Way back in October, we began to build a set of 4 big trees in the yoga studio. No small project, we're using a ton of lumber - but I think any tree that becomes a 2x4 that becomes a tree is going to be pretty OK with that.
In the hollow space in the heart of each tree, our resident artist Laura Salazar created beautiful painted tubes for us to place crystals, heart shaped stones from our local river, prayers bundles made by Tambra and Shiila, memorabilia from our first year in business, and love notes, intentions, blessings, and prayers. You are welcome to send your own offering to the trees - we'll be closing them up at the end of the month, so send something now - via email if you like, or in the mail: 203 Stillwater #1, Wimberley, TX 78676

I was a little disappointed last fall when I didn't make my minimum number of students required to start a teacher training session. It's a huge commitment for me, and the first 2 years were about testing the material. This time, the money matters a little more - it is allowing me to finish some long desired projects, grow the business a little more, spoil the trainees, and have a little left over to pay me, so I let it go and waited. I was gung-ho again in January, but I've learned not to push things too hard too early in a new year. If I set my expectations on high and my cruise control on low, January evolves in a much nicer way. And sure enough - just 1 day before training began on January 27, I got my 8th trainee, and life proved itself to be perfect as usual.

All 8 women live within an hour's drive, so I don't have to worry about accommodations. Not all will be teachers, but all are there for the right reasons. They are serious minded but also fun and sweet and full of love and light. And bright - 6 of the 8 taught a sequence of 10 poses on their very first weekend in training.

Each weekend includes all the aspects of training - a little history, a little philosophy, a little on the lifestyle and practices of yoga, a lot of practice, and a lot of anatomy and teaching methods. I try to be as experiential as I can - with guest teachers coming in to show the many diverse practices of yoga, and bite sizes pieces of all the lifestyle elements, so the trainees can deepen into their knowledge in a graceful way. So following the chakras works perfectly. In weekend 1 - we explore the root chakra, and we ground. We build a strong, safe foundation for the whole training experience, for themselves as teachers, and as a community. We wear red, carry red stones in our pockets, and eat all the red foods available - organic strawberries, raspberries, apples, grapefruit, pomegranates, cherries. Red pears, red peppers, red carrots, red hummus, red jams, red nuts and proteins. We study mudras (hand gestures) and the first limb of yoga - non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, non-lusting, non-greed. We learn to stand, and to stay. We learn 10 fundamental yoga poses, and practice teaching them right away. On Saturday morning, we experienced a grounding Kundalini set with our guest teacher, Ceci Zuniga. Everyone was solid and mellow the rest of the day. And I give them lots of stuff - notebooks and binders and piles of handouts. Everyone leaves knowing they made the right decision, and every weekend after this one benefits.

On October 1, 2010, I taught the first class at The Still Water Studio, my yoga studio in Wimberley. It was called Friday Night Lights, and 5 people were there. On October 1, 2011, we spent the day shopping for lumber and beginning construction of the world's first (and only) indoor TreeYoga ™ facility.

The story begins years ago, when I was folding towels one sunny late Spring afternoon in 2005 at a yoga studio in Dallas and "Hal" showed up at the door. He introduced himself and I recognized the name - his son was a regular student. And Hal was still high from his 3rd ever class. "I've been practicing yoga in trees," he told me, "and I think it is really beautiful and cool and I want to create a book of pictures for my wife. Can I borrow some of your cute yoga teachers to pose for me?"

What I remember saying is, "I think I'd better have a look at this myself before I put any other teacher at risk." What Hal remembers me saying is, "Well I love yoga and I love trees, so it sounds great to me!"

Either way, we went out into the soft green manicured lawns of Lee Park and Hal pulled out some bundles of heavy duty "slings" to keep us safe in the trees, and I took one look at what he was doing and said, "yup, that's yoga." And pulled on a sling, walked up a tree, flipped upside down, and giggled. TreeYoga™ was born.

Over the next year, Hal developed the ideal sling product called TreeYoga Multi-Slings (TYMS) and went into manufacturing. His lovely wife Debra took on the job of TreeYoga photographer. I gathered more yoga teachers and we played, practiced, discovered the poses, and let our laughing inner children out to play. We went to the Yoga Journal conference in Estes Park, created websites, videos and playshops, and slowly, the practice took root and grew.

But heat, drought and tough little critters make outdoor TreeYoga hard sometimes, so we're bringing the trees indoors. Look for pictures and progress reports here.....

I breezed through 48 hours of fruit, and 24 hours of fruits and vegetables, and felt great. Then again, I feel pretty great all the time. So what's next?

