thoughts from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

These are not my own words, though I completely agree with them. They are the voice of Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, an activist and cookbook author. These are all from Patrick-Goudreau's book, The Vegan Table. The emphasis in the text is mine. I apologize in advance if this offends anyone. I believe in sharing the essense of who you are with those you love, and these words really touched me.


"It would be disingenous, however, to say there isn't something special about a gathering where no animals were harmed for the sake of our pleasure. When a sense of consciousness informs our actions, when our intentions reflect kindness and nonviolence, when our thoughts turn to someone else's needs rather than our own desires, there is no denying that something profound takes place. In the absense of suffering, there is peace. In the presense of compassion, there is joy."

"Most people don't look inside a slaughterhouse because if they did, they might be compelled to make different choices. It is our fear of change---our attachment to old habits---that drives us to keep eating animals and their products. It is our fear of doing something different that keeps us stuck in old behavior.

This is what I mean when I say that this habit harms our relationships. Our ability to compartmentalize our emotions and justify the pain of other living creatures in favor of momentary pleasure cannot but affect us on the most fundamental level. How can we function as whole human beings when we consciously cut ourselves off from a part of ourselves every time we sit down to eat?

Some people even believe that the fear, pain and violence experienced by the animals during slaughter are taken up into their flesh and fluids and then come into our own bodies when we consume them. Hokey as it may sound, we cannot deny that a plant-based meal is built from life-giving rather than life-taking foods. This is what I want to serve to the people I love most."


"I didn't stop eating animals because I didn't like the way they tasted. I stopped eating animals and their products because I didn't want to contribute to the violence and exploitation of another when I didn't have to. It is a powerful and empowering way to live.

The sense of peace you feel when you align your behavior with your values is tangible. It connects you with everything and everyone around you, and I can't think of a better way to deepen our participation in this world than by feeding our loved ones food that heals rather than harms.

May the dinners you create expand your heart as well as your palate, and may they draw you closer to those you love."

my personal practice

This is the first time I have shared my personal practice. It is an extended version of the classes I have taught in the past week. It is a practice I will continue to do until the end of the year. And I am sure parts of it will continue to come up during the classes I teach.

For the past few months, I have had a very unstructured personal practice. I have let myself just flow through asana as my body felt it needed to move. It has been eye-opening. Now, I think it is time to move into a more structured practice, so I can deeply learn to feel each asana.

Below is my sequence, without much commentary. If there is a variation of an asana I use, I will make note. If there are specific questions about the sequence...email me and I will try to clear it up. This is just off my notes, which I suspect make more sense to me than to others.

Centering

• Hero Pose (Virasana)


• Sphinx

Warming Up

• Flow between low Cobra Pose and Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana)


• Cat & Cow (Marjaryasana & Bitilasana)


• Flow from Down Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana through "cat plank" to Up Dog (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana)


• Sun Salutation B (Surya Namaskar B) *done twice. The first round is "on the breath". The second round with a longer Warrior I (Virabhadrasana I) moved into a Revolved Triangle (Parivrtta Trikonasana). If the second round is too much, just another Surya B on the breath.


• Flow between Standing Forward Fold (Uttanasana) and Half Standing Forward Fold (Ardha Uttanasana)


• Come to a squat, feet between hands

The Practice

• Step back with right foot to high lunge (hands over head), hold, then move into revolved lunge, hold, come back to center and step right foot up to meet the left. Repeat by stepping back with left foot, during lunge and revolving, BUT THEN STEP BACK TO DOWN DOG.


• Down Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana) Low lunge (step up with left foot)(Anjaneyasana). In low lunge, pull in right knee gently for variation on One Leg King Pigeon Pose II (Eka Pada Rajakapotasana II), Lizard Pose (Utthan Pristhasana), Lizard Pose, Outer Hip variation, Half Split Pose (Ardha Hamunanasana). Switch sides by moving through Down Dog. When finished on both sides, walk feet up to hands.


• Rag Doll with deeply bent knees.

Standing Poses

• Goddess Pose (Utkata Konasana), then fold right and left, then twist right and left


• Triangle (Trikonasana) to Half Moon Pose (Ardha Chandrasana) to Standing Split (Urdhva Prasarita Eka Padasana to Sugarcane Pose (Ardha Chandra Chapasana). Do both sides. Transition through Wide Legged Forward Bend C (Prasarita Padottanasana C).


• Eagle Pose (Garudasana).


• Tree Pose with Cow-Face Arms (Vrksasana with Gomukhasana arms)


• Step to Side Angle (Utthita Parsva Konasana), half bind and holding bind, move to Triangle. Move back to Side Angle, release bind and repeat on other side.


