The actual content count of my bags...

Contents of my purse.

Contents of purse:
Phone, mints, keys, sharpie, 2 nail files, lip gloss, lipstick, sunblock, chapstick, another lip balm, neti stick, ibuprofen, another lip balm, bee sting kit, 2 prescriptions, sudefed, tampon, feminine pads (2), antacid, gum, purse hanger, mirror, measuring tape, 3 hair ties, week of receipts, wallet, extra credit cards, business card holder, Art of Sea Glass business cards, new credit card and paperwork to call it in, kleenex, eye glass case, change 1.87, 2 band aids, journal.

The total count on items in my purse was about 43 things. I didn't count each credit card or the complete contents of my wallet. Ok, really this isn't too bad. This all actually stuff I use. I just recently bought a new purse and had reorganized it. Ok so I got rid of the receipts and a couple of the chapstick things when I put it all back. But this challenge of getting things down to 100 personal items will have to include my purse as 1 item. Just saying...

Contents of my daily tote bag-yes it was scary!

Contents of my tote bag (I carry this to work with me and usually have it in my car at all times):
2 journals, book-A Year of Living Your Yoga, plastic Macy's bag with receipt in it, shoes, socks, umbrella, July and Aug receipts (91 receipts and 4 coupons-my husband made me count them), 2 expired 2 for 1 flight coupons, photo cd, 16 tampons, 12 feminine pads (what was I expecting? This was like a whole box of feminine protection LOL), gum, 2009 calendar (hmmmm-apparently I hadn't looked through the contents for awhile), 2010 calendar, 2 Bart cards, Weight Watchers folder, broken keychain with expired gym card, box of vitamins, new reading glasses that don't work, old reading glasses that don't work very well, kleenex, empty hard eyeglass holder, empty soft eye glass case, IPod, earphones, make-up pouch with toothbrush, mirror, floss, blush, 2 hair ties and emery board, extra medicine bag with allergy pills, 2 Benadryl creams (always expecting an allergic reaction to something!), nail file, antibiotic cream, Dramamine, Airborne, anti-gas pill, floss, 2 Band-Aids, pouch with business cards, giant stack of papers that included: yoga stuff, ideas, sketches, recipes, medical stuff to follow up on, 401k stuff to followup on, eye glass paperwork to get the correct reading glasses, current bills, Sea Glass festival coupons, Lab order for 2011, 2 paperclips, medical receipt, and the best thing I found was this ad (pictured below) about saying goodbye to the paper! LOL

The total count on the contents of my tote bag was at a whopping 233 things. My husband made me count all the pieces of paper and receipts I found. Ok so that was too many things. I obviously hadn't been through my bag in awhile. I did clean it out and got rid of stuff and filed what needed filing. But I didn't recount. Tote bag will have to count as 1 on my list of a 100 things. I am not getting rid of it. It's like my briefcase and survival bag. I need to add water!

This was a very interesting exercise. I plan on continuing on through my house and seeing what else I can eliminate. Not sure I will ever get down to 100 personal things but I know I can get down to 100 categories at least! It's quite an eye-opening exercise. Start with your purse or a junk drawer. Make sure you throw some stuff out!

100 Things

My boss and I went to coffee the other day and she told me about this movement she read about in the New York Times called the 100 things challenge, a grass roots kind of effort. Get your personal belongings down to 100 things. Now I would call my boss a minamalist already and even for her getting her personal belongings down to 100 things would probably be hard but if any one could do it she could. I'm continually stopping her from throwing things out at the office because yes we do need to keep those files for more than a month. My first thought to this movement is: Right! I probably have a hundred things in my purse and tote bag I carry around with me all the time, not to mention what I carry around in my car. We do live in earthquake country you know. You never know when you're going to have to be in survival mode. My purse might just save my life.

The contents of my purse and tote bag I carry with me daily. Yikes!

After pondering the concept for a couple of days it's actually very intriquing and maybe even alluring. Think about how you feel when you stay at a nice hotel. You have your essentials with you; clothes, makeup, phone, maybe a book or magazine. But you love the feeling of that clean crisp hotel room, you just want to stay there forever and go out to eat every night and explore the area you're in. You might not even have a car with you so you have to think of different ways of getting around. You don't have the burden of all this stuff to keep clean and buy and be responsible for.

