Day 12 - Yoga as Drug

Yoga, above all, is a drug.

I'm serious. Anything that can make you feel ecstatic and keep you coming back for more, by definition, is a drug.

And if we're all going with that definition of yoga, then I have been getting my fix regularly every Tuesday and Thursday for a little while; that is, until my dealer stopped working. (By dealer I mean teacher, sorry if I'm stretching this drug analogy a bit).

I always feel a-maze-ing after Amber's class. You know that "The Simpsons" episode where Mr. Burns took some drug to keep him alive, and as a side effect, he glowed like an alien and wandered around saying, "I bring you loooooooooooooove. I bring you peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeace" in a sing-songy voice? Well, if you know what I'm talking about, that's how I feel. (If you don't, click here)

Now that my favorite teacher is gone, in her place are other teachers, one with distinctly different styles, with which I'm having a hard time, a very hard time.

I like who she is as a person, but I cannot stand her teaching style.

I know, *super* unyogic of me, but I get very stressed out in her classes. It's true. My yoga class is stressing me out.

Day 10 - Lokah samastha sukhino bhavanthu

I found out that Amber was teaching a Detox Flow class at Rain City Yoga in the Seattle U-District, and I was so glad I cruised over to the website in time to catch it. Amber Tande is an amazing yoga teacher, and I was stoked that her partner, Colin was also there, correcting our postures. Julie, with whom I take classes in Redmond also came, and I was so happy to see her.

We did 2 and a half hours of asanas and chanting, and I learned a new chant:

Lokah samastha sukhino bhavanthu.

May this world be established with a sense of well-being and happiness.

I was glowing with so much bliss afterwards that the fact that I had forgotten my phone at home, and that I was forever stuck in slower than oatmeal traffic to get back, and then I had to frantically run to catch bus #8 to Capitol Hill to go to Laurel's, just did not faze me at all.

Later, I would tell Brendan this when we were walking to Trader Joe's and he asked me what I get out of doing yoga. "The ability to deal with the shenanigans of life more gracefully," said I.

Day 4 - Breaking Point

I came home to do my Baptiste DVD instead of going to class. I didn't really want to go to hot yoga today anyway, and that was the only class offered at 6:30pm, the only time that I was gonna make it. Plus, my boyfriend was coming over, and I needed to clean my place. He called to say that he wasn't gonna be around until much later. I was bummed.

I just read in the Feb 08 issue of Fit Yoga that our bodies and lifestyles should be in tuned with the seasons. It's winter, the days are short and the weather colder, so we should take it a bit easier. The ancient science of Ayurveda says it's time for rest, regeneration, and introspection. I definitely have not taken this wisdom to heart, and after some introspection, I've realized that I have taken my Summer lifestyle right straight through Fall and now Winter.

Sleep. I needed sleep.

So I folded up my sticky mat, unplugged everything, put my phone on silence, and fell in a deep Savasana.