holidazed

i don't know about you, but the holidays whooshed by so fast this year that they were over before i even realized they were here!

and while i don't remember doing much yoga, my calendar tells me otherwise. i mean, if i wrote it down, it must've happened...

starting with the weekend before christmas, here's how it went:

saturday morning, the 22nd. happy birthday to me! there was the strong flow class with vinnie marino at yoga works main street... as well as the rest of my birthday celebration that i wrote about here.

sunday morning, the 23rd. i dropped by the lulu store in beverly hills for their community class with kishan shah, just to find out that kishan couldn't make it; alex dawson (who's a she, not a he) from equinox fitness filled in for him that morning. which was ok with me, because 1: it was a FREE class, and 2: alex only teaches at equinox, and since i can't see myself joining a gym any time soon (because all my spare change goes to yoga classes), it would be the only way i'd be able to take her class. in order to accommodate the variety of students alex had in her class (child and adult, beginner and advanced) she led us through an easy flow, which was a nice way to get warmed up... and ready for my second class of the day...

sunday afternoon, the 23rd. part two. i mean, there was no way i was going to miss huck hirsch's acroyoga guerilla class that afternoon. freshly recovered from throat surgery, he had planned to teach only two classes before heading east for the holidays. and since i wasn't able to make the first one, this would be my last chance to fly in 2007! i'm glad i showed up, not only because i was able to hear what huck's wonderful singing voice really sounded like, but also because i had a chance to partner with another acroyoga instructor, sonia peltzer, who'll probably be teaching somewhere around town sometime soon.

monday, the 24th. christmas eve. i had received a short email update from hala khouri about her holiday yoga flow class with live music performed by suzanne sterling and josh brill at sacred movement. ok, so maybe this was the fifth or sixth time i'd listened to suzanne sing in just a couple of months (and i swear that she sounds more amazing every time i hear her), but it was also my first class with hala since the birth of her baby. i had hoped that she would have her cute little son with her; instead, she brought along her husband paul -- a tall, dark, and handsome guy whom i suppose you could say is just as cute :)

tuesday, the 25th. merry christmas! i overslept and missed rudy mettia's 9am class at power yoga west, the only class that i could fit into my day's schedule (actually, andres salcedo had a class at 7am, but i knew there was no way i could wake up that early).

wednesday, the 26th. it was a wednesday morning and i didn't have to go to work... which meant that i could get to lisa walford's iyengar class at yoga works montana. it must've been a long while since she had last seen me because she actually asked me if i had ever been to her class before! see what you miss out on when you have to work to earn money for yoga classes? :(

thursday, the 27th and friday, the 28th. my san francisco yoga trip.

saturday, the 29th. i decided to skip my yoga practice for the day and do some mother-daughter bonding instead. my baby wanted to watch sweeney todd, so i obliged her. if it weren't for the fact that i had enjoyed the broadway musical way back when, i probably would have passed on this gory movie; i mean, who wants to watch a bloody horror flick right before having to join relatives for dinner?

sunday, the 30th. i was back at yoga works montana, this time for kathryn budig's vinyasa flow class. she focused on shoulders and backbends, and as luck would have it, my back was killing me that morning. i did what i could, and kathryn was sweet enough to try and console me as best she could in my hour (and a half) of misery.

monday, the 31st. new year's eve. let's see... what was the best way for me to welcome in the new year? i could pretend i was in yoga warrior shape (not!) and do 108 sun salutes at black dog or revive. or i could just bliss out and chant with michael mollura at yogakula. or turn the evening into a spiritual experience and meditate with the ananda or the sivananda yogis. i considered attending the grand kundalini extravaganza at golden bridge, but chances were good that i wouldn't know a single soul. and what fun would that be? so i decided to celebrate with christine and gary at liberation yoga and got exactly what i was looking for -- the perfect mix of yoga and music and meditation and friendly faces... plus champagne to toast the new year! i also met some accidental yogist readers in our group of 40 students... hi galen, ken, and elizabeth!

tuesday, the 1st. happy new year! still a bit groggy from staying up late the night before, i barely made sara ivanhoe's vinyasa flow class at yoga works montana (and finally realized that trying to find a parking spot in their tiny parking lot can be a pain in my already-painful butt). and if i got anything out of her class that morning, it was her word of advice: this year, instead of constantly pushing to find the hardest way to do a pose, i will find the easiest way, knowing that i can still reap the benefits from a relaxed practice.

and if i do that, maybe i'll be injury-free this time next year? we'll see...