Feel Good Kind of Show

It was definitely a "feel good" kind of show. One of those TV shows that makes you feel great watching it and for days after as you tell other people about it. Tears of joy, excitement, and fun mixed with very talented singers. I found myself e-mailing all my friends about it and talking about it with a big smile on my face the next day and beyond.

I only have two shows that I don't like to miss - a game show and a late night show. Last week a preview aired right before my late night show. It started with four very popular singers who are the coaches on the show (i.e. Cee-lo Green, Adam Levine, Blake Shelton and Christina Aguilera) belting out the song "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley like I've never heard it sung before. It also didn't hurt that the contestant they featured was a good looking cowboy with a great voice. The show was fun and I was captivated. I raced home from teaching my cycle class last night to see the premiere. Expecting a one hour show, I was delighted that it turned out to be two. Incredibly talented singers tried out in blind auditions. Each one's story was revealed and their audition presented along with the battle between the coaches for the singers they liked. Ultimately the singer gets to pick who they work with. If none of the coaches pick the singer, it is disappointing but the coaches still have encouraging and positive responses for them. I can't wait for next week and the next show - The Voice.

I am sometimes tired when I get to yoga class, or frustrated from events of the work day. It never fails that once I start teaching and working with my students, and enjoying their hard work that I forget all my troubles and find new energy. At the end of class I thank them for letting me play with them and we all leave feeling better than when we came in the door.

It's a Feel Good Kind of Class and our Feeling Good Kind of Shows (to everyone else that we come across)!

It's the Little Things That Make a Big Difference

There was a new furniture store in town that sounded interesting - rooms of furniture ready to go. I drove by the brightly colored building many times and finally had a few minutes one day to peek my head inside and see what the fuss was all about. An interesting table with bar high cushy chairs in a chocolate black color caught my attention (when doesn't chocolate anything catch my attention?). It was unusual because of the shape of the table - a rounded triangle. The bench seat on one side reminded me of the bench we had at our kitchen table when I was a kid. It was difficult to get eight kids around a table without a bench on one side. I loved to lay down on that bench after dinner, sometimes resting, sometimes just avoiding the inevitable homework. I didn't really need a new dining room table, so I put a picture of it in my head for future reference. We've been redoing some rooms in the house, replacing a few things, and it came time to redo the dining room. I went back to the store to search for that perfect table that I came across so long ago - and was delighted to find it was still available. It is so perfect for my husband's poker nights and our frequent game nights at the house. In preparation for its delivery, we moved some furniture in the dining room. The china cabinet, weighted down with years of collecting wine glasses and wine to fill them, hadn't been moved in an embarassing number of years. We simply moved it one wall over (ok - I admit - not simply - it had to be emptied first, and strong neighbor boys had to be commisioned to come over and move it - which was easily accomplished with promises of baked goods) and the whole room opened up. It was amazing how a simple thing made such a huge difference. You can walk through the room without running into a table or chair - positive Feng Shui.

In yoga I move about the room during class, gently making adjustments to student's poses. It doesn't take much for them to feel a big difference. I give them modifications and ways to make a start with a complicated pose. I try to remember names, and try to get around the room and make eye contact, a positive comment or a light touch to everyone. It's the little things that make a big difference.

Really? Es verdad? (is that true?)

I was preparing for an international vacation and called my cell phone company to check on the call, text and e-mail rates and charges while I traveled. I provided the representative with all of my information and secret passwords for account access. When she found out the reason for my call, she said she would have to transfer me to the international department. Once connected, I again had to provide all of my numbers and secret passwords. I asked the representative why they didn't have that in the system. "Believe me, I know. It frustrates me as much as it frustrates you", he replied in a monotone, scripted, said it for the 16th time today fashion. So unbelievable, I thought. At least it wasn't as frustrating as the last time when I was transferred five times with all the information repeating, I told myself as I tried to look at it in a positive way.

The fake truth is rampant. I assisted my son on a walk-through inspection of his new house prior to closing. The salesman gave several mini speeches of half truths including the ever so irritating - "I'm looking out for these kids like they are my own children". Really? I was thinking it was more like he was looking out for his own commission on the sale of this mansion. Es verdad? (is that true?)

Then there is yoga. I never have to wonder with my students. Their sincerity shows through in every breath, every exertion, every laugh as they tumble to the floor struggling through a pose and every "I feel great, thank you" at the end of every class.

In yoga - no posers - just poses. Verdad (truly).

Voracious

The grapes popped and exploded with flavor as I crushed down on the handful I had placed in my mouth. I am a voracious eater. I love food and believe handfuls of grapes, popcorn or M&M's taste so much better than eating them one at a time. There is something about the crunch and flavor explosion that cannot be dismissed. Fortunately, I am as voracious an exerciser and do not have a problem with my weight.

Recently, I bought a bag of crunchy red grapes. I pulled off a handful, popped them in my mouth and started to crunch away - then stopped. Something was wrong - something besides grapes was in there. I discovered that a small piece of stem was still attached to every grape - they hadn't severed cleanly from the vine. I wasn't going to be able to pop delightful dozens into my mouth at a time. I was going to have to grab each one off the vine separately, separate the little stem piece and eat them one by one. I did. And guess what? They were delicious that way. One crunchy grape explodes with flavor just as nicely as a mouthful.

In yoga, some students try to do all the poses all out without paying attention to how they feel with each movement, whether they are going too far or whether they can push a little bit more. They don't slow down and listen to their body and back off if something doesn't feel right. They end up frustrated, tired or stressed and strained. They need to focus on each pose and each part of each pose a little more for greater enjoyment and safe stretching.

