Death

It's Friday evening at the end of an intense few days.

Someone close to me died this week. She was 53-years-old. My aunt's best friend for nearly 30 years and a woman I saw almost everyday because she worked at the hair salon below my studio. She used to pinch my cheeks when I was little and her husband gave me first hair cut when I was one or two. My father took me to their salon, which was then in a big shopping mall. I was wearing overalls of a gender neutral color and I suppose my dad wasn't paying much attention, so they buzzed my feathery blond head, thinking I was a boy.

Even though they called the cops on my kids yoga camp this summer, our families are tight, so this death has touched me deeply.

She had bad migraines for many years. She tried a little yoga and said it helped her a lot, but then wedding season started and she got busy. Then she got sick. The doctors couldn't diagnose her. Meningitis? Tuberculosis? They ran so many tests, but nothing was conclusive. After a few months in the hospital, she got better and in July, she came back to work. She seemed very weak. She was back in the hospital at the beginning of September and it was determined she had "lymphoma of the brain." Her brain was "full of lesions."

Tragic, yes. But apparently, she died with a smile on her face.

* * *

I spent a long time contemplating death this week and the rituals surrounding it-- the wake, the funeral, the eulogy, the burial, the reception. The grieving process is interesting, because we spend our whole lives trying to avoid death and when it arrives, and there's a 100% guarantee that it will, we are so unprepared. I often wonder why.

Several years ago, I read this fascinating book called "A Year to Live." Written by Stephen Levine, a counselor and teacher of healing and meditation, it is about the process dying fulfilled and satisfied with the life we’ve lived. Having spent more than 20 years working with people in palliative care, Levine observed that most people panic at the face of death because of the feeling that they are unprepared and that their lives are somehow unfinished and unresolved.

Buddhists believe we should always live in preparation for our death, so that we leave no unfinished business behind.

With this as a premise, Levine decided to enact the ultimate New Year’s resolution: to live one year as though it was his last. After all, he writes, “No one knows the day on which the last year begins.”

Levine’s book is full of suggestions on how to do this, but his most important and most profound suggestion is to commit ourselves to the simple practice of forgiveness and gratitude.

This theme is also present in another amazing book I just finished. "Five People you Meet in Heaven" by Mitch Albom is such a beautiful story. Here's one of my favourite quotes:

"You have peace," the old woman said, "when you make it with yourself."

It's OFFICIAL!

I just got the word:

Dear Yasmin Fudakowska-Gow,

Thank you for your recent evidence. We are pleased to confirm you have set a new Guinness World Record for 'Longest Yoga Marathon (Female)'.

A certificate has been couriered to you and should arrive shortly.


Yours sincerely,

Guinness World Records

WooHooo! I think I'm going to have a gathering of sorts at the studio sometime in September. Maybe a potluck party? You will all be invited, of course. :)

For now, I'm in Maine on a little beach retreat with Craig and my parents. It's lovely to wake up near the sea and do yoga outside. I am trying to practice twice daily-- a hour before breakfast and an hour before dinner. It's a good routine, but I'm allowing myself a little flexibility to do whatever I feel like. After so much busyness in the last four months, it is also great to spend time with people I love. I am enjoying being immersing myself in vacation mode, which involves plenty of reading, beach combing and food.

(The book I'm reading right now is "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. I highly recommend it. Very inspiring.)

* * *

I still want to meet my fundraising objective of $10,800 for the Stephen Lewis Foundation by Dec. 1. We're 22% of the way there. Anything you can contribute to this great cause is really appreciated. Please spread the word. Also, if you have any ideas for how I can continue fundraising, please let me know.

Here's the link to my online donation page: http://stephenlewisfoundation.akaraisin.com/p/yasminyoga.aspx

Day 104 - Anybody know 1080 different posses? To the Library...

Hi everybody, it's Craig writing tonight's post.

Yasmin sprang this on me at about 1030pm when I was falling half asleep to Planet Earth in the office. She asked me if I would be willing to write up something for her while she finishes her last set of 6 million headstands. I'm happy to help, although I will admit that I am not the best writer and my spelling is tearable, but I'll give it a whirl. I asked " what do I write about? what should I say?" Her response was to just write about how I feel about all this 108 stuff and what we are trying to do next week. Wowzers, I could write a book rather than a blog post about all that. So here we go. I have to be honest. Better grab a soy based coffee.

This started very much the same way it is ending, quickly with little time to prepare. I was with Yasmin when she found out that the 108th day of the year was only about a week or two away. I saw her eyes pop out of her head as she gazed past everything with all the wheels in her pretty head spinning. Right then and there I knew we were in for something big. This had been an idea for sometime, but it was a part of another project that fell by the wayside and was now about to be brought back to life. We kicked around some original ideas on how to present it, but most of which would of had us selling the studio and me turning tricks to fund those ideas. We continued to brain storm. She had said that she enjoyed the Blog (when she read it) I made while I was working the Olympics this last winter. I like to think it was sort of the archetype of this blog. Daily Photos, Write ups, News, Current events, and expressing the emotional roller coaster we all ride on a daily bases, but from a first person stand point. That's where things get tricky. Its not easy to put yourself out on display for the world to see. There are nay-sayer's who think you will be showing off, which is usually fueled by these people's own insecurities. There are huge sacrifices of time needed to do this, writing isn't easy for anyone-- think late nights. There will be restrictions on travel-- thank the gods for my Iphone or we wouldn't have been able to leave town for that one and only weekend in May. A photographer will need to give up his brand new camera so that when he's not around, cause he has a life too, you can take your own 'dailies,' but bring them home and yours truly will photoshop them every night before anything else gets done, because I rule, and you need my help. (Sorry drifted there for a moment).