This concept prompted me to make a list of 100 personal items that were essential to me. What happened when I started making the list was I started making new rules and categories of stuff on my list. My art stuff was a whole category, camera stuff, kitchen stuff was a category, medicine and first aid was a category, personal grooming, furtniture, photo albums, doll collection, my sea glass collection, my art on the wall, all my Giant's clothing counts as one thing, my books, my yoga props...sigh not an easy task.

We are very emotionally attached to our stuff. But what do we really need? As you get older you find you don't need as much. You realize you aren't going to live forever in this physical existence and you just don't need some of this stuff. You start downsizing. I keep finding things I'm just not that attached to anymore. As for those boxes of stuff in the garage that I may someday use in a new place; when I pull them down and look through them, it's either rotted or out of style or I think, "What the heck was I saving this for?"

This 100 thing challenge is an interesting exercise to look at things differently. A way to get that vacation kind of feeling all of the time. Maybe it's a way of pinpointing what your life purpose really is. What is most important in this second half of my life? How do I want to live it? What "things" do I really need to be happy? Do I need things to be happy? How much more money would I have if I lived in a much smaller place?

If we didn't have to house all our stuff, we might be able to spend our time and money on traveling or going to yoga retreats or eating out at nice places. This coming from a photographer, artist, memorablila keeper, antiques hunter and collector of many things. I hate getting rid of stuff. I still have my Barbie's and baby dolls hidden somewhere under the stairs. I still have that full set of 80's mauve and sea foam china we got as a wedding present...hmmmm I think my kids may need some new dishes and my granddaughter may need some new toys. I know I have to clean my purse out. It's a start.

What 100 personal things could you get your stuff down to? Up to the challenge?

Painting as meditation

There's something about painting colors on canvas and seeing what you can come up with that sooths my soul. Painting a fishy mural the other day with my daughter in law for the baby was at times soothing and silent and at times hilarious and joyful. We painted the grandbaby's feet purple and let her walk across the bottom of the canvas. I gave her a paintbrush and let her paint me, the canvas and herself. I stamped her little footprints on my painting pants. The sun never came out that day, but I enjoyed the muffled silence the misty fog coming down on my head surrounded me with. The giggle of my grandbaby as we tickled her tiny feet with the paintbrush. The satisfaction of creating.

Try painting your feet and walking across a canvas or piece of paper, the paint squishing between your toes. You will feel a childlike wonder.

Napping with my grandbaby

Fussy, fussy girl. No one could get her to take a nap. So I swooped her up and brought her into my room. We found a wonderful show on Nick Jr., Oobi. Puppets that are hands with eyes on them. So cute. She just cuddled in as I talked about the show and what she was seeing, no expectations. She kept looking at her hands and trying to figure out how she could make her hands talk. It was adorable. I rubbed her forhead and then she drifted off to sleep and we napped for about an hour. How delightful. Patience, calmness and a soothing voice. Sometimes you just need to kick back, take some time out to breathe and enjoy the wonder of something to relax, like trying to make your hands talk.

We can learn so much by just observing how babies live their lives...

Yoga on the Beach

My yoga teacher celebrated her birthday by having our yoga class on the beach. What a great experience. There's something about doing yoga in the sand with the sound of the ocean crashing down that is quite energizing. I did a headstand-Salamba Sirsasana and we all did half a handstand- Ardha Adho Mukha Vrksasana with a partner's help. I went beyond my comfort zone and it was exhilarating. I love going upside down!

We used the sand as our props. If we needed a bolster, we molded it out of sand. We did savasana in reclining bound angle post-Supta Baddha Konasana using the sand to lean against as we faced the ocean and felt the mist on our faces. Best savasana ever.

We also had a wonderful pot-luck brunch. Everyone brought something. It was all gluten free. Lot's of fruits and vegetables. I even had kelp chips and I loved them.

We meditated, chanted, sang and danced! I look forward to next year. Maybe we convince our teacher to this more than once a year...:)

Busy, busy, busy...

So much for posting daily. Like yoga, this too is a practice. I need to work it in to my day. I really enjoy writing but I put it on the back-burner this summer. It's been a busy one. A quick summary:

My son and his family moved in while they transition from military life back to civilian life. With a baby in the house, our lives have changed once again. We are no longer empty-nesters with extra bedrooms available for art rooms and such. It's ok my grandbaby makes up for all that! But it has changed our daily routine.

