Resource Management

I woke up this morning with a puffy throat feeling miserable. Tomorrow I have a big meeting so I have to find some way to keep it together. My intention was to do a good practice today. I haven't had a chance to do yoga in three days and, y'all know, the essence of commitment is commitment. I sense there's a bolster with my name on it, but that's not exactly promoting my improved strength.

Here's the thing - and I'm sure I don't need to tell you this - as much as you are truly invested in whatever path you're on (just pick one) - the regular world is going to step in semi-regularly to fuck with the plan.

I can handle my current derailment in a variety of ways. I can decide to ignore how I feel and practice hard. That would be foolhardy as years of past experience have taught me. I can feel sorry for myself (actually, this is part of the plan regardless) and do nothing at all.

Did I mention that it's pouring misery outside?

I'm aiming for the middle ground: some knitting, the requisite cooking (Bolognese cuz it's comfort food) and these gluten-free brownies. (I haven't forgotten to tell you about my gluten-free experiment. I'm just choosing not to dwell on it. Thank God for the new GF bakery on my route to work because baking without flour is a whole new frontier...)

I'll practice some kind of yoga. It won't be intense. It may be fairly static. Mind you, as I start to move I may feel better. As with all things (impending but distant home reno), it's best to take the long view. I'm stronger than I was 2 months ago. Hopefully I'll be stronger (and less inclined to colds) in another 2 months.

But enough wallowing. Here are a couple of yoga resources I've been meaning to tell you about...

Yoga By Candace: I read very few yoga blogs. Actually, there are very few yoga blogs that are more than 5 posts deep or that talk about the topic in a way I can get with. Candace manages to be very engaging on a variety of peripheral topics, particularly yoga "style" (aka clothing and accessories). She's peripatetic. She stays in awesome hotels. She's not hard to look at (and there are many opps to do so). And she's struggled with a serious illness in the past 4 years, which makes her practice and lifestyle all the more impressive. This is an interesting blog for those of you who want to see yoga through the lens of a real person who happens to be a teacher. It's not granola in the slightest, but if you have hotel envy, trigger alert. BTW, while I'm interested in Candace's tutorials (as a fellow teacher), I don't look to her practice posts as a learning vehicle - so I can't recommend her on that basis.

My Yoga Online: Recently this site (one of which I've had longstanding experience) merged with Gaiam TV. I have to say, the merger has made a formerly good site 100 times better - in as much as the content had doubled and broadened. Worry not however, if you care nothing of any element of Gaiam TV's "channels" except for the yoga one. The inventory of classes taught by numerous teachers has doubled. Needless to say, I would never recommend a website over a studio with a good teacher who can observe your body and alter your practice in accordance with your needs. But as a supplement or if you live in an isolated place (or work odd hours), it's a really good addition to a home practice. There's not much Iyengar instruction, alas... Most of it is pan-yogic, which is not optimal, IMO. I haven't spent a lot of time looking at the volume of beginner classes so I don't know how useful they are, but I can tell you there are numerous very challenging classes of all lengths. My fave teachers currently are Kreg Weiss (Cdn) and Rodney Yee (Iyengar expat). Kreg's got many more offerings than Rodney - to suit me, however. There are also "yoga challenges" (sign-up events of a variety of lengths to assist in developing practice), articles, guides and tons of resources on anatomy.

Hopefully these sites may be of some use to you.

Today's questions: Which yoga blogs to do read? Have you tried My Yoga Online? If yes, what do you think of the revamp? Do you use another online platform to supplement your practice? Let's talk.