On an island, near the ricefields

§ July 31st, 2010 § Filed under Bali, Food, Yoga § Tagged , , § 1 Comment

I was so used to sitting in airplanes that a part of me was a bit sad when my last flight ended.  I know that is weird, but it was a bit nice- looking at clouds out the window, watching movies on the little screen and periodically, a nice lady plopping a tray of food or a cup of juice onto the tray.  It felt nice to be pampered on international flights for a while.  Of course, once I ventured off the plane and walked again, I was quite happy and not missing the dry, cramped air travel one bit.

I am staying in Ubud, north of the capitol of Denpasar.  A driver came to fetch me and we drove through truly terrifying traffic for about 1.5 hour until arriving in this peaceful, green place.  Really, you could not convince me to drive in this place unless it was really quite serious.  First of all, people drive on the left side of the road.  Although I’ve traveled a lot, this is the first time in a left-side-driving land.  I looked quite the idiot when I tried to hop in the driver’s seat and the nice driver said “This is my side!”  Besides cars and minivans driving, there are many, many people on motorbikes driving as though they have bubbles on invincibility protecting them.  They weave in and out of lines of cars, zig zag to the sides of the roads and stop when they are about 1 cm away from something.  Last, there is a lot of trust in the break.  Even if there are clearly many autmobiles stopped ahead, it is best, it seems to just trust that the break will take care of us once we are directly upon the stopped traffic.  Other than that, We Go Fast!

To say it is beautiful here is like saying my cat Bob is cute.  It just doesn’t explain it well enough.  No hyperbole can really quite capture not just the physical beauty, but also the feel of being here.  It feels so unrushed and serene and even though I only arrived last night, I already feel incredibly relaxed.  I settled into my lovely room at the cottages, where my window overlooks a ricefield.  I then cleaned up after 24 hours PLUS of air travel, so this was quite needed and I emerged a new, clean and happy person.  I had a quiet dinner in the restaurant here, plus the local lawnmower beer, and if my calculations are correct, I believe I paid 2 dollar for this?  I had a dish similar to Swimming Rama for those of you who heart the Thai food- cold peanut sauce over tofu and spinach.  But this has lots of other thing too: tempeh, tofu, spinach, fresh tomatoes, eggs, lettuce and those yummy rice-puff chips.  Sounds weird but it was incredibly tasty.  Then I put away all of my things and went to sleep. There are many sounds here, like my Seattle home.  But instead of hearing people yelling, cars honking and dog barking I heard crickets, geckos and frogs.  A nice nighttime song to lully you to sleep.

Yes, sleep!  I slept the whole night and woke at 7 am, here’s hoping that the jet lag will perhaps pass me by?  Even though I’n 15 hours ahead of Pacific west coast time here? I’ve learned a lot about melatonin at my job, a natural medicine given to folks who can’t sleep and a nice alternative to heavier drugs given for sleep (like those ones where people drive around and go shopping while asleep?  I am not interested in taking that, especially here where the driving is scary!).  The medicine mimics the body’s natural production of melatonin, the hormone in the body that says “Oh the sun is down.  Sleepy time!”.  So I did what our psychiatrist has done at work for the kids who have trouble sleeping: take a dose to become sleepy and go to sleep.  Then if you wake up in the middle of the night, take another to go back to sleep, you can do this anytime up until 5 am or so.  I woke up at 2 am, wide awake listening to the rain falling on the roof.  So I took another dose, went back to sleep and slept like a wee babe until the sun rose.  By wee babe, I guess I mean completely grown woman sleeping diagonally in a giant princess bed.  On a side note- Yes, I do miss my husband greatly and can hardly let myself think how much he’d also love it here.

So now that I’m well rested and unpacked, I have a couple of days to explore as my yoga studies start Monday morning.  My goal of today is to see the temple in town, eat some fruit, get a seriously long massage and also buy a hairbrush since I appear to have forgotten mine.

By the way, I am supposed to have WiFi here but it appears not to be working.  I’m using qumana, a program where I can update my blog off line.  I’ll be trying to sort out internet stuff today and maybe just checking it in town.  That is, unless the massage takes too long!

Until next time, Om shanti shanti!

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In Transit

§ July 30th, 2010 § Filed under Bali, Randomness § No Comments

I am very grateful to Angela, my old friend from New Zealand, who copied and pasted all of my old blogs from her google reader and then emailed them to me.  I am way too clueless about all things technological to even understand what happened with all of that.  Yet I am making my way through putting those blogs back up which will include fixing all of the images which don’t seem to be copying over correctly.

