The Nosedive

Wanted to stay home last night but knew that I would have regrets if I didn't go swimming since I only go once a week and that's not guaranteed lately.

Couldn't find my go-to goggles and, reluctantly, grabbed my back-up pair. Tried to put a positive spin on it like It's lovely to have two pairs of goggles.  The back-up pair is prone to leaking but I made it work.

Got to the school and there was an event so parking was scarce. I almost gave up but then parked away from the pool house then hiked to my destination as my energy took a nosedive.

The locker room was more crowded than usual so I didn't bother to stop and just took my top layer off poolside. Before I did, though, this guy who has been coming to the pool for a long time spotted my Motivated tank and he almost died laughing because I did not look motivated at all.

The water was chilly (as usual) so I stood there and talked to my pool friend for a bit. Somehow, I managed to get in 18 laps and enjoyed most of them too.

When I got home and unpacked my swimming paraphernalia, my #1 pair of goggles fell out of one of the plastic bags that I keep in my pool bag...

As I checked the news, people were talking about the Botham Jean verdict and a lot of people are, rightly, angry. I saw a quote not too long ago and I don't remember it verbatim but it said something like racism destroys you from the inside.

On a yet another note, I'm glad that the Finnish reporter didn't treat Trump with kid gloves.

Altogether

My next-door neighbor happened to stop by on my birthday and she came back the next day sharing flowers that she somehow inherited. It was a lovely and huge bouquet.

Right before my birthday, the 'Fugee's niece stopped by to bring me something from the 'Fugee and I was totally surprised when she rounded the corner with flowers. I could feel the smile spread across my face...

Finished with the Restorative Yoga with Singing Bowls series or, as Jocelyn dubbed it, the Restorative Sound Experience. I'm going to miss it.

Told Jocelyn that I see why people want their own yoga studios. There's only so much space on the class roster. Soooo, I've been looking at places to possibly rent by the hour. The most affordable one is usually booked solid. Plus, it's not accessible so it wouldn't be a great fit anyway.

I'm a bit shocked by how much places charge for rentals. I wish money wasn't the bottom line for so many experiences... I keep thinking about how so many yoga teacher trainings have that teach yoga or deepen your practice verbiage built in. For me, it's been hard to resist the yoga/sound therapy call even though I went into training for the deepen my practice... part.

We are on schedule for three times in December for our Restorative Sound Experience but what to do with myself during this two-month hiatus? Of course, I also have plenty to do and plenty that needs to be done -- like my eternal uncluttering project...

Not sure why I hadn't listened to the Oprah's Super Soul podcast before but I checked it out. The first episode that I chose was Marie Forleo's  Everything Is Figureoutable and then, as I cooked yesterday, listened to the Shaka Senghor's episode Prison Taught Him the Power of Love, Forgiveness and Redemption. Both episodes were uplifting. On the way to Zumba today, I listened to part of the Tracy Morgan episode.

Also finished listening to the very powerful Living on Overtime episode of 10% Happier and, on Sunday, I watched the segment of  CBS Sunday Morning with Jim and Jeannie Gaffigan.

Altogether, the various episodes were moving reminders about love and seizing the moment.

Carried Away...

Didn't have any major plans for my birthday and, in fact, did not really feel like celebrating. My aunt G, though, usually asks "What are we going to do?"

I like to go to breakfast for my birthday but knew that my mother would not be up in time. Thought about taking a trek to St. Genevieve but nixed the idea when LaBonne Bouchee, a French bakery/restaurant, popped into my head. My aunt and mom enjoyed the little field trip and the food was tasty...

Hand-washed my car as I hadn't done it in ages. Plus, it needed to go the dealer for a minor recall and I didn't want it to look like an uncared for car.

For the rest of the day, I chilled out until it was time for Restorative Yoga with Singing Bowls -- a class that I've been doing with a YTT classmate. Last night was our sixth outing.

Love seeing people who look completely relaxed and I love to hear the sound of snoring. A woman who came last night said that it was as if the singing bowls were carrying her stress away...

Went to take care of the recall today and I normally wait on my car then walk to a coffee shop. Spotted a bagel place along the way and decided that I wanted to go there. Imagine the horror when I discovered that I didn't have my wallet after I had placed the order. Had my coin purse but since I had washed my car, there were only nickels, pennies and dimes in it which didn't add up to enough to cover my bill.

Told the cashier and the guy let me have the bagel anyway. That was so nice of him. Checked out his badge and I'm planning to send the money back via mail.

I usually carry my wallet without the purse when I take my singing bowls because it’s once less thing to worry about gathering. Lesson learned though.

