KETCHUM YOGA

Funny yoga video with some of my favorite friends and loves. 

Behead yourself. Remove ego - the Great Limiter. 

Found Here

1 hour intermediate vinyasa yoga class.  We will do some flow, some longer holds, sun salutations, forearm stand, and headstand. We’ll focus on pressing the elbows into the surface beneath feel the rebound of gravity up through the body in headstand, forearm stand, and extended side angle. This action of pressing the elbows down also helps to integrate the shoulder blades on the back.

I really like this woman. If I could do one thing, though, I would ask her to open her collar bones wide and melt the shoulder blades away from the ears as she’s flexing here. Then we could sigh a sigh of relief together.  

The postural influence of Hatha yoga, once used for a kind of physical self-destruction to release an immortal, post-human self, remains embedded within a contemporary movement practice that promis…

“Every one is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.”

~Mark Twain

Do more forward folds and give the back of your body a chance to open up and release. Here’s why from Tias Little:

"The fight-or-flight tendency, which I see a lot of, shows up as bracing—especially in the back body—feet, calves, hamstrings, buttocks, lower back, behind the heart, back of the neck. The back body is a real receptacle for this kind of bracing. Well, I guess we have to carry on. We have to stay present. So the back body ends up holding, like a buttress, in order for someone to stay in a situation—so that a fight or flight response can show up as bracing or gripping or really tight hamstrings. From a really young age, people are subject to threats of various kinds—physical, emotional, psychological and the body tissues respond on an unconscious level.”

Post Thanksgiving meal, this is where I’ll be. I’m longing for a silk dress/pantaloons combo like this - perfect for hibernating.

Found on the always inspiring Rachel Johnson Yoga site. 

This is the dance partner of my dreams. 

Inhalation engulfs the whole body, expanding from center to periphery. During exhalation, the tide recedes drawing back toward the center. The in-breath is a movement toward the peripheral consciousness; the out-breath moves into the core of consciousness. ~ B.K.S. Iyengar

"If you keep the back skin of the neck passive and the tongue soft, there is no tension in the brain." ~ BKS Iyengar

I think the word “stretch” might be a little misleading in this screen shot - I would replace with the word “move”. I just love Gil’s enthusiasm and poetic approach to the body. Please give this a watch if you have ever moved a muscle in your body. Ever.

Our jaws are overworked and underpaid. Give your jaw a break. Whether you’re opening that jar, texting your bff, or in a moment of deep concentration, unclench the poor thing. A release of the jaw translates into a sweetness and a calmness in your approach to life. No more clenching and gripping.

This photo is from the Stepford Wives Workout which very well may be sexist. So… gross on that. But just looking at this makes me feel better. She is opening the chest, shoulders, and collar bones without dumping in the low back and sticking ribs and belly out. Front ribs are incorporated into the body and her abdominals are gently engaged and tailbone reaches toward her heels to help lift up and out of the low back. 

I like the idea that ALL humans - not just house wives - should move in heathy ways throughout the day. When I sit at the computer all day I feel my body slowly hemorrhaging into a lethargic state.  When I get up every once in a while and do a little dance or stretch I feel awake and just plain better. So, if we are to learn anything from a sexist workout, it’s that whatever you’re doing during your day, incorporate some stretching and strengthening throughout and you’ll feel better.

Gal, you seem great. We’d probably have hung out back in the day. But I worry about the dumping going on in your low back here. Let’s go grab a mop/broom and do this again. But this time we will lift up and out of our backs. Our lungs will move forward and we’ll try to find the backbend in our upper backs. Friend, we’ll lengthen our tailbones toward our heels while internally rotating our legs and gently lifting in our low bellies. We’ll try to create openness along the whole spine not just a lot in the low back where we already have a fair amount flexibility. Pal? Right? 

This explains what yoga has brought to my life and what I hope to share with others. Read it. 

"Yoga works not because the poses are relaxing, but because they are stressful. It is your attempts to remain calm during this stress that create yoga’s greatest neurobiological benefit."

osmosis-art:

Dear Quincy 1968 (by Bill Monro)

Wesley Fata and Carmen De Lavallade Dance to a now famous Quincy Jones song

This guy has freedom in his spine. I felt great relief when they got rid of the cigarette so they could hold each other close and dance as wildly as they needed to. I could have used a little more wildness but this is pretty good. One thing left me puzzled: What’s the symbolism of the hole in her stocking? 