By the time I actually reach Bali I will have been in transit for over 24 hours!  I flew from Seattle to LA, where I ate some yogurt in the international wing and was quickly accosted by a Texan who wanted to talk my ear off about the woes of the world.  “There’s no way we can figure this all out… Muslim fundamentalists…”etc.  When I told him I was traveling to Bali, he gave me a lecture about finding happiness within yourself, which struck me as odd since he complained for 20 minutes straight which leads me to think maybe he isn’t super happy.  He lamented about everything from T-Mobile to the interest his bank charges him for depositing large sums of money on a regular basis.  Oh yeah, and that people in other countries don’t know how to Respect One Another.  Snore.  This experience was irritating but struck me as kind of a weird parallel to Elizabeth Gilbert’s book-now-movie Eat, Pray, Love, in which she travels to several countries, including a stay in Bali.  While she meditates in India she discovers sage wisdom from a, unlikely source: a Vietnam Vet she calls Richard from Texas.  So the similarities are that I’m also going on a trip alone and that this guy is also from Texas.  But I’m not in a midlife crisis (I don’t think) nor am I writing a book. Um.  Okay maybe not that many similarities, especially since this man’s wisdom was about the world being a horrible place, although he sees progress and that he needs to warn young women traveling alone about the dangers of Islam.  The guy doesn’t know I actually lived in a Muslim country for 2 years!  I politely told him I think the world is a complicated place, that Respect is a relative concept and culture is complicated and wow- I really want to walk around before my flight.  SEE YA, BUDDY!

Okay, tangent about grumpy man from Texas is over.  From LA I flew to Seoul, where I am currently lounging and waiting for some kind of shop selling food to open up.  It is 6 in the morning in Korea and I arrived at roughly 4:30 am.  The 12 hour flight was fine.  I sat in between a nice Korean man who snored a lot and an Australian who was courteous about his elbows.  The flight had about a billion movie options so when I wasn’t sleeping or eating food with seaweed in it (kind of fun) then I was catching up on movies I’ve been wanting to see.

The Seoul airport is large and by the time this adventure is over, I will know it quite well since I have an 11 hour layover here on my return flight in 2.5 weeks.  Like all airports and other large buildings with cold and sensible architecture, it is eerily quiet and empty in the early morning hours.

Things are starting to wake up around here though.  I went into the restroom to brush my teeth and stood along a line of sinks with many long haired and fine boned Asian women.  I felt large, clumsy and very white.  But one thing grumpy man from Texas may have forgotten is that despite all of the differences of all the people in the world, there are many similarities. One of those similarities is that we like to have clean teeth.

Another similarity is embarrassment over private bathroom business.  Lo and behold, this small white box mounted on the wall of each bathroom stall- The Etiquette Bell.  My curiousity got the best of me and my eager index finger quickly poked the little PUSH button.  The little box made a flushing sound and then soft tinkling sounds, similar to the sounds of the toilet or could also be likened to a babbling brook.  This seems like a wonderful contraption for those too nervous to do their business in a public restroom, but also well suited for those who would simply like to be discreet about their business.  Since I am nearly brain dead from bad Hollywood movies, confusion over time, and a need for more interesting meals with seaweed, I can’t seem to get this picture to not be sideways.  Oh well.  You get the idea.

Stay tuned for reports about BALI, my final destination. By this afternoon, I shall land in Denpasar and a driver will take me to Ubud, where I will be studying yoga for the next 2.5 weeks.

Until then, Om Shanti and all that good stuff.

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Bali

§ July 28th, 2010 § Filed under Bali § No Comments

I am flying out this evening for Bali.  I’m pretty much all packed.

My head is in the clouds, even though it will be hours before I get on that plane!

Oops

§ July 28th, 2010 § Filed under Uncategorized § 2 Comments

Well in trying to update wordpress, I somehow lost my previous blog postings.  I’m not too thrilled about it, but then again didn’t post a whole lot on this blog since I created it last year.  I guess it is an excuse for a new start!

Hello world!

§ July 27th, 2010 § Filed under Uncategorized § 1 Comment

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

Preparation!

