Family Last

Upavistha Konasana - Seated Wide Legged Forward Fold

Great for chillin’ with your brood.

Evenings are sacred. Pick a time. Completely shut off all work (and electronics). Focus on family. Repeat daily. 

Samana Vayu

Antantasana- Side Reclining Leg Lift Pose - ‘Infinite’ Pose

SAMANA: Balance INTAKE - prana - and RELEASE - apana - with EQUAL parts IN breath and OUT breath. CALIBRATE your and your family’s days by pairing activities that require energy EXPENDITURE with those that provide and REPLENISH your energy. One and then the other, if possible. In and out. EG - a calm, silent car ride to a busy, boisterous restaurant; dinner together at the table after free and wild outdoor playtime; reading in bed post karaoke dance party. Unscheduled, luxuriant weekends to sandwich frenetic, packed weekdays. 

Three

ZERO in on these THREE pillars : Bhanda ~ Drishti ~ Pranayama

Bhanda - Energy lock (root, diaphragm, throat…)

Drishti - Gaze 

Pranayama - Breath regulation 

Easy-like

 

Sukhasana - Easy Pose (anything but!!)

Sukh - Happy

Approach your yoga postures easy-like. And then solve your worldly “problems” equally EASY-LIKE.

Stealth

REST for improved performance. 

Know when to fold. Know when to hold.

Paschimottasana - Seated Forward Fold

Calm the mind.

 First FOLD then EXTEND. 

(Yes, it’s also a metaphor).

Prayer Power

 Let go and let god.

How to Pray

 

Half Lotus Tip Toe Pose - Ardha Baddha Padma Padangusthasana

Make Yoga Class your PRAYER for one whole hour (or more…)

Legally pertinent

Is it RELEVANT ?? The new 2025 Spring Cleaning Mantra Q. 

As time passes it is only logical that objects increase in nostalgia. Therefore, RELEVANCE - appropriateness to the current time, period, or circumstances; of contemporary interest - is the requirement. Every article of clothing, dish, toy and doodad must pass the ‘significant and demonstrable bearing on the matter at hand’ test - obligation to be appurtenant to life RIGHT NOW!

Ekagrata

Parivrtta Trikonasana - Revolved Triangle

Ekagrata - one-pointedness, single mindedness, concentration 

 First twist THEN extend. 

Yielding 💛

 

Snail Pose — Halasana, Plough, Variation

Yin Plough is Snail

ROUND the spine, SOFTen the legs, ALLOW the knees to bend (maybe even beside the ears), RELAX the arms or HOLD hips with hands; LINGER and REST.

Deep, passive, meditative, slow-paced, stress relieving; enrich self-awareness and yolk bodily connectivity with YIN.  🥚 🐌 

👠

 

Vajrasana Variation On Toes — Thunderbolt Variation On Toes

Yin Yoga pose — for ligaments, tendons, fascia — AKA Deep Work 🌚

UNfurl your feet to open and stimulate your meridians.

Excruciating? Breathe to remain calm. 

Alignment begins with the feet. 

In Standing poses:

1. Lift all ten toes. 

2. Spread, FAN them out. 

Is there (equal) space between each? 

3. Place them back down -

One-toe-at-a-time, starting with the pinkie toes.

👣

Then:

4. Add ‘variation on toes’ to (all of?) your Vajrasanas. ⚡️

Openness, Coordination… Sure Footedness :)

Library 📕🪱

Parivrtta Hasta Padangusthasana — Revolved Hand to Big Toe Pose

Yang poses like this strength/stretch/twist are hung-with-the-hats for the week while husband is away and my infection is assuaging.

Limits. Injuries. Illnesses. — Forced pauses. Use them to reflect and assess. 

Not operating at full capacity with two hours between kid drop-off and pick-up, I stopped by the library thinking it to be the most serene choice from 6-8pm. Lo-and-behold they were having their seasonal book sale and I found a few treasures with the words of SOLACE I so desperately desired. Plus some decades old classics for the family collection, and a few sweet libros in Spanish for our houseguest, too. Illness and injury paving the path for quiet bookworming and togetherness. Acceptance and softness working its wonders. 🐛 

 

Education

 

Ardha Matsyendrasana — Half lord of the Fishes

Learning through pain…

in Apple-Pie order

Ardha Kurmasana — Half Tortoise Pose

Allays decision fatigue. 

Choice upon choice upon choice when clearing out the family closets. Husband’s is looking immaculate. Wife’s (yours truly the author) is underway. Goldie (age 12) on deck.

Why do I manage my husband’s wardrobe? It’s a 🚢 ship-shape passion and prowess - it’s kind and intimate (sexy?) to take such a task on for your beloved. 

HOT TO GO pile.

Day 1. Annual Closet Clean Out. Konmari style. 

Ashton is (dumpster?) “diving”, hence the disarray.

Day 2. Give-away pile is growing. 

Not quite so disheveled.

🐰

 

Sasangasana - Rabbit Pose

Sasanga - having the marks of a hare 🐰 

Soothes thyroid, aids sleep, assuages sinuses. 

Stretches back, shoulders and neck. 🌙

Do ‘it’ or don’t do it. But whatever you do, do not overthink it !! 

Skillz

A narrow focus leads to surprising uses of your natural talents. Answer the call. Do not delay. 
 

📞Contact

🤎❤️📱🧡💜

Be the girl who ~ answers the phone and/or calls right back.

(But is unreachable on holy days and holidays.)

Breakthrough

 

🦋

Sirsasana Li Konasana - Tripod Headstand with Wide Legs

How to breakthrough? Just keep showing up. Day after day. Do what you say. Make no excuses. ‘Just do it.’ 😶

Piqued

💙Denim skirts.

