Happy New Year full of New Things!

First of all HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Now on to the meat.

Today began the first day of my year of diving into things. January is yoga month, and I didn't really do much diving. I slept in, got up and chatted with the gentleman for a while, cooked huevos rancheros for the fam (not the most yogic of foods, I'm guessing), wrote some, watched Mythbusters with Camille (fascinating show that I've never watched before. Those guys are insane!), went for a hike, lost an earring (in the woods, maybe? Why was I wearing them on my hike? I have no idea where its is), wrote some more, ate dinner, watched Children of Men with the Colonel, and then realized I'd not done anything yoga-related all day!

SO! I rushed upstairs, changed into some loose clothes, and did about an hour of asanas (that's yoga for "poses," y'all) that I already knew, sat and breathed for five minutes, and read a couple articles in a yoga magazine I picked up the other day. Everything in it definitely lets me know that I am only tinkering in a huge realm where some people devote their lives. I feel very silly and unqualified, and cannot wait to get back to the city so I can take an actual class with an actual teacher.

I read a lovely article aboutaparigraha, which is the concept of non-possessiveness. This is something I think about almost every day anyway, as living in a small space in a large city (with no closet) makes you overly aware of how much stuff you have. Aparigraha is about cleansing your life of physical things and learning to share your energy and yourself with others. I like to think I share myself pretty well, but I do have a lot of junk in my life that weighs me down. I think my problem is general laziness. I'm all for throwing things out and moving on to new life stages (I'm not sure what that means, but it sounded like a real term. Is it? Life stage? Maybe that's not what I mean), but I just haven't taken the time to do it. I know that in the bottom drawer of my desk there is a baseball glove. I cannot remember the last time I used it. It must have been my sophomore year of college in Central Park. I've probably only used it twice in NYC. Twice in the past seven years. I don't need it. Stuff like that is all over my life, and I really should cleanse my home of it all. I think that would be a nice thing to do during yoga month. I'll let you know how it goes.

Also, the magazine showed me a new breathing exercise I've never tried before, and it's something simple that makes you really really focus on breathing, which I love as it's simple and clears your mind. Nadi sodhana is breathing alternately through your passive and your active nostril. First you hold down one nostril and breathe. Then you do the other. This should show you pretty quickly which is your dominant nostril. I never even knew I had a dominant nostril! Mine is my right, which is associated with the Sun, and breathing through it warms your body and activates your left brain getting you all good at math or something, I'm sure. Your left nostril is associated with the moon, cools your body, and activates your right brain which makes you write poetry or listen to emo music. Anyway, I breathed through both (individually) for what felt like ages, and it was quite relaxing and drained a lot of the stress of the day away from me. Not that today was overly stressful or anything, but you know what I mean.

Anyway, I enjoyed the yoga I did, the yogic thinking/reading I did, and the fact that I started my year of new things off right. I'm looking forward to getting up and doing more tomorrow!

New subject. I want to go to Austria. Maybe over spring break, but if not then, maybe 2010, and I'll do something else over spring break. I'm living off of loans right now, and I know I'll have extra money from them, AND once I start paying them back I will never be able to travel again, SO I think I should plan my Austria trip now. I'd also like to go to India, but I just don't see that happening. It's so wildly expensive to go there. Maybe Italy? That's got lots of nice history [food]. Thoughts?

Final note: I'm still taking suggestions for things to do for November and December, and if I get lots of suggestions I like, I might even change one of my already-planned months.