This Time of Year

Feel like I've been out of control but I'm giving myself big credit for the leaving the house last night at 7:40 p.m. and going to Zumba even though the temperature was in the teens.

I'm off my regular schedule but the world is off its regular schedule during the end of the year so I'm not alone. 

I've done a couple of Amazon Prime exercise videos, including Fitness Kickbox and Latin Zoom Cardio Workout. I enjoyed both but especially the latter. 

Went to yoga after work today and found it hard to settle down because it was cold in the studio and I had been cold all day at work but I just kept a blanket around me and finally relaxed. The teacher, who's really on maternity leave, subbed for the regular teacher. I loved her yoga-talk about embracing choices during practice. She was essentially saying modify poses if you need to. She also talked about not putting so much New Year pressure on ourselves and to think about adding elements to our lives as opposed to eliminating things. 

I also like what Sean Haleen had to say about this time of year...

This time every year, I'm bombarded by advertisements and posts that imply the "right" thing to do is work extra hard, diet, cleanse, etc., Especially within the context of Yoga, this communicates to people the fruits of our practice become attainable through punishing ourselves for the past few weeks of indulgence. This also reinforces that "harder" is naturally better for us. I used to live for punishment and it lead me down a hard road of addiction and starvation. One message I can't repeat enough from experiencing this, is that if you beat yourself up, all you'll feel in the end, is beaten up. This is what drew my so strongly to the teachings of the Buddha many years ago. Neither lavishing yourself nor depleting yourself leads to fulfillment and we often ricochet from one to the other. Teachers, practitioners, yogis, remember that using Yoga to punish yourself doesn't lend itself to self-realization, it formalizes the bond we have with seeing our bodies as "wrong" "unworthy" or "needing to change." Let yourself feel full, nourished, and okay during this time where the pressures to make certain choices are inescapable. #yoga #yogateacher #yogamen #yogalove #yogalife #instayoga #stopdropandyoga #yogaeverywhere #yogaeverydamnday #downdog #yogatime

A post shared by Sean Haleen (@sarcasticyogateacher) on Dec 27, 2017 at 9:07am PST

The Travel Penguin's post about being organized made my Like List as well.

Dazed

Dazed...

Feeling as if I'm going around in circles.

Wanted to go to 9:30 yoga or 11:00 o'clock yoga and didn't make it to either one and after I crawled back into bed, I knew that I was in danger of missing the 1:00 o'clock lunch/dinner at my aunt G.'s.

The snow was falling gently this morning and I found myself not wanting to move but knew that I needed to get to the store.

Once I made it to the store, I was texting back and forth with two or three people then I ran into two people. All that to say, I missed the appointed time to get to my aunt's.

This holiday season has been confusing. How many people do I get stocking stuffers for? How has a religious holiday turned into such a materialistic fest?  Found myself at Walmart on Saturday because I really wanted to see if they had these cookies that another aunt wanted. There was not a parking spot available so I parked at the nearby Sam's Club and walked over. Luckily, I had less than 20 items but all I could think about was the collective price of all of those shopping cart contents.

Got things from people at work that I totally wasn't expecting.  A new colleague gave me an extremely thoughtful gift; it's one that I would have given myself...

So, it's Christmas Eve and I'm washing clothes and trying to knock out other tasks and trying to squash that familiar feeling of never being able to get enough done.

To The Gong

It's been a while since I bicycled so I was sore on Saturday afternoon.

I put yoga high on the agenda for Sunday but still had to talk myself out the door. Sometimes I feel like my body just shuts down before the work week starts.

Went to a new-to-me teacher's class and she started the class talking about a yoga concept and related it to a cancer diagnosis that she received at the age of 28 when, in her words, she found out that she wasn't immortal. A more recent scare had her moving away from techniques that she relies on to keep her calm and centered. It was a powerful reminder and way to start class.

Post-yoga, my body felt 97% better...

Tonight, I went to the final sound meditation of 2017. Got out my big IKEA and filled it with blankets and pillows.

Woke myself up a couple of times with snoring but that's one of the benefits of the gongs is that no one is able to hear you. This meditation was my third one so I knew when I heard the chimes and rain stick that the meditation was ending. Wow, not all hours are created equally because I felt like I'd only been listening to the gongs for 20 minutes.

Anytime

A couple of weeks ago, told Patti that I was jonesing for brunch at a place in her neighborhood and she said Anytime.

Well, anytime was today. At first, I was going to try for Zumba and then thought about the nice weather so I brought up biking. Yes, I brought up biking knowing that Patti has a bike with the thin wheels and she also has those clip on shoes. 

At some point, Patti emailed me to say that her son's mother-in-law would be joining us for brunch and bicycling. The brunch crowd got bigger and the bicycling crew expanded by one. 

We paused after the scrumptious brunch, debated about how many layers of clothing to put on then met up with one member of our bicycling crew along the trail. 

Jessica is trying to convince me to wear a helmet, get a road bike and cycling shoes. She swears that road bikes make all the difference as far as struggling less. Don't think I'll be getting a bike soon but if someone wants to give me one for Christmas, I won't return the bike.

Because I'm unfamiliar with the trails in Illinois, I couldn't gauge how far we'd bicycled or how much road we had to cover. When we got back to Patti's house, she declared that we had gone 15.2 miles and it totally felt like it. Also of note, I have never bicycled in December. 

*Part of the regular menu... I cracked up when the server said that Patti's pillow bread had been toasted with bacon fat.

The Release

Before I headed to a restorative yoga class at work last Wednesday, I explained something to a super frustrated colleague. When I realized her level of despair, I mentioned the yoga class but she told me that it was at work with work people and she wouldn't be able to relax. I get that.