It’s one of those annoyed-with-everything!! types of days (for a few weeks). The irritation is so offensive that it has that opportunistic atmosphere. Fed up enough to make a big change — or many. Exasperated to the point of generating something brilliant. Revelations, and breakthroughs (in yoga poses, too),  are made past the point of exhaustion. Anger as the great motivator.

 

Note to self📝

✨🌫️ Trikonasana - Triangle Pose 🌫️✨

📝Say less.
 

“Not pregnant, not breastfeeding!!”

“You’re skiing well!” says husband. “That’s because I’m not pregnant, honey!” replies wife.

Liberation is an understatement after a decade of four pregnancies and a subsequent year of breastfeeding with each. (Plus the endless trials and tribulations that accompany family planning ventures). A reminder that expectations must always be in flux, such as now with a house filled with wonderful people not necessarily feeling so fantastic. 

To thine own self be true

 

There’s no thing that’s ‘not you’ if you approach it with your personal sensibility. 

Toss Up

Make an expedited decision. Put in an appropriate amount of effort. Let the chips fall where they may. 

Good night 🌙

 

Anjaneyasana - Low Lunge with back bend - Crescent Moon 🌙 

Chandra Namaskar - Moon Salutation 

Good night rainbow sherbet electrolytes, good night bubblegum mouthwash, good night pink sonicaire toothbrush, good night moon... Hello husband ❤️‍🔥. Love melts the blues.

Rose-Colored Goggles 🌹

Utkata Konasana - Goddess Pose

Moon Salute - Chandra Namaskar

Day off of skiing to snow hike with a girlfriend and gal doggies. Feminine energy, yin, moon. 

& photos from the rest of the Untamed Powder Time in the beautiful Rocky Mountains…

Prezzie week is the best week 💋

 🐊 

mini thingies

 

Bobby pins all lined up. 🧘‍♀️ 🧡💛🤍

Five - my four babies plus the AuPair - sick kids at home will fray the nerves. In these strenuous circumstances, tiny tasks placate the senses and alleviate the pressure. This is a fine time to classify the medicine cabinet, sort out the supplement stash, clip some finger and toe nails or arrange your bobby pins.

To secure yoga braids - a card for home, another to go.

Honor the Caregiver with the intention on returning to one’s self with a small gesture. This projects an imprint onto the future. All thanks to those hair clips at the ready - 😉🐩🎀 - I attended an invigorating 5:45am yoga sweat session and feel able to tackle this days’ assignment. 

Ring around the Rainbow

 

Utthita Padmasana - Elevated Lotus Pose 🪷 

or Tolasana / Tulasana - Scale (balance, measuring) Pose ⚖️

Lunar Halo, Moon Dog - Rainbow ring around the moon 🌈🌝

Diamond Dust - Ice Mist - weather phenomena ripe for rainbows and halos 💍

Diamond dust rainbow ring girl - Sit in the serenity of Padmasana, then press into Mother Earth, and levitate up towards Father Sky. 

Bough

Hindolasana - Cradle Pose

Hindola - Swinging Cradle, Hammock

Bough - main branch of a tree. “Apple boughs laden with blossom” 🌸

 

Gnomon

Surya Yantrasana - Sundial - Compass

Surya - Sun, Yantra - Instrument 

Gnomon - the arm, blade of the sundial that casts the shadow.

 

Confetti

 

SHOW UP Show Pony!!!

If you’re suffering from the Winter Blues it’s likely those all about you are too!!  Bring on the color, the texture and the prezzies and MAKE THE FUN at the parties. In all the ways Winter encompasses GIVING. 

🏈 halftime

 

Winter is only half way over. 

Skanda

 

Skandasana - Pose of the War God - Retreating Warrior 

 Side Lunge - One Legged Squat

Surfer’s Lunge

Heel up or heel down? I’m always wondering… you know what? Who cares?! Certainly not Skanda of War and Victory, son of Shiva the Cosmic Dancer, Lord of Yogis, The Constructive Destroyer!!!

Lunge. SURF. & Chandra Namaskar - Salute the Moon. 🌙 

Urdhva Paulina

 

Urdhva Mukha Svanasana - Upward Facing Dog Pose 🐩 

💝For the love of my Bernedoodle, Gala and this heart opener.

My habitual yoga classes have recurrently barely been pausing in URDHVA and head straightaway to ADHO Mukha Svanasana where we loiter and embellish. In which case I have been borrowing from Peter to pay Paul — staying put in Urdhva Mukha Svanasana for extra breaths as I feel the hour - and life -  feels too rife with all the downward facing.

🖤Gala🖤Galena🖤Galadriel🖤

Cotton with Silk 🌸

Arms Up Star of Vigor

 

Utthita Tadasana - Expanded Mountain Pose

The second law of thermodynamics states that the universe naturally tends towards increasing disorder and dispersal of energy throughout available space. 

Therefore, it is WORK to simply NOT slide backwards. & We must Continuously REFINE our Rhythm and Routine to make any progress. Analyze your days and identify specific areas of inadequacy — approach one pinpointed flaw individually with a fresh categorical strategy. Yes, it takes INCESSANT exertion to mobilize towards increasing order and organized energy. Get out that fine-tooth comb; Administer your days in great detail with extreme care. 

The end of the beginning

Ustrasana - Camel Pose. Fear. Elation. A life lived fully. 

At forty times around the sun, I have begun to live each day working my way backwards from the Final Destination. Who do I want to be before it’s time to return to Dust? I am able to visualize my best self in old age and aim in that stratospheric direction. It’s invigorating, exhilarating, and petrifying — & that’s when your whole world opens up.