Day 300 May 31, 2011

Well, well, well.  Day 300.  Who would have thought?  Certainly not me.  Having arrived at day 300 I can now heartily recommend that making such a commitment, to both practice yoga asana and participate in an art practice every day for one year is worthwhile.  Does this make you laugh?  It almost made me laugh out loud as I wrote that sentence with the "worthwhile" comment.  Of course this is a good thing to do, you might say.

Well, it's not for everyone.  I guess the point for me is to create a new pattern in my life that includes yoga and art in a big way.  This year long task is helping me do that.

Sometimes we just have to tell ourselves what we need.  Our friends and loved ones help us too.  Like Denise, who suggested to me to do the yoga asana practice for a year, and my other friend Charlotte who told me not to forget about art!

I wish you all well, on day 300.

Day 299 May 30, 2011

grow v. verb   1.  to increase naturally..... 2. to expand.... 3. to develop and reach maturity  4. to be capable of growth, thrive, flourish.... 5. to develop by a gradual process..... 6. to come into existence.... 7. cultivate

grow - sounds a bit like learning yoga, sounds a bit like making art, doesn't it?

Day 298 May 29, 2011

Nourish
Celebrate
Ponder
Laugh
Sink
Drift
Cleanse
Look
Evaluate
Pause
Renew
Touch
Accept

Day 297 May 28, 2011

Focus

Breathe

Trust

Move

Ascend

Act

See

Listen

Touch

Expand

Rest

Watch

Concentrate

Consider

Stretch

Descend

Activate

Relax

Balance

Do

Visualize

Contemplate

Compare

Experiment

Redo

Internalize

Contract

Embrace

Soften

Lengthen

Welcome

Release

Day 296 May 27, 2011

Tomorrow morning David, Denise and I will travel all the way to the city of Halifax for the Saturday morning classes.  Yes, my dear friend from California is home for a bit.  Three hours of yoga asana will make our morning complete.  Then lunch, a bit of shopping and back home to the country.  Country living, it is beautiful in many ways.  There are also challenges, like when a mother raccoon decides to use your home as its home, with a few raccoon babies thrown into the bargain too.

Or the black flies, now they are no one's favourite part of country living.  The smell of manure has been wafting through my neighbourhood for the last two days.  The farmers are making good use of their time by enriching the pastures across from my home with this strong smelling natural fertilizer.

There is always something that needs fixing too when you live in the country on your own property.  But with all the issues of country living come the perks, like watching the hostas unfold right before your eyes. I wish that you too will have the joy of watching something beautiful unfold right in front of you today.

Day 295 May 26, 2011

Enjoy the curves in your life.  There is no sense in trying to straighten out what naturally follows a curve.

"Accept yourself, just the way you are.  Accept everything else, just the way it is."  from Savasana meditation.

Day 294 May 25, 2011

Ring of Kerry, Ireland    photo by Jim S.

How do you start to find the path, your path in this life?  You can begin by noticing what you love doing, where you feel comfortable.  Where you can focus to such an extent that you might even forget to eat lunch one day because you are so entranced, so intent on doing what you're doing you forget to eat.  Then suddenly you look up from your focus and realize a lot of time has passed and you must be hungry.  In this way you almost get lost, only in that you lose track of time, once you find your path.

Day 293 May 24, 2011

acrylic paint on white sculpture clay

Where do you get your inspiration?  Your support when times get tough?  Or your personal cheerleaders when what you really need is a lot of encouragement?

From nature?  From the fast beat of a large city?  From music?  From sporting events?  From a hard run?  From your pet?  From spending time as a volunteer?  From your family or your best friend?

We all get inspired in our own ways.  I personally love that song, "Lean on Me."  Do you know it?

Day 292 May 23, 2011

porcelain slab built and thrown bottles with glaze

Day 291 May 22, 2011

stoneware tiles

Thank goodness for friends.  They make us feel appreciated.

  "I always feel better after I've talked to you", that's what a friend told me today.  That made my day!  Sometimes I feel like I am a cranky brat who needs everything perfect.  When things don't feel perfect then I get cranky.   These feelings don't last long, but they certainly feel real.