My birthday in June/Thousand Oaks/Castle Green-lots of family fun!

Our friends, Dave and Myrnie moved to Hong Kong :(

I tried a diet of Herbalife. While I was going to blog about my experience with this and my ultimate success, I ran into some snags. I may still do a post about it. I have some in my drafts that are actually quite humorous. Needless to say, I am not doing Herbalife anymore and I am back on my Weight Watchers diet. I have that final 10 pounds to lose and really thought that Herbalife would be my miracle diet. There is no such thing for WOMEN! My husband on the other hand lost almost 50 pounds in two months on the diet. I lost 3 pounds. What's up with that? Men. Geesh.

Fletcher ball workshop in July-great class. More on this later.

Went to my dad's 70th birthday. It was a great reunion of family and friends we hadn't seen in many years. I was able to sneak in a couple of yoga practices while I was there. I love that I can do yoga anywhere.

I have continued with my yoga practice, Pilate's classes and walking throughout the summer and have maintained my weight and sculpted my body into pretty good shape. My new size 8 clothing are getting too big!!!! Exercise has become a habit for me. Finally after 40 something years. Took me long enough.

Dancing

Dancing in the sun, strangers twirling next to me, swaying to the music. The sun beats down melting the rhythm into my soul. Freedom to move and be.

The Art of Yoga

Please check The Art of Yoga Project out. They are doing wonderful things for at-risk girls.

Discipline

I was watching the movie "Julie and Julia" the other night and Julie Powell's mother was questioning her on why she would undertake cooking all of Julia Child's recipes and blogging about it when no one was making her do it. Julie Powell said, "It's a discipline." While discussing it with her husband Powell said, "I'll cook my way through the Julia Child cook book and write a blog about it. I'll probably need a deadline otherwise it will be like everything else I do. Let's face it, I never finish anything."

I've been doing yoga and Pilates for a year this Sunday, May 9th and I feel like I've really accomplished something. I didn't have a deadline to meet, but I do need the discipline of going to something on a regular basis to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

What have I accomplished? I lost 23 pounds in the last year. I no longer bring frozen diet lunches to work. I have healthy leftovers from the night before. I started this blog. I'm in a size 8. I have muscle tone. I can actually see my abs. I wouldn't think twice about putting on a bathing suit in public. I learned to kayak. My knees no longer hurt. I feel good. I can do an hour Power Pilates class and then stay for the hour and half yoga class and live to tell about it. Downward Facing Dog is actually a resting pose for me now.

I made a commitment to myself to get healthy. Much in the same way that Julie Powell made a committment to write. In life you have to follow your muse. You have to follow that thing that is whispering in your ear, "this is a good idea." You might not know why at the time but you know you just have to do it. This is inspired action. The good thing about Pilates and yoga is you are never done. I don't have to "finish" anything. It's a part of my life now.

Rules

My son and his family will be moving in with us this summer as they transition from military life to civilian life. I personally can't wait to spend some time getting to know my granddaughter. But carving out room for three people to move in has not been an easy task. I'm glad I started early and have cut it into smaller pieces.

What I've discovered is we have too much stuff! This is a good time to downsize. Do we really need all those VHS tapes and electric bills from the early 80's? I found the manual for the first refrigerator we bought and the elusive instructions to the ice maker that never worked.

What I found hilarious was the manual for the refrigerator was in a file labeled, "Manuals, Rules and Warranties." My husband thought the "Rules" part was hilarious. It was written in my teenage handwriting when I started keeping my own files. There's a reason I'm in accounting! Some of the rules I found were for tennis, chess and some other board games. I was half expecting to see the rules for my life in there. He made me call my mom and ask her what the name of her file was for manuals and warranties. He figured they would be the same because we both get annoyed with those that don't follow the rules. I called her and she said it just said "Warranties." She threw the rules out long ago. I know what she means. I spent a lot of time in my early life trying to control everything and follow the rules, but find as I get older letting go of things makes life much easier.

When I go to yoga tonight I'm going to try and let go of not being able to do the poses perfectly and just let my body feel the benefits I do get from it. It's not always physical. Letting go of being perfect and not always following the rules lets you be yourself. It's called practing yoga for a reason. As in life, practicing anything prepares you for whatever is to come. Practicing yoga in all aspects of my life makes me whole. Thinning out our paperwork and belongings will allow more room for other things to happen in our space and life.

Namaste.