On Friday, we had our holiday party and I won a $100 dollar gift card to a Thai restaurant. There was also a cake walk and when I went to the stage, one of my colleagues said Haven't you won enough already?, LOL. I only went to the stage because they needed more participants. I need a whole cake like I need another hole in my head.

Went to the 'Fugee's on Friday and she made me a smoothie -- the same color as my juice that I've been getting. Not sure why but I started laughing which escalated into shrieks and I couldn't stop for quite a while. Seriously, I lost control -- guess I needed the release. 

At any rate, the concoction was very tasty. Thank you, 'Fugee...

Had weird dreams last night, including one that was set in a jail but I'm about 99% sure that came from watching Empire. 

I'm doing a meditation "challenge" right now. I'm on day two which really resonated with me. I've added it to my  iPod and will definitely listen to it again.

I am on a mission to get you to meditate. So, here’s a challenge: 7 days for 5 minutes each day. You can do this, and it could just shift your life in a sweet and powerful way. There is no shortage of evidence on the efficacy of meditation physically, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually. Does this sound familiar? “I really should meditate, but I don’t know how to.” “I really should meditate, but my mind is all over the place.” “I really should meditate, but I don’t have time.” “I really should meditate, but I can’t sit still.” “I really should meditate, but I need some guidance.” The excuses go on and on. The truth is that you CAN meditate - and this is the community to offer support and accountability. I am even willing to bribe you with some swag if you finish the challenge and bring friends with you. I’ve created a free (and downloadable!) 5 min. guided meditation for each of the next seven days - Day One is already up on my website. Just complete the 3 steps below to have a chance to win some giveaways (shown in photos above - swipe left!), or complete the challenge simply for your own benefit. Just meditate!!! More info below. 😊 TO PARTICIPATE: 1) Follow me, if you’re not already! Then TAG A FRIEND on this post. 2) Head over to my website at www.colleensaidmanyee.com/meditate (link in my Bio as well). Listen to the new five minute meditation available on each of the seven days. Feel free to download for future use! 3) Check-in on my website each day - takes only a few seconds (check-in is directly below meditations on the web page). Steps 1-3 must be completed all seven days to enter. (I’ll be checking! 😉) Share/repost my photo for 2 additional entries. Hashtag #whywaitchallenge. Must be following @colleensaidman. Must tag friend in comments. There will be multiple swag bags sent out! Includes: Yoga Shanti water bottle and tank (sizes S/M/L), yoga DVD, Yoga For Life book, and one Young Living Essential oil. Winners selected at random and contacted through DM or email on December 18th. MUST BE IN CONTINENTAL USA. All others are still welcome (and encouraged) to participate! ✨🙏🏽 #whywaitchallenge #challenge #giveaway #yoga #meditation

A post shared by 💜 Colleen Saidman Yee (@colleensaidman) on Dec 8, 2017 at 5:40am PST

Feels Right

Post-Zumba on Saturday, I asked Alison to stop at the local herb shop before we headed for coffee. The shop was having an annual holiday sale but I didn't realize that it was also their annual holiday party and I'm still thinking about the Chickpea and Spinach Curry (with sprouted rice) and the gluten-free brownies that I ate.

From the shop, we headed to the Mystic place where I can never resist buying something. Recently saw a massage therapist on Instagram touting Chinese Therapy Balls so, of course, I had to buy a pair...

Kept looking at the sky during the weekend because I was captivated with the moon. It was stunning and I tried to capture pictures with not much luck.

Actually like this one.

Went to an awesome yin yoga class tonight. Almost stayed at home but so glad that I didn't. This is my second time in this teacher's class and I can see why people tell you to find the teacher that feels right to you...

Re: the super moon, I also like this 'gram.

Moon of all moons, there are times when a specially big moon rises in the sky. On December 3, we heard that a Super Moon was going to appear. Our expectation of seeing it from the Korean land after many decades was bigger than the moon itself. But the weather was bad... 😞 When you guys called us saying you saw a faint moon on your way back home from our place, I remembered an old song I learned in the elementary school. “Moon, moon, what moon? Round moon like a plate. Where, where, did it rise? It rose above the Nam mountain.” #moon #supermoon #drawing #watercolor A lua das luas, tem dias que a lua nasce especialmente grande. Quando soube que na noite do dia 3 o "super moon" aparecia e eu poderia revê-lo depois de décadas aqui nos céus da Coreia, o tamanho da minha expectativa talvez fosse maior que a própria lua. Mas o tempo estava fechado ㅠㅠ ... Naquele dia, quando vocês vieram nos visitar em casa e no caminho de volta me ligaram dizendo que conseguiram ver a lua mesmo que embaçado, lembrei de uma velha canção que aprendi assim que entrei na escolinha. "Lua lua que tipo de lua, lua redonda como bandeja. Onde ela está? No topo da montanha Namsan." 달 중의 달, 특별히 큰 달이 뜰 때가 있지. 지난 3일 밤에 슈퍼 문이 뜬다고 하길래 몇 십년만에 한국 땅에서 보겠구나 기대가 정말 달보다 컸었어. 그런데 날씨가 나빴지. ㅠㅠㅠ... 너희가 할아버지네 왔다가 돌아가는 길에 그래도 희미하게나마 달을 봤다는 전화를 받고 초등학교 들어가자 배운 옛날 노래가 생각났다. '달 달 무슨 달 쟁반같이 둥근 달 어디어디 떴나 남산 위에 떴지’ #할아버지회상 # 슈퍼문 #수채화 #보름달

A post shared by Grandpa Chan (@drawings_for_my_grandchildren) on Dec 5, 2017 at 5:42am PST