§ July 20th, 2010 § Filed under Uncategorized § No Comments

Yoga has been keeping me going, although my practice is sporadic and odd these days. My teachers leave Seattle every summer to teach at their center in Bali.  While I have missed their classes terribly, I am thrilled that soon I will be traveling over to Bali to study with them for 2.5 weeks and while there, I’ll finish my teacher training program (my second one now).

I am still teaching but not nearly as many classes.  When I initially went back to work full time I was still teaching about 4-5 classes per week and that was way too much!  So now I teach 2 classes a week- one is Basics/ Restorative and the other is a class on Yoga for Stress Relief, a six week workshop.  Interestingly, my work life because an enormous stress ball during that workshop which has helped feed my desire to research and practice, but also to show the students that I, too, have stress!

I am traveling over to Bali by myself and staying in some little bungalow near Ubud. I will have internet access so I imagine I’ll update a lot on this blog to let folks know how things are going and to share my experience.

For now, I’m figuring out new flip flops, what I’ll pack in my small carry on, how to bring all the books I wanna bring, etc.  You know, travel stuff.  :)

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The Good Stuff

§ July 19th, 2010 § Filed under Uncategorized § 2 Comments

Well it can’t be all yoga all the time… well at least not for me, right now.  I’ve stumbled on some quality entertainment lately that I’d like to share.  Yoga books, yoga music, oh it is very lovely. But prepare for some other types of reviews!

Crazy Heart

 

You already knew it was good because not only is Jeff Bridges in it, he even won an Oscar.  You can’t go wrong with The Dude.  Netflix sent this movie over about two weeks ago and it sat and sat.  Well, tonight we finally watched it.  Wow.  It was incredible.  Great story, fabulous acting, wonderful music and the scenery of the southwest and of Texas… oh it was just lovely.  Quite a side note here is that Colin Farrell totally pulled off playing an American country singer!  That should bring some shame to all of those American actors with such pathetic sounding Irish accents (Brad Pitt, I’m talkin’ about you).

I go through music phases pretty regularly and have always enjoyed different genres.  Sometimes I listen to a lot of hip hop, sometimes lots of classic rock like Zeppelin and the Beatles.  Sometimes I get into old 90s music, those phases tend to last a while especially since my husband and I always agree on those old standbys like Nirvana and the Pixies (although I laugh whenever Temple of the Dog comes up on my Itunes).  Anyway, I think this movie is going to have me pulling out albums by Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, Townes Van Zant, you know, the good country music!  Mmm.  Listening to all these great musicians provide a great soundtrack for my Bali trip.

Ryan Bingham – The Weary Kind .mp3

Found at bee mp3 search engine

Steve Earle – Open Your Window .mp3

Found at bee mp3 search engine

“Lucky Man” The Verve

Speaking of 90s music-er, late 90s anyway, I do vaguely recall this band and everyone loving that one song they did, “Bittersweet Symphony” and I was like eh…  but anyway, have you heard that whole album?  It is fabulous!  I just can’t get enough of this song “Lucky Man”. Youtube wouldn’t let me embed the actual video, but here ya go.

Popout

Little Bee by Chris Cleave

My mom not only recommended this book, she even let me borrow her copy.  Due to this captivating story, I endured some sleepy mornings from staying up entirely too late reading the night before.  The main character is a teenage girl named Little Bee from Nigeria and the dark but surprising story told is how she came to know a couple from the suburbs of London and eventually met their young son who wore a Batman costume all day, every day.  This author pulled off some potentially awkward approaches to the story, for instance the story did not unfold in a very linear fashion and also was told by two narrators.  But, it worked and it worked quite well.

This story makes me want to start a book club so I can chat with some lovely readers about this captivating story.  But for the rest of you, you should just read it and I don’t want to ruin it.  But it isn’t for the weary kind (heh!), as it does have some graphic scenes and is a rather dark tale.  Still, the violence of the story told is peppered with amazing little sparkles of goodness and compassion from surprising sources.

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Street Yoga- Seattle!

§ May 28th, 2010 § Filed under Uncategorized § No Comments

Street Yoga is not just for Portlanders anymore!  The organization that seeks to bring yoga to homeless and at risk youth is now in Seattle.  More and more volunteer opportunities are available.  Also, there will soon be monthly potlucks for all the yogis with the thirst for social activism.  What a great opportunity to eat healthy snacks and chat about yoga and youth!  This is a great community and the potlucks will not just provide a fun time for socializing but also will offer some opportunities for informal training and practical tips.