Success

Maybe it just comes with age and experience, but at some point you don't give a damn what anyone else thinks. If everyone would just be happy within themselves, there wouldn't be all the problems in the world. I just fear that we wait until we're much older to have this attitude.

I just recently wrote up my "success" story for the Studio 4 Pilates newsletter about losing 23 pounds after I joined as a member. One of my classmates thought of me and my success story when her friend wanted to start exercise but felt she couldn't do yoga because she was overweight. My yoga teacher asked what prompted me to finally start an intense exercise program? I said the bathroom scale, weight, sore knees, but the question kept mulling over in my head as I lay in savasana that night in yoga. It really was more than just losing weight because my knees hurt. It goes back to having major surgery a few years ago to have my thyroid removed and completely going through a metamorphosis. Maybe you'd call it a mid-life crisis. Whatever it was, I know myself deeper than I ever have before. Losing my thyroid helped me become comfortable with who I am, inside and out. A major change can make you take a totally different path. And you also have a choice in how you deal with that change; whether positively or negatively.

It took several years of exploration, but I'm at the right place now, physically, mentally, spiritually. My life feels balanced. So when my yoga teacher asked what prompted me to take on yoga and Pilates and lose weight, it was more than the scale and aching knees. It was the culmination of my lifetime of experience and dealing with a major crisis in my life to finally have everything make sense. Knowing that if I don't take this one little pill every day or I would be dead within 30 days really made me rethink everything. Don't wait until that moment when you can't turn back, take on life now. You never know what the next moment holds. The greatest adventure of your life happens now.

Frank Jude Boccio and Yoga Journal offers some ideas for a change-friendly inner life:

"Every morning, repeat a gatha (mindfulness verse): 'Great is the matter of birth and death; impermanence surrounds us. Be awake each moment; do not waste your life.' Life doesn't give you breathing room, but if you stop grasping for control of the uncontrollable, you can learn to breathe through it all."

Kayaking-Taking Things On

My husband looked out into the ocean with trepidation and turned to me and said, "You really want to do this?" He knows that I'm not a fan of being in the water and especially getting into the ocean and he is not a fan of exercise. Paddling really didn't seem that appealing to him. But my mind was set. I really wanted to get in a kayak and see things you can't see from the shore. I want to kayak to beaches you can't get to normally or float alongside the whales. Or take photos from a completely different perspective.

Finally past the repressed memories of my sister falling overboard from a raft when we were little. She almost drowned and my dad saved her. Throughout my childhood I thought it was me that it happened to. A traumatic event witnessed and repressed into my head. When I met my husband several decades ago, I told him I was afraid of the water because I fell out of a raft and almost drown. My family heard the story and said it wasn't you, it was your sister. I really had taken it on that it was me, although my mind knew it was my sister all along. It's taken me a couple of decades to get over that and through it. I actually swam in the Caribbean a couple of years ago and now I'm kayaking. What's next? Maybe I'll actually swim underwater again. :)

It was very empowering for me to know I had the strength and stamina to get in that kayak and paddle through waves and out into the bay exploring sea caves. I've never felt such adventure and excitement. It's about time!

Practicing yoga and Pilates on a regular basis and focusing on my health has opened new paths for me. To have my body strong and healthy has opened my mind to new possibilities. The spiritual side of yoga has helped me with visualizing those things I want to do and then taking that inspired action and doing them.

Know your truth

From Daily OM:
March 24, 2010
The Ultimate Authority
Using Our Own Minds
"Our own sense of the truth is the most important piece when taking in information from external sources."

I was watching American Idol the other night and one of the contestants, Crystal Bowersox, was receiving critisism from the judges. Some were saying she should not use her guitar, some were saying she should always use her guitar. The host asked her who she was going to listen to and she simply answered, "Me." She knows her truth. She takes in all the information but in the end it is her take on things that she listens to. I think she will win the contest or at least be in the top two. She knows who she is.

The article above from Daily Om goes on to state: "We need only take a brief look at history to remember that the religious, scientific, and political establishments that ruled the day were all wrong about something at some point in time. This is the beauty of learning, experiencing, and evolving. While we sometimes wish we could just let someone else decide for us what is real and true, this is clearly not a viable option. The good news in all this is that we can confidently devote ourselves to making up our own minds about reality, taking everything that is handed to us as truth with a grain of salt." I hope that as a society today we can all learn what our own truth is. I especially send this out to our politicians with a blessing that they let us continue to know our own truth and trust us to be who we are. It's just not a viable option to let others think for you.

