January 7, 2009 at 6:03 am (Bumping into YOGA, Step away and TRAVEL, Stepping it up and DANCING, The steps of LIFE)
Tags: Dance, Life, Work, Yoga
So. More traveling and exhaustion. It seems that it will never stop. I was in San Diego over the past weekend… supposedly to celebrate the incoming of the New Year, and also to dance (there was a festival going on there). Plus, this was an occasion to see the (long-distance) boyfriend. The trip went well, though my energy was obviously really gone–I was so tired from work and the non-stop travel of the past few weeks, that I just fell asleep hours before New Year’s eve. The 3-hour change relative to the East Coast didn’t help me; I had to make an effort to open an eye and celebrate the New Year in New York that my boyfriend was watching on our hotel room’s TV. Poor thing, he didn’t even complain that I snored through it all. Other than that, the dancing was good, but again a test to how tired I was (since I was not able to pull the late nights *at all*). Ha, what a surprise.
Anyhoo… Back in town since yesterday night. I am *theoretically* on vacation, and running a thousand needed errands. Some of them pretty engaged–they involve some house renovations that I’m getting into, not without fear of the mess they’ll bring into my life. But I’ve been saying I’d do them for long enough, it’s time to just get to them, and things and plans have been in motion–though slowly–for a few months already. I just have to push ahead and do it. In fact, today I ran errands all day long and at least got a lot of stuff done.
Of course, my Ashtanga practice is one of the most important things that are not getting done these days. This frantic rushing between the office, the urgent stuff to do, and the airports, really demands of me a level of discipline and stamina to keep the Yoga practice going that I’m finding–not without disappointment–I just don’t have. I admit that, from time to time, the fact that I don’t manage to make the space for it doesn’t make me precisely proud of myself, although I also realize that maybe is simply makes me human.
At least I’ll be able to go back to the shala for the rest of the week to start to recover. Then… I travel again (on Sunday!!!). Ugh. And, 4-5 days after that, I will come back home and things will finally calm down. I’ll again have time for myself, and will go back to my more peaceful and normal life 
Can’t wait for that to happen…
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August 28, 2008 at 4:35 pm (Bumping into YOGA, Running to HEALTH, Stepping it up and DANCING, The steps of LIFE, Visiting the FAMILY)
Tags: Life Health Yoga Dance Family
Still on vacation, but back to the US after having been with my family for a few days. It was all great. My Mom seems to be doing as well as she can be, being positive and constructive, making the most out of this new stage of her life. We relaxed (something that before seemed like a luxury, with my Dad in the house, having such a difficult time), went out, shopped, ate out, and just generally enjoyed it. I also practiced Yoga at home every day, which made me feel great, and had the chance to meet a few friends. I also finished “Enlightenment for Idiots” as well as “Downward Dogs and Warriors: Wisdom Tales for Modern Yogis” and started “A Woman Alone”, a book on women’s solo travel stories, which I usually love and find very inspiring and resonating, since so many times I’ve been on the road by myself.
Today, I was supposed to be traveling to a Dance Festival with The Boyfriend, but for now I had to call the plans off. He has a ruptured disk 
and obviously cannot (should not) dance. He’ll stay home having some therapy (traction and decompression), and trying to relax. He insisted that I should go to the Festival anyway (it would not be the first time I do this on my own, and I know many people who are attending) but this time I decided that this was meant for us to go together, and I just wouldn’t feel right going on my own in this particular occasion, even if I was looking forward to the Dance… So I’ll stay at home for a few days, which will give the chance to practice at the shala while running some large errands that I’ve been putting off for months and months… (like preparing furniture and clothes to be sent out to a charity, organizing the replacement of my dead AC unit, reorganizing my files, etcetera…) and then fly early next week to visit him, hopefully being able to do activities that will be easy on his injury and celebrating his birthday.
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August 22, 2008 at 3:34 am (Bumping into YOGA, Step away and TRAVEL, Stepping it up and DANCING, The steps of LIFE, Visiting the FAMILY, WORKing steps...)
Tags: Dance, Family, Life, Travel, Work, Yoga
Finally… I’m off the hook from work! Yay!! 
So, tomorrow, I get to go to my last Mysore session at the shala for a few weeks; I’m looking forward to it, since I took a break this morning. I do plan to keep my daily practice while I’m out of town in the next couple of weeks (want to keep accumulating days, and I’m so excited about being able to do a decent led Primary and Mysore when I come back!!! ).
So, let’s see how it goes. I’ll be traveling, spending time with my Mother and Brother, and also with The Boyfriend. I do hope it will all go well, and nice. I’m just looking forward to spending some quiet time, some fun time, some dance time, some Yoga time, some reading time… mmmm
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August 14, 2008 at 3:05 am (Bumping into YOGA, Stepping it up and DANCING, The steps of LIFE, WORKing steps...)
Tags: Dance, Life, Work, Yoga
I’m kind of tired these days. Have been working hard every day at the Office–everyone from my team is on vacation, except for me. And I’ve got stuff to do. All these research projects that always take longer than one expected (if I knew what I was going to get, and how long it would take, it wouldn’t be research, would it?). Getting a database, trying it, getting a new one, fighting with the econometrics software that doesn’t deliver what I need, getting everything upside down until I get it anyway. Uh. I actually spent my two weekend afternoons at my desk at work… but I have to say that so far I’m kind of pleased with the results. Yes, it’s been slower progress than I had hoped, but I’m definitely happy with the quality. I have a few more days to push forward before the Boss comes back and pass the check list on me… Ouch.
I also have been working hard at the Shala. I am definitely trying to go faster than last week, and I’ve cut my practice by a bit more than 10 minutes. Funny, I”m still a bit slower than others (ha) although this is OK, since that’s not me taking breaks, but keeping the poses a bit longer and my need to develop muscle strength, which I think are valid excuses. I’m also happy to report that I’m slowly breaking into my tight hamstrings (ugh) and I keep on moving up on the Primary Series (got a new asana today, yay!).
Other than that, D keeps on complaining about the lack of depth in my breath (SIGH… but shallow). Well, what to do… I have to make a bigger effort, because I am generally *not* a good breather. I have a long, long history of bronchitis, pneumonia and all sorts of almost chronic coughs that have attacked me over the course of my life. Back when I ran (in grad school… ha, I was such a disciplined runner back then) I often got told by more experienced runners that my breathing was shallow. So it is no surprise to me that my Ujjaya breath just isn’t. But well, I know I’m trying, and as I get more comfortable with the asanas, I am noticing a greater ability to breath a bit deeper (for my standards). So I have hope ;P
Other things also keep on flowing. Tomorrow evening, The Boyfriend comes to town to visit me, and we get to go to a dance festival over the weekend in a nearby town It should be nice to have him around after so long of not seeing each other, though I confess I’m a bit afraid of what the festival (with its dance-all-night events) will do to my practice. But oh, well, I may end up having to practice at home in the afternoon rather than go to the Shala at 8 am on Saturday and Sunday I suspect that it’ll be a nice break for my muscles after dancing for so many hours on 3 3/4″ heels… 
And here are (some) of the sexy dance heels…
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