We're traveling at the moment. The last three days were spent in the car, hurtling across the midwest towards Rhode Island. It's hard to maintain a daily practice when you're staying in motels, getting in at 10 pm or so, and leaving first thing in the morning. In addition to the time problem, there's the… Continue reading Utili-yoga
Author: Mollyavalon
Traveling
We're getting ready to leave town, and this time we're driving. We'll be on the road for a couple of weeks, visiting family and friends in New England. Taking the car means that we can bring a couple of yoga mats and maybe some blocks and blankets. I'm hoping to be able to maintain my… Continue reading Traveling
June 3, so far, so good
It's the third day of YoMo, and I'm doing fine. My husband has taken yoga classes a couple of times but found it insufficiently fast and competitive. However, he's having back trouble, and he asked me to get him started with a short yoga routine. I've practiced with him for two days now. We did… Continue reading June 3, so far, so good
Early morning group practice
The Yoga Center has started a 6:00 am guided practice. It's led by Katie, who is a new teacher. Today was the first day. It was a wonderful way to start the day. Some yoga experience is required, which means that Katie doesn't need to demonstrate much or make corrections. She told us what we… Continue reading Early morning group practice
Focus poses and why some stick better than others
I just figured out why, in January, when I did Upavistha Konasana (seated wide angle) and Supta Virasana (reclining hero) almost every day, Upavistha Konasana didn't improve nearly as much as Supta Virasana did. I'm adding Parivrtta Trikonasana (revolved triangle) as a focus pose this month. It's such a difficult pose for me that I… Continue reading Focus poses and why some stick better than others
YoMo begins, can’t find my notes!
During my morning practice yesterday I wrote myself several notes about things to write about relative to YoMo. I'll be writing a couple of emails a week to participants who signed up to practice yoga every day during the month of June, and I've been thinking about what to say. My desk is a big… Continue reading YoMo begins, can’t find my notes!
Focus pose
When we did YoMo in January, I chose two poses that are really hard for me to work on during that month - Upavistha Konasana (seated wide angle) and Supta Virasana (reclining hero). Supta Virasana improved enormously, as I've described recently. Upavistha Konasana, not so much. So during this June YoMo I'm going to work… Continue reading Focus pose
Supta Virasana again
I know, I've written about this pose a lot. This is just a short post to say how happy I am that I have persevered through difficulties with it. In the nine years I've been practicing, this is the one asana that has changed the most for me. When I started, I sometimes used as… Continue reading Supta Virasana again
Practicing together
In January, as part of YoMo, I invited several friends to practice with me on Friday mornings. My original ideas were that it would be only for January, and that it would be restorative. As it turns out, we've continued our practice, and it seems to me that all of us have benefitted. We learn… Continue reading Practicing together
Beginning, middle, end
At the beginning of home practice I like to do some sort of centering to be present on the mat. Yesterday in our group practice we chanted "om" three times. Just as we inhaled for the first time, the phone rang. My husband wasn't home to answer it. "Let's just keep going," I said. The… Continue reading Beginning, middle, end
Practice Notes 