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… 🎄 

Crunchy

Eka Pada Uttana Padasana - One Legged Raised Pose

I still slide my hands under my hips to support my lower back.

& Featuring what fun it is to be a hippie yogini (mommy).

PLASTIC - it’s everywhere!! I’m pretty sure my underwear is made of plastic. I am just so over plastic. & Chemicals. Unnatural clothing, bizarre body products. PLASTIC. …

Post-birth of each child I give myself a pass — the generosity to be gentle and relaxed with my otherwise crunchy ecological, home and health rules. (EG processed foods ordered in, tacky crafts or mittens overnighted in bulk.) But, youngest Bébé is now three, so I am no longer in ‘survival mode’ and am empowered - aka ruthless and rageful - against the world’s BS once again. 🐅 All crap must go.

Infinite

Ardha Padma Anantasana - Reclined Half Lotus Pose

Kubera Mudra for focused intention 

Sacrificing for your dream. Some days I look around (at my little life) and I feel overtaken with awe and immensely ‘blessed’. So much so, that the beauty of it can feel precarious (“too good to be true, so much to lose!”). But, as my husband elucidates, this life did not appear out of nowhere - myriads of sacrifices (countless other possibilities passed up) befalls when we make each choice. We are choosing one of infinite. So when the bliss is so joyous we panic, remember we had our hand in this; these are the steady and continuous - unprecarious - fruits of our labor. 🍇 

Head cold

 

Parsva Savasana - Side Lying Corpse Pose - Fetal Position

What is your illness telling you? STOP most of what you’re doing, get quiet & listen intent-ly.

My head is now submerged in what feels like a giant cotton ball and I’m hearing from my dis-ease that I’ve been consuming too much. Intaking kids’ equipment, junk food, other’s opinions, gossip, media, activity, meetings… throat, nose, ears and eyes are ailing. As I have been actively releasing much of this worldly influx as of late, I can also concur this is another important, physical step in the cleansing. ☁️ 

Gaseous 🌬️

 

Ardha Pavan Muktasana - Half Wind Removing Pose

Release blocked energy channels. 

 Handpick preferences and priorities. Your own, not others’. 

Start here

 

Phalakasana - Plank Pose

Small victories: 1. Make the bed. 2. Brush your teeth. 3. Walk the dog. 4. Brush your teeth. 5. Unmake the bed. 

Thingies 💓💖💝💕

 

Vyaghrasana Dandayamana Bharmanasana Vinyasa- Tiger Tabletop Pose Knee to Nose Flow

If you’re not fond of that THING (the fit of your sweats, the tightness of your sports bra, the cut or color of your thong, the stroke of your hairbrush, the ingredients in your lip gloss, the squeeze of the scrunchie on your wrist…) today, it will inconvenience you even more tomorrow, but you will forget your aversion over time - so OUT NOW with that thingie! And all of its unsatisfactory thingie friends, too. 

🐭

🍂🧡🎃💛🌻

- 💚BAKE zucchini bread. 

- 💛Light a CANDLE at dinner.

- 🧡Autumnify the NATURE TABLE. 

- ❤️UNEARTH the winter socks. (And pants, and hats, and mittens…)

- 💜CRAFT in the common family area.

Squeak

 

Waterfall Pose, Squat Pose

Afishka yoga mice packed and dressed

Pack, fold, place sweetly out of sight only those clothes you’ll be elated to unbox next summer. The SURPLUS leaves your home ASAP. 🍃 🍂 

Make do 🍋🐑🥥

Weekends are for using it up or chucking it out! Clean out the fridge + actually clean the fridge = resourceful foods for the famille and a fit kitchen for the week ahead. 🛒

Lemon Mousse from lemon curd left-overs and on-hand whipping cream.

Remaining cup of sheep’s yogurt into Brownies 🐑

Coconut milk revives last week’s rice 🙀

💋It’s always the sweets that seem to get photographed. 🤷‍♀️

Benefits all

 

Visvamitrasana - Sage Visvamitra’s Pose

Visva (all) Mitra (Friend)  - Benefits all.

Visvamitra embodies steadiness and spiritual focus, qualities I aspire to with the children back in school. Is powerful, nimble, light and capable around the corner?🤞 A stark contrast from the colorful, confusing, (a bit chubbier), mishmash mess (me) approaching the impending classroom comeback. Funny how we make it happen every year - la rentrée scolaire : back-to-school  - but it doesn’t seem to get any more facile. 

There is also the matter of this maman’s rentrée to the yoga studio after a few months intermission … but that is forthcoming and thus a prospective post. 

Course of inaction

 

Wake-up-got-nowhere-to-be-but-here is my 💛 preferred vibe. & what I am ⚡️ currently choosing. 

Bolognese with 🍰 & photos

Marjaryasana - Cat pose / Adho Mukha Svanasana - Downward Facing Dog Pose

 “I KNOW we didn’t have dinner! Because I DON’T remember sitting down together !”  