Savasana

My yoga teacher, Linda Grace, gave us an assignment Monday night at our restorative practice; challenge ourselves to do a 20 minute savasana (corpse pose) every day. Give yourself that time to relax and just breath. She said to think about when and where you would do this each day, what kind of music you would play, what props you would use. It's not as easy as you think to find 20 minutes a day to just lay still.

So here it is Friday and I have not found the time to do a 20 minute savasana a day. Well we did one last night at our Thursday class and someone asked how everyone was doing with the challenge. Only one person had tried it in the evening and they said it was hard. You keep hearing the household buzzing around you and then the rest of the family is wondering where you are and "What are you doing?" Linda Grace said when trying new things it's sometimes harder before it gets easier but to keep trying. I had even started this blog Tuesday morning about this subject and hadn't finished it, probably because I hadn't found the time to start the challenge myself.

Judith Lasatar says, "Everyone who is alive in the world has exactly the same amount of time each day." It's up to you how you use it. A 20 minute relaxation break seems like a nice thing to do for yourself. I always look forward to it in class, why shouldn't I look forward to it every day of my life?

Loss

What is the lesson of loss? To lose something is to open another spot up in your being for something else. You lose weight, you open up a spot for better health, more activity, longer life. You lose a loved one, you open up your heart to the memories that helped you become you. Often loss causes reflection on where you are in your life and you set new goals, new paths. In yoga you are opening up your heart, exposing yourself to looking at things in a new way. Sometimes it's upside down, sometimes it's from deep within, other times just being present gives you another way of looking at something. Loss is not bad, loss is growth. Namaste.

Size 6

No, I'm not into a size 6 but I tried a pair of size 6 jeans on and got them over my hips! I had to stop myself from squeeling out loud in the dressing room. Was I ever a size 6? I did buy some new jeans in size 8. I'm actually very happy in a size 8. I put my goal weight on Weight Watcher's at 140 but I really think 145ish is probably more realistic for me. I'm at 155 right now. I see my doctor next month and will discuss it with her. I'm losing about a pound a week, unless I over-indulge and then I stay the same give or take a pound.

Start fresh each day

Too much wine, too many cream puffs, Gorilla BBQ and a killer martini on Sunday. Great weekend, but used all my points up for the week. Now I have to eat lettuce the rest of the week. LOL

Although today didn't start off very well either. I woke up late because we forgot to change the clock in the bedroom for Daylight Saving Time (probably to do with the martini the night before)so I had to get breakfast at Starbucks on the way in; non-fat chai and their turkey bacon sandwich. I could have gone to McDonalds. I really wanted to go to McDonalds and have a greasy sausage and egg sandwich, but I digress...Starbucks was the better choice. It was low-fat and I got my milk in for the day.

Hey I'm not going to beat myself up over indulging this weekend. A girl's gotta have fun! I figure I'll be good the rest of the week and I workout enough it all evens out. I'll just make sure to drink all my water and flush my system out and write down everything I eat. Maybe do some detox yoga, twisting it all out. My husband and I took a long walk on the beach Sunday, so that burned some calories too.

My philosophy is if I over-indulge, I let it go and start fresh the next day. Every Monday I figure out what my workout regimen is going to be and mark it on the calendar. I make sure that exercise is just part of my life, like drinking wine and eating killer bbq ribs once in awhile. It's a balancing act you have to work out with your body.

P.S. Gorilla BBQ was featured on Diner's, Drive-in's and Dives. If you are up our way, you need to go there. I'm drooling just thinking about it.

Jai Uttal-Rama Bolo

My yoga teacher, Linda Grace Foster went to this Kirtan by Jai Uttal. I wanted to go, but had previous plans. If you click on the link you can hear it for free. I didn't know what a kirtan was. It's basically a whole group of people singing ancient chants together about the many names of God and the Goddess. I listened and it's quite uplifting. Jai Uttal's website explains it well here.

Here is translation of the chant Rama Bolo from Krishna Das:

Rama Bolo Rama Bolo, Bolo Bolo Ram
Sita Bolo Sita Bolo Bolo BoloRam
Hanuman Bolo Hanuman Bolo Bolo Bolo Ram

Oh my friends, sing the Name of God! When it gets too damn hard, just sing. Have no fear, don't give up. Sing! When it gets too good, sing. When it falls apart, sing. When it comes together, sing. Cry and sing. Sing and cry. Living sing. Dying sing. Listening sing. Singing sing.

