Yoga Challenge Day 7 ~ The Chatter Box

I have the cutest little daughter in the world named Kennedy.  Even though she’s only five years old, it’s quite possible that she’s said more words in her short life than I’ve said in my 30 or so years of human existence.  Her mouth spits out sentences from the second she wakes up (way too early…) to the split second before her eyes shut and her brain turns off for the night. It’s a fairly constant and rapid barrage. I bring this up only because Kennedy also likes to join me for yoga on occasion, which always turns into a major jabberfest about how flexible she is some directions, how she can’t find her yoga for kid’s book , how she thinks President Obama talks too much, how she wishes we still had a swimming pool because it’s so hot outside, how she can’t do push ups, how she learned how to sing “Party in the U.S.A.” from her friend at preschool, how the government isn’t doing enough to stop the oil spill, etc., etc., etc…. This morning after I finished running (she sprinted along for the last 1/2 mile), Kennedy and I walked out to the dock behind the house and she joined me for part of my yoga routine.  Of course we chatted up a storm, and I think my favorite comment of the day from her was when we were both doing down dog and she told me how crazy it is that SHE invented downward facing dog .  I could only laugh and agree with her. Oddly enough, today was also the first day that she started mimicking the ujjayi breath sound her daddy makes.  As I helped her get the right stance for Warrior I pose, I had to do a double-take when she began breathing in a slow, noisy, rhythmic pattern.  I’m not gonna lie though, the ujjayi breathing only lasted a few seconds before Kennedy started into the stream of consciousness conversation I’m very familiar with.  We had fun and it was a great way to start the day. It also didn’t hurt to wake up to a very kind and generous blog review of Daily Cup of Yoga on The Magazine of Yoga website , which I happily recently discovered.  Many thanks Susan for the kind words and encouragement! Filed under: yoga , yoga challenge

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Tagged as: breathing, daily, flickr, government, magazine, night, president, president-obama, running, swimming-pool, ujjayi, warrior, yoga challenge

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Yoga Challenge Day 6 ~ Inspiration

I can’t wait to post a picture of the beautiful and serene little spot I currently get to call my yoga “studio.” You’ll know what I mean when I post the photo tomorrow. I haven’t taken the picture yet, so hopefully tomorrow morning is as lovely as this morning when I get around to snapping the picture. My current “studio” is a 10 x 10 foot dock sitting out on the sound that my wife’s aunt lives on. It’s awesome! This morning couldn’t have been more ideal for a little bit of outdoor yoga. Taking my practice outside is one of those things I like to do when I want that extra boost of guerilla yoga inspiration. Luckily my practice helped set the tone for a day that took a few twists and unexpected turns (like my rental car breaking down on the way home from work…when I really had somewhere I needed to be). Everything turned out just fine and I mostly laughed my way through the afternoon. Definitely trying to relax more and laugh often. Realizing that life is too short to freak out over silly things (like getting to the carnival this afternoon and discovering that my son somehow ended up there without any shoes whatsoever. We laughed, and we survived. Looking forward to a more substantial time commitment to yoga challenge over the holiday weekend. Namaste! Filed under: yoga , yoga challenge

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Tagged as: beautiful, post-the-photo, practice, practice-helped, time-commitment, wife, yoga, yoga challenge

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Links for 2010-07-01 [del.icio.us]

FOXNews.com – Military Tech in Action Off The Mat and Into The World

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Tagged as: action, military, military-tech, world

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Yoga Challenge Day 5 ~ Obstacles

I get home from work after nine o’clock at night for the second night in a row and start to wonder if this roll out the mat challenge is such a good idea right now. Of course I still need to eat dinner and then get back to work, so I feel pretty validated in my skepticism. Who has time for this kind of thing? Certainly not me. The laziness kicks in. I eat dinner slowly, distracted by work. I put the challenge out of my mind. I work. I finally decide that’s enough work for one day. Not like the whole world’s going to fall apart if I mess around on the Internet for awhile. I dink around on my blog. Read a few blogs. My wife goes to bed. This would be the perfect time to throw out my mat, but it’s almost as if I purposefully avoid what I know is good for me. Commitment. So overrated. Midnight rolls around and I’m still sitting at the kitchen table poking at my laptop. Better get to bed if I’m going to get up for an early morning run in the rain. My back hits the mattress. Eyes closed, I think about the cardboard boat race scheduled for tomorrow night. Anything but the challenge. The challenge. The challenge. The challenge. All of a sudden it’s all I can think about. Screw it. Wait, I take that back. Suddenly I remember that the only thing I challenged myself to do is unfold my yoga blanket every day. Too easy. I fall out of bed and fumble around in a dark guest room until I find my yoga towel. As much as I just want to be “lazy” and stay in bed, I feel equally, if not more, compelled to not miss a day of the challenge all of a sudden. And then of course, next thing I know I’m stretching around on the floor in a dark room, and the breath deepens and I discover again the magic of keeping one simple commitment. Filed under: yoga , yoga challenge

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Tagged as: again-the-magic, art, cardboard, clock-at-night, internet, kitchen, laptop, mind, skepticism, yoga, yoga challenge

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