Spoken like a needy "it's all about me" kind of person, I do go over the top sometimes and neglect to think of others and their needs.  But today, after a lunch time filled with moments of reflection like "good grief, what have I done now..." kind of feelings associated with my family's wedding fever season and how I'm making a nuisance of myself over details, I had this refreshing phone call from my dear friend Denise in California and she made me feel fabulous.   I cheered her up by reminding her of what a wonderful, well meaning person she is.  She just needed some words of encouragement.

I need to tell my family the same things, how wonderful they all are.  Wedding fever or not, which can make any family a bit crazy it seems, my family is the BEST.  We help each other so much.   I can count on my family when I really need them.  It's like I said at the start.  Thank goodness for friends and family.  They make us feel appreciated.  


Tell someone today how much they mean to you; it will make you feel wonderful.

Day 290 May 21, 2011

stoneware plate

This morning I experienced the 'no coffee' effect.  I fell asleep in the passenger seat on the way to my  Saturday morning yoga class in Halifax.  Green tea, especially brown rice green tea, now there's a wonderful drink.  I still prefer the way coffee smells to the way it tastes, but its flavour is starting to grow on me.

Do you notice that your tastes change as you yourself change in years?  Do you still like to eat the same things you ate with great relish as a young child?  I still have a few comfort foods from my youth, but most of my favourite tastes are now vastly different than the ones I enjoyed as a kid.  How about you?

Day 289 May 20, 2011

white sculpture clay, glaze, acrylic paint

cool breezes, weeds, bug bites, technicolour  outdoors ..... ah spring!

Day 288 May 19, 2011

Today was the nicest day of this year, at least according to me.  Sunshine streamed softly all day long until just before sunset; then the clouds moved in again.  More rain tomorrow.  Today the air was humid and warm, the grass green and thick.  Thinking back to a harsh winter day of snow and ice seems a bit preposterous on a day such as today.

You caught me though;  I got a bit manic today from all that natural light.  Yes, I did read a lot, caught up on some photography and writing about my art work, but I also cruised databases and websites, washed some windows, washed some dishes, did tons of laundry and hung it outdoors, mowed the lawn, moved my boxes of seedlings outdoors to an improvised cold frame and returned them indoors at dusk, made a huge pot of tomato sauce and played with the dogs.  Phew!  Only a bit of yoga mat time today but I am still sore from yesterday's mat work.  Tomorrow my big yoga energy will return.

I pace my energetic yoga practice with a more therapeutic practice the following day.  This way my sore  muscles and joints have a bit of recovery time.  You've got to make time for recovery!  We all need to take notice of our natural pace for doing things.  One of my colleagues at work once teased me and said, I finally figured you out Muriel, your favourite speed of operation is slow.


Oh yes, that recovery time, I just love that quiet and slow movement.  My friend was right.  Slow is my favourite speed of operation.  What is your favourite speed?

Day 287 May 18, 2011

Yes my friends, we have sunshine :)  For those of you in Nova Scotia, no more whining now about feeling depressed.  It's time to run outside and bask in the cool sunshine and embrace the sight of all the flowering weeds, like these gorgeous dandelions.  That is unless you are bothered by spring pollen allergies.

The school children of Nova Scotia, among many others, felt a real lift from the brightening of our skies today.  Yes, apparently these little children who had long stayed inside due to the persistent pouring rain  came in from recess today happy, and yes with a few black fly bites, but hey, you can't have it all.  Can you?

Well maybe there is a planet where you can have it all, but here on earth we take what we can get and we are happy for it.  I hope that you saw some sunshine today!

Day 286 May 17, 2011

Grace.  There are times in life when we need to breathe in, square our shoulders and walk without fear.  If such a time comes to you, I wish that you find grace under pressure, calmness and patience.  It is easy to feel grace when things are going well.  In more challenging times we need to dig deeply to find that grace.  But we do find it.  Namaste.

Porcelain vase       copper red reduction fired

Day 285 May 16, 2011

stoneware covered jar    reduction fired

Today I called a friend and learned that her high school aged son just had surgery on Sunday morning.  His jaw was broken in three places.  He is okay though and will eat pureed food for the next six weeks.  No chewing allowed.  So much for the rest of the rugby season for him, that’s right, he didn’t break his jaw in a fight, which could have explained such an injury, but in a rugby match.

