Childhood Home

We lived in this house until I was eight, when we moved to Park Ridge.  I have very fond memories of my time in this big old beautiful house.

Regal Headstand

Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Vacation Headstands

 Seattle, Washington

Juneau, Alaska

Falling Apart

"I feel like I'm falling apart".

I get that a lot from students who are feeling aches and pains, sometimes related to yoga and sometimes not.  My initial reaction to that is always the same:  "Maybe you're coming together".  

The Early Bird.....

...gets The Bean.

All to herself.

(and the lovely ladies from Holland who took the picture)

The Blizzard of 2011

It was fun for some of us.

Skokie Heritage Museum

Just like I knew it would be, yoga is easy at the Museum.  Especially while I'm inside a patch of sunset.

Illinois Railway Museum

Union, Illinois

Special Guest

My friend Trish at Mesa Verde.  Awesome.

Panoramic Headstand

Beautiful Minnesota

(Click picture to enlarge)

Heritage Yoga

Our yoga home this spring.  Look how easy yoga is there.

Thanks to Mandy.

A Field Trip Into the Past

Hegeler Carus Mansion

LaSalle, Illinois

Possibly the home of the oldest gymnasium in America, representative of the Physical Culture movement of the late 1800's and early 1900's.

As some of you may remember, I was fascinated to learn of yoga's connection to the forgotten "Physical Culture" movement in the late 19th century, which shares similar qualities to the current yoga craze. 

I learned through some quick research (o.k., Wikipedia) that the last surviving example of a physical culture gymnasium was in the Hegeler Carus Mansion, just two hours away in LaSalle, Illinois.  Today was the day Angela and I drove to LaSalle and took the mansion tour.  The house itself has a fascinating history and is a beautiful wreck.  The gymnasium was the last room on the tour and we were only allowed to view it from the staircase which brought you into the gymnasium from the level above.

It was my hope to do a headstand in the gymnasium.  Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed inside the house and we were not allowed into the gymnasium itself.  However, the picture above really reflects the grand scale of the house.

(Since coming home today, I was directed to this website which does include photos of the gymnasium.  I have to say that, like always, the pictures don't really convey the large-scale feeling of the room.  If I hadn't seen those pictures, I would have told you that the staircase was much higher than it actually looks to be in the pictures.)

Professional Lighting and White Clothes Headstand

Duron Studio, Skokie, Illinois.

Tall Ships

Navy Pier, Tall Ships, beautiful city of Chicago.  Who WOULDN'T do a headstand???

Skokie Yoga

Now THAT is real yoga.  Absolutely beautiful.

Skokie Summer Sunday

Every year we look forward to the opening of the Farmer's Market.  Not only for the awesome cheese and pickles (my personal favorites) but it's also a chance to return those books and movies to the library.  Ahhh, a perfect Skokie Sunday.

Road Warrior

A Unique Opportunity

My Aunt Cathy and her husband Rhett continue to love life and go with the flow.  A year and a half ago, a peacock showed up on their property.  With the exception of a brief break-up, Gus has been there ever since and has even welcomed two female companions.

Since he was posing for me, I just had to pose for Gus.  This was the best Peacock Feather Pose I could muster under the unusual circumstances.  Gus watched, folded down his feathers and strutted away.  He was not impressed.

Headstands Across America

Entering Virginia from Maryland

Chesapeake Bay from my Aunt's dock

Eastern Shore, Virginia

Assateague Beach, Virginia

(The Atlantic Ocean)

Fallingwater; Mill Run, Pennsylvania

Lake Erie, as seen from Ohio

Road Trippin' Yoga

Day one of our road trip to Virginia.  Other than some serious road construction, all went well and we arrived more than half way to our destination.

As you can see, Sarah helped snap some random yoga poses during the day.

Our First Rest Stop in Ohio

Our Second Rest Stop, also in Ohio

(The sign reminded me of my teacher's corrections during classes, as in "you're doing it the.....!")

Please note the sign above me and that my handlers obviously let me off-leash.

The hotel room handstand.

Here are my thoughts about snapping yoga photos.  Even though the poses are short, I actually felt better after a quick little yoga pose on the road.  Just that little bit really helped set my body right again.  Additionally, thinking about where to take a picture and which pose would look good there is kind of fun and a way to stay creative (the "Wrong Way" sign called for an upside down pose but the ground was just too slanted).  It also keeps me in a more healthy frame of mind, helping me to not eat the bad food, or at least not eat too much of it.

I did about 10 minutes of yoga in the hotel room as the girls swam in the pool.  So I have decided that my goal for the trip is not necessarily to maintain my regular practice but rather to at least do some yoga every day, even if it's just a little here and there.