I love this message. Don't you feel better when you can sing out loud? This is quite an education learning about yoga and all the different paths it is taking me down.

RAMA, SITA, and HANUMAN:

Rama, a prince, is also an incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

Sita is Rama's wife.

Hanuman is a monkey who serves Rama and Sita, and rescues Sita from evil.

BOLO: "Bolo" is the imperative form of the verb "to sing."

Oatmeal

I eat oatmeal almost every morning now. I use non-fat lactose free milk to cook it in. Lactose free milk has a little sweeter taste to it and is gentle on the stomach. I cook the oatmeal in the milk with a dash of salt, honey, vanilla and cinnamon. I use the 1 minute oats because I'm impatient to eat my breakfast in the morning. Sometimes I will add dried fruit to the mixture if I have any. Cherries are my favorite to add.

Ganapati Mantra

Shrim Hrim Klim
Glaum Gum Ganapataye
Vara Varada
Sarva Janam Me
Vashamanaya Swaha

Let the energy in the obstacles and difficulties return to their sources. Let that energy be transformed and returned to you in a usuable form.

Gayatri Mantra

Om bhur bhuvaha svaha
Tat savitur varenyam
Bhargo devasya dhimahi
Dhiyo yonah prachodayat

We contemplate the glory of light illumnating the three worlds: gross, subtle, and casual.

I am that vivifying power, love, radiant illumination, and divine grace of universal intelligence.

We pray for the divine light to illumine our minds.

Compliment

Best compliment ever, my husband said, "Your underwear looks too big."

Breakfast

New breakfast recipe: Plain yogurt, honey, cinnamon and mandarin oranges. Mmmmm!

Another really good one is Greek yogurt, blasamic vinegar and fresh fruit-any kind. Really good. don't even need any sweetner for the yogurt with that.

Getting Lost

Getting lost is good. How can you ever see anything new, if you don't get lost once in awhile?

Morning

My morning: yoga, meditation, massage, chiropractor...can I start every day this way? :)

How to lose weight while sitting still

Clarity happens while you're sitting still, doing nothing, listening to your inner voice, listening to your breath. I started practicing yoga last year and all of a sudden everything makes sense. If you just stop and breathe every day, go inward, you will find all that you are. My yoga practice has shown me it's not about losing weight or making more money or whatever it is you think you need to do. It's about how you live your life and what you want to accomplish, what's calling out to you. What inspired action can you take? All the other things, weight loss, money, relationships will fall into place on their own when you still yourself and listen to your inner voice and take those actions that inspire you.

This is my adventure into the next chapter of my life. I'll be writing about the lessons I learn in my yoga practice and how that has led to my healthier lifestyle. I want to know what your inspired actions are too, so join in the conversation. Some of the topics I'll be discussing are health, nutrition, exercise, spirituality and meditation. Join me while I sit and do nothing!

Mitagating Anger

I received my new book today, "A Year of Living Your Yoga" by Judith Hansen Lasater, PHD, P.T. My yoga teacher, Linda Grace Foster is student of Lasater and often uses quotes from her.

I opened the box and took out the book. There was a ribbon bookmark in it, so I opened it to the page it was on. This book is set up to read each day by date. The book was marked to today's date! My yoga teacher had read us the quote the night before. It was about anger and letting your anger melt into being present. We chanted this mantra:

Shante Prashante
Sarva Krodha
Upasha mani Swaha

(SHAN-TEH PRA-SHAN-TEH SHAR-VAH KROH-DHA OO-PASH-AS MAH-NEE SWAH-HA)

This mantra helps to mitigate anger and instill peace of mind. Thomas Ashley-Farrand translates it as: "Invoking supreme peace I offer (surrender) the quality of anger to it's source in the higher and formless universal mind. Salutations."

Lasater says, "you cannot be angry unless you believe you are right...allow being right to melt into being present."

Yoga Conference

I stopped by the yoga conference in San Francisco on Sunday. I dropped by just to cruise through the vendor booths and see what's available out there. I wanted to touch some of the mats and see what clothes are out there. I picked up some flyers and brochures, magazines. I peeked in on a class in progress, very cool. Next year I'll sign up and take some classes.