Unfettered

About a week ago, thought about how nice my knee felt; it was so unfettered. Well, I must have jinxed it.

When I didn't have the luxury of having a super tight knee, it started to feel inflamed and all-around weird. Helped to prepare for a festival this past weekend and definitely missed moving around with ease.

One of my colleagues asked me if I had bursitis. I don't know and don't know if I want to get an MRI. I did the PT exercises that Gingerzingi shared with me and it feels much better. It's amazing to me that so many of the moves are yoga-related moves and it's also amazing how the constriction alleviates.

For months now, I've been in the "yoga snacks" lane -- practicing for about 10 minutes a day but I need to make a commitment to do, at least, 30 minutes of daily yoga...

Finished reading How We Live Our Yoga and, now, I'm without a book to read so I'm reading a Yoga International magazine and the 1619 Project.

Searched for the 10% Happier episode with Sebene Selassie when I came upon another one of her interviews on Hurry Slowly. Selassie likes to say that none of us are auto-didacts and that we don't learn on our own. In the Hurry Slowly episode she says, Our evolution from birth to now -- everything we've learned, we've learned from society.  She said I've learned language and ideas through other human beings. She goes on to say that even when we think we're not being repetitive, we are.

What she said about language really resonated with me...

Also listened to the first episode of the 1619 Project podcast. The sound effects and Nikole Hannah-Jones' narration make for a captivating episode.

Other people who have also lost heir minds:

Rejoicing

Moonflower, I think...

Finished Tara Westover's Educated the other day and it's one of those books that sticks with you. Her upbringing sounded so unreal that I was glad that she put author's notes in there about it being fact-checked. Westover also consulted with siblings about memories and where the memories vary, there are footnotes.

Next, I'm on to reading How We Live Our Yoga...

I want to get my hands on the 1619 Project; it's free to read online but my visual stamina for reading on a device is not that great.

Listened to the 10% Happier episode about Sharon Salzberg's medical emergency. Dan Harris mentions something about taking two steps back and Salzberg says that those steps are never as far back as we think they are then asks Can we rejoice more (about accomplishments) instead of focusing on those "backward" steps?

The importance of rejoicing is always a hard lesson to learn.

Also listened to an 11 minute meditation with Sebene Selassie on 10% Happier. It was great and I'm thinking about subscribing to 10%...

I'm having another wild Friday night. I cut the grass, took a shower and did about 20 minutes of yoga.

Days Late...

One of the presenters, Jana Long, for Yoga As A Peace Practice encouraged us to grow something -- a pot of, say, basil -- something.

Recently listened to Ross Gay's Tending Joy and Practicing Delight, an episode of the On Being podcast and he mentioned that his life got better when he started growing things.

Guess that I will forgive myself for that one time that I killed mint and a cactus and try to grow something again and see where it takes me.

Speaking of On Being and growing things, Jerico Brown's poem, Foreday in the Morning, blew me away.

And speaking of writers, someone saw me post about Toni Morrison and the person expressed shocked -- I know that Toni Morrison was old but... I know exactly what she meant.

The tweet below was the one that made me teary-eyed.

And thanks Saeed Jones for this excerpt from Beloved:

And this...:

The world right now, wow...

So So Much

Was deeply ensconced in this training called Yoga As A Peace Practice this weekend. It's a training offered by the Black Yoga Teachers Association with the following goals:

...to facilitate, create and introduce contemplative practices, rooted in the philosophical tenets of the niyamas, restorative and kriya yoga and culturally relevant themes, and to offer them in ways that are accessible to individuals and communities where trauma from violence exists.

I always feel guilty about saucha, one of the niyamas. My environment is really cluttered but,  somehow, I have to move beyond feeling paralyzed about it and get myself out of this situation.

At any rate, it was an intense but inspiring weekend. I've felt like gentle and restorative yoga is my thing and I feel an even greater commitment to it now. I also went to a birthday party on Saturday. I had RSVP'd before the yoga workshop got on my radar. 

The person sitting next to me at the party said that she's not flexible and that's hard for me to hear but I try to take time to explain that, really, flexibility is not required...

Because I was at the workshop, I heard the news about the mass shooting late. It was a punch to the gut on so many levels and when I heard about the second one, wow. I feel like Pandora’s box has been opened. 

So so much has been going on. 

About how I'm feeling right now:

If I get killed in a mass shooting please cremate me and throw my ashes into Mitch McConnell’s and Dana Loesch’s eyes while I’m still smoldering.

— The Volatile Mermaid (@OhNoSheTwitnt) August 5, 2019