California Valentine

The Daily Doodle: Pleasure is about being and feeling over having. Sharpen your senses to make your every moment fuller. Really smell, touch, taste, see, and hear to get the most out of everyday experiences. Pampering does not have to do with decadence nor is self-punishment a path to well-being. –abridged thoughts from Mireille Guiliano

Share your love

Who would choose petty, acidic, life-deteriorating competition for an illusionary spot on an illusionary hierarchy over freely conducting love and joy with our fellow man?

The Daily Doodle: Open your heart this February! Urdhva Dhanurasana, Wheel Pose.

Urdhva: Upward 

Dhanu: Bow

Share your love and organize a yoga session with friends. No mats necessary.

yellow chiffon dresses and sunshine

The Daily Doodle: It's been a sunny January in San Diego! Pray for rays of light and battle winter blues by practicing Surya Namaskars, Sun Salutations, like me first thing in the morning. The awakening flow will strengthen your immune system.

The ideal AM stretch. 

Urdhva Hastasana: Upward Hands Pose

Urdhva: Upward

Hasta: Hand

Wish List: Ingenious silken whimsy by Camilla Franks Australia. 

ode to bride

The Daily Doodle: I'm married so the jig is up for me, but boy do I love a good bride!

Elie Saab Spring 2012 bridal above.

learning to fly

"Sometimes your only available transportation is a leap of faith."

–Margaret Shepard

The Daily Doodle: Surrender! Lately our little family of two has been suffering from some control issues. And so we remind ourselves and you to let go, give in, accept, and embrace! We may have to do some things we don't want to do, but we do them with integrity. Things may not go down the way we hoped, but it's all part of the higher plan. And we learn to live from our hearts, not from our heads.

"When you yield internally, when you surrender, a new dimension of consciousness opens up. If action is possible or necessary, your action will be in alignment with the whole and supported by creative intelligence, the unconditioned consciousness which in a state of inner openness you become one with. Circumstances and people then become helpful, cooperative. Coincidences happen. If no action is possible, you rest in the peace and inner stillness that come with surrender." –A New Earth, Eckhart Tolle

Yoga Crush: Kathryn Budig, Santa Monica

goodbye bunny

The Daily Doodle: Happy Chinese New Year! The relaxing, grey, yin year of the rabbit comes to a close with the new moon Monday January 23rd while the magical, mystical, heavily charged, ruby red, yang reign of the dragon commences. Get excited! Those born in years of the dragon are free-spirited, uninhibited, extroverted, irrepressible, colorful, flamboyant and gifted. A 2012 baby will be a water-dragon. The water element will temper the dragon's fearless temperament.


Happy New Year!

I love mornings

The Daily Doodle: Happy Friday! Get to bed early and enjoy the mornings this weekend.

Good Behavior

The Daily Doodle: With one week off of my 'day job,' the upcoming Chinese New Year, and a lull in vacations and other plans, today I will begin a personal retreat. It is not a detox nor a cleanse – it is not food-oriented at all – it is a week of focus and getting rewarded for good behavior. My board is loosely inspired by "Kennedy's reward chart" that Taylor Armstrong presented in the recent episode of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (media detoxing is ironically in the bonus section of the list.) The list includes meditating before meals, 3 liters of water a day, sun salutes, drawing, spa treatments, inversions and rising before 8am (I'm off work, remember?) And so begins day one...

you and yours

The Daily Doodle: I'll doodle you. Send your photo/idea to astridparkeryoga@gmail.com.

tread lightly

The Daily Doodle: Back from skiing, but have not yet 'landed.'

1. Top of Telluride 2. and 3. Road trip through Durango to 4. and 5. Powder day at Wolf Creek and 6. Pagosa Hot Springs- What a soak!

gone skiing and worldview

The Daily Doodle: Off to Colorado! See you in two weeks, or if I can get my hands on a computer, maybe a little sooner. Sometimes I draw incessantly on vacation and other-times not at all. 

"Take a good look in the mirror, and consider this: the body you inhabit today is the outgrowth of your worldview and the choices that flow from them. If you want to transform your body, you must change your worldview. Once you summon the courage to question everything around you and begin to see the world with your own unblinking eyes, you will experience a great awakening." –- Natalia Rose, www.detoxtheworld.com

pack your stuff, free your self

The Daily Doodle: Pack in advance, plan party outfits in advance, outline menus in advance, set the table in advance... do everything possible in advance! I give myself three days minimum to start packing. This allows me the opportunity to lay out outfits – accessories and underwear included, edit, re-edit, determine the proper stowage, and make sure the house is spick-and-span before departure. In fact, packing is the perfect occasion to go over your closet with a fine-tooth comb. Try-on what you are taking and everything else! Early-birds also do laundry loads, have piece-of-mind, leave time to aid family members, and are tranquil during travel. Hopefully you have already shopped and wrapped in advance (aka months ago.) Don't forget to pack those packages!