The rest of our conversation revolved around feeling grateful that he hadn’t had a concussion or a spinal injury, which would have been a lot worse than a broken jaw.  Yes, when things like this happen it is time to be grateful for what we have to experience, even though it is frightening.  Grateful that surgery was there to help him.  Grateful that he is strong and will recover.

Sometimes it is hard to feel grateful.  Surely it might take a long time to feel grateful for some life experiences.  Never having lived through a war makes me think that what I’ve experienced in my own life is pretty sweet compared to what some other people have experienced in their lives.  Yes, living in a peaceful country makes me very grateful. 

What are you grateful for today?

Day 284 May 15, 2011

detail of acrylic painting

A long article in yesterday's Globe and Mail recounted the importance of getting enough sleep.  It listed many repercussions of trying to manage your life, or your job, with inadequate rest.  Someone please tell this to infants so that they'll lighten up and let their parents sleep.  Or tell this to employers.

One cost cutting measure for employers is their attempt to maximize the work their employees can produce by giving them long shifts, way too long.  According to the article, this approach really fails due to reduced performance by overtired workers.

Okay, it's nap time.

The best approach is to try to keep your circadian rhythms happy by getting up and going to bed at the same time each day.  Pleasant dreams :)

Day 283 May 14, 2011

Tai's birthday     photo by Chris Z.

Happy Birthday to my eldest daughter Tai!  I hope your birthday today is as joyful as can be.

For the rest of us, even though it is just an ordinary day, I hope that you experienced some joy today too :)

Day 281 May 12, 2011

Today brings another day of gray skies.  The puddles on top of my garden are still there.  In looking at the 14 day trend for the upcoming weather pattern in Nova Scotia I see that we are expecting more of the same.  If that is true, we will have had about one month of gray skies with a few intermittent hours of sunshine.

Am I really in Ireland and not Nova Scotia?  A few years back I really was in Ireland and was told that in early July, the first days of my arrival, they were happy to see the sun for it hadn't appeared in 53 days.  Oh my.

The deep wheelbarrow that I left outside near the garden is now half full of rainwater.  Nova Scotians are beginning to joke about this weather.  Sorry I'm late arriving, but it was a rather long swim over here.  Or, certainly this is planet Water and not planet Earth.  The weather person on the news recently mentioned that if a shining, red orb appeared in the skies we should not be alarmed.  It was only the sun.


To help deal with this gray and wetness I am currently reading books about Africa.  The dryness of the soil, the dust that flies in the air, the singing of the insects, the lushness of the flowers and grass when it does rain suddenly.  I do love living here in Nova Scotia, but I will be happy to feel the sun, when it does put in a return performance.

What is your weather like?

Day 280 May 11, 2011

Patience.  It is a great feat to remember to be patient in the midst of adversity.  Especially today, with the instantaneous feedback that technology brings to the table, we seem to want everything not today, but yesterday.

Ah yes...  wants.  desires.  expectations.  How complicated our lives are.

Take a breath.  or two or three.

Think of someone other than yourself, someone less fortunate.  Sometimes this helps you realize that you really have a lot to be grateful for...

namaste.

Day 282 May 13, 2011

The last two posts I wrote vanished into thin air.  Hmmnnn...  I remember writing them and posting them, and got some feedback too, but didn't save them to my backup file so they are really gone.

Oh well, that's life.  I think all I wrote about was all the gray weather and rain we've had and are still forecast to have for another week.  Of course, the sun is now trying to break through the clouds!!!!!  So much for a forecast.

Tulips are finally starting to bloom here.

Yoga asana practice definitely helped me stay level headed throughout this gray spell (we are in week three now).  And painting.  Hurrah!

What helps you through a challenging time?

P.S.  Several hours later today I see that my last two day's worth of posts ARE BACK.  The mystery was just too much I guess.  Curiouser and curiouser.

Day 279 May 10, 2011

Dear Class  poem plate  white sculpture clay

Day 278 May 9, 2011

cherry tree in Vancouver           photo by Jen Z.

Are you ready to bloom?  Get ready.  We all have our moments in the sun.

