Even More Yoga

This morning’s yoga playlist included gems such as:

• “Evening Kitchen” by Band of Horses
• “Thistled Spring” by Horse Feathers
• “Fold” by Jose Gonzalez
• “Sans Solei” by Miike Snow
• “Burn” by Ray LaMontagne
• “Shelter” by The xx
• “Nostrand” by Ratatat
• “Mien” by Millionyoung

But the above song/video was the highlight of my practice. With each new song I hear by Beirut I become more enamored. When practicing yoga it’s important to breath in and out through only the nose. The helps trap body heat inside and helps the muscles to loosen up, leading to increased flexibility and circulation. Every so often (when practicing alone) I feel compelled to open my mouth and sing along. Today’s listening of “Goshen” was one of those occasions. The other instance of that this morning: “Season’s Trees” by Danger Mouse and Danielle Luppi (feat. Norah Jones). Swoon.

What’s the best part about having class at night? Being able to go to the beach and do my reading for school during the day! Off to catch some rays…

Mid-Week Meditation

Three days into the work (school) week and I am still going strong. First thing this morning I unfurled my mat and tapped into my inner yogi. I used the same playlist as Monday and felt myself immediately fall into the groove. Today felt really good. I began my meditative breathing in a seated pose and over the course of an hour I worked through cat, cow, moonflowers, sunflowers, sun salutations, warrior I, II, and III, pyramid, balancing half moon, triangle, tree, extended big toe, pigeon, seated wide angle, butterfly, supine twist, dead bug, and corpse. A few other oddities were thrown in there, but I can’t totally describe them as they are my own concoction. Yet another benefit of practicing on my own.

I’ve already thought of a few ideas for my practice tomorrow. I’ll take this as a sign that maybe this week’s yoga won’t be just another flavor-of-the-month workout routine.