I have yet another passion now....

I have yet another passion now. As if I needed yet another one :-)
I was so inspired by the introduction of partner yoga in my summer yoga class on July 19th that I borrowed a book from a friend of mine about Partner yoga over the weekend. This is particularly interesting because coincidentally, Dave and I are leaving for a weeklong yoga workshop in Hawaii on Saturday. The class we are taking focuses on individual poses, but as we both build our strength, I’m sure we can bring partner yoga into our repertoire of practice. I am so very excited. The book is called “Partner Yoga” by Cain Carroll and Lori Kimata.

In this book, the first distinction they made was the difference between partner assisted yoga and partner yoga. In partner assisted yoga, on person does the pose while the other assists. In partner yoga, both people are involves in and benefit from the pose. A good example of this is the double triangle pose, which was introduced in class, as well as is the first position introduced in the book. To get into the double triangle, you and your partner stand back to back, both positioning yourselves in the triangle posture, pressing your backs together and eventually touching hands up above you. Together you have created a new position and it creates a completely different feeling than doing the posture alone. Both of you are giving support and receiving benefits from the joint posture at the same time. Also, if one of you gets off balance, both of you topple over. So there is a lot of trust and teamwork involved. (I think Dave and I will both want to kill each other for the first few practices J !)

There are several good reasons to practice partner yoga. First, cultivating touch. In the book they talk about the many benefits of touch and how because partner yoga involves touch, that alone is a great benefit. I agree, but I don’t actually think it’s the biggest benefit. There are so many ways we get to touch people that this seems like just another way to do that.

Next they talk about the fitness aspect of partner yoga. In partner yoga, you expand your concept of fitness from just physical fitness to include physical, mental, emotional and spiritual fitness. This is the benefit of yoga in general, and therefore applies here too. Interestingly though, practicing partner yoga means using the full practice, the postures, the breath, and the partnership, to stop the mind running wild and to get the most benefit from the practice.

Other benefits of partner yoga include having fun and relaxing. Partner yoga is supposed to be playful and fun. In partner yoga, it’s not how perfectly you execute a posture; it’s how much you enjoy the posture. Here is a great excerpt from the book:

“Let’s say you’re moving into a posture and you’re not able to stretch as far as you would like. You are disappointed and uncomfortable. You’re not having fun. Here’s where those “new eyes” come in. This is an opportunity to turn pain into growth, fear into courage, and resistance into acceptance. When you can redirect your self-criticism and look at yourself instead with curiosity and compassion, you have just moved a mountain. You have found a new way of being you. If you can find the ability to laugh at your shortcomings and be amused by your insecurities, life becomes less serious and more fun.”

I LOVE THAT!!!

Another great point they make is to make sure partner yoga doesn’t end up as another item on your “to do” list. They make the statement I have heard so many times, “we are quickly becoming a race of human ‘doings’ rather than of human beings.” There are too many things that are already on our “to do” lists. Partner yoga is about learning to relax and “just be.”

And finally, they talk about partner yoga as a way to strengthen relationships. Partner yoga uses the good old buddy system that has been around for a very long time. And we all know that buddy systems work. Looking out for each other, finding safety in pairs, and watching your partner’s back are concepts that are familiar to all of us. Here is another great excerpt from the book:

“As kids, we were taught to hold hands when crossing the street and to always travel with a buddy. As we get older, many activities use this same concept. Scuba diving, weight lifting, and rock climbing, for example, use the buddy system for safety and support. Partner yoga postures use the buddy system in similar ways. If you notice that your partner is stepping way out of alignment in a posture or that his attention seems to be waning, you can encourage him back. At other times, you will be physically supporting your partner and literally watching out for his safety. Partner postures remind us of how important it is to have a buddy and what it really means to be one.”

From here they moved on to the tradition of yoga and the postures. All great stuff, but too much to write about here. I am so excited about this. Plus, yoga is really helping my dancing! Woohoo!

I'm just not getting that whole sex thing!

French class has been so fun. Through the weeks we've learned so much, not only about the language, but about the culture. Our teacher is very Perisian, and just the way she talks about things makes us realize how different the French are from us. In one of our class discussions we were talking about where things are in relationship to each other. For instance, the rug is "under" the couch. At one point someone said the cat is "on" the chair. The teacher exclaimed, "cats don't get on chairs! Only bad mannered cats get on chairs!" She wanted us to make "logical" sentences, not nonsensical ones, so this one didn't work. But, in my mind I was thinking, "Have you ever had a cat? They go where they please!"

