Monday Morning. It feels like fall.

I adore autumn. For me, this is the true New Year. (I also despise New Year's Eve and the month of January, generally, so this just works out better for me, anyway). I realize it's August 27, and therefore not ACTUALLY autumn at all, but the weather has been a bit gray and rainy and it just feels like the seasons are shifting. I think the insane heat of July, during which I got accustomed to a heat index of 120 degrees for WEEKS on end, has made the 80s feels downright chilly. When I make it back north it's going to take me some time to readjust, but I don't think it will be difficult. I was the 6-year old who decided, while laying in a huge snow drift in Cleveland Hts., Ohio, that I must be some kind of snow fairy, because I wasn't cold. I was angry that my mom made me get out of the snow drift and come inside. "Of COURSE I won't freeze to death, mom! I'm a SNOW FAIRY! Don't you KNOW?!?"

Last week I spent all of my time fending off a cold. My friend Cleo introduced me to the most amazing supplement EVER, called Ultimate Immunity. I have never seen such dramatic results from a supplement in my entire life. I was feeling AWFUL. I started taking them on Wednesday night - on the intensive schedule per the bottle - and by Friday morning I knew I was on the other side of this monster of a cold. Thank you, Cleo. This week I want to focus on getting even healthier, and maybe more regimented. With my eating. Exercising. My yoga and meditation practices. Keeping my house clean. Taking baby steps toward goals I have. Etc. After months away, I'm considering turning back to the blog for accountability and consistency. But I'm bad at long term goals - they tend to overwhelm me and I shut down. So instead, a five day goal. I'm going to write every morning for the next five days. It doesn't have to be long, remotely creative or even a bit eloquent. But I'll write. Something.

For today I will write this: if you want a hit of greens in the morning, throw collard greens into the Ninja with a cup of coconut water. Blend, blend, blend. Add a banana and 4-5 ice cubes. Blend, blend, blend. It ends up tasting like banana deliciousness, and you don't have to chew the little pieces of greens like you do when using kale. Life lesson: collard greens work WAY better in smoothies than kale. And according to this big sign I saw at Whole Foods many a month ago, they are actually rated higher than kale in some arbitrary nutrition rating thing that Whole Foods makes seem very important.

Fret not, Cassie. I still love kale. I love kale the very best. More than collards. But I like eating kale sauteed with garlic and grapeseed oil, then simmered in vegetable stock for 20 minutes , or crisped up as kale chips, or in soup. In smoothies it never quite blends up enough.

Today I had collards in my breakfast, I'm having spinach as part of my lunch, and kale as part of my dinner. Three different greens in one day!! I'm a huge dork for being excited about this. I know.

Also, two years ago today I graduated from yoga school at Kripalu, which is how I first began eating copious amounts of kale on a weekly basis. Thank you, Kripalu.

The End. =)

Oh, October. I adore you.

Madeline. October, 2008. Autumn leaves on Middle Path!

I've been waking up in the BEST mood for the past few days. Even pre-espresso, I just feel GOOD. I feel excited. I feel light and twirly and clear-headed. I just figured out today that OF COURSE I'm waking up in the best mood, and of course I'm feeling generally fantastic all day, every day - IT'S OCTOBER! This is my very favorite month of the entire year. The weather is absolutely perfect: it's not hot, but it's not TOO cold - I can wear jeans and long sleeve shirts (preferably with thumb hooks - I really love thumb hooks) but still get away with my Teva sandals (at least sometimes!) The breeze is decadent and the leaves are starting to turn, the promise of their crunch under my feet in a few weeks a source of blissful anticipation, and it's great weather to do yoga outside, take long walks or drink lattes on the deck. It's also Holiday-Eve - the promise of Thanksgiving and Christmas are on the horizon but it's not stressful just yet. This really is the best month of the entire year, I'm quite sure. If I ever get married, I think I'd like to get married in October. =)

I'm also feeling good because the next three months are an incredible chance for me to really hone my teaching skills before I move back north in January. I am teaching a 90-minute group class at the YMCA on Saturday mornings, I have a few subbing dates set up during the week for another yoga teacher, I have two private sessions a week (and I'm hoping to add a few more - I've been having people sign up for my email list when I teach group classes, and soon I'm going to have a website set up where people can get more information on private sessions) and I lead a weekly meditation group on Wednesday evenings. Meanwhile I'm spending quality time with my beautiful sister (and forcing her to do Power Thought Cards with me every day! Ha!) and my adorable nieces (see photo!!) I've also made a few really close friends here whom I absolutely love spending time with. (For example, my friend Christi, who just started her own sewing business called Thread Head Designs - yes, the reference to the Grateful Dead is purposeful, she's THAT COOL, and also SO TALENTED!! Check her out!) I'm also doing a lot of cooking, reading, and even a little bit of writing. And did I mention that IT'S OCTOBER?!?

I think the best thing, though, is that even in my moments of NOT feeling *this* amazing, I have gotten a lot better at coming back to the breath to find peace in the present. The power of just one inhale and one exhale is sort of mind-blowing. Wanna try? Okay - this isn't a specific yoga breath, per se, but something I started doing even before YTT that I find extremely comforting. I've shared it with a few people who have also found it helpful, so I'll share it with the blog-world now: inhale actively to a count of five, and then continue to inhale passively (just allowing air to go in) as you continue counting to ten. Even if you feel like you have no more room in your lungs, just keep letting air come in. Then exhale actively for a count of five, and continue squeezing out the air as you continue counting to ten. Repeat as many times as needed. If you know Dirgha and Ujjayi breath, you can use them, but you don't have to know fancy-shmancy yoga pranayama, I promise. I do this all of the time when I can't sleep, or just when I feel really off-kilter mid-day and need to come HOME. Let me know if it works for you!

And once again....HAPPY OCTOBER! XOXO