Harmony And Balance In My Living Room

I'm a yoga freak. I love the quiet surroundings and joyfulness that I feel when I finish practicing yoga. This morning I decided to practice in my living room. It's not the same as a private with Juliana at her yoga studio but it's certainly a wonderful thing.

First I lit my Beatles candles. Not only does it give off a beautiful light it allows me to see Paul which is my favorite way to start the day. Then I lit some jasmine incense and turned on a new CD that I bought called "Feng Shui Music For Balanced Living". These things help quiet my mind so that I can focus on my breathing.

After a few minutes of listening and feeling the breath I started my practice of pranayama. This is the practice of controlling the breath. You feel yourself expand with the in breath and release with the out breath. After a few rounds of this you hold the in breath for a few seconds and then add a pause at the end of the out breath. It is really harder than it sounds. It was especially hard when Rigby came over to see what I was doing and started sniffing me and licking my face. That can really mess up someone's mindfulness. Sniff, sniff, sniff, lick, lick, lick.

After the pranayama I started doing the yoga asanas also known as postures. Knees to chest. Sniff, sniff, sniff, Spinal twist. Lick, lick, lick, Fish pose. Sniff, sniff, sniff. Bridge pose. Lick, lick, lick. "Rigby, cut it out"!! "Rigby, go away"!! "RRRiiigggbbbyyy, cut it out!!!

I knew I was in real trouble when it came time in my practice to do downward facing down dog position. In down dog you are in a sort of triangle and in the perfect position to have an upward facing real dog wreck havoc with your yoga practice. See below.




It seemed like the more I pushed him away the more he had to investigate. I realized that there wasn't much I could do to rescue my practice from the whim of my Lhasa Apso . I decided to give him a treat. I did a head stand against the wall. Oh, wow!! That was really cool. Rigby was completely enthralled. He came over to sniff and lick as I was standing with my hands underneath my head and unable to push him away. I laughed and laughed. I think he did too in his own doggie way. I think next time I decide to practice yoga in my living room I'll let my "Sweetpea" out in the back yard.