other direction.

As in, the mats were not vertically aligned so that you would face the mirror, but were instead lined up horizontal to the mirror, so that we faced the Buddah wall.

Oh. My. God. 

I really don't know why this made such a big difference for me in this class, but it really did. It was not the extra 15 minutes. It was the change in perspective. A simple little thing. Completely changed my view and my practice on that day.

Today, I rocked my husband's and my kids' world. I rearranged all the stuff on my kitchen counters while I was cleaning up this afternoon. I switched the microwave with the toaster and bread basket. I moved the fruit bowl around (to my clutter catching spot- I am hoping to prevent the clutter from accumulating there from now on).

Lily and Ava squealed. Ben came in and switched the paper towel holder with the soap dish and said "Haha!" Jeff shook his head to clear out the cobwebs.

Funny how satisfying a little change in perspective can be.

Posted in Ava, Ben, Home life, Lily, yoga | 1 Comment »

February 28, 2010

A weekend at the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel

Yoga ritz carlton Top photo by Carla Duharte-Razura, babyjidesign. All others by Linsey Krolik.

My recent travel buddies (Jill and Beth, two of my partners from SV Moms Group, and our photographer and friend Carla), and I jetted to Orange Country in Southern California last weekend to host an event with SV Moms Group, BitDefender and 20 or so other sponsors at the fabulous Ritz Carlton, Laguna Niguel. Really, fabulous is a bit of an understatement.

The place is gorgeous — the beach, the surfers, the lavender flowers EVERYWHERE (I think they actually pump a nice, clean floral scent throughout the whole hotel). The ceilings filled with intricate silver flowery lights. The rustic, beachy touches, like the log slab of a coffee table by the fireplace in the cafe. The beds – super comfy. The food – perfect. And the service, impeccable. If you ever get a chance to go to this place, even just for lunch at Restaurant 162 or to The Bar or to a wine, cheese and chocolate tasting at ENO, GO!

On Saturday evening, we curled up by the fire at The Bar, along with Ciaran, and talked for, wow, I guess it was hours? It was one of those times that even though we were all so tired, we couldn’t seem to wrap it up. Ciaran was telling us about her experiences at the Mom 2.0 summit conference and we just kept saying to each other “Ok, we should really go to bed….but what did you think about that?” Champagne and yummy crume brule helped too.

Even though I could have slept in a bit, being on a weekend without the kids, I got up early on Sunday morning and went for a walk on the beach. I breathed in the ocean air and sky. It was nice to be alone for a bit. At 9am, I met up with Jill and Carla and we headed to a yoga class on the cliff above the beach. Um, wow. Amazing to do yoga outside with such a great view. I really must find a way to do that more often!

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The event went beautifully – the staff were so attentive to our needs and everything was just…easy. The next morning, it was all we could do to leave. We all REALLY wanted to stay another day! I would love to return someday soon with my family — I hear they have a spa and a great kids club in the summer….

Disclosure: The hotel did not pay for my stay and I was not obligated to write a post about the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel, but they were a sponsor and partner of the SV Moms Group event that we held there for the LA Moms Blog and Orange Country Moms Blog bloggers. I am a partner at SV Moms Group.

Posted in Getaway, SV Moms, The Great Outdoors, yoga | 1 Comment »

February 16, 2010

Channeling Cirque du Soleil OVO — Daily Yoga

My sister, Robin, has been doing daily yoga for the last 45 days or so. Every few days she would call me, blissed out and reporting her new inch of stretch she can get in Eagle or some other such pose. I would retort “I am officially letting myself go.” It actually made me a little bit mad to hear how well she was doing. Jealous much? Me? Well, twin sisters can motivate each other in a great way, but it can also be quite a lot of pressure to keep up. Yes, I know when I am doing the wrong thing. And sometimes that makes me want to do the wrong thing even more. I would snap “I don’t have TIME to do that. Must be nice!” Until…I wanted to do the right thing. Maybe saying those nasty words out loud struck something. Maybe it was my parents leaving for their year long RV trip (miss you!) that jogged something in me to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT ALREADY. After all, no matter what, you have to make your own time.

I gave into inspiration a couple of weeks ago and started going to yoga again. As in DAILY YOGA. Sometimes a live class, sometimes at yogatoday.com, sometimes in my bedroom for15 minutes of sun salutations. I just have to fit it in when I can. But I am making it a priority. It began with a Bikrum class, which I haven’t been to in about 7 years – it was my post chemo and radiation recovery, I have to say. And it was strange doing Bikrum with hair…last time I stared at my third eye for 90 minutes in a Bikrum class, I was still fairly bald. It was great for lung expansion and healing. It was a HOT class. Well, it is supposed to be hot, but still. I am not used to that heat anymore, that’s for sure.

During the first couple of days, coincidentally, I went to see OVO by Cirque du Soleil in San Jose with a bunch of my fellow bloggers from Silicon Valley Moms Blog. Watching them and feeling my sore muscles from yoga felt great. It was a good connection. Nice to feel my body again and to feel like I am doing something good for myself.

OVO

The OVO show was amazing (you can watch the trailer here). I am a big Cirque du Soleil fan (I have seen O and Mystere in Vegas and a few shows here in San Jose) and they never disappoint. My favorites from this show were the gorgeous butterfly coming out of her cocoon, the feet juggling with kiwi fruit, the giant slinky bug (so cool! I have never seen anything like it), and the fun trampoline wall. The next morning, we watched some YouTube with the kids – it was especially fun to see some of the behind the scenes documentary-like videos of the performers practicing without their costumes on. There is something about seeing them in their street clothes that makes them human. Even though they are doing super-human feats.

This last Saturday I went to a Power Flow class at Yoga Source in Los Gatos. I am seeing some different in my strength in just a week or so. The daily routine is having some good effects. I am also…happier. Less stressed. I know, it is not rocket science that I would feel happier and less stressed after doing yoga. But it is markedly different. During this particular class, my friend Akemi and I swore that there was a Cirque du Soleil performer in the studio with us. She did a version of Crow that included some sort of whizzing sound and a dismount. Of course, we couldn’t see exactly what she was doing, as we were focusing and breathing and sweating through our own versions of Crow… Inspiration continues to abound.

Today, I won’t be getting to a live yoga class. But I will do Yoga Today… and every day.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I was not paid for this post, although I did receive two free tickets to the show OVO from Cirque du Soleil as part of a local bloggers night and Silicon Valley Moms Blog gathering (I am a partner at SV Moms Group). I was not obligated to post about my experience, but I loved the show and wanted to share!

Posted in Around town, Events, It's all about ME, My Twin Sis, Works of art, yoga | 1 Comment »

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