Some upcoming events:

  • Lululemon in University Village in Seattle will be featuring Street Yoga in April and May!  As part of this feature there will be FREE classes every Saturday morning for six weeks.  I will be teaching on April 18th and April 25th!  Perhaps we can even cuss while doing Tree Pose, just like the kids in Street Yoga!  Okay, maybe not…
  • Lululemon will also be doing a fundraiser for Street Yoga on May 16th at 11 am in Cal Anderson Park in Capital Hill.
  • Street Yoga will conduct a Teacher Training in Seattle in May.  It will be at Ryther Child Center, my place of work :) It is a great teacher training for people in social services interested in yoga or for yogis interested in how to bring yoga to at risk youth.  This will take place May 28-30!

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Yoga and your Mindstuff

§ October 4th, 2009 § Filed under Meditation, Yoga § No Comments

I like the term “mind stuff” because it paints a picture of what is usually going on in your noodle- a bunch of goop.  You think about picking up your library book, taking the garbage out tonight, how you like that person’s red shirt and want one and then realize you forgot to call your mom back and then remember that OH YEAH I’m in the middle of a yoga class here.  I’m holding a pose.  I’ve been holding my breath.  I’ve even had this occur while teaching.  This is what the mind does, unruly thing that it can be.

The path of yoga is truly a way of noticing this process and then starting to gain some control over the chittavritti- or the monkey mind.  I love this term too.  I see my mind in my mind’s eye (AH!) jumping from tree to tree, howling and grabbing bananas and at a tourist’s backpack, out of control, undisciplined and free.  In his Yoga Sutras, Patanjali states that this is the whole purpose of yoga- disciplining the undisciplined mind and gaining control over your crazy monkey.

This is your monkey mind. Pretty cute, eh? Hard not to pay attention too, but dont forget that monkeys throw poop.

This is your monkey mind. Pretty cute, eh? Hard not to pay attention to, but don’t forget that monkeys throw poop.

This sounds great!  Sign me up.

Now what?  I mean, I have job searches to conduct, paintings to finish, classes to teach and a WEDDING coming up in just 2 weeks and 1 day.

Ever feel yourself start to berate yourself about your yoga practice? Not practicing enough, or doing well enough, or not flexible or strong enough?  Its not enough, never enough.  That is your monkey.  Sure, we need discipline and I could do with more of it myself, especially with those truffles my mom bought for wedding favors and I keep eating them at night when I get my sweet tooth?  That’s not so good.  Anyway.  There goes my monkey.

Okay.  *deep breath*

I harass myself about my practice a lot.  It never feels right to me: too quick, too gentle, too harsh, not enough meditation, not enough pranayama and so on and so forth.  Recently it occurred to me that this isn’t about my practice, this is about ME.  This difficulty in just residing with what is right here, right now, is coming right from that pesky little monkey.  I think it often becomes the feel that asana, or the poses, need to be practiced more and better because asana is the most concrete of the yoga path and the easiest limb for the western yogi to understand.

There are 8 limbs in the path of yoga and you can think of them like a starfish, each limbs is an important entity to the whole.  Asana, or practice of the poses, is only one limb of yoga, only 1/8th of the path.  All 8 of the limbs include:

  1. Yamas- are the attitudes towards others and the world, practices a yogi should have such as non-violence, truthfulness and not stealing.
  2. Niyamas- are the ways the yogi treats oneself, for example practicing cleanliness, inner contentment, study of the self, awareness of a greater power.
  3. Asanas- physical poses are the way to relax the body of the mind and to find a harmonious union of the mind, body and spirit.  It also aids the body in becoming strong to live a healthy and long life and have the ability to hold a meditation seat without pain.
  4. Pranayama- means breath (prana) control (yama) and involves the practice of breathing exercises to cleanse the nervous system and increase vitality and energy.
  5. Prathyahara- is withdrawal of the senses.  The senses tend to lead us and offer stimulating and wonderful snacks for the monkey mind.  Withdrawing means turning inward and releasing awareness of the outer world, but still being very conscious and present.
  6. Dharana- is concentration.  This is training the mind to focus, for example focusing on a mantra or on the breath.
  7. Dhyana- is meditation, a state of constant awareness of the mind.  This helps a person to let go of illusions and be fully present and aware of projections and cloudiness that our monkey mind can bring to life.  It helps with clarity and overall health!
  8. Samadhi- is enlightenment.  This is the easy one.  Ha.  Just kidding.  Gotcha.  This is the ultimate goal of the yogic path- a feeling of being one and complete with the universe.  Ahh, sounds nice doesn’t it?

