I have been putting some thought into this blog yet again and to be honest I have posted more this year than ever before....yay me I am proud of this accomplishment. However! I am nowhere near being consistent or hitting many of the points that all the blogging articles suggest for a successful blog. Hmmmm.....a classic case of too much to do and too little time. Here are a couple of ideas I am considering for upcoming posts and ongoing content to this site. I am not sure what parts of my life you are interested in so if these ideas do not interest you, please let me know what you would like to see more of and I will try to accommodate. 1. Garden expansion...... working towards sustainability?! I have a bunch of seeds some of them old and some new and have purchased a few plants as well....so far I have planted lettuce, parsley, nasturtiums, onion, garlic, basil, peas, spinach, aloe vera, rosemary, and mint. I have had very little luck...
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On A Whim in Nicaragua started in December 2015 looking like this......... I like a challenge and that includes learning another language and culture, being an entrepreneur for the first time and so many other challenges that get lost in the mix. It's quite a change of lifestyle and one that I am grateful and privileged to be able to try. I am not wealthy and therefore and growing this studio, gallery, pool and event venue organically. A rapid pace towards my goal while enticing is not what I am ready for I don't think and so I find much accomplishment in doing the work and seeing even small changes happen. It will take some time but check out the changes in only 7 months.... The new look of the property and face of On A Whim in Nicaragua Watch for monthly updates on my progress and plantings. I have many projects I would like to do and am doing it on a very small budget so recycle...
Bow pose is a heart opening pose that stretches the whole front of your body and it is known in sanskrit as Dhanurasana. The bow shape is created as your body and legs become the body of the bow and when you extend your arms to your ankles they form the string of the bow. This is one of the beginning level backbends. Our practice this year has touched on a number of the preparatory poses regularly. Setu bandha savangasana or bridge pose is a favourite of mine and is used regularly in sequences I create. Urdhva mukha savasana is upward facing dog and is in every sun salutation you do. Bhujangasana is also used to modify urdhva mukha savasana in sun salutations as a slightly less intense backbend to upward facing dog. Join the class every Wednesday morning in July and work on this pose as we deepen our practice and love of yoga.
International Yoga Day is on June 21, 2016. I am hosting an event at the beach in Las Penitas and coordinating it as a larger event in Leon as well with Yoga Leon Nicaragua from 6pm-8:30pm. We are hoping to reach 170 people with this event. The event will have teams doing 108 surya namaskars. The following sponsors are helping to make it an unforgettable event for my first event in Nicaragua and I am very excited. That is a whole other item.....my first event in Nicaragua. I have found something to take me out of my comfort zone and I am really enjoying the challenge involved in every aspect of creating this event. I am learning and growing and therefore I am alive. I am extremely grateful to everyone who is supporting this event and introducing yoga to as many people as we can in Nicaragua.
This month we will breath our way through preparation for the primary series and closing sequence in Astanga yoga. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali state there are 8 limbs of yoga, being Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi are those limbs. They are words in ancient sanskrit meaning ethics or integrity, self-discipline, postures, breath control, withdrawl or sensory transcendence, concentration, meditation or contemplation and finally ecstasy. This is the first series of the style founded by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. Astanga is the word for 8 limbs in sanskrit and this styles basis. I have in the past linked some of the same poses in my sequences and also do some preparatory poses in my classes. I need to find some variations of the prep poses for change and challenge this month.....and a good study opportunity as well. I wonder how long it will take me to be able to do the whole thing....
Here goes I am embarking on a two year adventure into myself and the world around me through yoga, massage, coaching and other modalities. With this journey comes a great reading list and journaling. This is not something I have ever been able to keep up, with much regularity, as you can see from my posts here.....lol One day I may succeed as I continue to practice for the next two years. I have received the reading list and am happy to have just finished Yoga Sequencing: Designing Transformative Yoga Classes by Mark Stephens. This book was suggested to me and for obvious reason, it is incredibly informative. As a beginning yoga teacher it provided great pictures and foundations for infinite classes that I am now able to create. It will continue to be on my bookshelf as an excellent reference,and I could reread it still getting useful information a second or third time. Now I will delve further into this genre of reading with Yoga Anatomy by L...
