Friday, July 23, 2010

Rest, and Yoga

At the moment I’m feeling a bit like a rest. And rather than try and make myself snap out of it, I’m just going with the flow. I realise now there are times when I enjoy going hard and decluttering/cleaning/organising/crafting/cooking at home, and times when the exact right thing to do is read the new Tori Spelling book I have out of the library for an hour (or two). I can’t tell you how much I love Tori and her books and DVDs.

I don’t know what it is, she’s supremely tacky and such a self-promoter, but she’s just so funny and enjoyable to watch/read. I have terrible, really trashy taste in tv and books sometimes. Where else except our house would you find Keeping Up With The Kardashians sitting next to Two Days in Paris and various French arthouse movies.

So I’m enjoying the quiet time right now. On my last day off work (Wednesday, since I work Saturdays) I wasn’t much in the mood for being productive, so I did what I have to do - make the bed, wash the clothes and towels and hang them out, empty the dishwasher, prep dinner and then... I put some chocolate brownies in to bake (from scratch) and watched a couple of Kardashians episodes while filing my nails.

Being slothful and trashy is blissful sometimes.

I actually don’t know what the point of this post is except to say that it’s OK not to be ‘on’ all the time. Part of being human (and being female) is having restful time too. And be gentle on yourself.

My arms and shoulders feel deliciously worked out from yoga yesterday – we had to attempt (everyone else – all four of them - ‘did’, I ‘attempted’) a handstand or half-handstand. The half-handstand involved doing a downward facing dog pose (pictured above) with your feet against the wall, and then walk your feet backwards up the wall until they are quite high up. Yes really. It was so hard. But apparently it will get easier and I will be quite proficient at walking backwards up the wall one day. Yay.

In spite of the description of this exercise I am still really enjoying yoga, and even though it is strenuous, I always look forward to it (unlike the gym). The room has no music, it is peaceful and serene with a gas heater going (it’s winter here) and sometimes incense. Everyone is very friendly and normal and it’s a pleasure to attend.

9 comments:

  1. Yoga is very good. If you like blissful and serene then I probably won't recommend you try bikram yoga (Newmarket) - yoga in a high temperature room, a bit like doing downward dog and headstands in a sauna. If the yoga doesn't make you light-headed, the the heat surely will. It's rather nice in Winter though, but a gas heater at an ambient temperature sounds more balanced. Well, you are the more balanced of us too I think! I was the nutty one running with hand weights all those years ago. Mind you, running to Madame Jojo's near kills me now.

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  2. I think I'll 'master' normal yoga first! I last about 30 seconds or less in a sauna so don't know if bikram is for me. Plus the thought of all those sweaty people in close quarters...

    I'm sure carting two pre-schoolers around now is more strenuous than running with handweights ever was!

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  3. hi fiona,

    i'm so glad you said something about just doing what your body feels like. somedays it is just to rest and take it easy. why do we always push so hard? thanks for the reminder.

    ~janet

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  4. Well said Janet, about listening to your body. I don't why we push so hard either. How did it get to be decadent to do nothing for a while??

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  5. This is so important to recognize when we need a break. Just think you are listening to your body and mind and giving it what it needs right now. Otherwise when we ignore these signals, we don't get the needed rest and experience burnout and basically turn into robots kind of, who just keep going and going and going....

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  6. Very true Stephanie. You can sense when it's necessary rather than just laziness.

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  7. I adore Tori Spelling too! There is something about her energy that I find inspiring. :) I went to a yoga class last week and it does make you sore!

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  8. J, yes she's always upbeat and fun and quirky. I think she's a great comedic actress.

    It's a good sore from yoga isn't it!

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  9. "Being slothful and trashy is blissful sometimes." I love it!

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Merci for your comment. Wishing you a chic day!

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