Yesterday I raced right to the meat when lunch time rolled around. Ron had grilled a tenderloin from one of our local organic farmers so I wouldn't end up scarfing down some burger of unknown origin, and I ate 6 thin slices right off the cutting board, with salt. A little while later I drove around town looking for a salad, and came back empty handed - nothing appealed to me. I wanted to let the meat digest on its own, and see what happened. 2 hours after that I had the coveted frozen mocha, and for dinner Ron made a Caesar salad, and 15 hours after I ate the meat - I woke up, still digesting it. Or, in-digesting it, as the case may be. Bummer.

So I'm torn. If I feel great all the time, and cleansing just brings my awareness to the things that take a little more effort to process, should I just carry on about my business as before, blissful in my digestive ignorance?

Let's face it, tons of yoga and a diet that is mostly organic local food + a couple of indulgences, I think overall I'm pretty clean.

But I woke up this morning and continued with the oil pulling, and now I'm sitting here eating fruit as I type. I must be motivated to do something more. So I will, for as long as it feels right. Mostly fruits and vegetables for the rest of August, I think. I like dry skin brushing, and what is does for my skin, and my teeth are starting to gleam already from the oil. I'll keep up with both of those for a while. And I'm not missing the wine so far, nor surprisingly, the night time chocolate.

But for now, I'm not giving up the mochas.

I'm feeling pretty good at the 48 hour mark. Ron is outside right now grilling a big sweet potato though, because I'm teaching a hot yoga class in a few hours, and feeling a little more light headed and spacey than I'd like. I was thinking I'd make it to dinner this evening to re-introduce vegetables, but now that I'm here I think I'll teach a better class if my head is somewhere nearer to the ground.

Last night's Casino Night was not bad. I panicked a little when I got there and discovered the salad already drenched in Caesar dressing. Dinner for me was going to be water and a piece of fruit leather. I have a purse full of goji berries, but seriously, who likes these things?

I was standing by the door of the office on Friday, day 1, munching on a handful, when Tambra came up and said, goji berries, huh? And I said, mmm, they aren't very good, are they? and she laughed and said, i used to eat them all the time and then one day i decided it just wasn't worth it anymore. She's completely right.They are like a dust dry tasteless old raisin. I'd never really noticed it before. I paid $21.99 a pound for these things to be my protein source for the cleanse, but I haven't really been able to choke them down on their own.

After I settled in and had a few glasses of water, I felt great all evening. Even danced eventually - it was like high school - all the ladies on the dance floor, all the guys not. They were playing and drinking in the casino. By the time we got home at 10:30, the pangs of hunger had passed and my stomach felt comfortable, so I skipped a late night apple and went to bed empty. Today I've eaten steadily - at least one serving of fruit every hour, including a big smoothie this morning - but haven't been able to feel satisfied. So it is time to add in the vegetables, just a little early.

Yam. Yum. Full. Happy. :-)

Some time between now and 6 pm, I'm going to toss the last of those garden tomatoes with a little fresh basil and a drop of pecan oil in the saute pan for a half a second, and then after class I'll race home to a feast of grilled summer squash, sweet potato, and carrots.

Tomorrow morning: apples and pineapple, and then for lunch... Ron is cooking up a tenderloin tonight and I'll devour the leftovers with a salad. And a frozen mocha. And a popsicle. Celebration!

Alternate nostril breathing

Yes. In one side and out the other. The ancient yogis came up with lots of different ways to breathe - for cooling off, warming up, concentrating the mind, relaxing, and all sorts of other health and cleaning benefits.

Alternate nostril breathing is one of those classic cure-all yoga techniques. It's a little weird at first, but once you get the hang of it, you will notice lots of subtle shifts in your energy. Sit up straight and tall. Close your eyes and take a few regular deep, slow breaths to get settled. Then place your right thumb over your right nostril and close it off. Inhale slowly through your left nostril for a count of 4, and then close it off with your index finger, open the right nostril, and slowly exhale for a count of 4. Then inhale through the right nostril for 4, and close it off, open the left, and exhale out. And so on. Try to sit still and breathe this way for several minutes, and as you practice, increase the count of your breath, and add a few seconds of holding the breath in before exhaling, and holding the breath out before inhaling. Not so much that's it's a struggle, just a few extra seconds of holding, and noticing.

Besides relaxing and revitalizing your energy, reducing your cravings or hunger, and cleaning the sinuses and the lungs, alternate nostril breathing is also really good for balancing both sides of your brain for more calm, clear thinking. It soothes the nervous system, improves sleep, and helps to regulate your body temperature. The left nostril is said to be cooling, the right heating, so if one side of your nose is "weaker" - bringing them into balance makes it easier to manage the shifts from blazing hot outside to refrigerated indoor environments.

