Day 77 - Summer rituals

I participated in three social rituals today: soccer fandom at Cafe Olympico, a bridal shower, and my favourite summer kick-off, the Montreal Jazz Fest.

The best place to watch World Cup soccer is a block away from my house at either Club Social or Café Olympico, two little corner bistros known for their lattes and football fans. Craig and I went down to Olympico this morning to watch Germany play Argentina. It was over following with people and emotions. The spectators, some of whom donned the colors of their team, were absolutely captivated and superbly animated. And what a game. Germany played so well.

I really enjoyed sitting and watching the game. It was a nice to do something different, a good mental and physical break. Plus, I love watching soccer. It's the "beautiful game," because, for one, it's the only sport played creatively without hands. It also requires incredible dexterity, agility and stamina, and it is accessible any where in the world. In a way, soccer/football is classless. My only complaint is that there so many dramatic fake injuries. It annoys me when one player touches another from the opposite team, and then the former exaggerates their supposed foul. That's a little unsportsmanlike, in my mind.

My afternoon was spent at my friend Jackie's bridal shower. Although I have a hard time taking anything wedding traditions seriously, I have to admit that a gathering of women to celebrate one of the woman's union is a special right of passage. It's communal, supportive and loving, and something we should do more of in our society.

I did half my 108 in my living room this evening and the other half at the Jazz Festival, which closes after this weekend. I managed to find a little patch of grass and after a few sun sals, I was able to stay focused on what my practice and enjoy the live music on stage. Craig and I wanted to see this amazing guitar player named Andy McGee, but we couldn't get tickets. Click here to see an unbelieveable YouTube video of him playing.

I'm so looking forward to the rest of summer, and guess what? As of today, I only have one month left in this 108 journey, which is scheduled to end August 3rd. Everyday I am discovering new things about myself and my practice. Today, I was able to bring a much deeper level of sensitivity to my upper back, just below my neck. I don't think I ever paid much attention to this area before, unless I had pain there. I noticed that if I focus my attention on the area around C7 and keep it 'buoyant', there was much less tension in my neck and trapezius muscles.

I'm pretty happy that my practice still fascinates me and I'm so curious how I will feel when I'm done.

Day 70 - Rest, reflexion and laughter

(photo of the mehndi on my hands and feet in padangustasana A)

Last night's party was magical. The studio was full of people and the energy was electric. I think there were a little more than 100 guests and from the looks of it, people were having a good time. I find it's always hard to tell how fun a party actually is from the host's perspective, because as host, I feel I spend most of the time orchestrating things and running around making sure everyone is comfortable. At least I felt calm and relaxed yesterday, although I didn't get a chance to talk and connect with all the people who came, which I often find is a bit regrettable about big parties in general.

Anyway, all and all, I am really happy with the turn out. I don't think things have really sunk in yet. There was so much going on-- food, drinks, henna tattoos, live performances, an outdoor drum circle, and tons of raffle prizes. But I got some great feedback. My friends said they were impressed. One called the evening "Super pro, Miami style!"

The live performances were incredible. My friend Laur Fugere sang first. Laur is a beautiful internationally renown vocalist who has toured with Cirque de Soliel for 20 years, and she was incredible. Our second act was a 'hand to hand' routine performed by two awe-inspiring acrobats, Anna and Gerome, who also tour with Cirque. Then, spontaneously, there was a fantastic drum circle that formed outside the studio on the patio. Led by James Olmsted, one of our instructors, the drum circle included some talented percussionists plus a few guests who joined in with egg shakers. It was very cool.

We got home quite late, so today I tried to take it easy. I slept in a little, read Vanity Fair and around 10:30 am Miranda and later Andrew, joined me for my practice in the park. It was though for me to do sun salutation, as my shoulder was bothering me again. But we made it fun. We tested the concept of partner surya namaskar, which was very funny. Check out the video I filmed of Miranda and Andrew's version. And we finished the last 48 with the adjective game. This is where we each pick an adjective to inspire the way we do the next sun salutation. Some of the adjectives we came up with include: abnormally, breathlessly, buoyantly, and ballerina-like.

Then in the afternoon, I got spoiled with a fantastic massage from Anthea, my downstairs neighbour, who took pity on my tense shoulder muscles. Honestly, my shoulders and neck felt much better afterward.

(Thanks to Mark, who came to the party from Ottawa, and Ryan, who came in from Toronto.)

Day 13 - Friday night and I'm drained

I am tired. Really tired. It's been a long day. I started teaching at 9:30 this morning and finished at 8:30pm. I was all over the place today, teaching and running around from meeting to meeting, and now, I'm so exhausted I don't even know what to write about. I don't like how I leaving the blog until late, because I don't want to yammer on about how tired I am all the time, but I had no choice but to wait until I got home tonight to use Craig's computer, because mine is locked in an office that I won't have access to until tomorrow.

I know what you're thinking: "Boo hoo, she's tired. Wait until day 87." I hear you. It can't be that much fun to read all about how tired I am for days on end. I am still trying to figure out how to fit everything into my already busy life. I also need to figure out how to sleep more, because regardless of how late I go to bed I still wake up around 6am. I think my friend Ron is right, I need a campaign manager to help me organize and stay on top of things, so if you know anyone awesome who would interested, tell them to be in touch.

Ok, whining aside, I had another yogasm in practice this morning. It was great, and I realized that having great music while practicing really does it for me. I love to listen to unconventional music, because 'sounds-of-the-whales and rainforest' don't really do it for me. I like all kinds of stuff, just don't give me that soft, "relaxing" elevator crap, please. I need something with full power and depth. I'll have to post my current favourite playlists for you one of these days. In the mean time, I'd love to hear some of your suggestions. Please hit me back with ideas.

Today, I did 24 sun sals with my class, 54 with Bossa outside by the water, which was really windy and cold. My last four of my 108 today were finished on the reception floor of my studio this evening.

That's it for now. Bon soir mes amis.

Here's the photo of the day taken by a self timer:


Sun Salutation Recipe for Day 13 is the Ashtanga Yoga Surya Namaskar B. Here's the video (no sound):