Roxtar Yoga

spirit of vegas February 15, 2010

I’m stationed at the San Francisco Airport eating stuffed mushrooms and pondering my most recent travels and health tribulations.

While in Las Vegas last week I noticed how much the city had been effected by the current “economy” when I went for a walk one morning. There were a lot of vacancies and empty buildings and it was kind of odd, yet normal within such an excessive landscape. As much as evidence of the economic climate depresses me, I also feel some of it’s effects are fair and not so bad. I feel like expansion and contraction are normal parts of life’s cycles and I wonder where we will be after the current contraction. My gut tells me it’s far from over and I wonder where it will take us, how many people will have to suffer, will we ever make real changes, and how many corporate crapholes will get much needed reality checks, if any. There is always a positive side to every negative and I’ve appreciated the reminder to simplify my life, stop spending money on crap I don’t need, and focus on the parts of my life that inspire me and build up those parts more. It’s all about living my passion and sharing it in whatever ways I can. I have not enjoyed worrying about myself or my loved ones and watching them suffer unnecessarily. There are no guarantees in life, that’s for sure.

My three-day adventure in Vegas was actually quite enjoyable despite my original misgivings. It’s always so excessive, smoke everywhere, too much partying, too much everything. It is possible to be healthy when life gets busy and challenging I am finding. The hotel had a gym at which I was able to move my legs a bit after getting my arse kicked at a personal training session with friends before I traveled. My legs were quite sore and out of desperation I attempted to do some strength training on a squat machine to ease the pain. It helped despite my yogic aversion to gyms these days. I prefer to get my movement on my yoga mat, bicycle, and two legs while enjoying the great outdoors if possible. I have to say though, it did feel good to challenge my body in a different way. The hotel even had a good food. My travel routine sustained me. I enjoyed KÀ (a Cirque du Soleil show), a heroic journey of love and conflict, set within a dynamic theatrical landscape, on an enormous stage with a captivating display of acrobatics which left the audience in awe. I admit I’m not a huge fan of live theatre, but the synchronized fights, water rescue, and acrobatics were amazing and I really enjoyed the show.

I decided to look up the definition of Ka to see where the show got it’s name from. The Ka (k3) was the Egyptian concept of spiritual essence, that which distinguishes the difference between a living and a dead person, with death occurring when the ka left the body. This resembles the concept of spirit in other religions. Hmmm the concept of spirit is one shrouded in history and opinion and I’m not up for that discussion today.

viva las vegas February 10, 2010

I came onto this dreaded computer after an exhausted day on it already to laugh and share a bit of the joy of teaching software and working in Las Vegas, of all places. This morning I emerged from the elevator to very loud rock music. The volume of the rock music doesn’t change throughout the Hard Rock Hotel, no matter the time of day. It was a bit jarring at 8am. You would think they would switch to sappy hard rock ballads at that hour. It was funny walking through the hotel and casino in business clothes with my laptop while others where still partying from the night before. There are always drunk people here. There area also rugby players everywhere as there are 14 teams staying here for some sort of playoff game.

I’m really enjoying teaching to this size group, 30 people. Last year teaching 90 was a bit chaotic. I think this must be the golden mean size of a class for classroom teaching.

I don’t really think Avril Lavigne has earned as much play as she gets in this hotel.

Did I bring my yoga on this trip to Sin City? Why, yes, how dare you question my dedication I exercised a bit last night, meditated and practiced this morning, and exercised a bit tonight. I feel pretty good considering the lack of fresh air I’ve been inhaling. We’ve been eating good food. Life feels good today.

No yogi lessons for me today. Except to breathe when busy. Just breathe. Ahhhhhh.

toilet magic February 7, 2010

“Woody. I just wrote a top 40 song on your toilet.” said Michael Franti to his friend Woody Harrelson, whose house he was staying at.
“Michael, was it #1 or #2?” said Woody in return.

