lovey chilled-out yoga mix-tape

A bit of a slower mix.  Each song makes my heart flutter just a little bit.

1.  Birds and Ships ~ Billy Bragg and Wilco

2.  Land Rights ~ Xavier Rudd

3.  By & by ~ Brett Dennen

4.  Hard Sun ~ Eddie Veder

5.  A Song About California ~ Hey Ocean

6.  Never Going Back Again ~ Fleetwood Mac

7.  Sugar Magnolia ~ Grateful Dead

8.  One Step Closer to You ~ Michael Franti

9.  Date with Destiny ~ Nightmare on Wax

10. Under African Skies ~ Paul Simon

11.  Joy ~ Phish

12.  You and Me ~ Dave Matthews

13.  Songbird ~ Fleetwood Mac

14.  Your Long Journey ~ Robert Plant and Alison Kraus

15.  Pocahontas ~ Neil Young

my top ten albums to play all the way through

I love the energy that goes into creating the perfect playlist.  Thinking about the flow, thinking about the people who will be in the class and surfing through my songs to find just the right list to stoke the fire. 

But sometimes, an album is just meant to be played, just as the artist intended, from track one all the way through.

Here are a few amazing albums that I love to toss on, flip upside down, and just hit play. 

(In no particular order)

1. Florence and the Machine ~ Lungs

2. Robert Plant and Alison Kraus ~ Raising Sand

3. Paul Simon ~ Graceland

4. Mumford and Sons ~ Sigh no More

5. Jai Uttal ~ Bhakti Bazaar

6. Massive Attack ~Protection

7. Kings of Leon ~ Because of the Times

8. Billy Bragg and Wilco ~ Mermaid Avenue

9. Grateful Dead ~ American Beauty

10. Led Zepellin ~ III

I want some more!!!  What albums do you find are best played right on through?

I am a willow tree

me and my mom :)

“When I am a willow tree, I can be with another and can still stand my ground — I don’t change and become a different kind of tree just to please the other. I stand as myself even when the other pushes up against me. But I can bend when I want to, and I can grow when I need to." ~ Janet Luhrs

My Momma taught me this.

But sometimes I forget this and I go through the day trying to be a magnolia tree because they are beautiful; or an apple tree because people need apple trees; or an evergreen because they are constant and don't seem to change with the seasons.

This is dangerous because in trying to be all of these things I miss the whole point.  And the point is that being a willow tree is pretty fucking great!  I'm strong with gnarly bark. I have these huge branches that create amazing shade for people to take solace under.  And my leaves make the most beautiful sound as the wind rustles through them.

I am a willow tree, and "I can bend when I want to and I can grow when I need to."

Last year for Christmas, Mike gave me an angel.  A Willow Tree angel named happiness.  She sits in my yoga room and her purpose is to encourage the freedom to sing, laugh, dance and create.  I love her.  She is my reminder to be who I am, quirks and all.  And to not get caught up in the humdrum of life but to keep on dancing and flowing and creating.

This month is all about mindfulness.  I have flirted with meditation on and off since Bali and now I am ready to give it a serious go. There was a moment during my yoga teacher training when I felt it, or I guess in feeling it I didn't really feel anything at all.  I don't really know.  But the point is I've been longing for it ever since.

This whole experiment started out of a burning feeling that there is more to it than this.  It being life and this being the daily going on of eat, sleep, work, gossip, play, repeat.  Meditation, says, Bhante Gunaratana, is an "investigation and an experiment, an adventure every time".  Well I'm up for some adventure.  Especially an adventure where "the goal is liberation".  

This month isn't so much about the search for happiness but about that burning desire for greater awareness.  For a deeper connection to everything and the comfort in knowing that there is really nothing. And a true acceptance to be who I am as I am, standing tall as a willow tree in the middle of the forrest. 

Me and the unicorns.


Resolutions:

~ Meditate every day.  Start at 15 mins and go up 5 mins each week finishing the month at a full 30 minutes.
~ Every week try a different meditation technique
~ Read Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante Gunaratana
~ Keep a meditation journal
~ Don't expect anything, don't over analyze anything, except everything that comes up and just notice.

Bhante Gunartana says that the mind is like a cup of muddy water. Mix it all up and it gets cloudy and you can’t make out any of the parts. But let it sit, and the mud will settle to the bottom and what you have left is clear water. Meditation stills the mind, settling the mud and allowing us to see more clearly.

I want to see more clearly

"I want to unfold, let no place in me hold itself closed, for where I am closed I am false." ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

Yoga Playlist #3

I've been teaching a Pilates Barre class for the past couple of months.  A super fun, up-tempo class that moves to a different beat.  Here's the playlist.  Each song is around 120bpm, perfect for a super fun and sweaty vinyasa flow class!!!

1. You are the Best Thing ~ Ray LaMontagne

2. Our Song ~ Taylor Swift

3. Soulshine ~ Michael Franti

4. Short Skirt/Long Jacket ~ Cake

5. Dreams ~ Fleetwood Mac

6. Don't Stop til You Get Enough ~ Michael Jackson

7. Hung Up ~ Madonna

8. Gatekeeper ~ Feist

9. Don't Stop ~ Fleetwood Mac

10. Shake it ~ Michael Franti (feat. Lady Saw)

11. My Moon My Man ~ Feist

12. True Love Way ~ Kings of Leon

13. Give me one Reason ~ Tracey Chapman

14. Opera Singer ~ Cake

15. Let it be Me ~ Phish

...yes, I know Taylor Swift is there on the list, she's my dirty little secret...don't judge.