I did get a ten minute bodywork massage by Brenda at the meditation pillow station. Heavenly. To go inward and release all around you in the middle of a busy hotel is something everyone needs to know how to do. I also purchased a meditation pillow and buckwheat pillow full of rosemary and lavendar from her-delightful.

I purused the books and music and saw all the wonderful yoga bags available. A fun day indeed and it really didn't even cost too much money to go.

What it's all about....

This last year of my life I have dedicated to becoming healthier by taking a much different approach than I've done in the past. I took it on as a lifestyle change not a diet or an exercise regime. I just hadn't been paying attention over the last few years and the weight just kind of crept up on me. All of a sudden nothing fit and I had to go buy bigger jeans. Talk about a melt-down in the dressing room when I put on that size 14 jeans. Geez, trauma! I've always been back and forth between sizes 10 and 12 and happy with it. I believe a woman needs some curves. If you have no fat on you what are you going to shake on the dance floor? :) There's a reason women are built the way they are. But I knew I was too heavy because I felt tired, my knees ached and I was in a bad mood all the time. Something needed to change.

January always brings on the resolutions. I'm going to lose weight, exercise, etc, etc so 2009 started out that way. I joined the local gym and worked out for five months. I lost a few pounds but kept going up and down. Then in May a friend persuaded me to go to a Pilate's studio in town, Studio 4 Pilates. I've always hated exercise classes, but I'd always heard good things about Pilates. They also had yoga classes. Through my whole life I kept saying to myself I wanted to learn yoga, but never did it. I always felt like I needed a beginners class so I could figure out all those poses.

I took a few classes, both Pilates and yoga and loved it. Some of it was hard for me, I had no muscle tone, but I could do it. I didn't need to be coordinated. I didn't feel out of place. I started seeing immediate results in my body. I was standing taller, I could feel my muscles. I bought a card for five classes a couple of times and then bit the bullet and joined as a member. Pilates and yoga are not cheap. But the teachers are well trained and there is a lot of personal attention. This studio is worth every penny I pay for it. I took a workshop in Pilates 101 and they have a foundation of yoga class every week. It's truly been an education. I think every bit of what I am investing in these classes will pay off as I age.

For me, making a big monetary committment helped me to stay on track. I felt I really had to go to the classes to make the best use of my money. I'm there 4-6 times a week taking classes. I also still belong to a gym and use their treadmill and eliptical machine a few times a week to get my cardio workouts in. In eight months I've seen my body change from a size 14 down to a size 8! I went from 178 pounds down to 158 pounds in a year.

But exercise is not all I did. I also recommitted to Weight Watchers online. Writing everything that goes in my mouth is key for me. Having a convienant place to put it online makes it easy. I think the magic secret to losing weight is drinking 6-8 glasses of water a day and just tracking what you eat. Just start there for a week or two and then add in your parameters for losing weight, like exercise and counting calories or points or whatever it is you choose. Eating all whole grain, high fiber, low fat foods is vital for me. There are so many good choices out there for food now. High fiber bread doesn't taste like your eating a box anymore. It's actually good. It's basically about eating nutritiously and in moderation. Oh yeah, you have to cut the daily alcohol consumption down too. If I have a drink during the week I try to keep it to wine with dinner, if I have the extra points to use. But if you do overindulge, you can get right back on track the next day. Don't beat yourself up. Just start fresh everyday. Besides I get extra points for exercising, so if I want a margarita or two I'll make sure I get in my exercise for the day. My vices are not sweets. Give me cheese, torilla chips, guacamole and a good bottle of red wine and I'm a happy camper.

The component that tied everything together for me and really made it all work was the yoga. Yoga has truly inspired me and spoken to my spiritual side. I go to two to three yoga classes a week and I do my own practice at home. I've been meditating and studying all genres of yoga. It really fits for me and makes me feel whole.

To put it in a nutshell, this blog is about my new healthy lifestyle. It's a place for me to collect all the things that are working or not working for me and keep me on track. I'm hoping that others will follow along and share the things that work for them too. As always, it's a work in progress. I'm sure it will moph into something I wasn't expecting but that's the fun part!

Remember to check with your medical doctor before starting on any kind of diet or exercise program. Make sure your body can handle it so you don't derail yourself. Know what your intentions are and take inspired action.