Never.

Nope.

Never.

Never going to like the cold. Never going to think "Whoohoo seasons are here." No, I like Southern California and, frankly, I am totally a California Princess. Warm weather for the cold blooded.

Arrived in Seattle late on Sunday night but got up at 530 for yoga Monday. Took a shower so I could go straight to the office from practice, made some coffee (but spilt half of it all over the floor prior to leaving) and found my way west side. I ended up putting my mat right behind JumpsThruSomeday and Carl. For the third time in a row, I forgot balancing poses. I have no idea what is going on with me that I'd suddenly forget balancing. Then tonight I spent about fifteen minutes doubting my memory as to whether balancing came after prasaritas or after parsvottanasana. What gives?

Practice on Monday was good. The room was fairly cold but I was glad to be up and doing my practice. I was a bit worried by how long it would take me to get to the office and a conference call that I had so I flew through practice and then somehow it was only 8:15 when I was done. I was stoked to find out the shala has a shower :) AND the office is only like 15 minutes away (University Village).

I didn't practice asana today - moon day... but tomorrow I am taking one of my colleagues to the noon Mysore class at the other studio here. He's never done ashtanga but seems interested enough to make lunch out of it. I've been getting back to the mode of being selfish about my practice. As well I should be, I suppose but I end up debating whether or not the appropriate attitude is "I will go slow and help him through primary" or "Screw this, it's my yoga time, I'm going to do my whole practice because I need to." Not very yogic, is it?

On the other hand, the new found and old lost discipline appears to be somewhat revitalized. I've been eating better. The worst thing I've eaten was tonight when we went to Cafe Flora and I had the Oxaca tacos. I've switched to drip coffee instead of the fancy espresso drinks. I've been eating, if anything, in the mornings raw fruit. For the most part, I haven't been eating until about 1pm and, even then, only soup. I've turned down the pizza and the pasta and the carbo lunch loads and have found a cute little soup kichen down the street from the office (Nana's Soup House) where I've been getting a tomato basil soup with a thin slice of freshly baked potato bread (that is delightful).

This trip, in an effort to be more like myself, I brought along The Soul of Rumi. In honor, today's Rumi:

A Deep Nobility

There are degrees of nearness. Simply by existing,
every creature lives near

the creator, but there's a nobility deeper than just
being. The sun warms

generally the mountainside, but it illuminates the shaft
of a gold mine. The bush will

never know how the sun is with gold. There are dead
branches and live branches

full of sap. The sun brings flowers nad fruit from one
and more withering to the

other. Don't be the kind of ecstatic who feels ashamed
when he or she comes

back to normal. Be a clear and rational lunatic whom
the most intelligent human

beings follow. Don't be a cat toying with a mouse. Go
after the love lion. You have

inflated yourself with imagination. Drink in rather the
soul of Khidr, who doesn't

flinch when it's time to die. All winter you carved
water jars out of ice.

How well will they hold the summer snowmelt?