• Repeat Side Angle and Trikonasana, but with full binds

Backbends and Seated poses

• move to child's pose


• Locus (Slambhasana)


• Half Frog (Ardha Bhekasana)


• Bow (Dhanurasana)


• Side Angle (Vasisthasana)


• Down Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasna), 3 legged variation


• Wild Thing (Camatkarasana)


• Half Camel (Ardha Ustrasana)


• Child's Pose


• Dolphin Pose


• Full Boat Pose (Paripurna Navasana)


• Reclining Big Toe (Supta Padangusthasana)


• Bound Angle Pose (Baddha Konasana)


• Head to Knee Pose (Janu Sirsanana) Right leg, then left leg


• Staff Pose (Dandasana)


• Seated Forward Fold (Paschimottanasa)


• Heron Pose (Krounchasana)


• Easy Pose (Sukhasana)


• Sage's Pose III (Marichyasana III)


• Seated Wide Leg Forward Fold (Upavistha Konasana)


• Half Lord of the Fishes (Ardha Matsyendrasana)

Ending,,,

• an inversion, such as headstand or shoulderstand


• Corpse Pose

This is what I am practicing at the moment. It seems like a lot, and it can take a while if you stay in each asana for a while. Some days, its nice to go slow, but you can flow through these as well.

Bohemian Manifesto

"The Gypsy Bohemian are the expatriate types. They create their own Gypsy nirvana wherever they go. They are folksy flower children, hippies, psychedelic travelers, fairy folk, dreamers, medievalists, anachronistic throwbacks to a more romantic time…Gypsies scatter like seeds on the wind, don’t own a watch, show up on your doorstep and disappear in the night."

from The Bohemian Manifesto by Laren Stover

Yoga Playlist for Fall 2011

Amatevi by Agricantus
Ariadne by Dead Can Dance
The Birds of Rhiannon by Faith and the Muse
Breathing Light by Nitin Sawhney
Distant Lands by Armen Chakmakian
Drifting Clouds by Fateh
Edge Hill by Groove Armada
Elysium by Lisa Gerrard/Hans Zimmer
Fade into You by Mazzy Star
Gloomy Sunday by Heather Nova
La Fille de Pekin by Frederic Rousseau
Odin's Hill by Achillea
Opium by James Hood (Moodswings)
Radha Ramana by Tulku
Untitled 17 by J. Ralph

yet...

tree, a photo by Lady Starfisher on Flickr.

"Yet part of me yearned secretly for frills, pink tulle, lace, wings and a wand. At times, faeries seemed to stand for a luxuriant, seductive ultra-pink feminine...These changeling daughters want to inhabit the fairy vision of pure, unadulterated femininity, recognizing its power to fascinate. When we say we don't believe in fairies, we are sometimes saying that we don't believe little girls are...girly. Even the most grossly commercial fairy is an aspiration, a wish breathed out. A wish that may turn out to be the wrong one."

At the Bottom of the Garden: A Dark History of Fairies, Hobgoblins and Other Troublesome Things by Diane Purkiss

Yoga playlist

Keystone Heights/Three Bananas, a photo by Lady Starfisher on Flickr.

The current playlist I am using is...

Take me into your skin/Trentmoller

As if you've never been away/Ulrich Schnauss

Sweet Surrender/Sarah McLachlan (DJ Tiesto Mix)

Roads/Portishead

The Full Sentence/Pigeonhed

Breathe Me/Sia (Ulrich Schauss Remix)

Fragile/Nikonn

In this world/Moby

X-Files: variation on a theme/UNKLE

Sailing to Byzantium/Lisa Gerrard & Patrick Cassidy

Breathing/Kate Bush

Pachelbel's Canon in D-Major

Elysium/Klaus Bedelt featuring Lisa Gerrard

Concrete Eden/Ed Alleyne-Johnson (for my Lydia)

(and, of course, this is on shuffle, so there is not set order. It just happens as it happens.

Manatee Watching at Blue Springs

Blue Springs Me & Bee a photo by Lady Starfisher on Flickr.

an obsession and an inspiration...

"The more you think about your own self, the more self-centered you are, the more trouble even small problems can create in your mind. The stronger your sense of ‘I’, the narrower the scope of your thinking becomes; then even small obstacles become unbearable. On the other hand, if you concern yourself mainly with others, the broader your thinking becomes, and life’s inevitable difficulties disturb you less."

~I borrowed this from my Thai Massage teacher, Ariela Grodner

I do not know why I assoicate this quote with barnacles. This is a colony (?), tribe (?), gathering (?) of barnacles I became enamored with during our visit to Fort Clinch. I could not stop watching them (and poking their little heads, gently). I have just begun my research into them, so I am not sure if they are self-centered or not. Maybe they don't even realize they live so close together. But, this is how my mind works...strange associations.

Gallery Space

Gallery Space
Originally uploaded by Lady Starfisher

This is the space we have for our show in June. I measured it today. I think we should hang the panels 1ft off the rail (the dark brown part) and go 3 ft high. As to lenght, 30 ft will fill the space nicely.

So, 30 ft by 3 ft.

Each of the rods will support 75lbs. Using that logic, 2 rods per panel means we can have about 150lbs per panel. I doubt we even need that much weight. Also, we can use up to 3 rods per panel, if we want.

my yoga studio

yoga room at the YMCA
Originally uploaded by Lady Starfisher

The lovely spot in which I get to share yoga with others...every Wednesday and Thursday nights.