Category Archives: A Yoga+Music365 Project

2010 Challenge to do yoga and listen to new music every day.

Music Roundup! Week 1

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 Starting today, each Saturday I’ll share my thoughts on the music of the week. Please keep in mind I am not a music critic, just a girl with a musical obsession that needs to be tempered.

Yoga+Music365 is my effort to expand my musical horizons by listening to a new album every day in 2010.

I’m always looking for new music, so please send me the titles of albums that you absolutely can not live without, albums you wish were on everyone’s iPods and albums you play over and over despite no one else “getting it”.

The albums don’t have to be new releases, just new to me.

NOTE: I’m linking to MySpace when it’s available because of the ease of listening to songs, not because of a love of MySpace.

MUSIC ROUNDUP!

Day One:

Title: 500 Days of Summer Soundtrack

Highlights:

There is a Light that Never Goes Off – The Smiths

 Mushaboom – Feist

Us – Regina Spektor (link included video of this and the next song and movie preview – BONUS!)

Vagabond Wolfmother

You Make My Dreams – Hall and Oates – If you haven’t seen this movie, this scene is worth the price of admission. Seriously, watch it NOW!

Will I listen again?

Without a doubt!

Day Two:

Title: Furr by Blitzen Trapper

Highlights:

1. Sleepy Time in the Western World (every album should start so strong)

2. Furr – very Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel-esque. LOVE IT!

3. God+Suicide (the title alone wins)

4. Black River Killer (Why oh why, do I so enjoy the songs about killing people?)

Will I listen again?

Absolutely!

Day Three:

Title: In Our Nature by Jose Gonzalez

Highlights:

1. How Low

Will I listen again?

Jose Gonzalez was recommended to be by a friend because of how much I love Elliot Smith‘s breathy/folky “only meant for lover’s ears” kinds of songs. JG didn’t do much for me. Not to say he isn’t a talented musician because he is, he just isn’t my cup of tea.

Plus he has an 8 (!) minute song on a 33 minute record. I guess he didn’t get my very personal memo about the brilliance of the 3 minute song.

Will I listen again? Maybe. We’ll see what other gems are uncovered this year.

Day Four:

Title: My Maudlin Career by Camera Obscura

Highlights:

1. French Navy (Just trying listening without tapping your foot or shaking your butt.)

2. Away with Murder

3. Forests and Sand

4. Honey in the Sun

Will I listen again?

I already am!

Tracyanne Campbell sounds like an angel, plus it’s catchy & you can dance to it!

Day Five:

Title: Narrow Stairs by Death Cab for Cutie (full disclosure: I’ve heard it before, just not in 2010. For some reason I LOVE this band name. Why? I really don’t know).

Highlights:

Radio hits galore!

1. I Will Possess Your Heart

2. Cath…

Will I listen again?

Um, yeah. And so will you if you listen to “alternative” commercial radio. This isn’t a bad thing, it’s nice for good music to come on the radio sometimes.

Day Six:

Title: Flower of Avalon by Tracy Grammer

Highlights:

1. Laughlin Boy

2. Preston Miller

Will I listen again?

She has a beautiful voice – very much like Margo Timmins of the Cowboy Junkies. So I’ll probably stick with Margo and play “Lay It Down” when I want to hear the Cowboy Junkies.

 Day Seven:

Title: Here We Come by The Fratellis

Highlights:

1. Shameless (very Big Star. Yes, Big Star that did that 70’s show song)

2. Look Out Sunshine!

3. Babydoll

4. Acid Jazz Singer

Will I listen again?

YES!

Please leave a comment about what you think I should be listening to this year.

Or send me a CD – Yoga+Music365 c/o Tami Hackbarth PO BOX 188616 Sacramento, CA 95818.

Today’s yoga brought to you by: The Kitchen! in Sacramento. All kidding aside, it’s a home practice day.

Today’s music is The Reminder by Feist.

 

Yoga+Music365 (day8) – New Seasons by The Sadies

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Starting today, every Friday I am going to take a day off from blogging.

But what about the yoga and the music? I’ll post the practice and the title (probably on Saturday).

Let’s be honest, the real self-care comes from knowing your limits, boundaries and taking the time you need to renew.

What will I be doing instead of yoga, music and writing about yoga and music?

In honor of listening to my need for self-care, I’m having my twice monthly massage today.  Yep, I get a 90 minute massage every other Friday from Tess Bradley at the Body Mind Center in Midtown Sacramento.

<Drop everything and immediately make an appointment with her – she’s AMAZING! Tell her you read about her here>

Twice a month massage?!?!?

It must be nice. <snide comment I’ve been hearing for years about this practice>

Why yes, it is.