What strikes me about the 8 fold path is that many of them refer to meditation.  Pratyahara, Dharana and Dhyana are all practiced within the meditative state.  And, asana and pranayama are really for preparation for the meditative state while Samadhi is a wonderful result of that focused practice.  Again, the poses are just one part of all of this, as important as the others but complementary and not the be all end-all in the yogic life.

So yoga is about making some sense of that goopy messy mind stuff so that instead of some confusing mess, we can make a wonderful soup with our outward practices (yamas and niyamas), our practices towards integrating mind and body (asana, pranyama and meditation). All the limbs contribute to the aspects of a whole person- the mind, body and spirit.

Mmm lentil and roasted pepper soup. This looks like a great recipe too, click on the link to read it!

Mmm lentil and roasted pepper soup. This looks like a great recipe; click on the picture to read it!

What do you think?

  • How do you practice the 8 limbs of yoga?
  • Do you feel that Western yoga tends to be more focused on the asana limb?
  • How does practicing asana assist you in your meditation practice?

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Yogini Wedding Planning

§ September 27th, 2009 § Filed under Uncategorized § No Comments

Undisturbed calmness of mind is attained by cultivating friendliness toward the happy, compassion for the unhappy, delight in the virtuous, and indifference toward the wicked. (The yoga sutras of Patanjali)

 The mind is everything; what you think, you become. (Buddha)

My wedding is in 3 weeks and one day.  In three weeks from now we will be in Oregon making preparations for the event.  I have a sporadic schedule right now- I teach yoga classes nearly every day and spend a lot of time in my art studio.  I try to structure my time but have noticed, as I posted in my last blog, that it’s been a bit challenging for me to take some time for my own yoga and meditation and even to mindfully prepare a delicious and healthy meal.  This seems more important than ever, so I’m going to use this blog to give some structure to that self care.  Prepare for some regular reports on how this is going as we near the wedding date.  Yep, I’m having the blog hold me accountable!  

Overall, I am happy to report that the wedding planning has gone swimmingly.  Having planned a wedding before, I have something to compare all of this to (that was called off, it was years ago and it was a heinous experience).  Previous wedding planning experiences involved a lot of  unclear decisions, arguments and frustration.  This time it has been, well, kinda easy.  I hope everyone can have such a fun time planning a wedding so that it feels meaningful, enjoyable and most of all, so that the wedding planning doesn’t completely take over your life.  I think the stark differences in the two wedding planning experiences is all based on a positive outlook, which yoga practice can certainly help cultivate.  

1.  Be clear with your intentions.  When you are aware of what you want, it helps push things along and you don’t get distracted.  There is a LOT of wedding information out there, enough to make your headspin until your 20th wedding anniversary.  And a lot of the wedding schwag out there is expensive, frilly and regular looking.  If you are anything like me, you don’t like any of those things.  So know what you want, know what you like and then go for it.  Make a list of those things.  Find some inspiration.  Talk to your partner and loved ones, ask them what kind of style or approach seems to define you.  We (meaning my fiance, my mom and sister in law) decided during our engagement weekend to have a small wedding on the coast so it could be a weekend wedding celebration.  I’m sure we’ve said the word “simple” about our wedding no less than 1 billion times.  That has been the vision and it has fallen into place.  

Wedding shoes and ties for the guys

Wedding shoes and ties for the guys

2.  Find some like minded folks.  Don’t let the Martha Stewart aisle in Michael’s get you down.  You’re going to need to be grounded sometimes.  Find some people who can do that.  Reach out to them.  These can be friends, or even people online.  I’ve sent numerous emails to my stylish friends asking for advice on shoes and boleros. There are also some great websites out there that can helps, such as Offbeat Bride and Wedding Bee.