Better known as Lord of the Dance or Dancer Pose this one has always been a bit tricky for me. I seem to topple sideways......often. So my particular goal this month is to see how long I can hold this pose and to have better form in it. There are numerous benefits of this pose. It will release tension in the ankle and foot. By opening the chest and lungs you create space for breath. It calms the mind, improves digestion and posture. All of this is accomplished while improving your sense of balance and focus. While wandering the internet looking for sequencing ideas for this I found that dolphin pose was part of one sequence. What luck since this was the focus pose for last month and we did very well with it. I really enjoyed it and will be happy to add it to many sequences in the future.
Whew!!!! That was a busy high season here in Nicaragua. The hotelito portion of Dulce Mareas opened at the beginning of high season and was a great success this year. We have had lots of reservations and the rooms were full most of the season with travelers, friends and people looking for a great space to stay for a few days. We can't ask for anything more and look forward to more of the same for the upcoming year. Why don't you come visit us? However, it left both Chris and I a little ragged around the edges with the nonstop things to do, people to meet and so last week we found some place to go.......to relax.....just us.....and rebalance. We had a spectacular week, starting in Costa Rica to renew my visa. We didn't make it more than 20 minutes past the border and we found Cabanas Canas Castilla, a working farm with chalet style rooms, howler monkeys, a running river and lots of nature to hike. We didn't stay long but it was just the rig...
Let's take a quick moment to recap. January was padmasana which is still out of my reach although I have continued to practice and can get one leg, the right, into position now. February was mula bandha and that is something I could already do so has been a refining process. I am still not able to isolate just the pelvic muscle right away but I am getting closer. There are consistently a couple people at my class and I am grateful for this and look forward to growing the class more. March, I have decided, is Ardha Pincha Mayurasana or Dolphin pose. It is both an inversion, forward bend, and a great prep for headstand. It opens the shoulders, upper back, strengthens the spine and upper body, stretches the hamstrings and stimulates the nervous system. It helps to relieve stress, mild depression, headaches, insomnia, back pain and helps prevent osteoporosis. If those weren't enough reasons to work on this pose, this month, then the fact that do...
Let's take a moment to recap my January practice and padmasana changes. It seems my desire to do this pose has been thwarted by my ability and I am still firmly planted in half lotus. After every class I have felt my hips becoming more open but they are still pretty tight all in all. Truthfully I have not practiced everyday this month but have consistently practiced once a week with my class. A personal practice outside of this will continue to be a goal for this year. I am very fortunate to have one or two regular people joining me for this morning class. One of the regular women in my class is pregnant, and for that reason I am going to veer slightly from the plan I set out with at the beginning of the year. Many of the poses on the plan are not pregnancy friendly. I would like to take this opportunity to use up a wild card and make February a focus on mula bandha. Mula Bandha In english known as the root lock, this is not an asana but a breat...
I thought I would take a photo of the beautiful terrazzo at Hotelito Dulce Mareas where I teach a Wednesday morning all levels class of yoga. It's another gorgeous day in paradise. We're waiting for you......please join me for a class!!!!! This is the exciting portion......my property in Las Penitas, Leon, Nicaragua. This is soon to be the home of On A Whim!. I am looking forward to teaching yoga and doing Thai yoga massage in this space but more than that it is going to be an artisans market, where artisans can rent a space on Saturday and Sunday to sell leather products jewelry, wood carvings, pottery and other items that are hand crafted here in Nicaragua. We will also be offering a few services. I am in the midst of finding vendors so if you know someone looking to rent a space please give them my information.
Also known as Lotus Pose I have chosen this one for a few of reasons. First this is a great pose for meditation and who can't afford to do a little more meditation. Not only will it calm my brain but stimulate my pelvis , bladder, abdomen and spine. This sounds like a great way to start my year with better posture and digestion. I also read it may ease some of the menstrual discomfort I have begun to experience in the last year. I can't wait to see if it helps. The greatest benefit of course will be a renewed and improved meditation element to my practice and for my classes as well. Join me in Las Penitas, Leon, Nicaragua for a class this year. Hotelito Dulce Mareas is ready and waiting for guests.....Book now for a winter retreat.
A bit of an update is in order here. Seems I missed the beginning of 2015, my word and most of the year in blog......I really took that 2014 word adventure to heart. I have been in Nicaragua for a year and 2 months and everyday has been a new adventure and learning curve. Now I move on to 2016...... My word for this year is balance. In every aspect of my life I want to apply balance. The last year has found me focusing on running a restaurant and helping to build a hotelito, but this year I want to put everything in its place taking more time for me and the projects I have started. I want to focus more on the "artesenal mercadito" I am building, offering thai yoga massage as well as my yoga and pilates teaching. I also want to use balance as a jumping off point for my personal upcoming year in yoga. This year I am going to make a goal that hopefully others will want to follow with me....... I am going to take one yoga pose that is adv...