I look at massage as a financial commitment to my health and well-being. Massage, like yoga, helps me be a nicer person. It feels good and it helps keep me healthy. It also helps me be a better teacher, wife and friend. I started having massage regularly so I could deal with the grief of my stepdad dying and felt all the benefits of regular body work.

What practices do you regularly do to take care of yourself? Please leave a comment and if your self-care thing interests me, maybe I’ll start doing your thing too.

PS- Think of Fridays as blog-reading catch-up day. If you’ve been a little behind on all the good stuff, here’s my gift to you.

PPS- I’m thinking of Saturdays being music round ups.

 PPPS- Don’t forget FREE Fridays at 4:30 with the new It’s All Yoga teachers (21st and X in Sacramento) – you’ve got to sign up online www.itsallyoga.com. 

Yoga+Music365 (day7) – Here We Stand by The Fratellis

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I love January.

Most people think of January as the beginning of the year, the time of year for resolutions and self-improvement. But as a teacher, it is pretty much the midpoint.

I spend the first half of the year filling them up with information, procedures and expectations. Some kids can keep up with the quick pace from the start. Some kids can’t.

But then I send them home for winter break and it finally all sinks in.

My students are finally mine.

Every year in January I’m surprised how much my class comes together. I’m surprised how much we’ve become a real community. We’ve finally learned how to work well together, how to get our work finished and what behavior works and what doesn’t.

By this time of the year, I always feel connected to my students and I am proud of their accomplishments. It’s so nice to see them become more independent learners and to really start to take charge of their learning.

It’s my hope that one day, I will finally remember that my class really becomes mine, in January.

Today’s yoga brought to you by Madeleine at It’s All Yoga, Sacramento. <ROCKS>

Today’s music is Here We Stand by The Fratellis.

Yoga+Music365 (day6) – Flower of Avalon by Tracy Grammer

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I slept horribly last night. It was hard to turn off my head and fall asleep. I woke up several times and had a hard time turning my head off to go back to sleep. The alarm went off way too early today. Needless to say, the adrenaline of returning to school has gone.

Self-care?

Ugh.

All this self-care mindfulness is working!  Rather than sitting on the couch waiting for bedtime to arrive, I went to a yoga class and a walk with a friend. So thank you readers for getting my butt off the couch.

Yoga = Kim at It’s All Yoga – (check out the “Word of the Year”). Check out the comments and leave your word of the year.

Kim reminded us that our practice is a good way to witness our thoughts and patterns. We were working on balance poses today. She kindly reminded us to not get too attached one way or the other to the outcome.  So nice to have someone telling you again and again what you need to hear.

She also gave some incredibly clear and concise instruction for Vasisthasana. I got into the pose feeling very balanced and strong – what a huge difference!  

Today’s Music: Flowers of Avalon Tracy Grammer

Stayed tuned for the weekly music roundup and my love letter to the yoga props I love.

Please let me know what you like and want to hear more about.

Yoga+Music365 (day5) – Narrow Stairs by Death Cab for Cutie

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Starting today, each Tuesday I’ll share an easy, nutritious recipe so you can join me in the home-cooked self-care.

One of the ways that helps me feel really cared for is home cooking. I’m not a huge foodie or someone who likes to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. I do, however get a huge sense of accomplishment from having cooked and a huge sense of comfort from having eaten healthy, nutritious food.

Breakfast sets the tone for the rest of my day. If I eat a warm, home-cooked breakfast I usually end of eating well the rest of the day. When I do this frequently, my immune system stays intact and I don’t catch every plague that comes into my classroom. Or at least it doesn’t kill me like it used to.

Today’s recipe is from my friend Suzan whose daughter runs New Leaf Ayurveda. While I haven’t been out to the center myself, I have eaten some of their Food For Friends meals – delicious!

SPICED APPLES

Serves 1

Cube one apple

Put apple in saucepan

Cover with filtered water

Throw in a couple of whole cloves, some vanilla, and lots of cinnamon

Cook apples until soft and water has evaporated.

Remove cloves mash apple with a masher.

Eat.

I like to stir in some quinoa or leftover brown rice, Udo’s oil, ricotta cheese and sliced almonds for a well-rounded breakfast. 

Whenever I eat this at school my students always comment that it smells like apple pie. I have to agree!

Today’s yoga = Viparita Karani on my new Hugger Mugger (god, I love that name!) bolster.

Yep, just one pose.

But it’s a really, really good one.

Try it!

Please leave me a comment about anything you like or want to know more about.

***1/6/09 edit

I forgot the music link – Death Cab for Cutie.