Last Friday I attended a yoga class with Sean Corn and Michael Franti with 400 yogis at the Yoga Journal SF Conference. The energy was incredible and the message they shared was profound. They reminded us to take action in whatever ways we can, right here, right now. No one else is going to be the change we want to see. We have to be that change. It reminded me how truly blessed I am. She started a challenge last year for anyone who could raise $20,000 in their communities (not just giving their own money) and if you met the goal you were able to join her in a 3rd world country to help build and create infrastructure to help those in need. She raised half a million dollars last year for Cambodia and is going to South Africa next year. Wow. They built a school, a birthing center, and more. It actually brought me to tears. They encouraged us to sit down and make a plan. I have a sort of plan, but I wonder what else I can do to to be the change I want to see. What really bothers you in this world, what do you want to change? Part of my plan is to take better care of myself so I can bring my best self to the world. One of Michael’s goals is to write a top 40 song this year and he told us a pretty funny story about it coming to him in the shower and the toilet. Isn’t that how it works, the best ideas come out of random places, and random times, as if magic, pixie, dust just appeared out of nowhere. Voila!

I returned from Yoga Journal SF a week ago and have been pedaling my hardest to keep up with this epic climb known as life. How did I maintain my yogi ways while away from home, you ask? I cooked kitcheree for breakfast the first day and it was awesome and I had leftovers the next morning. Even though it’s not considered “breakfast food”, it was really nice to have the mornings to myself, cook a nourishing breakfast, meditate, and do yoga, if only for a little bit. Sleep is imperative when traveling. I never sleep as well when I travel, so getting 8 hours is the only way to feel remotely normal. I usually am not a walker, but I really enjoyed walking every morning before my long days began. It was very meditative, relaxing, and the fresh air was like medicine for the body. I ended up sharing my hotel room with a friend unexpectedly. Although it disrupted my routine a bit, it was fun and good to help share yoga, even if it wasn’t directly through teaching. I didn’t eat all my snacks and food, but it was better to be over prepared. Kitcheree, trail mix, apples, tea, and vitamin c are the travel companions of champions.

I am on my way to Las Vegas and Seattle this week so I hope to bring my yoga and life practices with me for another week away from my nurturing routines. This is when it gets challenging, when the intensity and busy feeling stay for more than a week. I feel like this is it. If I can’t take care of myself under the stress of travel, how is a single mom going to do it, or a lonely grandma, or an executive, or student? We have to bring our yoga with us everywhere. And your yoga may be something very different than mine. I am thankful for and enjoy how much my yoga practice brings to me in day to day life, but I really want to find a way to bring it with me everywhere.

yogis in the city January 28, 2010

I’ve arrived in San Francisco yesterday for the 7th Annual Yoga Journal Conference. The drive from San Luis Obispo was so beautiful, the hills of California were dotted with happy cows and luscious green grass. It was so lovely that even my phone camera was able to capture a tiny bit of the bliss. I highly recommend a road trip to enjoy the beauty that the winter weather has brought your way. It reminds me of how winter forces us all to slow down and how it’s definitely nourishing, even if our productive lives don’t allow us to slow down and renew as much as the earth does during winter. I am reminded to give myself the rest I need. We arrived last night and immediately went to dinner at Greens, quite possibly my favorite restaurant ever. We enjoyed fresh spring rolls, artisan cheeses, butternut squash crepes, mushroom pot pie, dessert, wine, and catching up with friends. We are all on “Bev Time” which is when our co-worker Bev is on East Coast Time and wants to go to bed at 9pm West Coast Time so we were all in our rooms by 9pm. It was wonderful to me as I had to work a long day today and woke up to yoga, meditation, and kitcheree for breakfast. That is the way to start a long day if you ask me.

