50% ~ Natarajasana II

Natarajasana II - Dancer Pose 2, hand to floor
Cherry tomato heart on chest.

I may need to oust an actual percentage of our stuff in order to recall my Yogini, hippie, natural mama priorities and promises. 50% give or take? 🍅 

Upwards ~ Anjaneyasana

 

Anjaneyasana - Low Lunge

Vertical organization - higher shelving, hanging plants … storage off of the floor. 

🪴 

Hand-me-downs ~ Virabhadrasana I

Virabhadrasana I - Warrior One 
The color of the heart is green.

I am stuck on the Stuff Merry-Go-Round. Packing for a family of six makes me lose my mind a little. I have beneficially and appropriately kept and corralled many, many seasons and sizes of duds and doo-dads, but this again? How many times can I unbox, unfold, sort, fold, wash, dry, sort, fold, pack, unpack, sort, shakeout, dust off, examine, sort, fold, keep, pass along, repeat …

Ordination ~ Ardha Eka Pada Galavasana

Ardha Eka Pada Galavasana - Baby / Half Flying Pigeon Pose

What feels good with the floating leg?

We must forgo 80% of everything (we do, own, don, desire etc.) if we would like a ‘signature’ anything, and much more if ‘iconic’ is the desired ordination.

Cotton? Linen? Silk? Spandex! ~ Ardha Kapotasana

 

Ardha Kapotasana - Half Pigeon Pose
Fly free with any clothing and all accessories.

How about not ‘yoga clothes’ for yoga. (Although I get it - cotton is heavy when wet and slow to dry!) 🤔 

LBD NBD ~ Koundinyasana II

 

Koundinyasana II - Flying Splits Pose 2, Preparation
Pausing here often during Vinyasa.
This is an accurate representation of what I generally wear to yoga: dark leggings, a lightweight, medium tone half-length undertank, and a looser (often grey) soft top tucked in.
With a rose quartz colored cotton mat.

Color TONALITY is important when dressing - take into account how much CONTRAST you do or do not have regarding your skin, eyes, and hair (and shade changes due to age, health status, tanned skin, sun-kissed tresses …). 

Hint: Not everyone looks great in black. 🌞 🖤

Vinyasa ~ Vasisthasana

 

Vasisthasana Vinyasa - Side Plank Dance
🪩 Move in vinyasa manner to find your groove; embrace certain elements (and omit others) to make the practice your own. ☃️ 

❄️❤️Combine the things you love.❤️❄️

Flavors ~ Vasisthasana Janu

Vasisthasana Janu - Side Plank Pose on Knees

With endless iterations of every asana, get a sampling through your vinyasa - move fluidly through numerous variations to discover a new flavor.🍦 

Dip, dip, dip, FRY, bake…
Crispy chicken tenders are THE crowd pleaser - so triple the recipe!!!

Always playing with homemade frosting. 🧁 

Bye Bye, Bra ~ Pranayama

I wore a more traditional bralette today for my AM movement and, boy, did I regret it. It was sweet with lace, constructed from organic cotton and seemed benign enough, but I was suffocating by the hours end with that tight-ish band encircling my ribcage and constricting my lung expansion, I couldn’t wait to rip it off (and toss it out)!

‘Burn’ any BRA that restricts - strangles! - your diaphragm. Wear soft, little camisoles without the throttling punishment of asphyxiation, or simply go bare, and fully breathe in life once again! 

Cookies, Socks and Winter Activities - Oh My 😝 ~ Parsva Urdhva Hastasana

Parsva Urdhva Hastasana - Upward Salute Side Bend Pose
Can you straighten your arms? All the way?

I am back in the kitchen with verve baking up a storm once again. Is it my new “easy bake oven” (air fryer)? Or the fact that my youngest is now three and slightly less underfoot? It is both I am sure, and other factors, too. (Chilly weather💨.) Whatever it is sparking my creative joy, I will run with it…as do my children and so should you! 🍪

Brownies, banana bread, oatmeal raisin balls, yogurt cake, sugar cookies, cream cheese frosting… biscuits, french fries, quiche, pigs in a blanket, pizza, grilled cheese, quesadillas, roasted (air fried) everything and the list goes on… I kid you not, these kids actually expect me to feed them EVERY DAY!!! 🤪

My daughter knits socks.  🧶 🧦 For MY feet. 😍🥰

& these adorable and refreshing Gen Alpha kids also sing, tinker on the piano, play violin, craft, craft, craft and, obviously, level-up our nestle chips. 🎻🌸🎉

Doodlers Love Doodles ~ Tadasana Hindolasana

🌈Tadasana Hindolasana - Standing Cradle Pose. Just here being my embellished self. 🎀🐯🎄  

How we do one thing is how we do everything. One look in my cabinet and I had to laugh - a collection of drawings on both my shelf stable household items and my perishables…

Everything must have doodly drawings in HappyGoLuckyILoveCreativityWithColor&PatternAstridLand.

