21 days.

i've challenged myself to a little challenge.

my darling yoga instructor from gaia flow yoga here in dallas has challenged those in her classes to a 21 day yoga challenge. 21 days of practicing yoga every single day. yep...every. single. day. it could be a 90 minute intensive class. 5 minutes of practicing handstands. or it could be 10 minutes of sitting in child's pose. anyway you do it, you need to do it.

why 21 days? because it's been said that it takes 21 days to make or break a habit. and i don't think i've ever done anything for 21 days straight.

obviously, i won't be making it to a 90 minute class everyday, which is why podcasts are so great. last night, i did this 20 minute lunar flow practice. and it was perfect (plus, they're free!). no excuses.

i've decided to go sugar-free for 21 days as well. why? because i don't think i've gone 21 hours without sugar before, and...well, it's time to break the habit.

join me in 21 days of something that makes you feel great.

happy wednesday.

"that was the day she made herself a promise to live more from intention and less from habit."

namaste.

it is no secret that i am infatuated with giada de laurentiis of food network fame. the husband will constantly catch me talking about her as if she was my best friend. "i saw giada do this...," "well, if i were giada...,""in giada's kitchen..." etc. etc. 

i'm not religious about watching 'giada at home,' but if i'm skimming the channels and her show's on...i'm hooked. today i was particularly impressed as she held a "body and soul" episode where she invited a few close friends over for a yoga session and a light lunch. forget book club or poker night...how fun would this be? 

since my growing belly is keeping me from teaching or going to my preferred higher intensity classes, i'm left to instructing myself through some prenatal yoga at home. it's not quite the same, and i don't do it as much as i should or would like to...but, after seeing giada today, i can't wait to get back in the game, post-baby, and host my own "yogi luncheon" for my friends and family. maybe a few times a month? in the spring and summer? would you come?

of course, it would be a lot better if we lived in santa monica, near giada and were overlooking the ocean as her home does, but i'd do my best....at least until giada starts inviting me to spend the summer season with her. we'd start out with a restorative yoga session, lightly break a sweat and end with a lovely, healthy lunch.

on the menu? fruit spring rolls made with strawberries, mangos and sliced almonds with a honey lime sauce. watermelon with watercress and feta, and a chopped salad with shrimp and all the best fixins. we would of course have fresh spring water with lemon and raspberries, and enya playing in the background. 

now...if only i actually lived by my friends and family. i'm going to make this happen. one day. 

namaste. xo.

traffic, guitars and spinning

after spending 3+ hours in traffic yesterday, i've decided i'm not leaving our apartment again, (unless it is to go to the store down the street) until we move to san francisco.

no sooner than i decided this, the noise started upstairs. apparently our new neighbors above are in a band. how delightful. sounds like they are testing out their electric guitar connection to their amp, or something like it. those that know me, know that i can't handle random loud noises. most would say to complain to management about the wall-vibrating noise, but i won't, because i know what it is like. the husband and i have had a visit from security on more than one occasion. our neighbors below, are not to say...very tolerant, and call security on us every time we drop a sock on the floor. so i'll let it slide...the noise will pass. 

so to get the buzzing out of my ears, knowing that i would be on my own self-induced lockdown for the next month or so, i dragged myself to a spinning class this morning. let's just say this...my summer of fitness has not turned out the way i thought it would. i was convinced i would be a lean, mean athlete by now, but nothing could be further from the truth. yoga + no other type of exercise = out of shape laura. although my ytt (yoga teacher training) was unforgettable and i couldn't be happier (not to mention more peaceful) about it. still, it consumed all my time, and it is almost like my cardiovascular system is slowly walking up from hibernation. i'm a limber, larger version of myself to say the least. 

so back to the spinning class. does anyone do this sport regularly?

because let me just say, it may be the hardest workout i've ever done. or i'm just that out of shape. which is the most likely possibility. i really tried to keep up with the instructor and the rest of the class. whew...it was rough. that being said, my summer of fitness bust may turn into a fall of fitness experiment. i need some more balance. maybe some walking/running, spinning, swimming and lots of yoga and i will be one step closer to being the triathlete i've always wanted to be. 

p.s. - these are not helping.

tuesday reflections: coat of many colors

i've decided that i want to go to india. just today, after seeing these pictures. i have always thought that one of the coolest jobs would be to be a traveling photographer for a respectable publication. something like national geographic, or maybe outside magazine...but unfortunately, i have no professional training of any kind, nor did i develop the artistic gene in my family of artists, but i can still very much appreciate the talent of others. 

i thought these pictures were beautiful. i feel that capturing life, as it is happening, makes the best kind of picture. i've never been one for posing, but a great candid...that is real to me. frederic poirot has a collection of pictures that really pop to me because of the life and color he captures in his candids. i've come to have more of an appreciation for color over the last couple of weeks. it brightens the mood, warms the body and soul, and awakens the senses. 

somewhere of the last couple of years, i have accumulated an unhealthy amount of black in my wardrobe. my sweetest bff carlee has a running joke, whenever the subject of what i am wearing comes up, is if it involves a black hoodie of some kind. and she is usually right. 

the other day, my lovely teacher deanna, who no doubt you will hear me refer to often, was talking to me about chakras, colors, and all that they can represent in our lives. she explained that each chakra is associated with a different color, and has a grounding effect with its correlation to nature, earth and the universe. even the colors we chose are not arbitrary, but hold personal meaning towards us. she went on to explain the meaning of blues, greens, reds and so forth. as i looked down on my black on black lulu lemon wear, i proceeded to ask deanna what the color black meant? she looked deep and focused into my eyes and said, "black is not a color."

in india, color represents energy, passion, joy and light. black is the color of mourning. i've challenged myself to add a bit more color to my wardrobe, not only to please carlee, but to also bring just a little more life and energy into my life. it is inevitable that my preferred color is going to seep through every now and again, but some habits are just hard to break. and sometimes, just sometimes, it just makes you look skinnier. 

"well, darkness has a hunger that's insatiable, and lightness has a call that's hard to hear." - indigo girls

*images via flikr

meditations from the mat

"how much of the world had i missed while living in my head? if each cell in our bodies is an outpost of our brains, what might i have learned? i'll never know what that adventurous little girl might have become. but at least i know that she's still there - waiting to enter the present."

-gloria steinem, moving beyond the words.