Skirler

Checking in - hope you are doing ok?! Any new drawings for us to drool over? How's your pose work going?

Hope you are hanging in there! Scratch your ferret for us

Ok my fellow Missourian ... hope you are doing well - how's the cleaning and singing going? have you tried on your ice skates yet to make sure they fit for when we get below 100 degrees??

Popping in to let you know we're sending the good mental vibes your way. ~~~~~~ <--- those are the vibes.

Hope you are still doing well, Rarity! Know we're thinking about you.

How did you support group go? It's way more important to work on your challenge goals than to work on posting in others' threads. I'd sell my children to get even a glimpse of 65 degrees ::: le sigh ::: I'm so jealous. We hit 104 yesterday - for the 3rd day in a row. How did the yam and kale patties turn out?

How you doing, Bel? Hopefully your dizziness has gone away. Maybe we need to write a new movie "The Incredible Shrinking Woman - But in a Good Way" ...

July 6 activity: 30 minutes hip openers and the rest of the day was a very much needed mental health day - hung out with my mom and my younger son, played cards, watched the Tour de France, a good movie, and worked desperately on holding myself together. July 7 activity: 60 minutes yoga, concentrating on being quiet. I did do my hip opener sequences as well as ALL the poses I've set in this challenge, but I did them in a way I've never thought about before - doing them "quietly." Ironically, by the end of it all, I was crying - so it was a good release I guess. The eldest son has made the last few days (since the 4th) exceptionally difficult in every way it is possible to be difficult. My main goal is to get my head back on track and get that excitement for my challenge work back. I feel mentally and emotionally empty, so I need to get it back!

And we'll be here cheering you on Sorry the vacation seems to have been such a challenge (no pun intended) for your goals here. But hopefully, you enjoyed yourself. Not to hijack your thread, but I've had a seriously rough couple of days since the fourth, so I kinda feel like I have pieces to pick up and put together as well - so you will not be alone in the "not looking back, look forward" mind set.

Doing the challenge work is way more important than updating us on your challenge work We're halfway through ...

Good for you for being so mindful of what could be a huge problem with the exercise bulimia. Major congratulations for going out to hang out with people. That is something I have a great deal of trouble doing. Excellent problem solving - and I hope you had fun. Wish I had something to offer you on the diet - but I think you have an awful lot going on already, and perhaps that is exactly what needs to sit on the sidelines so you can concentrate on the other things

Excellent! Sounds like you are full of energy. Send some my way, will you? We hit 105 yesterday This heat is just miserable, isn't it? You are doing a great job, though, like Emma said, of working around it. Your soup sounds good - is it easy to make? Have fun at the potluck!

Stopping by to say hello and find out how your hip opening sequence is going? Everything still going ok? With your solid momentum, I bet you surpass a lot of your goals!

Wow but you are inspiring me. I absolutely love the concept of: Oh Look! Something heavy! Let's lift it and hurl it! Next thing you know, when you and the Husband are out on your walks, you'll see young people - pick a small one and hurl it to your husband! "Look honey! It's a 10 year old. This one should go 100 yards or more!" I've brined before, but never with just water and the spices before. I've used buttermilk, which indeed, makes the chicken so moist. Yum

5 July activity - hip opener sequence x2. Was really tight, most likely from dehydration and mass amounts of gun powder - so that's all I could really muster. My back is sore today from sleeping badly. Later today, will work on some restorative and quiet poses before my hip openers. And I hope to play some racquetball tonight.

Enjoy the festival, Livingroovy!

Activity from 4 July: 40 minutes yoga, focusing on hip openers due to this week's mini-challenge. Also did 6 minutes of Shovelglove using my ex-husband's 8 pound sledge hammer. Once he realized I was swinging around his sledgehammer, he took it away from me. Hence only 6 minutes. He never lets me have any fun. Hence him being my ex, too. LoL ((We have been divorced a very long time and we are best friends now .... kooky, I know.))

Oh how awesome!!!! I'm so glad you are liking it - and kick arse on crow pose!!! You should be very proud of yourself I answered your question in your challenge thread, by the way, so you didn't have to come hunt for it. This is spurring me on to be really dilligent with my controlled breathing. I fact, I got deeper into the pelvic aspect of king pigeon than I ever have yesterday by lowering with each exhale into the stretch. Felt SOOOOO good!

RoFLoL ... Momo is an awesome cat who likes yoga just like my two do! LoL I battle with the girls every time the mat gets unfurled - and the bigger of the two is a MAJOR headbutter. ::: le sigh ::: Fabulous blog post, Stareyedgirl! I hope to read more. I thoroughly enjoy that kind of thing.

Way to go on those pushups!!! You are well on your way to meeting your challenge goal - damn fine job. To answer your question you posed in my thread: ""Question on King Pigeon: When I do this pose 'properly', i.e. actually reaching my foot/ ankle with my hand(s), my pelvis moves up quite significantly. Nothing strange in that, but I was wondering which would be the best tactic for practicing this pose: (1) try to keep the hips/ pelvis low and only reach as far towards the ankle as you can, or (2) hold the ankle and then gradually work on getting pelvis closer to the ground. Or perhaps either is fine?"" I actually work on both - since I do that sequence at least 3 times, first round I will concentrate my focus on pelvis placement. Second time, concentrating on grabbing extended back leg and lifting. And third, arm placement (again - for me - one of the weakest areas is torso inflexibility, therefore the twist involved in king pigeon is rough for me). if I get to a fourth round - I try to meld them all together to see where I am in the full pose. Hope that helps.

Hell I'm tired just from reading your workouts! Such a balanced yet difficult challenge you've set. Very impressive.

RoFLoL .... THAT is some awesome right there LoL ... I'll be chuckling about that all day long now. And henceforth it shall be known, in my little corner of the universe, as Atlas Tugged. Elastigirl - I have to admit, my first few movements with the skillet scared me - I was so afraid i was going to drop that sucker on my bare feet. Once I got over that fear and became confident in my grip though, boy howdy!

Ditto .... yum!!! Thanks for taking the time to type that all out Gives me some ideas, too. (except salmon ... shudder ... can't do it.)

Major congratulations on publication! Your blog post is really wonderful. This quote "When you’re passionate about something, it enriches you. Spending time on it feels effortless. Instead of losing energy on a task, you seem to gain energy from it." really, really speaks to me. My work with fiber does this for me. Very big woot!

Damn fine job, Sir! Congrats.