Pincha!

Went to an amazing yoga workshop yesterday, run by Doug Keller. He's an incredible instructor - patient, clear, accepting, and funny. His focus for this workshop was on healing the upper body. A loud Ding! Ding! Ding! for Kalesy who is currently known as WristShoulderInjuryGirl.

He explained the anatomics and kinesiology of alignment and why we get pain when/where we do and how we go about healing that. And, although it didn't seem like we had been doing a lot of asana, by the time the day was winding down, I was feeling pretty fatigued.

Which is why I was surprised (shocked?) and absolutely friggin thrilled when I found myself in a full Pincha Mayurasana in the middle of the room.

Pincha has long evaded me. I just have never had the strength in my shoulders and back to go into the full expression and hold it. At least not when I don't have the wall behind me as support. But yesterday, whoosh! up I went. It was amazing.

Of course, the thing with Anusara yoga - or most yoga traditions for that matter - is that you're not supposed to get hung up on achieving the pose. It's supposed to be about finding the openning in your body, playing the edges to find the spaces that allow your inner radiance to shine through. But, let's be honest, when you finally get a pose (and I say get, not master, because who knows if I'll be able to do Pincha again tomorrow...) you feel great. I'm the King of the World!

Until, of course, you're practicing it Just One Last Time and the fatigue that's been threatening to overtake you finally does. And you fall. And you eat floor.

Here's to fat lipped-yoginis everywhere!

Turn the Lights Down, the Lights Are Too Strong

Join in with EarthHour 2008 - a global initiative to reduce global warming and light pollution.

For one hour - 8 p.m. local time on March 29 - everyone is urged to turn their lights off. What will this accomplish you ask? Look at last year's results from Sydney's Earth Hour:

On 31 March 2007, 2.2 million people and 2100 Sydney businesses turned off their lights for one hour - Earth Hour. If the greenhouse reduction achieved in the Sydney CBD during Earth Hour was sustained for a year, it would be equivalent to taking 48,616 cars off the road for a year.

The website has lots of great resources for other ways you can contribute - or not contribute as the case may be. I've been posting this info lots of other places, hoping we all can do our part. Pitch in. Eight at night on a Saturday is a good time for it to go dark, anyway, right? (nudge nudge wink wink know what I mean know what I mean?)

PS -- Turn the Lights Out - FABULOUS song by A-ha.

I Love You Light

A long while back, I heard a folk concert broadcast on NPR. A song by the artist David Crossland stuck in my mind. Titled Minots Light, it tells the tale of one keeper of the Minot's Ledge Lighthouse who used the light to broadcast the words "I Love You" to his wife.

Last week I finally broke down and bought the CD. (This is how I make purchases, I have to think about them for about six months.) The song is just as beautiful as I remembered it. Made for perfect background music as I walked along Pebble Cove Beach on a sunny Easter Sunday.

If you get a chance, pick up some of David's songs or albums -- he's releasing a live CD soon. He's got a beautiful voice and I'm a big fan of supporting independent musicians.

Pretty Bloggy

I occasionally lurk over at a fellow Gloucester blog: Good Morning Gloucester. Captain Joe takes lots of interesting and inspiring pictures. And lots of pictures of food, which is always a good thing.

A day or two ago, he uploaded some of Good Harbor Beach in early morning. Since it's snowy, rainy, and cold out today, I will treat you with one of his pictures of better days.


I live 1.2 miles from this spot. Have I mentioned lately how much I love my new home?

More from the Losers' Club Files

Losers Club Goes to Vegetarian Potluck.

Awhile back, I joined the Northshore Vegetarian Meetup group. I figured it would be a nice way to meet people who were into vegetarian food and maybe some casual socializing.

This weekend we were supposed to have a St. Patrick's Day potluck. I was concerned over what to make. Many people in this group, it seems, are raw foodists. Vegan, militant raw foodists. Me? Not so much. Life without pasta and mozzarella? For that matter, without bagels and butter? Puhleeze. But after reassurances from the group founder that cooked food was OK, I decided to make my infamous stuffed peppers.

Now, what was I thinking? I could have easily made anything, why did I decide to make an ingredient heavy, prep heavy dish? Oy vey. My stuffed peppers require at least three canned items, two boxed items, much vegetable cutting, assorted sauteeing, and copious mixing. And that's all pre-baking and "plating."

Saturday a.m. I journeyed the hour down to the nearest Whole Foods. If I was going to force these people to eat cooked food, the least I could do was make it organic. The price tag? $88. I spent all of Saturday night cooking like a madwoman. I made three trays of stuffed peppers. They looked and smelled gorgeous.




Alas, at noon, I drove the 35 minutes over potholed terrain to the house, only to find it dark and empty. The potluck had been cancelled -- the victim of flu and family emergencies. I hadn't checked my email; I hadn't been alerted.

Now I'm a hundred bucks poorer and I have three trays of stuffed peppers to dispose of. Here's hoping they freeze well.