Day 277 May 8, 2011

We don't have to take the first step on this earth.  Others have come before us to help lead us on our way.  Listen to the elders.  Learn from their experience.

Observe nature, how she changes.  If nature can change, this means you too are capable of change.

Day 276 May 7, 2011

detail of acrylic painting

I learn to trust in Iyengar yoga classes.  Trust my teacher.  Trust myself.  Try new things that I've never done before within my own body, move in entirely new ways.  The students who come to class come from many walks in life: teachers, artists, counsellors, acupuncturists, finanacial planners, dentists, mothers, cooks, comedians, contractors, business people, students, etc.  Why they return is that they learn to see how to approach the yoga asanas with clarity.

The teacher demonstrates the pose and then you try.  Then the teacher demonstrates the common problems we encounter in the pose.  A student tries the pose and the class is asked to watch and learn how to adjust, to make a closer approximation towards the classic pose with these adjustments.  And when you watch the teacher make adjustments and move the student who is demonstrating, then you see how the student trusts the teacher.  You feel it yourself when it is your turn to be adjusted.

It can be a lot, the adjustments.  You don't realize just how far you actually can move until the teacher adjusts you.  It is a lightbulb moment to feel yourself move into a pose where you didn't think you could go.  It involves trust.

I try to explain it this way sometimes.  Studying Iyengar yoga is like learning how to go on vacation within your own body.  You go somewhere new where you've never been before and you come back changed.

Day 275 May 6, 2011

Honor someone today.  Look them in the eye and wish them well.  It can even be the person you see in your own mirror.  It just makes me feel like I've done a good job of being a human being when I honor someone.

What is it that you've done that makes you feel like you've done a good job of being a human being?

Day 274, May 5, 2011

Today offered me another opportunity to heal.  I woke up and felt ill.  Got up to drink three glasses of water cause I felt very dry and then I went back to bed.  Call in sick day.  An hour later I did get up and moved slowly.  With the help of some homeopathic medications, lots of fluids and light food I made my way through the late morning.

After 4 hours of art practice I was feeling stronger.  Not much lunch and a lot of fluids had helped.  Around 4:45 I could feel myself sinking.  The sofa didn't help much.  I closed my eyes.  That helped, but only for a few minutes.  I realized my spine my pushing out of my body as I curled up in an effort to rest.  But my chest was heavy and my throat too.  It was yoga I needed, to move the muscles down my back and the spine back into the body.

The yoga mat brought the relief I needed.  Yes, the practice was therapeutic, with supports.  After a supported dog pose, brief headstand, longer shoulder stand, I was back to my old body, the healthy one.  The rest and rejuvenation was from encouraging my body back into a healthy shape.  My chest was open, the back muscles descended away from my ears.

What a relief.

I hope you found some relief today too:)

Day 273 May 4, 2011

How do you react to change?  Even good change?  I know I can get a bit cranky and nervous when change is afoot.  One of my favourite sayings is, one of the things in life you can depend upon is change.  Yes, I know this is paradoxical.  How can you depend on something that is in flux?

Well, you can do your best to embrace the inevitable, that's one thing you can do.  Life is change.  But notice for yourself, how do you react to change?

Ms. Windy with ears a flying

Day 271 May 2, 2011

detail of acrylic painting

On my way upstairs to do a short yoga practice before I go to yoga class I think, oh..., time for a short blog.  Here is an image of a small portion of a painting I'm working on, my first canvas.

Today I baked an angel food cake for David cause it's his birthday.  Low cholesterol (no egg yolks or butter).  Next to make is the raspberry sauce and fortunately we also have some vanilla frozen yoghurt.  I'll forgo the cake as the wheat makes me itchy but I'm looking forward to the raspberries and yoghurt combo.

What are you looking forward to today?  I hope it brings a smile to your face, whatever it is.

Namaste.

Day 270 May 1, 2011

Namaste.  I see and honor in you the place where the universe resides.  When I see this place we are both one.

Day 269 April 30, 2011

Porcelain vase detail  SS Fish vase

that wind is cold, hard against the face

the green grass thick and easy on the eyes

an Irish day, gray clouds, wet air, whiskey

and warm hearted people