Today at the Business of Yoga Conference we shared some great advice for people in the “yoga business”, but in reality a lot of the advice is relevant for many. As much as many people would like to just do yoga and meditate all day, sharing yoga is still a business in many respects, albeit one that should come from the heart. We enjoyed a video of Snoop Dog doing yoga. Take care of yourself as you would your own children, you don’t let them get too hungry or too sleepy, right? We were reminded to set goals rather than make more vague resolutions. To cover our bases regarding the more difficult parts of owning a business (and possibly our lives?), rather than burying our heads in the sand. Finally, we were reminded to just say no to free yoga classes, don’t do it, just don’t.

Right now I was supposed to be setting up the MINDBODY booth in the Yoga Marketplace but somehow our freight did not arrive on time and we’ll have to wake up early to set everything up. Hopefully I’ll be able to get my yoga in first. That’s one of the lessons of traveling, you just have to roll with it some of the time. Setting up the booth is quite the job though, setting up heavy kiosks with huge computers and this crazy backdrop that requires super strength zipper skills. I teach Online Marketing Strategies tomorrow, but tonight, I am off to enjoy some of the bounty San Francisco has to offer, Osha Thai it is! I hope you find some winter beauty to enjoy as soon as possible and don’t forget to roll with it when life demands it.

my lotus is laughing November 16, 2009

My lotus has found itself in the Big Apple once again. This is my 7th trip here and I really enjoyed the city today. I found myself attending a vinyasa flow yoga class at Laughing Lotus Yoga. I loved it. I have tried to document what I remembered from the class for future teaching to my yogi friends. We did lots of sun salutes, I even saw a few drips of sweat on my yoga mat. I loved the inhaling the arms to the sky with wrists touching, palms face out, thumbs forward, looking at your hands, exhaling hands to the heart. I really liked the mandala sequencing, we faced the backs of our mats just the right amount, the balance and the flow felt so good. I also liked the building of the sequence: from warrior ii to peaceful warrior to triangle on the back leg to wide legged forward folds back to the front thank you very much for that runnnnning sentence of sorts.

Other things I enjoyed: Walking around a ton, knowing how to get around, the smell of fall in the parks, eating an excessive yet delicious salad from one of those cafes with every topping and dressing you could ever imagine, more walking and checking out hotels and therefore getting to see tons of different people, I like the old people here, delicious dinner with a friend, and seeing a neat little cabaret style show with amazing performers. I also had no internet and lots of technical difficulties today. I was reminded that the nature of event planning is that little things go wrong, and there is no need to let it get me negative. It is now, in the heat of my planned event, more than ever, that I need to stay on the mat before the stress molests me and I let the little unplanned things affect my well-being. I was also reminded today to be my own guardian angel, that there is no one or no thing going to save us. We have to do that. I can’t give my best to anyone if I’m not giving some of it to myself.

I hope others are enjoying the Thanksgiving season as much as me. At a Friendsgiving this weekend I enjoyed my first bites of roasted turkey in a very long time, homemade mashed taters, fun with some up and budding yoginis, and overall good times. Lots to be thankful for this year. Have you taken a second to think about it?

Look at these awesome yoginis!!! What a treat to be reminded that playing on the yoga mat is ok.

green love juice recovery tonic September 16, 2009

I barely survived a week in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico with 30 of my nearest and dearest friends and coworkers from MINDBODY. It was too much fun! I truly work with an incredible group of people. One of my favorite parts of the trip was getting to witness a huge sea turtle dig a hole for her eggs on the beach, bury them, and make her way back to the sea. It was really cool to witness, and it seemed like an exhausting mission for her. I also enjoyed making new friends, exploring Bucerias, and watching the snarky shows the hotel put on in the evenings in the purple room, in particular the Michael Jackson tribute and the Titanic mock show where they threw ice on the drowned victims.