Houseworkasana

Houseworkasana

AHA moments are continuously had in savasana, but also habitually unveiled while carrying out the housework. 🧹 

What are you building?

 

Eka Pada Raja Kapotasana - King Pigeon Pose in happy frenchie cool girl stripies

Eka Pada Raja Kapotasana - King Pigeon Pose

Add flourish to your asanas. 🐚 

Everyday around 10am, for eight days straight, our family of six, (with cousins in tow,) headed to the beach. My youngest, age 3, would promptly ask me to “build a road”. We scooped, dug, piled, grated, patted, and decorated gaping holes, super highways, winding rivers, picturesque villages, connecting tunnels, long islands, creepy faces, and even a giant sea serpent monster. What were we making? We never knew. We just kept constructing. 

🧜‍♀️🧜‍♀️Sea monsters🧜‍♂️🧜‍♂️

Yo-ga

 

Dance your yoga ~ unite with the divine. Inner peace and outer beauty are yours for the taking.

This New Year - UNIFY yourself.

YOLK each aspect of your life through self realization. 🥚 

Jolly shopping and wrapping.

Silly gilly traveling.

Amusing dressing and entertaining.

Victory pack

 

Vrksasana -  Tree Pose while auditioning clothes (yes, sparkle pink is coming with!). 🌸

Vrksasana - Tree Pose

TRY ON ALL clothing and accessories, if possible, when packing for a trip - dressing well is a feeling, literally. 

Special state of mind

Eka Pada Raja Kapotasana - King Pigeon Pose, P.J.s all day. 🌹 

Eka Pada Rajakapotasana - King Pigeon Pose

Much ado leading up to the big day (in this case Christmas). IN THE WAKE of any momentous occasion I find myself in a very unique state of mental clarity; this is a prime opportunity to write reference notes. Keep a notebook for ‘hostessing’, ‘travel’, ‘holidays’ - wherever your interests lie - in order to access that very particular productive you. Borrow her Herculean magic using your own words for increased performance when the successive time comes and you are *stumped or *frustrated - inevitably my vibe before birthdays, travel, holiday etc. !!! LISTS - ‘gifts’, ’paint colors’, ‘buffet table setting’, ‘long car ride’, ‘weather in Telluride’ - are especially supportive.

**A note on resistance — we are most apt to create friction and repel those undertakings and engagements that give us the most satisfaction as the pressure to perform in something we are passionate about, skilled or talented at, is immense. 🔥 🎭 

Observe

 

Malasana - Garland Pose starry ⭐️ bubbly 🫧 lovey 💕 dovey 🕊️ 

Malasana - Garland Pose

Sit back and watch the frenzied, delirious world do its thing whilst you do peaceful, casual yours. 

Buttermilk snow bunnies gone disco crazy 🐰 🪩 

Jingle all the way 🔔 

🌫️ Fog lifts 🪽

 

Utthita Ashta Sanchalasana - Runner’s Lunge Pose in eclectic, collected woolen long johns.

Utthita Ashwa Sanchalasana - Runner’s Lunge Pose

Easylike

Big (holiday, travel) emotions have bubbled to the top, then, mercifully, dissipated into thin  air. 🫧 

Monogram

 

Utthita Parsvakonasana - Extended Side Angle Pose

Play and pose your trademark way.

The ‘To Do’ lists are never done; they are your infinite unending daily life notes, so write your days in your best, signature handwriting. 💘🎀

Hands like work

 

Virasana - Hero Pose

How do we quiet the mind and open the heart? By moving the hands. 

A weighty question has been pulling me down and dragging me back, but I found respite and lightness this morning by: unpacking our suitcases, setting up the advent, calling an artist to collaborate, writing checks, designing and sending an invitation, decorating a small tree, cooking a nourishing dinner… 🎄