Well... I came down with my first cold of the year. I was so close to making it a whole year! My husband and I went to Napa for his work Christmas party this past Friday. It was a delightful time; but then I did not feel good for the rest of the weekend. However, I did manage to make it to a yoga class in Napa. It was titled "Vinyasa - Advanced". I was hoping that I could use this class to sweat out my cold, but, unfortunately, it did not work. I did enjoy the class, though. I always enjoy attending new classes with new teachers so I can bring new ideas to my classes. One thing I have noticed is many Vinyasa teachers do multiple small flows in their classes, while I tend to do one flow and then build on it. Just goes to show that the possibilities are endless. Vinyasa really is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get!

bal·ance /ˈbaləns/   Noun - an even distribution of weight enabling someone or something to remain upright and steady . Verb - keep or put (something) in a steady position so that is does not fall. Synonyms - stability, steadiness, footing, poise, level It has been a while since my last post. My apologies about that! I just wanted to check in and see how you all are doing during this Christmas season. Personally, I enjoy this time of year and usually do not let it stress me out. Have you been stressed? At the beginning of my classes this season I have been offering the intention of balance. Balance is not only important in the yoga practice but for life. Balance helps us to manage stress. In yoga, the key to balance is finding a focal point or (a drishti). If you find one spot of the floor or wall to focus on it will help you balance physically. The same goes for life. Choose a focal point for this Christmas season. Make sure it is the most important thing to you and focu

Check out the new Tayoga logo! I am very excited about it. And yes, that is me doing Warrior 3/Virabhadrasana III. This pose was chosen for my logo because it looks like a "T" for Tayoga. In order to make the logo personalized to me, the orange sunglasses were added. If you know me, I always have my orange sunglasses with me! I'd melt in the sun without them! My husband was a huge help on this one. We both contributed to the idea but he is the one who worked with Never Boring Design to make our vision a reality. We chose Never Boring because they are a local company and we always try to support the local guys. They did a great job and I could not be happier with it. Keep an eye out for the Tayoga logo. When you see the orange sunglasses you know it's time to try out a Tayoga class! Can't wait to see you.

Do you have a favorite season? I know here in the Central Valley, people say we don't have all four seasons; but that does not bother me. Summer is my season of choice, which puts winter way at the bottom. I would love fall but it is poisoned by the fact that winter comes after it! During fall, you might find me saying, "Winter is coming". Yes, I am a Game of Thrones fan. Ok, so I may be a little dramatic. The main thing I dislike about winter is the lack of sunshine. When there's not a lot of sunshine I tend to get a little sad and gloomy. Luckily, yoga helps with this! Yoga is a wonderful winter activity. It is great for physical and mental health. During winter it can be difficult to exercise outside due to the weather, so going to a studio or doing yoga at home can be the perfect solution. If the lack of sunshine gets you a little gloomy or depressed, give yoga a try! The deep breathing helps to balance the autonomic nervous system and will improve your mood.

If you cannot tell - I am very excited! Andrew and I got a new car last night!! Woot woot! It is a 2015 Lexus ES 350. I know a Lexus sounds very fancy (because it is) but we were able to get a really good deal on it and had to drive all the way to Marin to get it. We traded in my Hot Tamale for Ms. Sexy Lexi! I know what you are thinking... Lexi is such an original name for a Lexus. This post is not about yoga, but I will say that the first thing I put in the new car... my yoga mat! Shockingly enough, Sexy Lexi got even prettier after that. :) Have a great day!

This past weekend, Andrew and I took our friend, David, down to Southern California to go to Magic Mountain for his birthday. He loves roller coasters so it was on his bucket list. Andrew's sister, Joy, and our good friend, Ben the Rocket Scientist, also joined us for the trip. You can probably tell by my facial expression in the picture below that roller coasters scare me. This picture was taken after already going on 2 terrifying coasters. The first one was called Tatsu. The seats you are in shift backwards so you get the impression of flying. Since everyone was very excited about the ride (except me), we ended up in the front row. Let's just say I was a blubbering mess! I was trying to take deep calming Ujjayi breaths as they were strapping us in, but all that was happening were tears welling up and my nose starting to run. Sigh... Let's just say I survived. It was not my favorite experience but I was proud of myself for doing it. Everyone thought I would not be going o

Recently, I couldn't help myself and bought a yoga magazine while I was in line at the grocery store. The focus for this particular issue is yoga injuries. I have been fortunate enough that I have not had any major yoga injuries. Rather, it was a major injury that got me into yoga. There are many reasons that could lead to a yoga related injury including: pushing oneself too hard - especially when an injury is already present, poor alignment, a teacher giving inaccurate cues, etc. I believe pushing oneself too hard is a HUGE reason yogis get hurt. When I first started doing yoga I was guilty of pushing myself too hard. Now that I have been practicing for almost 4 years I am more aware of my body's needs. Just like my guru, Kaycie, conveys to me, I try to convey to my students that "the ego is not your amigo!" I have only read 2 articles from the magazine but the main thing that struck me was this: Yoga is not about the asanas (postures) it is about the body. The a