One by one, not the whole bunch - enjoy!

It's All Good

It was the most perfect of days - the weatherman gave it a ten. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, the temperature was 72 and I was headed to the beach in the convertible with the most perfect of beach buddies soon to be in the car with me and the most perfectly packed cooler (chocolate, beer, strawberries and other goodies). I was momentarily delayed on our trip at a traffic light. I looked in the rear view mirror and noticed the guy behind me jammin' out on his steering wheel like a rock star drummer. Must be a good song - maybe I should go back there and ask him what it is - I thought. It would probably make a great tune for my cycling class! I smiled and headed to the rendevous spot for the beach thinking about the rough work week behind me and the relaxing day ahead. Mixing tough with fun. It's all good - I thought.

My yoga class tonight was the perfect size for personal attention - ten. We started with the basic warm-ups and moved on to class mixing beginner poses with challenging ones. Half of the class struggled with the challenging poses, losing their balance, sometimes tumbling gently to the floor laughing or making "say what?" comments when I mentioned where I wanted them to try to move their arm or their leg, but continuing to try. I told them it was all good. The fact that they were laughing and enjoying themselves through their struggles was a good sign. They weren't giving up but were enjoying the challenges and the little "ta-da" moments when part of a pose actually worked.

We all have struggles mixed with good times. It is how we approach it that makes all the difference. Stay on the positive side - it's all good.

We Are What Drives Us Crazy - Are We?

I just started leading my Saturday morning yoga class in their sun salutations - a vigorous warm up before the real work begins. We were on our third round and I suddenly realized what I had said, stopped myself in mid cobra position (on my belly with chest raised) and started laughing as the class continued their string of poses, unphased by my break in the rhythm. They knew that there would be an explanation and that it would probably make them laugh too. They were used to it and enjoyed it - (that's what they tell me). It takes the edge off of the hard work they are performing.

I remained on the floor as I started my mini performance - an exaggerated description of the poses stretching out every other syllable as I spoke slowly and carefully. "Lunge deeeeeply into the pose as you breeeeeeathe slooooowly with eeeeeeach moooooovement" I said. I started to smile. "I can't believe it", I said. It has always driven me a little crazy to hear yoga instructors speak with that slow drawn out speak and I heard myself say one word - just one tiny word - during the sun salutation that gave the tiniest most micro-indication that I might be headed in the same direction of the yoga "rack" instructors - stretching out every word. Please no - not me.

At least when you are aware of something you can stop it. And I stopped it dead in its tracks right there.

But it was then that I realized that this may not be the only instance of my being what drives me crazy. I started a personal reality check.

I took a cycling class the other day and cringed every time the instructor screamed her zealous "eeeeeh" and "whoohoo" into the microphone in between the talking that never stopped and heavy breathing that reminded me I should be working as hard. It wasn't the expressions of enthusiasm that bothered me as much as her screaming it right into the mic at full volume. Then I thought about my own class and how often I express enthusiasm as I egg them on to work harder and bring themselves to that "can't talk - need CPR" zone. But I calmed myself as I realized I always push the mic to the side and I do stop talking (heck - I am just trying to breathe like they are) and all was well again in my yoga and cycling world.

They say (who are these "theys"? - and why do we listen to them?) - that those things that irritate us most about other people are actually a reflection of ourselves and our faults. Granted some of them are - but streeeeeeeeeetching out my words and screeching into the mic are not mine.

Keeping It Fresh and New

The surgeon held the beating heart in his hand and gently turned it on end so that we could see the twisting motion of the left ventricle, like a towel twists when you wring it out. I was at the Pumps and Pipes Conference, a collaboration between heart surgeons and oil and gas engineers sharing their expertise and technology to solve each others "pump and pipe" problems. We were watching a live feed from an operating room a few buildings away at the medical center. I was grateful for the man laying on the table with his chest open who volunteered to allow us to view his bypass heart surgery. When I was in college I considered the specific discipline of bio-medical engineering within mechanical engineering, but never switched. Medicine and surgery have always fascinated me and the operation was amazing.

What I remember most are the words of the surgeon as he held the man's heart in his hand - "Isn't it incredible. Isn't it beautiful". Here was a doctor who has probably seen hundreds of hearts, if not thousands and his natural reaction was amazement and appreciation. This man truly loved his work.

This morning I drove downtown with the convertible top down on an incredibly sunny, though cold, day to teach two cycling classes in a row at the downtown gym. I had the heat on under my seat and the hot air blowing full blast as I clutched the steering wheel with my driving gloves on, wondering if the surrounding drivers thought I was crazy. (Probably!). I only teach at this gym occasionally, so it was a treat to work with a different crowd. Though the process is the same - warm them up, kick their booties, cool them down - and you don't really go anywhere, class is always a new adventure. The music changes, the people change (though there are always a few new faces - even in my regular classes), and their faces change as they struggle to survive. I like to teach at different gyms occasionally, just for something new. So, it always stays fresh and exciting.

In yoga class I try to work on different poses each time I teach so the members always get a different experience. I've taught for many years and still delight and enjoy it every time. Next week I will attend a yoga conference in San Francisco to learn new techniques and methods to keep my classes interesting. I am eager to return to my students and experiment with them. This retreat to one of the most beautiful and exciting cities I know is one way I keep it fresh and renew my attitude.

What will you do to continue to make your work new and exciting every time?

It is a new year. Keep it fresh. Keep it new. Happy New Year!