This song has revealed to me a new side of my heart. If that makes sense… 

It seems she has a quiet mind at least in this moment. Meaningful things do not need to be complicated, forceful, or difficult. There is much beauty to be found in softness, subtleness, simplicity and clarity. Also, I like anything monochromatic. And I like sleeping. 

Vuillard’s Au Lit (In Bed) in Musee d’Orsay, Paris

There is a tinge of frantic insanity in this Mills Brothers song that draws me in. I’m like a cat salivating at the sound of wildly clucking chickens. As the song continues I continue to salivate but never actually get to eat the chickens.  But I’m ok with that. If you’re looking to actually get the satisfying meal, I recommend "Lazy River". 

This song is on my personal yoga mix these days and I’ve been putting it on repeat for the whole hour. It becomes a meditation for me. 

chrisroberti:

Something new misguided project I’m doing. Just a chance for us to have a talk about the great magazine called “The New Yorker.”

I think they’ve been up all night and the sun is rising.

I need to pay a visit to upper Mars

staceymoves:

hold my hand

porcelainmoonfire:

Facebook on We Heart It - http://weheartit.com/entry/44962077/via/romiidii

I like to talk about breathing. Here is a video of me doing just that. 

Take me I’m yours, spring. 

Pina Bausch’s The Rite of Spring (Frühlingsopfer)

Photo by Maarten Vanden Abeele

Also

I’m lost in her expression. Her grueling life in the circus has paid off with some exquisite biceps and one of the nicest circus costumes I’ve seen. I hope her circus boss pays her well. I hope she is the circus boss.  

Found here

Nailing chin-ups before s/he can even walk. These two will have lots of strong babies. Dad will never wear pants or shirts. 

Watch your thoughts, but don’t trust them. They are just neurotransmitters locking into receptor sites. - Judith Hanson Lasater

Spring breeze is to cape as yoga is to life. I wish we could see her act. PHOTO: DIANE ARBUS, 1970 Found HERE

Ed ‘41.  Let’s say he’s about 90-ish now. I think he lives just outside Milwaukee with a bunch of dogs. He likes turtles and pigs, too. Favorite food: super salty sauerkraut and dried figs. Drives an imported yellow fiat. Likes to spend his time emailing and playing basketball. Found here

Found here. Strong Soviet woman in pumps. I’m interested in the relationship between these two. Husband/wife duo? Also, how does he get down? Flip? 

silencesounds:

Pumpuang Duangjan - Sao Dok Kum Tai (Lady From a Flower)

Thai Pop Spectacular 1960s-1980s

Just fell deeper in love with Thai music. The world should hear this. 

Found here. Photo of the Braselly Sisters in The Police Gazette in 1909 . Imagine the wrist strength alone! I think this perfectly captures sthira sukham asanam - Steady/focused/strong while maintaining comfort & ease.

carlosbaila:

Marina Abramovic meets Ulay

“Marina Abramovic and Ulay started an intense love story in the 70s, performing art out of the van they lived in. When they felt the relationship had run its course, they decided to walk the Great Wall of China, each from one end, meeting for one last big hug in the middle and never seeing each other again. at her 2010 MoMa retrospective Marina performed ‘The Artist Is Present’ as part of the show, a minute of silence with each stranger who sat in front of her. Ulay arrived without her knowing it and this is what happened.”

“En los años 70, Marina Abramovic mantuvo una intensa historia de amor con Ulay. Pasaron 5 años viviendo en una furgoneta realizando toda clase de performances. En 1988, cuando su relación ya no daba para más, decidieron recorrer la Gran Muralla China, empezando cada uno de un lado, para encontrarse en el medio, abrazarse y no volver a verse nunca más. En 2010 el MoMa de Nueva York dedicó una retrospectiva a su obra. Dentro de la misma, Marina compartía un minuto en silencio con cada extraño que se sentaba frente a ella. Ulay llegó sin que ella lo supiera, y esto fue lo que pasó”

Misha and Hines in one of my favorite movies of all time, White Nights. To make it even better, I found out that this title references 80 or so evenings in St. Petersburg, Russia, running from May to the end of July, when the city emerges from months of cold and darkness and celebrates the brief return of nearly round-the-clock daylight. This sounds magical. I want to go visit Russia during their next round of White Nights. Read this for thrills. Image found here 

My Deep thoughts about painting nails on Elephant Journal

Jonesing for a little sunlight.