Then one day we were talking about meals and someone said they would have a coke with dinner. Oh my gawd she was horrified! Coke with dinner? You don't have coke with dinner, only with lunch! Then she calmly said, "well, everything is possible in this world," to which I replied "everything is possible in America!" I can't believe I said that. But the teacher laughed at least.

But some of our funniest moments have been as we were leaving class. We leave class around 9ish each evening, and invariable there are tables full of studying students in the hallway as we walk out. One day Dave and I came out of class and down the hall, near the math lab, I stopped to search for my keys. Dave asked "so how are you doing in class?" I exclaimed, "I'm just not getting that whole sex thing!" (Referring too the fact that all the nouns are male or female.) Of course, everyone around us looked up. So Dave responds "I got that sex thing down pretty well. I'm actually pretty good at it." "Well, it's giving me trouble," I pouted. Dave consoles "don't worry. You'll figure out the whole sex thing just fine when we get to France. You'll have plenty of Frenchmen there to help y0u." To this people just burst out laughing. Ha! We caught them eaves-dropping :-) Now we frequently walk out of class speaking french so people can't understand what we are saying. But every once in a while we'll throw in the word "sex" quietly in English, just to get their minds wondering ;-)

Can you believe this?

Hi Everyone!
I have so many stories I want to share with you, and absolutely no time to sit in front of my computer and blog. :( But....last night I was looking through cards on Bluemountain to send one to my Dad, and I came across this one. It's so funny I couldn't stop laughing, so I had to share it with you. I think they only keep these up for 2 weeks, so go take a look.

OMG, I can't even believe that people send this card to people they know. But it is sooooo funny!
http://www.bluemountain.com/view.pd?i=145620060&m=4329&rr=y&source=bma999

Mini Cooper Jumping Video

Any Mini Cooper fans out there? You have to see this video!

http://stupidvideos.com/video/stunts/fm_miniskijump/

French in Seattle

What a weekend!!!! Dave and I went to Seattle to see some friends and visit family and we had such a great time. When we arrived in Seattle, a friend of ours came to pick us up at the airport. As we were waiting for our luggage she asked, "are you guys afraid of heights?" "Uh, no," we responded, "why?" "Well," she said, "we're having bed problems." Big grins spread across our faces. I was imagining a big crane in the backyard with a bed swinging from it, while Dave was wondering if we were going to be asked to sleep on the roof. "Um," we both murmerred, trying to stay serious, "what do you mean?" It turns out they just got new furniture for the guest room and now the top of the mattress is about 4 feet off the ground. Dave and I burst out laughing. At least we weren't going to be swinging from a crane in the backyard in the rain! The problem was easily fixed with a little stepping stool so I could climb into bed. Dave decided he'd prefer to get a running start and launch himself into bed. My husband! In the morning when I woke up I mentioned to Dave, "we are so close to the ceiling.....we could practically paint it."

Well, that's how the weekend started, and it just got better from there. We got to spend some great time with Cathy and Martin, and their 3 year old daughter Ella. Ella has gotten so talkative she is absolutely adorable. And I had forgotten, but Martin is French Canadian, so he speeks French! So, we got to practice French all weekend with him and Ella, who is also learning how to speak French. Cathy understands French fine, but prefers to speak English, which is fine by me so I didn't feel like I had to speak French if I didn't want to.

To aid in our learning, we played some of Ella's French games and read some of her books. It's pretty amazing how much she knows, at the age of 3! Any question we asked her, she knew the answer to.

As we were practicing at one point Martin exclaimed "Dave, you have the WORST accent I have ever heard!" And Dave exclaimed back, "Oh, merci, merci monsieur!" To which Martin replied, "and evidently your comprehension isn't very good either." Those two guys! But that did prove to me the thing that I keep telling everyone who tries to correct our accents. Some people think Dave's accent is better than mine, others think mine is better than his. My opinion is that our accent will need to be determined by where we finally decide to live. If we live in Lyon, our accent will need to be different than if we live in Paris. So, as long as we practice the nasal sounds and get our vowels and "r" sounds at least semi-okay, we will adjust when we get to our final destination.

The weather in Seattle was fabulous and we hated to leave. But the weekend quickly came to an end, and we flew home on the 4th of July. I wasn't planning another trip to Seattle before we leave for France, but now I'm reconsidering. Maybe just one more trip......