new playlist

• Bon Iver: Blindsided
• Lykke Li: I Know Places
• Bon Iver: Flume
• Beach House: Zebra
• Beach House: Silver Soul
• Lykke Li: I Follow Rivers
• Beach House: Lover Of Mine
• Beach House: Walk In The Park
• Lykke Li: Unrequited Love
• Beach House: 10 Mile Stereo
• Anya Marina: Satellite Heart
• Lykke Li: Possibility
• Bon Iver & St. Vincent: Roslyn

sciatica

Back when I used to work full-time in an office, I struggled almost every day with sciatica. I didn't know what it was, and I could never pinpoint the pain to tell anyone its origin. Not only did I sit behind a desk for 40 hours a week, but I also had great friends who lived 5 hours away who I would drive to see on weekends as often as once a month. All that sitting was terrible for me. I would constantly try to shift around to make myself comfortable, but I was never successful. All I could tell people was that I had a shooting pain that went all the way down the back of my left leg. Sounds like a classical case of sciatica to me, and looking back I wonder why nobody suggested that could be my issue? But alas, I eventually found out what it was and learned new ways to deal with it. The nerve stayed irritated the whole time I worked in that office, but once I moved to Portland and started teaching yoga more regularly, the pain subsided. It still flares up occasionally, but for the most part I have it under control. Over the weekend, I went to Seattle and spent a total of 8 or so hours in the car. When I woke up yesterday morning I could barely get out of bed, and I had to teach at 8:30am. Ouch. I could not even touch my toes. After I taught I decided to go for a walk through downtown before teaching again at 5:30. By the time my evening class rolled around I was feeling much better, and today I'm back to normal. Even though I hate a sciatic-attack, I have to admit that it can sometimes be a good reminder to be grateful that my body is generally quite healthy and allows me to bend and move the way I do. There are plenty of poses that are suggested for easing sciatica (downward facing dog, tree, staff pose, marichi's pose, etc.), but I have to say the one that felt best to me yesterday was reclining pigeon with the ouchy leg on top. It's the only pose I did all day that I felt took the pressure off the nerve and allowed me to be without pain. I know I'm not the only one who deals with sciatica, so if you have a go-to pose to ease your sciatic pain, post it on here! You never know- someone else who may not have otherwise tried it might be very grateful that you did.

reclining pigeon

 

 

wild geese

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

--Mary Oliver

playlist & schedule

Hi y'all! Here's my newest playlist and my class schedule for next week.

• The Album Leaf- (title unknown)
• The xx- Stars
• Pearl Jam- Just Breathe
• The xx- VCR
• The xx- Shelter
• The xx- Heart Skipped a Beat
• Marie Digby- Umbrella (Single Version)
• The xx- Crystalised
• The xx- Intro
• The xx- Basic Space
• Iron & Wine- Jezebel
• The xx- Infinity
• Twinkle Twinkle Little Rock Star- My Love
• The Album Leaf- (title unknown)
• Thomas Newman- Any Other Name

Class Schedule for March 28-April 1

• Tuesday- Tualatin 24 8:30am / Adidas 5:30pm
• Wednesday- Clackamas 24 11:00am / McLoughlin 24 7:00pm
• Thursday- Tualatin 24 8:30am / Adidas 5:30pm / Pearl 24 7:30pm
• Saturday- Hollywood 24 7:00am

yoga mats

I came to the realization two days ago (while washing my hair, how random!) that I have never purchased a yoga mat. Each of my mats have a story of their own and now I'm going to share those stories with you.

• My purple mat. It was given to me on my seventeenth birthday by a friend. When I first began practicing, I was sixteen and this friend and I would get together after school and on the weekends to practice in her bedroom or my parents' living room. I still remember her walking up the sidewalk with that mat in her arms. I was so excited. I felt like such an official yogi! I still have that mat and it has seen me through many, many classes. It currently lives at YoYoYogi and I use it when I practice there.
• My green mat. I got this at my first teacher training, six years after my first mat was given to me. I left it in the plastic for that whole weekend because I didn't want to "cheat" on my purple mat. I have since unwrapped it currently serves as my teaching mat.
• My olive Jade mat. Gifted to me by my best friend, Cristena. Christmas 2008. I have loved this mat ever so much. Because of the natural rubber and my leaving it in the car all the time (it was my teaching mat for a long time), it has lost a lot of its grip and I have now appointed it my at home practice mat.
• My orange Jade mat. My sweet friend and fellow yoga teacher Dana gave me this one for Christmas this past year. I thought I lost my beloved olive mat, but lucky me, I found it! Now I have two Jade mats and this one is much better taken care of (ie: I do not leave it in the car, nor do I expose it to direct sunlight). I have used this one for practicing at home, practicing at YoYo, and teaching. 

And then there was another purple mat, identical to Purple Mat A, that belonged to the friend who gave me Purple Mat A. Her interest in yoga quickly fizzled and she rolled up her mat and stuck a hair tie around it. It was like that for years. By the time I got the mat, the divot from the hair tie was so deep and the mat was a little crumbly. I tried to breathe some love back into it and revive it, but it just wasn't coming back. RIP Purple Mat B.

And another mat, the red one.  This one came into my life sometime circa 2004. I was so in love with yoga and wanted to share it with everyone I knew. I practiced in my living room regularly and coerced my boyfriend's neighbor into buying a mat one night while we were shopping at Target. I think she practiced with me once, but we soon lost touch and she had left Red Mat at my apartment. I always got weird energy from that mat and I very rarely used it. Quite honestly, I really just don't enjoy the color red. I gave that one to my mom when it became clear that I wasn't going to see Red Mat's original owner again. Red Mat lived in the trunk of my mom's car for a really long time, and she now uses it for the Monday night restorative class she takes from my friend and fellow teacher, Dana. Long live Red Mat.

I used to have attachment issues with my mats. I would only use my purple mat for the longest time, even though I had others. Once I got my olive Jade mat I was a bit more able to let go of the attachment I felt to Purple Mat A. These days, I will use any mat for any practice any place, and sometimes I don't even use a mat at all!

And there's the story of my yoga mats. I hope you enjoyed!

only dead fish swim with the stream

Life is difficult. If it was all fluffy and easy, we wouldn't be tested, tried, forged in the fire of life. We wouldn't grow or learn or change, or have a chance to rise above ourselves. If life were a series of lovely days, we'd soon get bored. If there were no rain, then there wouldn't be any feeling of great joy when it finally stopped and we could go to the beach. If it were all easy, we couldn't get stronger.

So, be thankful it is a struggle some of the time, and recognize that only dead fish swim with the stream. For the rest of us, there will be times when it's an uphill, upstream struggle. We will have to battle waterfalls, dams, and raging torrents. But we have no choice. We have to keep swimming to get swept away. And each flick of our tail, each surge of our fins makes us stronger and fitter, leaner and happier.

From "The Rules of Life" by Richard Templar

this week's schedule

March 14 through March 19


Monday
Clackamas 24 @ 11:00am
McLoughlin 24 @ 7:00pm

Tuesday
Tualatin 24 @ 8:30am
Adidas @ 5:30pm

Wednesday
Murray Scholls 24 @ 5:45am
Clackamas 24 @ 11:00am
McLoughlin 24 @ 7:00pm


Thursday
Tualatin 24 @ 8:30am
Adidas @ 5:30pm
Pearl 24 @ 7:30pm

Friday
Murray Scholls 24 @ 5:45am

Saturday
Hollywood 24 @ 7:00am