Roxtar Yoga

Unhappy Hour October 15, 2009

You’re invited to celebrate Unhappy Hour. It’s a ceremony that gives you a poetic license to rant and whine and howl about everything that hurts you and makes you feel bad.

During this perverse grace period, there’s no need for you to be inhibited as you unleash your tortured squalls. You don’t have to tone down the extremity of your desolate clamors. Unhappy Hour is a ritually consecrated excursion devoted to the full disclosure of your primal clash and jangle.

Here’s the catch: It’s brief. It’s concise. It’s crisp. You dive into your darkness for no more than 60 minutes, then climb back out, free and clear. It’s called Unhappy Hour, not Unhappy Day or Unhappy Week or Unhappy Year.  Do you have the cheeky temerity to drench yourself in your paroxysmal alienation from life? Unhappy Hour invites you to plunge in and surrender. It dares you to scurry and squirm all the way down to the bottom of your pain, break through the bottom of your pain, and fall down flailing in the soggy, searing abyss, yelping and cringing and wallowing.  That’s where you let your pain tell you every story it has to tell you. You let your pain teach you every lesson it has to teach you.

But then it’s over. The ritual ordeal is complete. And your pain has to take a vacation until the next Unhappy Hour, which isn’t until next week sometime, or maybe next month.

You see the way the game works? Between this Unhappy Hour and the next one, your pain has to shut up. It’s not allowed to creep and seep all over everything, staining the flow of your daily life. It doesn’t have free reign to infect you whenever it’s itching for more power.

Your pain gets its succinct blast of glory, its resplendent climax, but leaves you alone the rest of the time.

If performed regularly, Unhappy Hour serves as an exorcism that empties you of psychic toxins, while at the same time — miracle of miracles — it helps you squeeze every last drop of blessed catharsis out of those psychic toxins.

Pronoia will then be able to flourish as you luxuriate more frequently in rosy moods and broad-minded visions. You’ll develop a knack for cultivating smart joy and cagey optimism as your normal states of mind.

READ THE REST OF “UNHAPPY HOUR” HERE.

From Rob Brezsny, author of Free Will Astrology and Pronoia, the Antidote to Paranoia.  Both his astrology and book take you outside of your box and allow you to feel a little internal smile outside of the box of common culture.

coming back at you October 12, 2009

I’m alive, I’m alive! I’m living and loving and back in action in my roxtar world. Life has kept me busy, and I am happy to report that when life deals you chaos, you can survive with the hint of a smile on your face. Have you ever noticed how people take stress out on travel agents/workers when traveling? It’s not my style to do so, but I was tempted at some moments. I was a passenger on 7 flights in 8 days for crying out loud. I couldn’t figure out how to open the trunk on my rental car, a PT cruiser, at 3am. I tried to check in for one flight with the wrong airline and waited in a (luckily) short line for a woman to point out my mistake. I unwillingly overheard a heated, yet never-ending political argument between two fellow airline passengers at 1am. I had to change the same flight 3 times over the phone. I had to change one flight with very little cell reception in the snowy Rocky Mountains of Colorado.

Yet, amidst what could have built into a stressed out roxtar, there were some great moments too. I got to say a final goodbye to my grandmother before she passed away. I got to be with my family during a difficult loss. I spent 2 days breathing in the fresh, clean mountain air in Colorado. I enjoyed dinner with friends, working with inspirational yogis, and practicing yoga on my travel mat. I saw an Elk. There’s always the other side of the coin, eh?

I have decided that my next “career” step should be to complete my 200 hour yoga certification with Shiva Rea. I have already studied 100 hours with her, and she is the kind of teacher that rocks my world, that takes me outside of my box every time I practice with her, that inspires me to be more than just a yoga teacher, but a living embodiment of something sweeter. I have to read 6 books, practice with her for 180 hours, and record 30 minutes of a class. I look forward to becoming a better teacher.

Wait, I have so much to say! I have also found renewed love for Kitcheree recently. Now that fall has landed, SLO is seeing it’s first rain in 9 months, my body is loving this warming, balanced dish. I shall remind you of it’s simplicity. If you work in the MINDBODY office and have wondered what that glorious aroma coming from the kitchen is every Monday, look no further.

Roxtar Lunchtime Khichdi (Kitcheree) Recipe
Yummy, heatlhy, ancient Indian comfort food. Who wants Lipton rice packets, Ramen noodles, or other instant food when you can make this? I make little dry packets of this and leave it in my office for those days when I don’t bring lunch. If you can’t cook at work, it’s a great dinner that turns into lunch leftovers kind of meal.

Prep Time: 0 min
Cook Time: 25 min
Ready In: 25 min
Yields: 1-2 servings

INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup white basmati rice
1/4 cup lentils (split mung beans are good too)
1/2 veggie bouillon cube, preferably the sea salt variety
1 tsp to 2 tbsp dry ginger root (latter amount if high pitta)
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves, italian seasoning, braggs dry seasoning
1/4 tsp ground cumin
pinch fennel seeds
dash powdered garlic (omit if high pitta)
1 1/2 – 2 cups H2O (at cooking time)
(optional) random veggies scrounged up from wherever you can find them

DIRECTIONS:
1. Put all dry ingredients in a cute little baggie. Tie the top in a knot. Hide it in your desk or cupboard for future consumption.
2. When ready to chow down, add 1 1/2 to 2 cups water, bring to boil, reduce heat to medium-low and cover and simmer. As rice and beans are cooking, chop and add veggies such as carrots, zucchini, broccoli, if you have these goodies around. I use this as my opportunity to eat the leftovers from my weekly veggie farm share.
2. Cook for approximately 25 minutes, until most of the liquid is absorbed but the consistency is smooth, not mushy and sticky.
3. When done, take the pot of of heat and add ghee (clarified butter), or whatever butter like product you eat, salt, braggs liquid amino acids to taste. I like garlic pepper, or lemon pepper too.

FOOTNOTES:
Adding 1 cup of frozen peas right at the end of cooking is really good. I like to top it with a bit of feta and eat it with pita and hummus. I have also seen it made with fresh cilantro. Yum.