A couple of cooling breath techniques are called Sitali and Sadant. They work pretty much the same way. If you can curl your tongue like a straw and poke it out of you mouth, pull the breath in long and slowly with a soft siiiiiii sound, then hold it in for a moment before releasing it through the nostrils, that's Sitali. If you can't tube your tongue, simply press the teeth lightly together, touch the tip of your tongue to the back of your front teeth, and pull the air in through the sides of your lips and teeth, with the same siiiiii sound, and release it also through the nostrils, that's Sadant.

Have fun!

Well into the 26th hour, and hungry. The fruit is delicious, and satisfying in the moment, but it doesn't last.

In 2 hours I'll be in a packed hall full of booze and pasta, and, because it's Casino Night, I'm a little worried about the "what happens in Johnson Hall stays in Johnson Hall" energy.

So, I had planned to write for a few minutes about pranayama - breathing techniques that can help to cool us, clean us, clear our minds. And they really do work! But I can't sit still right now for typing, so I'm going to have to employ some more active distraction tactics..... outside I go for dry skin brushing, a shower in the sun, maybe even paint the toe nails. And all the while - breathing deeply, slowly, and mindfully, in and out. In and out.

What are you doing to keep moving through hunger?

The ancient yogis covered it all, folks - they tidied up inside and out.

I have to say here, though, that these cleansing techniques are cool and useful, but I am a Middle Way girl - I don't recommend extremes of any kind - so try not to get carried away with over-cleansing. We live in a very toxic world, and there's no question it is a good idea to back away from it every once in a while and let things rest. But in my experience, a strong, vibrant, resilient immune system is weakened by the over-sterilization of our environments. Just being alive proves that a certain amount of junk coming at us makes us stronger and more adept, so cleansing should be considered a vacation, not a lifestyle.

Here are some fun, easy things you can try.

Eyes:

Place a candle flame, or a single flower in a vase, at eye level a few feet away from you, and try to keep your eyes on it without blinking for 1 - 2 minutes. It's going to burn for a short time, and then your whole eyes will flush with water. In last night's detox class, we used a feather, and practiced 3 sets of that. It cleans your eyes and trains your concentration. Watching your fave sad movie also cleans your eyes, though, and opens your heart. Try both this weekend and see if things look brighter next week.

Nose:

I don't like nasal cleansing with a neti pot, I have to admit. I don't do it often, because I don't suffer from sinus problems or allergies, and a nice hot shower, followed by a piece of kleenex, seems to serve me most of the time. But lately in my hot yoga classes I've been noticing more mucus in the throat and nose - it's just so incredibly dry this summer - inside and out. So, a 1/4 teaspoon of pure salt in a neti pot in the shower is a great idea now, and always when you are cleansing. If you've never tried it before, you can find them in most natural food markets. You fill the pot, tilt your head to one side and put the spout to that nostril, and pour. Tilt your head so the water goes out the other nostril, not into the throat. I do half the neti pot for each side, and then blow out the water, etc. really well.

Ears:

A few years ago, I had an episode of really really really not listening to myself, and even my body, which I'm usually pretty attuned to, could not make me pay attention. My ears filled up with wax until I literally could not hear out of one ear, and hardly at all from the other. Eventually I went to a clinic and the nurse practitioner pulled out a crochet hook, stuck it in my ear and yanked an inch and a half long Shrek candle out. SO technically, I do not think ear waxing really works, but obviously the drug store ear drops don't either - I had been using both of them for weeks trying to clean the ears out. Internet research is deeply divided on the issue of putting a cone dipped in wax in your ear and lighting it up to pull the wax out. Some people say it's the best thing in the universe, and other say it is down right dangerous. I say, any time you are working with fire and wax, there is a possibility of getting burned, so use at your own risk, and no way did it clean my ears out completely, but I think it worked a little bit. I always felt better after, a little more clean. So, if you are living with a fairly normal amount of discharge in your ears, and you like living on the wild side, go to the local health food store and buy a couple. Working with a friend is best, but I've done it on my own, lying down with a mirror in front of me to watch the candle burn down to a safe height. I cut a hole in a paper plate and put the candle through it, to catch the ash. I think I'll probably do that later today.

Yup. Open a drawer, a closet, an old steamer trunk in the attic - and sort the treasures from the trash. This is the detoxing of the mind and life portion of our program, and it also sets you up for a great day managing the apprehension and cravings.

Think of it this way: junk drawer = colon. You don't need that s**t.


A little grapefruit and bergamot essential oil blend helps reduce cravings for sweets, FYI, if you are doing the vegetables or grains option this weekend instead of the fruit.


P.S. this is not my junk drawer picture. I love google images..