Because I don't want to disappear

I never meant to stop blogging just because I had a baby. I've skipped over numerous interesting NASA items, quotes, seasonal items, and other topics that made me think "I should blog about that"...and yet my blog sits silent. Good grief.

So while I turn into a suburban-mother-with-no-time-on-my-hands, I'll just go through some things that I'd like to do now that it's spring. Spring is like a new year anyway - it makes more sense to start new when the rest of the natural world is starting new, rather than in the middle of death, stagnation, and hibernation. :P

• I need to work on the yard. Now that I'm not feeling sick and/or carrying all that extra weight, maybe I can get something done and not pass it off to someone else. There's lots of cleanup to do, roses to prune (I missed Presidents Day :/), and planning for the garden.



• I should get back into yoga. I'm sure it would help the constant aching from carrying around a hefty baby, as well as give me some time to myself. I have a hard time taking time for myself because I seriously want to spend every moment taking care of the baby...or sleeping! But I'm sure that's not good for me and it's running my body down anyway.



• I have a few books to read. I got Confessions of a Shopaholic and The Audacity of Hope in the same shopping trip. Heh. There's another book I want to read upon recommendation of another new mother friend, Allie at Wardrobe Oxygen, but I have to go look it up again because my mommy brain does not remember what it was.

I suppose it doesn't help that I don't get on the computer much for anything other than work lately. And I used to live on that darn machine! But I'll exchange it for the little one anytime. I still manage to catch my favorite shows like Lost and Heroes, and I have plenty of opinions about them, so I could write about that too!

So I hope to get back to blogging from time to time. I need to stop putting it off when I see so many things about why I heart the internets or what I want to do in the yard or what I find so fascinating about motherhood. If I only had the time. :)

Take a Deep Cleansing Breath

One of my favorite phrases lately is "deep cleansing breath". It's funny how the phrase itself can almost be as calming as the action it describes. I was speaking to my friend Persephone's Gate about the subject recently, and we had an interesting discussion about easy it is to NOT breathe deeply. She pointed out that many of us probably breathe very shallow through most of the day. Just think of how much better we'd all feel if we breathed more fully each day.

Taking deep cleansing breaths has also been an important part of my yoga practice, especially since becoming pregnant. As my yoga instructor says, deep breaths are going to be an important factor throughout pregnancy, birth, and being a parent. Focused breathing is helpful in becoming more relaxed, and I'm hoping that by starting my practice now, it will be second nature to me to focus on deep breathing when labor comes.

In everyday life, taking a few moments to breathe deeply can do wonders for your attitude. It's relaxing, yet it also recharges your brain and blood with fresh oxygen, making you more alert. Taking deep cleansing breaths is an easy way to bring a little calm into your life.

Keeping Up With Yoga, If Not With My Blog

My 'online presence' has been lacking lately, due to some 'real life' factors, and I apologize for that. My blogging will pick up soon, I hope. In the meantime, I've been doing a new series of yoga poses and stretching that I thought I'd share. I try to do it in the morning and before bed, as well as whenever I need a quick mental break.

As always, look into this stuff yourself to learn the proper way to do it and whether or not it's right for you...this is just what *I* do....


I start in a Seated Forward Fold to get myself focus and centered. I loop my index and middle finger around my big toes to hold the pose and breathe. Sometimes I use my fingertips to push my toes towards my body, one at a time. I started doing this because I once had a massage that included some stretching of my toes, and I was shocked how good it felt just to stretch the toes around. I think it must help with circulation or something. Perhaps someone knows about reflexology and can fill us in?



Next I do the Bound Angle Pose. I do the variation where I also fold forward from the hips for a deeper stretch.



From there, I ease my body back into the Reclining Bound Angle Pose (I've also heard it called the Goddess Pose), using my hands and arms to get into this position, not my ab/back muscles. I like this pose because it makes me feel very grounded, and when I think of it as the Goddess Pose, I feel like I can relax into the pose in a more spiritual sense. I just find it really calming.


Here I do a couple stretches that aren't exactly yoga (I don't think), but they just feel good. Still lying on my back, I keep one foot on the ground with my knee bent, while stretching the other leg straight up. I hold the back of my thigh and pause for a few moments for a hamstring stretch, then switch legs. Then, with both feet on the floor and knees bent, I let my knees fall to one side while I look to the other side, then switch.



Then I sit back up and move forward onto all fours so I can get into the One-Legged Pigeon Pose. I do it slightly different from the image, with my lower leg at an angle behind my hand, rather than in front. I've always liked this pose because it just plain feels good to stretch out the hips.



Finally, I sit back into the Easy Pose to become centered, focused, and relaxed.

Namaste~

All images from www.yogajournal.com, a great source for all things Yoga.

Touching My Toes

I am more flexible now than I was in Middle School.

I started practicing Yoga around 2001. I used videos and books in the beginning and eventually had the opportunity to attend classes at a gym. It helped me perfect what I already knew and learn new poses, but I didn't like the gym and eventually dropped my membership to save a few bucks. Back to relying on my own memory, videos, etc., I don't practice nearly as often as I should, but I still have a regular series that I do whenever I feel like it, just to get my blood moving and muscles stretched.

I do a combination of child's pose, upward facing dog, and downward facing dog. I really like how this combination stretches my back, front, and extremities. I always start in child's pose, then move through upward dog, downward dog, and back to child's pose (rinse, repeat). When I'm feeling ambitious, sometimes I throw in a pigeon pose or forward bend. This short series of poses does a world of good and usually makes me end up thinking "I need to do more yoga" - but if I had a dollar for everytime I said that about something....

Does anyone remember doing those fitness challenges in Middle School? For me, the dreaded activity was always the V-Sit. You sit with your legs out straight, about 4-6 inches apart, and see how far past your feet you can reach with your fingertips. I struggled to touch my toes, much less reach past them, but I think I could wipe the floor with that darn V-Sit now! Or at least I could when I was at the height of my Yoga practice. ;)

Do you do Yoga? Any poses you particularly enjoy doing?