Wow, I ate that piece of chocolate right out of the 2011 gate. Did I silently berate myself? Well maybe a little.
I’ve never been big on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s resolutions. As if the clock turning twelve one evening will change our world and we will miraculously break all our bad habits.
Rather, we have the opportunity, moment to moment, day to day, to make better choices.
But I do believe in a happy new year.
Happy New Year.
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Yoga and Holiday Stress…
There is always so much to do during the holiday season. It’s easy to let your yoga practice slide. DON’T!
Your yoga practice may be that one sacred time that you allow yourself to reconnect and most importantly, rejuvenate. No one will remember, know, or even care if you didn’t buy that one extra present or sent that extra card.
But they will remember that crazy person who totally lost it in the holiday checkout line, becoming the highest rated video on YouTube.
Take care of yourself during this frenzied holiday season.
Your friends and family will love you for it and isn’t that what yoga is all about, LOVE ?
FYI…….
Fusion Yoga opened today. Check them out at 2310 Fair Oaks Boulevard, Sacramento, in between Howe Avenue and Fulton. They offer a variety of classe including some with heat.
GoTa Yoga has recently opened in part of the space that was formerly occupied by O2 solutions. They are on Sutter Street in Old Folsom.
It was the year 2000. I was divorced, a single mom, and an executive recruiter in the high tech industry. The pinholes in the technology industry bubble were beginning to surface. I knew the air was about to be let out in a big way.
I decided to take a much needed vacation at The Oaks of Ojai, a no frills but friendly and relaxing spa. They offered healthy meals, massage, hikes, lots of movement classes, including yoga and something I had never heard of before, watsu. I dipped my toe back into the yogic waters again while the watsu pulled me completely under water. Both were rejuvenating experiences.
I came back home feeling fresher, ready to make some changes, including putting yoga back into my life.
And that’s when I met my good friend, Twyla (http://thetwylazone.wordpress.com). She taught yoga classes at my health club. Twyla brought knowledge and humor to her classes. She inspired me to learn more, try more. That’s what I did and have been doing ever since……
It was called Studio West and offered aerobics classes. The classes were fun, vigorous and occasionally a celebrity or two would be in class. (No paparazzi lurking about in those days.) Over time, the studio added yoga classes a few days a week.
I was curious about yoga. I had spent my childhood up to the age of 20 studying ballet. I have the bunions to prove it! I loved watching the strong and graceful movement of the people in the yoga class. The teacher was a man named Paul Grilley (http://www.paulgrilley.com). He taught a combination of Iyengar and Power Yoga , which really didn’t mean much to me. All I knew is I liked it and liked how I felt afterward. I practiced there for a few months until my new husband and I left for Sacramento.
At that time, Sacramento was a desert as far as yoga was concerned and there was no yoga oasis to be found. I looked for a studio and/or teacher but to no avail.
And for a very long time, many years in fact, yoga dropped off my radar screen until……… stay tuned….
Life is like Yoga. Yoga is like Life.
I’m not sure if I found yoga or yoga found me. But I know it has been a blessing.
I hope to share my thoughts, ideas, places to practice, teachers, events, in general all things Yoga and Life!
“Yoga Fran” may not be the most original name for my blog but I considered it much safer than ”Yoga Ho’”. That was the nickname my fellow yogini and good friend, Twyla, gave me when she met me. Please don’t get the wrong idea. Twyla truly has a wonderful sense of humor. Her meaning in my case was because I was driving all over town, trying new classes and new teachers every chance I got!
(For more on Twyla and her original sense of humor, check out her blog, http://thetwylazone.wordpress.com).
My first introduction to yoga began quite some time ago. It was a time when shoulder pads and big hair were the rage, Madonna wasn’t exactly convincing me she was a virgin, but her video was definitely getting a lot of play on MTV. “Perfect” John Travolta and Jamie Lee Curtis were “aerobicizing” and ogling each other in a less than perfect movie.
Yes, you guessed by now it was the decades of the 80’s. Alas, I am not from Gen X or Y, but near the tail end of the baby boomer generation. YIKES!
I lived in a rent control apartment in Santa Monica, 1/2 block from up and coming Montana Avenue. Just a short stroll from my apartment was a small aerobics studio tucked behind a quaint cafe. It was perfect!……..
Stay tuned for more of the story that takes “Yoga Fran” from Santa Monica to Sacramento……
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Yoga Fran's Blog 