A Smashing Good Time

I should have known we would be in for trouble when the sign outside the Greek restaurant proudly proclaimed that it would remain open until "the ouzo runs out." That is a photo taken of Mikey, Kathy, Chad, Desiree and Deanna, dancing on the table just moments before we threw plates to the floor and cheered our good fortunes as they exploded into the corners of the dining room. Chad and Kathy own a clothing company called Third Eye Threads, they were new friends to me, then Des, my teacher, and Deanna whom I also just met, an Anusara teacher in the Miami area. And Michael, I told you about him in my last post. I love festive, high energy evenings like that! We had help with some dance moves from a young woman dancing on HER table just a few feet away. The food was good too--I got a whole Key West Red Snapper, whose eye got passed around the table (sorry, Ali, no one wanted to eat it).

Here is a photos of my lovely "resort" The Waves:

You can see they gave me a goddman PT Cruiser for a rental--my absolute least favorite car--except, perhaps for the one immediately to its right. There was some unidentifiable brown aromatic blotch on the back seat that Mikey and I chose to believe was chocolate.

Monday's class was all day and part of a broader theme of Yoga as Medicine. This class specifically focused on how to use alignment principles to heal and prevent injuries. We started with the feet and ankles and moved all the way up through knees and hips, then shoulders and neck by the afternoon. We had a lot lot lot of new-to-Anusara students which turned out to be fantastic because I got the see Des teach beginners, I got to really work into some basic poses and I also walked away feeling like I know a lot more than I thought I did. It was really quite inspiring to see how excited she got watching all these newbies have so many "aha!" moments. I actually rediscovered my tailbone and made some pretty dramatic progress in my own practice--subtle yet profound.

I slept 11 hours that night! My room was sorta kinda icky and I was not comfortable using the bedspread so I slept fully clothed all weekend with just the sheet over me and pillows sort of piled around my torso for insulation! I even had to wrap my feet in a dress and tie a t-shirt around me head to keep warm--a cold front came through and I didn't bring any socks. BUT I saved bunches of money by staying there. And I still slept like a hibernating beast.

The flight home was easy, although we drove through snow flurries back to my parents' house! Yes, winter is upon us. I was very grateful for a hot fresh healthy dinner and my cozy, down-filled bed.