As far as the daily photos go, the visual part of this blog has been my favorite part. I can honestly say that I have really enjoyed having a new image to work on or set up to shoot every single day. We have had to switch things up and read literally into Yasmin's write ups, like tonight's. (Oh and I'm super stoked to get my Canon G11 back...I've missed you little buddy, but no worries papa's coming home.)

So, fast forward to today. Its been over 100 days and we are starting the last weekend of Salutations and ending it with a bang. When Yasmin first told me that she was going to try to 32 hours of straight yoga and try and set a Guinness record, I thought she was off her rocker or perhaps the heat had finally gotten to her. I was wrong on both counts, but, at the same time, I was not surprised. Yasmin can do this. Yasmin will do this. She just needs some help and I am so happy to be apart of it. I am more thrilled that so much help and support has been flowing in from you and the community. This is where I have to give a HUGE shout out to Frances Vicente and Natalie Riviere. These two angels have been doing the lions share of the work to get this thing even off the ground. Not to say that Yasmin has not been staying up way too late and pulling out her hair to gett'er done, but my goodness, Thank you Thank you Thank you, Frances and Nat! I couldn't have done it, wouldn't even know where to start. I've had the "easy" job: Keeping Yasmin grounded and not letting her freak out too much. (Here's a little inside knowledge you may have already picked up along the way. Yasmin and Craig are total opposites, which is a good thing. A really good thing. Yin and Yang, Hot and Cold, Light and Dark. Ya dig? We need each other so that each of us can archive more and in turn, gain more together. Yeah about that honesty part, I am more excited to get Yasmin back than my camera.)

Lets be serious here for a second, if you're reading this then you must be human too, and sometimes we have selfish thoughts and sometimes we need to figure them out. I have been having a rough couple of weeks myself with monster transitions in my own personal life. I've tried very hard not to feel like I am secondary to all this craziness, but to be honest I've felt eight-ondary from time to time. I like to think I'm a good bottle and that I can just put it all away, not so. So to you, Yasmin, I have and I will again apologize if I have turned your focus away from your goal. Its just that you have inspired me to set and achieve my own goals. Like we have talked about, that is a good thing. I just get a little antsy if I have to wait too long to start something. I can't wait until school is less than a week away. (I have one more semester of commercial digital photography school.) Boy, you'll be pulling me off the walls. But, you now have my undivided attention until we see this thing through. You are ready.

We are ready to (as I say) kick the shit out of this challenge. It's going to be hard, but we have everything in order and so much energy behind us, that we cannot fail. We've got everything from O2 tanks to Excel spread sheets already to go, plus an amazing group of people on board to help us out every step of the way. So lets everybody, enjoy Saturday with a big breakfast, coffees and list of last min things to grab or do before The Day Of Rest, then the Big Show.

Today's photo is Yasmin Yoga-ing with a stack of books and the internet planing out how to do 32 hours worth of different posses. I thought this would be a lighthearted image to start the weekend, and I'm driving this bus today, so I'm posting what ever I want.

Now that wasn't so bad now was it.
Thanks
Craig.

Day 101 - dedicated to the ones I love

At this time next week, I will be done. That feels weird.

For the last 101 days my entire life has revolved around these sun salutations and this blog. What will I do with all my free time? It will feel great to have some leisure time, but I'm not hoping this will end quickly or wishing it would go on longer. I'm happy where I am right now and looking forward to day to come. Craig feels differently. He says he's really looking forward to "having his girlfriend back."

At the suggestion of my teacher yesterday, I am dedicating my practices this week to the people in my life. Yesterday, I offered each sun salutation to a specific teacher. Today, it was for the people in my community, to you, to those who have been part of my journey thus far. I visualized each individual beside me during the surya namaskar. This brought me so much joy. I felt I could go on forever. It's a beautiful way to practice ONENESS and will be very important during my 32 hour yoga marathon next week.

Day 99 - Rumi

As with many artistic souls, poetry has always been a source of inspiration for me. I am particularly fascinated by the work of Rumi, and one poem in particular has captured my heart since it was introduced to me at the beginning of my teaching path almost 10 years ago.

Here it is:

I would love to kiss you.
The price of kissing is your life.

Now my loving is running toward my life
shouting
What a bargain! Let's buy it.

Gamble everything for love,
if you are a true human being.
If not, leave this gathering.

Half-heartedness doesn't reach into majesty.
You set out to find God, but then you keep
stopping for long periods
at meanspirited roadhouses.

Don't wait and longer.
Dive in the ocean,
leave
& let the sea be you.

Silent, absent,
walking
an empty road,
all praise.

These words have never meant more to me, then now...