2006 Retrospective - It's all about yoga....

January: I teach my first ever yoga class. There are 23 students (and my teacher) present for the hour long class! Though I needed to speak up louder, it went well. I was so wound up that I had trouble sleeping that night - it was all I had hoped for and dreamed about.

February: My first paycheck from teaching yoga - February 4, 2006 (I give it away to the person who made it possible). One yoga teacher and good friend celebrates her 30th birthday, and another moves away -leaving for Texas at the end of the month. I have to accept that teachers do sometimes leave, it's up to me to continue my practice without them.

March: So that we can share images as well as text in our e-mail, we purchase a digital camera. Many long hours of research went into the decision and once it arrives, many more hours are spent practicing and learning the features and capabilities of the Canon.

April: Purple Pansies!

May: My former teacher (and now close personal friend) visits from Texas and we attend two different classes together. This is the apex of my now 3-year old practice. I am strong and flexible. My endurance is better than ever, and I feel wonderful. The world of yoga is at my fingertips.

June, July, August: I injure my lumbar spine on the first camping trip of the year. How? Don't really know. Did it just happen on the camping trip or was it cumulative? Don't really know. What will my yoga practice be like from now on? Don't really know. A spinal surgeon recommends surgery -and I agree to it. My first ever surgical procedure takes place on July 21st. The results from the microdiskectomy are positive, my nerve damage begins to heal slowly.

September: We are able to vacation in Arkansas. I hike and swim and begin each day with a short outdoor yoga practice. Slowly and with great mindfulness of my limitations in forward bends and spinal twists, I approach my practice. By the middle of September I return to the recreation center, teaching one night per week. We attend the Yoga Journal Colorado Conference in Estes Park. I attend classes from some of the best teachers in the world.

October: I attend teacher training in Oklahoma, YogaFit Level 2 - good thing I had been practicing headstand as that proved to be the focus of the second master class on Sunday.

November and December are spent on the interior of the house - we basically had to move out. New carpeting was laid throughout the living areas and bedrooms over a span of two weeks.

Christmas: with my family and my friends - and yoga as my refuge from a chaotic world.

I want to live where trees live.
I want to be where they flourish.
Not where the struggle to survive takes so much effort
that to them, life means to exist, not grow.

I want to live where trees live
Where the clear water has nourished
my roots and I can grab hold of the soil so tightly
that I crack the granite below.

I want to live where trees live.

Losing a pet........

A short memorial for our kitty cat Shardae...............We had Shardae put to sleep on December 5th - she had bone cancer.

Way back (13 or 14 years ago.......) I was smoking (yes, smoking) outside the parking garage and chatting with other bank employees about cats. One lady said "hey, we just had kittens, do you want one?" and I said I'd think about it. Well, Bethie and I went to her house and picked out the runt of the litter. I named her for my favorite singer Sade....and since no one can say her name right, I used the phonetic version. Shardae was supposed to keep the other cat, Silky company - which....never quite worked out the way we thought it was going to! Ha. But they managed to "agree to disagree".

Shardae was the strangest, dumbest cat I've ever known. So strange. She thought she saw bugs on the wallpaper and (back when she had front claws).....she would pick at the wallpaper, tearing little strips off of the wall.......oh my........ And.....she would literally bark at moths and flies, bark, not meow........and she never really wanted you to pet her with your hands, but she would let you rub her with your feet (socks or no socks).....all day long........

After Silky, Shardae seemed okay living by herself. She even acted a little nicer to us both. Then we adopted Frosty from my mom and Chuck. Frosty was determined to make friends.....she flat wore Shardae out. You could almost see Shardae resign herself to putting up with the sweet, harmless, lovable little white cat and yes....eventually they even napped next to one another on the waterbed - not actually TOUCHING, mind you....but close enough just the same.

goodbye Shardae, 'twas interesting to know ya'..........

Holiday Survival Kit

I was reading in our company's health newsletter about an emergency survival kit and wanted to share a version of it with my yoga students. I placed the following items in a paper cup:

A rubber band
A mint
A sticky note
A toothpick
A tea bag
A pencil
A band-aid

I'll be handing these simple items out in class over the next two weeks:

• the reminder to stay flexible....things have a way of working out
• a reminder that you are worth a mint to your friends and family
• Stick with it! There's no end to what you can accomplish!
• A reminder to pick the good qualities in everyone
• You never know how strong you are until you are in hot water!
• A reminder to list our blessings......every day
• Heal the hurt in others.....and in yourself

Namaste, Cindy