Ouray Yoga™

I would say this is one of my most technically advanced series. Feel free to email with questions.  Start and end class with a recital of the Ganesh Mantra. (Suggested 9x) Vinyasa Series: - you will want a block at the front and another at back of the mat. Down-dog to Utkatasana Inhale: Utkatasana (hands above head) Exhale: Hands to heart Inhale: Lengthen Spine with hands at prayer in Utkatasana Exhale: Step back with left foot into Crescent Lunge Inhale: Arms above head Exhale: Vira II Inhale: Launch forward into Ardha Chandrasana (use block as needed)  Full Breath Cycle Exhale: left hand comes to mat, squared hips for Toppling Tree Inhale & Exhale: revolve toppling tree to the left 90º, at same time rotate right foot  with body Inhale: Standing Splits Full Breath Cycle Exhale: wrap left foot behind and sit down into Ardha Matsyendrasana Give this pose some breathing love. Inhale: Rise (challenge to come up

In this season of gathering, when daylight gives way to the dark, when the veils of rebirth gives way to the ceremony of passage, now is the time to reflect and protect the inner spirit. Draw your awareness inward and quiet your mind. Turn your attention to the changing leaves and the resting of seeds. In your mind’s eye, visualize the transition of the season’s illuminessence. Sense the fall coolness, the morning frost on golden leaves. Now is the time of rest, a retreat from the sun’s energy, a dance into stillness. Embrace the breath cycle, in and out, like the old-growth fronds now drifting to Mother Earth; the rise and fall of the tumbling leaves subject to Gaia's inspiration and expiration, let the seasonal shift embrace your body. Sense the deep mysteries within you, fall into your conscious engagement, leave behind the heat of summer. Reflect. Every new cycle begins from the seeds buried under the compost of summer’s bounty. In this new stage of the lifecycle

Repurposed sink going into modified school desk, See previous blog Well, I have had a wonderful response to people enjoying my blog. I usually update when I visit, but things are getting down to the wire, so I probably won't go down again until I move, so I thought I'd share some of the progress via John' experience. And for those asking me why? My simple answer is:  Lifestyle. We purchased the house in October 2014 and yet the reno goes on... Family Room, just loving the wood tones.  Cleaned up kitchen with countertops in! Waiting for backsplash Yes, it's an old home, historic even, but the bigger portion of the pie went into renovating the 1970's updates and not the bones of the 1880's home. Our biggest complaint is most of the labor force is overpriced for skill set and/or they don't deliver on service. It is our experience that we are getting charged Boulder prices for labor; which is okay for Boulder because there is a good chance the person coming into

Future Masterbath Countertop - yes - Go Buffs !  We really can't complain about our working spring break, considering that only a few weekends before we had a 3-day break at the Broadmoor. So, I will temper my weary wining and callous complaints; and by callous, I mean literal callouses on my hands. Oops! Couldn't find the floor tile before purchase of paint. Went too dark with the gray kid's bath wall had to re-paint the entire room. Lost another 1/2 day. From my drive over the Continental Divide, I arrived to a cleaned-up work site with giddy contractors. They were excited to see my response to all that has been accomplished. It's good to have power. The work crew consists of my husband, a good ol' friend who is both giving and gifted and a very petite day-laborer, who normally works local kitchens during the high season in Ouray. We are so thankful to have Dave and Emilio, and Emilio's wife who also washes my guy's laundry and makes some pretty incredible

A little departure from the home reno. My hubs and I travelled down to Austin for the American Craft Spirits Association convention/trade show. Fortunately for us, we have friends that love us enough to drive 3 hours from Dallas and spend an evening with us and show us around. (Helps that her mom lives here, so a good little visit on the home front for her, too.) During my walk to Corepower, Marathoners were everywhere! In deep background is Pink Capital Building. Frost Bank Building to the right.  Our totally awesome friends gave us the drive-by tour of Austin. The city is nestled on Lake Austin, part of the Seven Highland Lakes of the lower Colorado River (a damn system, if you ask me). This makes for lots and lots of rowing. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency and, since our cheap room wasn't ready, they upgraded us to a river view. YAY! I was in the room more since it was a distillers convention and I was not a participant. Our host first drove us down to the State Capital building

I recently attended a Corepower Yoga class in Austin, TX (Monarch) and I was a bit taken back by something she said in class. She called out: "Warrior II, interlace fingers behind back and take it into a humble warrior. Well, this isn't a real pose but it was requested so there you have it ." Then when calling the other side she had a name for it: "Ostrich pose." Which, by the way, is what Westerner's call this pose. But my issue is more with saying "it's not a real pose" AND calling someone out on it. Not to get all esoteric, but every position is a pose, every movement is a continuous connection of mudras, this should not be judged as to how real or not the pose is. It's important that instructors understand this. Names and labels help yogi's practice together which, in it's own beautiful way, creates a single meter to a class of collective souls. Preparing the class to feel unified energetically for a stronger channel

I am proud to say that teaching yoga is my hobby job. What is a hobby job? It is working in a profession that you are passionate about but rarely does it pay the bills. When I entered my 200-hour training, located in Boulder, CO, I was one of the oldest trainees and the only one married - let alone with three kids. Not surprising considering I was in the heart of a college town with trustifarin co-eds. Most these girls happily spent their daddy’s money for their 6-week summer camp and didn’t think twice about the investment. Alternatively, I had squirreled away my instructor pay from my group ex job for over a year. I was dedicated to the experience and upon graduating, I was the only one hired-on with the studio except for the other gal who just happened to be sleeping with the lead-instructor. I was luckier than many stay-at-homes, I not only had a supportive husband but also had family around to watch the kids. Nonetheless, I was unable to even start the training until my

Unfortunately, we had to fire our main carpenter. Now, I am not going to call him our General, our GC or even our contractor because he was never The Lead however much he thought he was. And there-in lays the problem. He was planning on charging us, not only for his hourly rate but also an 8% oversight rate on his own work. And not only his but that of all other contractors including the ones we brought in. Now, we get that most home construction projects need a head honcho and we even agree that some of the subs need organization and timing. We even agreed to his 8% on the subs he contracted in; however, he wanted to see our budget from the loan and he was working so slow that he was taking twice as long as many repairs should have taken. Bummer for him, we have over 30 years combined experience in apartment management and sub-contractor maintenance, and we have a pretty good idea of how long things should take. We gave him the heave-ho. So where does that leave us? Scrambling a littl