Stretch for Success ~ Skandasana

 

Skandasana - Skiiers Lunge

Parents: we are elite athletes - yoga, stretch and strengthen, daily for mental clarity and to avoid injury.

Early Riser ~ Virabhadrasana II

Virabhadrasana II - Warrior 2 Pose

Surya Namaskar - Sun Salutation

To each era its own rhythm and organization: I may rise at 5am regularly now, but I was not astir so early when I frequently awoke throughout the night with bébés - or in my twenties with other motives and goals!

Parent Handbook ~ Utthita Parsva Konasana

 

Utthita Parsva Konasana - Extended Side Angle Pose
You are right - it is not easy. 

Parenting is the epitome of primal living. It is unyieldingly petrifying, thrilling and rewarding. Good luck! 🍀 

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. 🎻🌸🎉

Houseworkasana

Houseworkasana

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

Notes from my last flight

 

Notes taken in the air - originally in pen 🖊️ in a mini notebook 📓 — never, ever leave home without one. 

🩵💚Not to be forgotten when flying with kiddos 💛🧡

It will not always be easy

Virabhadrasana A - Warrior I Pose

Virabhadrasana A - Warrior I Pose

I birthed my four babies at home and I have always known intuitively never to speak about it in common company. When your life challenges conventional - conformist - foundational beliefs, the threatened masses will act out (and sometimes with virile hostility). Thinking ‘differently’ from the majority is a sure bet side effect of a consistent yoga practice and is mostly fun, but on occasion you will feel confused, misunderstood and alone (or even outcast and humiliated when you are the more outspoken type). Welcome to rare and lasting inner peace and outer beauty! No one said it would be easy. 💖

PS :  If you are not having these black sheep issues - get thee to more yoga classes! 🤭😋🙃

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.

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. 🔥 🎭 

What is

Vajrasana - Thunderbolt wrapped in the cozy calm flicker 🧸 

Vajrasana - Thunderbolt

🤎 Current favorite pose - Kneeling and meditating. 🕯️  

Santosha - a deep satisfaction with your current situation, feeling enough as you are, meeting the present moment as it is. 

Many a duty (this December, especially) have I obliged - so, now it is time to sit back and enjoy the rest of the 2025 ride. 

Imitated never duplicated

 

Hanumanasana - Splits Pose, Monkey Pose 

Hanumanasana - Splits Pose, Monkey Pose

Execute the repetitive, allegedly mundane tasks of daily life with your irreplaceable, original essence, soul and skill. 

Au naturel

".

Parivrtta Prapadasana - Twisted Toe Squat

“Being in ‘nature’ is good for us,” “get out into ‘nature’,” “commune with ‘nature’ daily,” “eat more naturally, wear natural fibers, naturalify your home…” — hold the phone — we ARE nature!!! ☎️ 

🌟 Starbaby 🌟

 

Yoga Mudrasana - Psychic Union Pose

Lotus legs, hands bound, third eye to the floor 🧿

🌈 How do you prepare for your birthday? ✨ 

Nowhere else I would rather be

Marichyasana III - Sage Marichi Pose 3, Seated Sage Twist With Bind C

The kiddos, or you, or both 😱 are sick and suddenly, without warning ones focus is single minded and undivided; nothing else matters. 🧿

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. 🍇 

Mystical magical

 

Ardha Purvottanasana - Reverse Tabletop Pose

RECLAMATION: Not a destination. An ongoing, thrilling, pleasurable, amusing, surprising, magical, life-long process.

Destroyer of all diseases

 

Matsyasana - Fish Pose

Reduce stiffness in shoulders and neck. Improve posture. Balance the thyroid.

Self-compassionate healing après over-giving.