Keeping Pace

Keeping Pace

Archives for August 2012

cobwebs and coffee

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My friends have been throwing not-so-subtle hints that this blog has been growing cobwebs. All I can say in response is “I know; I KNOW!”

You probably surmised, YaYa is back, school has started, and my sweet, sweet summertime pace has pulled into to a Tasmanian devil like spiral. I’m dizzy and drained of all energy from morning to night. Unfortunately, football practices and homework (which is still relatively light) has kept me from winding down at a reasonable hour. I hit my pillow exhausted but so tightly wound that I cannot let go of my day for extended periods of time yet too tired to comprehend any of the required reading for my upcoming teacher training.

Of course, waking up in the dark of morning has never agreed with me. This morning, I hung my head over the side of the bed and slurped sips from a overfilled coffee mug. I’m not complaining, coffee in bed is one of the perks of theMan spending the night at my house. I’m sure he felt that I could use the extra large dose of caffeine. But I fell asleep between slurps and, by the time I looked at the clock, time had gotten away from me. It was already 7 am! Push-back has been set for 7:30 sharp.

*Sigh* I miss having the time and space for morning yoga, meditation, and/or blogging. And I’m afraid, the only way I’m going to get it back is if I find a way to drag my weary ol’ butt out of bed at o’ dark thirty. Even then, I’m not sure how often I’ll be able to write. Please be patient.

Snakes & Switchbacks

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It’s been too long since I’ve been able to write about running. I don’t mean the posts that talk about my want to run, or say why I am not running. I mean the posts where I actually say that I have run — successfully.

This is one of those.

Running, I must admit, was the farthest thing from my mind when I woke up yesterday morning. With all of the “stuff” with my sciatic nerve, I was sort of afraid to chance it. But as my chiropractor casually asked what events where up next on my race calendar, I kind of laughed and said that I had none other than the Nike Half Marathon, which wasn’t “until October.” He actually stopped his work to look at me and remind me that “October is just around the corner.”

20120816-IMG_2439.jpgGULP!

I decided to take advantage of my last day freedom from all mom related obligations and actually see what would happen if I were to run. It was exciting and, at the same time, a little scary. Okay, A LOT scary.

I don’t like hurting. I think I put up with a whole lot more of it when I was younger. These days, I’m somewhat of a wimp. Still, I wouldn’t know unless I tried.

Instead of choosing to run the flat, somewhat soft railroad tracks, I planned a trip to The Ranch: my favorite open space for running, hiking, and play. Instead of choosing the short 3 mile loop, I decided to head to the 5 mile switchbacky loop with the pretty view at the top. If I was going to run, I was going to do it up right!

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…until something gives

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These days I am drawn to the wide-legged forward folds in the ashtanga sequence almost as much as the heart opening backbends. Sometimes they complement each other, other times they fight against each other. Our ashtanga instructor described the practice as “Like a paperclip that is pulled open, bent, opened again, then re-bent….until something gives.”

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Standing up Straight

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Over the weekend, I took one of three of Desirée Rumbaugh’s amazing workshops being held at the yoga studio. It was titled “Stand up Straight” but, although the description said nothing of the sort, somehow I made the leap to spinal alignment and immediately signed up. It wasn’t until I was in the parking lot, 45 minutes prior to the start, that I read the description again. The was no mention of the spine OR alignment in the description. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and made that leap of faith that, of the three workshops, this was the one I belonged in.

Desirée’s story is one of tragedy and loss followed by an intense mission to reclaim her joy and life’s purpose. Simply meeting her, and seeing her vibrancy and strength, is inspiring. Hearing her speak, is ten times more powerful — if not more.

The workshop itself was jam packed in content and yogis lined up in three long rows with no more than 2-3 inches between each of the mats. It was tight but it worked. In fact, the close knit arrangement seemed to bring us all together even more than usual, which is saying a lot.

From the physical to the spiritual and emotional lessons, Desirée validated the reason I’d come. On the physical side, she directed us to access our core strength for a more grounded and stable pose. The spiritual and emotional lesson, was one of utilizing our inner strength, or life-force, to “stand up straight” and face the challenges that are put before us. With that, came the more subtle invitation to spread the joy to others once we have found the ease in life in much the same way as Desirée has done.

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see, hear, speak

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Few have never heard the idiom “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.” Although typically associated with three monkeys, apparently there may be a link to 18th century Buddhists. On some deep level, I must have known this. For when I saw these three wise men, one with covered eyes, one covering his ears, and the last covering his mouth, I knew that I must have them.

three wise buddhas.jpg

Seeing these little Buddha statues, encourages me to see the good in people, not let the positive words and sounds go unnoticed, and speak with optimism and encouragement. In essence, the remind me to see no evil (only good), hear not evil (just the positive), and speak no evil (inspire).

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