It’s smack dab in the middle of the holidays, and things have been a little hectic lately, so I’ll just leave you with some of my favorite things:

– I feel like I’ve finally made it!  Here’s why:  http://yogadork.com/news/she-exists-i-can-be-a-yoga-teacher-barbie-doll/

– Who ISN’T writing a yoga memoir? But this one is a sweet little gem: accessible, honest and down to earth:  http://www.misadventures-of-a-yogi.com/

– Portlandia. Meditation. (No explanation needed.)  Ha!: http://shambhalasun.com/sunspace/?p=29859

–  Twist Yoga’s name must come up on a Google search for yoga retail, because I get a fair amount of email from vendors who want to sell me their crap exciting new yoga products.  Normally I delete, but I couldn’t resist this little Hennaed Ganesha number, which we now carry at the studio:  http://www.omshanticlothing.com/products/henna-design-rib-tank-top-by-black-dirt-goddess-black#.UMFuS2izBSU

Lately on the mat, I’ve been noticing my tendency to back away from poses that challenge me.  This is known in the yoga scriptures as dvesha, or aversion, and also one of the tendencies that keeps us suffering.  I think my new boyfriend  Wesley Schultz from The Lumineers said it best (at minute 1:10): “It’s better to feel pain.”  (Sitting with emotional pain, of course, not a sharp sensation in, say, your knee).    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnTxjfVZlPs

Be well, be safe, be loved.  Happy Season, Yogis.

Jen