All the vacation fun was too exhausting. Most of the people who were on the trip were sick by the time we returned to reality. I always have a hard time finding a balance between enjoying myself and taking care of myself when outside of my normal routine. I get overly excited and don’t notice that I’m wearing myself out until I’m sick. On one hand, I’m getting better at giving myself the rest I need. I took two days away from drinking any of those evil, free cocktails and hid from our group so I could get some quiet, alone time. I practiced yoga facing the ocean 3 out of 6 days. On the other hand, their were many moments of spontaneous fun that couldn’t and shouldn’t have been denied. I just seem to be getting sick easier lately, and any behavior that wears down my immune system worries me. Maybe it’s just that I’m tracking how often I get sick now in a calendar so I’m surprised to see that I am sick almost every other month, almost always a sinus flare up. That just seems to be too often to me. What about those centurions living in the mountains in Russia who have never been sick? How am I going to be teaching and practicing yoga at 100 if I get a little sick every other month? While I don’t want to be too restrictive, I want to live an enjoyable life and I want to do what I can to take good care of myself, within reason. I don’t want to get cancer just because I eat what some corporation told me to eat in some subliminal marketing campaign.

On that note, I have been drinking some Liquid Love Green Juice this week along with eating wholesome, vegan meals. Liquid Love is this amazing vegetable juice made by a local raw, vegan cook with kale, cilantro, celery, cucumber, garlic, and lots of other green goodness. It’s kind of like drinking wheat grass all day long, but it tastes better. I feel great after drinking it for the last 2 days. It’s amazing how much better I feel after a little Roxy love the last few days eating well, doing yoga, and getting plenty of rest. I’m heading to Michigan this weekend to visit family, then to Estes Park, Colorado for the Yoga Journal Conference. It is my favorite yoga conference and I’m sad that I don’t get to take classes this time. I am teaching E-Marketing at the Business of Yoga Workshop though, which is always fun. One day my friends, I will be teaching yoga and business at Yoga Journal…you just wait!

mexikarma August 17, 2009

I’m heading to Puerta Vallarta, Mexico in 10 days. Don’t be jealous. It doesn’t suit you and isn’t very yogi of you. I am very excited on many levels. I have noticed recently that overall, I’m an excited person. I’ll be visiting Mexico for the first time though. I’m taking this trip with 30 friends and colleagues from MINDBODY. It’s the first vacation like trip I’m taking in a long time, I’m often traveling to visit family or for work events. I will be bringing lots of sun screen, a trashy novel or two, my bikini, and my yoga mat…what else does a girl really need on vacation? I’m seriously, seriously, super seriously, looking forward to leaving my laptop and phone off the entire trip. How long has it been since I’ve been off the internet-technology grid? Sadly, a very long time.

Things that are on my mind this week. Trust. Relationships. Drama. Space. Jason Crandell. Hangovers. Karma. More on all of these things later from my couch

hello again big apple June 20, 2009

I’m writing from the Giraffe Hotel in midtown Manhattan after spending the week hosting another training & consulting event for clients of the MINDBODY software system. I really enjoy teaching large groups of people, it’s so fun, engaging, and challenging in just the right amount. Not that I don’t enjoy working with people in a one-on-one basis, it’s just a little more energy, the dance of teaching a group that I love. This group we worked with had a great dynamic and energy, everyone was really excited and positive about what they can do to grow their businesses during uncertain economic times.

I stopped in Detroit to visit family before heading to New York. It has been a tiring 9 days of travel, but I don’t feel as exhausted as I sometimes do. I feel like I’ve handled the stress pretty well this time, I practiced yoga and meditated a fair amount and it’s amazing how much better it makes me feel. I tried not to let the loneliness of travel get to me. I spent time with loved ones who’ve had rough times and experienced a lot of pain lately and I realized how blessed I am to have such great people who love me, even if I live so far from them and don’t show my love as often as I feel I should. I enjoyed greek food and saganaki, live music, old friends, driving around my old hood, hearing old stories, great food in nyc, everything nyc, visiting ellis island and brooklyn, and finally just chillaxing in my hotel room. Photos and more comments to follow. More chillaxing for now