Wow.....I keep saying time flies and gets faster every year I am alive. It feels like it is on permanent fast forward now that I am in Nicaragua. And the funniest part of the whole thing is that nothing moves with any kind of speed compared to the hectic pace in Canada. Everything has been new, different and so incredibly busy. My life has changed in an infinite number of ways and directions. I have a new boyfriend who I live with here in Las Penitas. We have known each other for many years and he is the sweetest, kindest man a girl could ask for. I am very lucky to have reconnected with him. He owns Dulce Mareas which is a pizza restaurant here in town. Last November he began a building project in the backyard consisting of 4 rooms and a suite. It is just 2 weeks ago that it was completed and the first guests arrived. When they say everything happens for a reason and every lesson builds character to strengthen you in the future ...
I mistakenly believed that I was one of a few people that collected beach or sea glass. Was I ever wrong. Thanks to Google, I now know there are clubs, groups, and entire protected beaches dedicated to this activity. What it means to me? I have a friend from home that collects beach glass, so I thought, what better way to feel close to home, but to have a friend on my morning walk with me, in spirit anyway. The day we collected beach glass in Ontario, it was everywhere. I have been in Nicaragua for almost 7 months now, living on a huge expanse of Ocean beach, and I have less than 20 pieces. It has become a meditation like activity, walking on the beach looking for sea glass. Every piece is a beautiful, one of a kind, rare find. Worn down by time and environment, every specimen has weathered much before coming to shore and into my hands.......I am grateful every time I find one.
The countdown to Paradise is on......19 days and every day goes faster and faster. I am slowly checking things off my list one by one. My flight is confirmed, travel insurance purchased, house rented and yesterday I completed the last major item of selling my car. I am 8 days from my final day at work and even things here are winding down as the properties I manage slowly transition to their new managers. All this is giving me a lot of time to think and plan and obsess but it is so much more difficult because I am not sure what to expect. The anxiety and fear of the unknown is setting in and as it does I focus on breathing and being present.......om I went to my last aerial yoga class on Monday and I hope to find a class in Nicaragua I can take as well. Today I will go to Maha Pura Yoga for one last class and some goodbyes. I hope once I get settled everyone can come visit and take in some classes on the beach in my new paradise.
My flight is booked. I am going to Nicaragua from Sept 30, 2014-June 30, 2015. I am very, very excited.....What an adventure. This whole experience is just one first after another, although I expect they are not the firsts you are expecting. It will be the first time I have been unemployed for more than one month since I started working at 14 and the first time travelling in a Spanish speaking country. I have been working diligently since last December to prepare for this trip which in itself is another first since I am usually a bit of a procrastinator. I am not even sure what other firsts await me but I am looking forward to all of them. I have been studying Spanish with Rosetta Stone and I am more than halfway, although I am not sure I will finish the course before I leave. People tell me it is best to be immersed in the language since the vocabulary is different, so a basic understanding is what I have been going for. I hav...
Guided Relaxation: Heal with the Breath | Yoga International I really enjoyed this one and it is just the right length
I am pretty sure I have mentioned the life change I am on course to make in October........so here is the latest addition to further my plans and goals. This weekend I finished Pilates teacher training at KW Pilates (www.kwpilates.com). It was taught by Stephen Filipowicz through The Physical Mind Institute. I found the course very in depth with a lot of time spent on the mechanics and muscles of the body and how they work for each of us. Although I have taken Pilates as a student many times I found that I was only familiar with about 1/3 or 1/2 of the actual Pilates exercises. I had never learned there names and thankfully didn't realize how many of them we all do in only modified forms. The class was very structured and quite a change from classes I have taken for other modalities. We were lead through some typical classes as well as classes styled by Stephen. This is my favorite part of the program where you experience other peoples style. ...
That's what life is all about, isn't it!!?? This affirmation is just the kind you'd expect from Louise Hay. Her book You Can Heal Your Life is an old friend that a good friend suggested years ago. I found a lot of inspiration in that book. I also enjoy her affirmations, why not turn one into a mantra? Other notable books she wrote are The Power is Within, The Power is Within Affirmations and Empowering Women. Notable, because I have read and enjoyed them while learning something new with every read. I reallllllly like to read.......