3.  Know that opening your life up to more may also involve some tension, perhaps even some loss.   In communicating with fellow brides-to-be, it is clear that the transition of engagement in one’s life can sometimes lead to relationships boiling over or even just fizzling out.  Friendships may become strained and family relationships may get weird.  Marriage is an institution full of baggage, more baggage than can be held by any airport terminal ever, anywhere.  Weddings and the thought of weddings makes some so very happy, for instance my old boss was IMing me last night and I tried to ask about her recent surgery.  She responded “Let’s not talk about that, it gets me down.  Let’s talk about the wedding!”  For others, weddings can feel like a bummer, a reminder that they are alone, a reminder that they had a wedding that didn’t end up working out, or they may just feel like a big ordeal to them that isn’t necessary (I have totally been that person before).  Who knows what the deal is.  Set limits with people.  Try to discern when it is something you can do something about and when it may be their own baggage coming into play.  Don’t blame them for it, but you may want to take a step back.  This is a time that you should be happy and fostering contentment for your new life.  Try to absorb the positivity and give less attention to the weirdness that happens.  And believe me, the weirdness happens to many!  

4.  Be thoughtful.  What is the overall focus of your wedding?  Why are you having a wedding instead of eloping or going to the courthouse?  Don’t say it is just because your family wants you to or you will have a miserable time planning this event!  There are so many things people decide to do for a wedding. Try to make this as clear as possible (see #1).  Some say they want a big party.  Others say they want to feel like a princess.  We said we wanted our families to spend time together and we wanted to give everyone a lovely and relaxing weekend.  This has helped with a lot of decisions, from ruthlessly paring down the guest list (that was really hard) to deciding to buy grocery store flowers.  

The lighthouse location for our ceremony. Yes, I know it might rain and be very cold.

The lighthouse location for our ceremony. Yes, I know it might rain and be very cold.

5.  Set goals.  The thing with weddings is there are a LOT of details, from your dress to flowers to dinner to accommodations, it is enough to make your head spin.  You can’t hold all of that information in your brain, nor should you.  It ain’t healthy.  Get a notebook and start keeping lists.  Have some scratch paper so you can jot things down during the may wedding planning phone calls.  Set time limited goals for yourself so you can stay on track.  This is SO helpful!  I set a goal for everything, from when I should have my dress to when the rehearsal dinner should be planned.  It feels good when it falls into place.  

6.  Make the planning feel fun.  Weddings can be an excuse for some really fun bonding times with loved ones.  My matron of honor came to Seattle to help me wedding dress shop and asked for me to teach her yoga in our down time.  We had a fabulous time and I will never forget how she said “I love that dress!” and cried when I tried on The Dress.  My mom and I traveled to Oregon in June to make plans for the wedding and had so much fun exploring the town and trying things out.  We were so efficient that we ran out of things to do and went to taste beer at the Rogue Brewery!  

7.  Be accepting.  I’ll be honest.  This isn’t going to always be fun.  Some of this work is really tedious.  Know that you might get a little weird during this whole process.  I won’t soon forget the day I made invitations and my fiance said something about them that didn’t sound completely positive and I got really upset and grumpy.  The tiny, one bedroom apartment we lived in smelled horribly like headache inducing glue, it was a total mess of papers and I hadn’t eaten in hours and hours.  That was not fun, but I powered through and the invitations turned out lovely and we even laughed a bit about it.  

8. Think about the season.  What is your favorite season?  When do you feel so excited and loving?  When would be your favorite time to celebrate?  According to the ancient science of ayurveda, everything from our temperament to our complexion is affected by our dosha, or your mind and body constitution.  This can be influenced (balanced or imbalanced) by diet, season, genetic background, sleep patterns, and so on.  Some people thrive in the warm summer, while others of us may turn pink and wither!  We both love the fall and lucky for us, doing a wedding in the off season means discounts galore on housing, meals, photography, etc.  

9.  Yoga!  Oh yeah and YOGA!  Many of your most valued like minded peeps may be fellow yogis.  Talk to them, it will keep you grounded and sane.  Practice yoga regularly.  If you’ve fallen off of your practice, sign up for a intensive or make a commitment to practice regularly.  Practice lots of heart openers to expand your heart chakra and practice lots of hip openers to relieve anxiety and emotional stress.  

10.  Make time for things that aren’t related to the wedding.  Go on a trip with your fiance.  Have dinner and decide NOT to talk about the wedding.  Try to enjoy time together and not have it be All Wedding All The Time.  Go on a trip with friends, paint a wall a bright color in your bedroom, make that soup recipe you’ve been meaning to try.  Sometimes I think the chaos of wedding planning is a practice run for the challenges of marriage and family.  I mean, really.  What is more stressful- a crying baby at 3 am or table  centerpieces?  

So that’s about it for now.  Good luck to anyone planning a wedding.  Relax when you can and be kind to yourself when you can’t.  I hear it is all worth it in the end!

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