  

  

 

Yoga+Music365 (day4) – My Maudlin Career by Camera Obscura

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Today I returned to work after more than two weeks off. The real self-care challenge begins now that I’ve been pushed out of the comfy nest of my house back into the real world.

I’m happy to report that the self-care plan continued!

Setting limits on pre-work screen time helped me start the day without being late, nutritious food kept me fueled and recognizing that my students work at a way slower pace the first day from vacation helped me ease back into work more smoothly than in the past.

Today’s music link: Camera Obscura.

Today’s yoga brought to you by It’s All Yoga in Sacramento.

In the coming weeks I’ll be adding some regular posts on yoga and self-care. Topics I’m thinking about are:

  •  A weekly music round-up
  • Yoga props and how I use them
  • My favorite yoga and/or poetry books
  • Nourishing, yet tasty and easy recipes
  • Self-massage tips (keep it clean, people!)
  • General self-care ideas
  • Anything else you are interested in. Just let me know what you are interested in reading.

One of my supportive commenters, Mamasattva, asked for music links. You ask and you shall receive!

Yoga+Music365 (day3) – In Our Nature by Jose Gonzalez

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My inner teacher this morning would like to share some insights that came up during class today. Just a warning, not all insights are pleasant or very “yoga” like (whatever that means)…

TARDINESS

Here’s a pet peeve… if you are new to a studio and need to fill out the new student form, wouldn’t it be a good idea to get to the studio a few minutes before class starts? I am just saying that your late arrival didn’t just inconvenience you. The people who planned and actually got to class on time all have to shift their mats to make room for you.

Not the end of the world, however in case you are wondering if that bugged anyone, it did.

YOUR FAVORITE FRAGRANCE

Just yesterday I wondered who wears perfume because of all the advertisements I was choking on while trying to read a magazine. I thought, I don’t think I know a single person that wears perfume daily. I wonder if the perfume companies are hurting for money…. (don’t mock me for my stupid thoughts, you know you have them too).

Well, silly me. When you ask the universe a question, even a silly one like who still wears perfume – the universe feels compelled to answer it.

This morning’s yoga class gave me my answer. I found out that someone still wears perfume.

A LOT.

It didn’t hit me until I was coming up from a forward bend and my nose started dripping on my mat. Snot literally dripping out of my nose onto the mat. Fast! Like I can’t even catch it fast. Disgusting, I know. Imagine how I felt! As I rushed back to grab a tissue, I looked for the culprit and was unable to figure out who was offending my nostrils. 

The perfume in question was a lovely scent, however probably more appropriate anywhere in the world other than a hugely crowded beginning of the year yoga class.

No one is smelling like roses at the end of the class, so let’s not try to begin the class that way either.

COMPETITION

Don’t think I am just bitching about others. 

Wasn’t it just the other day when I was talking about how I never left a yoga class feeling worse than when I went in?

Again, it’s like I was just tempting the universe to prove me wrong.

I kept looking at other people on their mats and comparing myself to them. I know this kind of thinking isn’t popular in yoga circles, but sometimes it just happens. Or at least it happens to me.

I was thinking why can they do that twisty around thingy when I am having trouble sitting this morning?

They even seem to be enjoying this ridiculous amount of flow… Hey wait a minute! We never do this much flow… why are we now?

I HATE FLOW! That’s it, I’m not doing any more….

My inner teacher spoke loudly to me today.  I think she reminded me that if I want to not bugged by tardiness, perfume and competition maybe I need to spend a bit more time in my kitchen being my own teacher.

Anyone else have any yoga class pet peeves?

Yoga+Music365 (day2) – Furr by Blitzen Trapper

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I feel so very virtuous! I practiced yoga all by myself at home for 45 minutes and it didn’t feel like a chore, weird, lonely or anything else negative. I also didn’t feel awkward or fumble around for what to do next (all of which has happened in the past).

This is a huge deal for me because I’ve been so spoiled by finding such amazing teachers in Sacramento. It’s All Yoga has an embarrassment of riches in this way and by working the front desk, I get all the free yoga I can do.

But let’s be honest, sometimes classes don’t fit into your schedule or you just can’t be bothered to get all the way dressed or your hair just isn’t public ready and so you’ve got to do your own practice at home. Believe me, I know it sounds crazy and like a big hassle. And honestly when others do such a great job teaching why should I do it for myself?

Check out my post on starting a home practice to see my reasoning.

All that being said, not everyone knows where to start a home practice. Since I totally have been resisting doing one even though it was a requirement in my yoga teacher training, I figure I should share what is making it possible for me.