The family sit-down dinner is steadily back in fashion as baby gets increasingly older. And the children very much rely on this ritual. 

You can find us at home cooking (and eating). Alfresco. 

Schweet

Sukhasana - Easy Pose, Sirsasana II - Tripod Headstand 

Homemaking is love - giving the gift of beauty, comfort, fun, happiness, health, hope, joy, magic, safety, security, success to those in your home. And this life-styling is modeling a concrete methodology for your kith and kin to recreate inner peace and outer beauty for themselves and others anywhere, anytime. 

Home schweet home. 

Housedressy

 

I ❤️💛💜 Housedress 

Not sheer, past the knees, poitrine concealed. 

Natural in fiber, of course.

The best Housedress is the one you can answer the door, grab the mail, chat with neighbor, and maybe even walk the dog in (if you live in the sticks like me). 

Peppy steppy

Walk about the neighborhood. 

Clothing as KOSHA - SHEATH 

More PEP in my STEP this AM thanks to the husband who scooped up and brought back with him a small assemblage of attire from my main closet at home whilst there on a work day (I am on a month-long uninterrupted ‘reclusive’ vaycay). I didn’t realize how fatigued I was of my pathetic selection of duds (it is ASPEN, after all,) until I donned a neon swimsuit, gingham dress, silky cardi, pink suede sneakers and got a NEW LEASE ON LIFE!

Unfortunately? But powerfully! Clothing acts as a sheath - energetic layer - which can be used to our advantage (or disadvantage). 

P.S. The procuring of such items was made possible by strategic, color-coded closet organization (and periodic paring down,) allowing myself to plainly explain and my husband to effortlessly locate the 10 or so sought-after items in mere minutes via FaceTime. 🛍️ 

Purchase less, create more ✌️

Beacon

 

Light bright beacon of artistic imagination. 

I have leaned heavily into the Mother role - which has physically manifested family-friendly, practical, durable, colorful, grounding and compounding clothes, foods and shelters. But there is a lighter, brighter, ASCETIC aspect of myself I’m turning more and more towards (without eschewing my foremost family-first ethos).

My Armoire

 

As a former clothing COLLECTOR (hoarder-squirrel 🐿️!) this is a new frontier for me —

Wear your SEASONAL (shop once quarterly max) wardrobe so much that there is no question as to whether you love and keep the clothing longer OR, NO QUALMS, they’ve fulfilled their destiny and you don’t! 

Mountain Mama Summer Wardrobe, as of Late July:

💚keep 💛this is its last season ❤️already out the door  💙hmmm🧐

💛Silver espadrilles - wearing through

❤️Black river shoes (pictured above) - stretched from last Summer, already said See Ya (poubelle)

💛Flip-flops - maintaining

💛Crazy Crocs - worse for wear, as used for all hikes and most bikes

💛Purple bandana bikini - hanging on for dear life

💛White & Blue One piece - yellowing at edges 

💙Tomato soup cashmere sweater - soft as ever, maybe showing age?

💛Skull Sweater - last hurrah 

💚Prairie skirt (pictured) - good to go 😅 

💚2x Shorts - just fine 

💚Taupe linen pants - surprisingly great

💚Flowered cross-body bag (pictured) - still fresh 

💛Rose tote - wilting

💙2x Camisoles and 2x T’s - washing well

💚Sweats - new this trip :)

💚PJ’s - beddable 

💚Silk Dress - unfortunately unworn since childcare disappeared into thin air 🌬️ 

💚Shiny amethyst long cardigan - keeper

💚💜Jewels - lovely and sentimental as ever.💕 

The forced Capsule Collection that comes inherently with travel is blissful. My dear friend says all of her belongings (ALL!?) would “fit into an armoire”. What a beautiful image and, sigh, dare I say, Holy Grail, in these excessive times. 

Summer Elixer

 

CLEAN with bar soap 🧼 

SCRUB with sugar/salt + lemon, honey, vanilla, olive oil 🧂🫒 

MOISTEN with coconut oil, castor oil, beef tallow 🧉🐮

SOOTHE with aloe, lavender essential oil, ice 💜🧊

Close and Click

Aparigraha - Yama of non-possessiveness, non-greed, non-attachment 

It’s finally here. Mommy’s ‘off’-season. No birthdays or holidays in this home until October and I’m giddy. I sat at the coffee shop this morning practically levitating; Easter was my final hoorah and it’s behind me. 

Of course, there will still be endless playdates, gatherings and pool parties in our near future, but those parlous (albeit winnowed* and well organized!) DECORATION BINS are now clicked shut and closed up in the cupboards — for nary half the year !!!!! 🥂 

*Some sizable, substantial decorations have only lived with me through 2 years, 2 rounds of celebrating, but were a mistake that must be acknowledged and their donation pick-up is scheduled. I hope it’s not too inconvenient to pass along life-size trick-or-treating statues, giant glowing snowflakes, glitter encrusted cranberry wreaths, golden light-up nutcrackers, and stoic German Santa Clauses in May…