1. I’ve got some sequences written just for me by my yoga study buddy Erin. She rocks and is one of the people teaching free Fridays at 4:30 at It’s All Yoga, so if you are lucky enough to go when she’s teaching, she’ll love you up too. I’ll share her magic sequence from today.

2. I have a yoga mat that is so squishy and sticky and yummy it begs me to use it. Long story short, I’ve been test driving a Jade Harmony Professional mat over the last few months at the studio. The company is on Facebook and Twitter and they like to give stuff away. Jade sent me a teacher demo blemished mat in Sedona Red (and I was supposed to give it to my husband but,)  I love its blemish.  In fact, I think it’s little hiccup stripe makes it even more beautiful.

PS – I love social media and have won so much stuff on Facebook and Twitter that now I think of it as the magic universe.

Here’s the lovely sequence from Erin. Yes, we were talking menu metaphors when we were writing these =)

Appetizer

Start in CR (constructive rest) with lazy belly breaths, landing, arriving

Knees to chest arms out to a ‘t’ – lower knees to either side and bringing them back in with strong belly exhalation (3-5 times each side)

Back to CR, breathe

Opposite arm/leg extensions using breath (from Mary Paffard Belly Work Article)

*exhale as you extend right leg and left arm out straight, inhale extended, and exhale to bring the limbs back to CR (3-5 for each side)

 Salad

Roll spine to come to Uttanasana

reverse swan dive up

exhale hands to heart

full breath cycle @ heart

inhale arms sweep back up, baby backbend

exhale Uttanasana

inhale flat back

exhale Uttanasana

step back into playful, squirmy Adho Mukha Svanasana

Entrée

When you’re ready, right leg lunge

Virabhadrasana I and hold for some breaths (belly belly belly)

Clasp hands or strap behind back (shoulder opener)

Lower torso down to inside of thigh with arms clasped behind pointing toward ceiling

Hold for a couple breath cycles as comfy

Exhale upright, release arms and raise them back to Virabhadrasana I

(heart feel more open than first Virabhadrasana I?)

Dog

Flow: Plank, Chaturanga Dandasana, Cobra/up dog, Down Dog

Step to Uttanasana

 REPEAT SALAD

REPEAT ENTRÉE on Left side

 Cheese Plate

Balasana

To Belly with limbs fully extended, raising opposite Arm/Leg with inhales, releasing with exhales (4-5 times each side)  *Similar to how we started except on the belly.

Balasana

Come onto back, knees to chest, gentle rolls

Figure 4 stretch w/ right leg on top

Figure 4 with twist (sole of right foot to floor on left side, looking right)

Repeat on Left and anything else you need/feel like doing before Savasana

 Dessert

Savasana (10 mins)

Yoga+Music365 (day1) – 500 Days of Summer Soundtrack

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Yesterday I made my big proclamation that I would do some yoga and listen to new music every day in 2010.  I’m calling it the Yoga+Music365.

Today during class at It’s All Yoga (where else?), Michelle spoke about all things “new year” – resolutions, intentions, to-do’s, shoulds, cultural expectations and this got me thinking about my reasoning for taking on this self-imposed yoga+music challenge.

To be honest, I got caught up in the Best of 2009 Challenge fever of writing about my previously unkept resolutions and decided to try last year’s again. Of course with the added twist of the additional 11 months.

How hard could this be anyway? I made it a whole 19 days last year before I got sick and gave up.

Then it sunk in that I had just announced to the universe that I was going to do something every day for a year.

What if something came up and I couldn’t do one or both?

Did I just commit myself to another thing?

Aren’t I already overcommitted?

What if I don’t feel like it?

What if I failed?

Gulp.

So after class today I talked to Michelle. It became clear to me why I was swimming in fear on day one because on the surface it just doesn’t make sense.

I love yoga. It feels great. I’ve never felt worse after a class or even rolling out on my mat at home. In fact, I can say yoga has never failed to actually make me feel better. So that’s not it.

My little music experiment last year expanded my horizons so much that I’m still listening to some mix CDs friends made me and loving them.  If I hadn’t gone on my Old97’s fast last year,  I wouldn’t have ever been introduced to Ryan Adams or Andrew Bird or Neko Case, so that’s not it.

In talking to Michelle, I realized that yoga and music are really good self-care for me. When all planets are aligned i.e. — I go to bed early, sleep well, eat healthy food, listen to music, write, read, exercise, do yoga, play with my friends, and laugh — I am a very happy girl.

When I don’t, I’m not.

Ultimately, I think I am taking on this challenge so that I will be reminded to put my self-care as a top priority in my life.

So here is to a year of doing less of what doesn’t serve me and doing more of what does.