Thursday, July 31, 2008

What Tarot Card are You?

My dear friend Ashley sent me a link to find out what Tarot card I am....Apparently I am the Wheel of fortune.....try it out - it was fun ;)


You are The Wheel of Fortune


Good fortune and happiness but sometimes a species of
intoxication with success


The Wheel of Fortune is all about big things, luck, change, fortune. Almost always good fortune. You are lucky in all things that you do and happy with the things that come to you. Be careful that success does not go to your head however. Sometimes luck can change.


What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

29 Lines to will make you smile ;)

Happy New Moon!

29 LINES THAT MAKE YOU SMILE :)
1.. My husband and I divorced over religious differences. He thought he was God and I didn't.

2.. I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it.

3.. Some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them.

4.. I used to have a handle on life, but it broke.

5.. Don't take life too seriously; No one gets out alive.


6.. You're just jealous because the voices only talk to me

7.. Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.

8.. Earth is the insane asylum for the universe.

9.. I'm not a complete idiot -- Some parts are just missing.

10... Out of my mind. Back in five minutes .

11.. NyQuil, the stuffy, sneezy, why-the-heck-is-the-room-spinning medicine.

12.. God must love stupid people; He made so many.

13.. The gene pool could use a little chlorine.

14.. Consciousness: That annoying time between naps.

15.. Ever stop to think, and forget to start again?

16.. Being 'over the hill' is much better than being under it!

17.. Wrinkled Was Not One of the Things I Wanted to Be When I Grew up.

18 Procrastinate Now!

19.. I Have a Degree in Liberal Arts; Do You Want Fries With That?

20.. A hangover is the wrath of grapes.

21. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a cash advance.

22.. Stupidity is not a handicap. Park elsewhere!

23..They call it PMS because Mad Cow Disease was already taken.

24.. He who dies with the most toys is nonetheless DEAD.

25.. A picture is worth a thousand words, but it uses up three thousand times the memory.

26.. Ham and eggs...A day's work for a chicken, a lifetime commitment for a pig.

27.. The trouble with life is there's no background music. 28.. The original point and click interface was a Smith & Wesson.

29... I smile because I don't know what the hell is going on.


Monday, July 28, 2008

Mondays Ramblings

I'm not gonna talk about how utterly stiff I was today during practice - it was quite depressing actually. Dunno why... Haven't slept so well recently, but lack of sleep doesn't usually interfere with my practice so much. Don't get me wrong, it was still wonderful to do my practice, but it bordered on painful up until Kapotasana.

When Sharath came up to help me in Supta Vajrasana I told him that I was really stiff today. I swear I thought he said, "did you drink yesterday?" although it may have been, "did you drink enough yesterday?" Regardless of what he said, I responded with a No, and allowed him to assist me in the posture. But I couldn't help but laugh inside as I thought to myself, "No Sharath I TRY to only indulge in my love of red wine on the weekends man!" Ha...

And let me tell you, when it came time for backbends I thought Sharath would surely cut me a little slack today, knowing I am tight and all, and perhaps even an alcholic ;) - but he didn't let up at all! I did my one, two, three dropbacks and then went down for the knees - even though it was obvious my pelvis was tighter than a 300 pound woman trying to fit in a pair of size 6 jeans, he insisted on moving my hands up to my quadriceps anyway....And while I nearly gasped for air today because the intensity was too much, Sharath simply said, "relax!" I swear I heard a muffled chuckle from someplace in space as he accomplished his goal of getting my hands to my quadriceps, and then stepped away as I straightened my legs - as if to say, "Good girl, see it is all mind over matter Krista." Fair Enough!

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So I'm super sad because Mona left today. We met up at Santosha for our final breakfast together. It was obvious she was really pretty sad to leave too - although I am sure she is ready to get back to her husband, son, and life in Hawaii. I'm sure gonna miss her though - I mean who am I gonna bike around town with now, and who's gonna sit in my house with no power by candlelight and share a bottle of red wine with me? ;(

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So here is the scoop on Melkote: It is one of the most gorgeous places I've had the absolute pleasure to visit! My friend Johnathan and I rode his motorcycle the 40 plus kilometers from Mysore to Melkote yesterday afternoon. The ride, in and of itself, was phenomenal! But it only got better once we arrived in Melkote. It's just nature - all around you. Such a beautiful and peaceful place. Since we were really short on time yesterday (it takes an hour to get there and an hour back and we only had three hours to spare in the day to hang out) we both decided we are gonna go back soon. I am stoked ;) Didn't take my camera as it was a bit of an unexpected ride, so when I return I'll be sure to take photos so you too can enjoy the majestic nature with me!

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Dance was wonderful - both Sindhu and I are astounded by my quick and solid grasp of new material. I've been on a roll the last week or so, and I'm hoping I continue - its new for me, to learn, digest, and perform structured dance moves. Never really had much of any training in dance in my life - just like to move - so it's been rather difficult to learn Odissi with any real speed or accuracy. But all seems to be changing, slowly but surely. And that makes me happy ;)

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Happy Birthday Daddy

Today my father would be 57 years old. He passed away in 1990. Today I honor my father.

Jeff William Shirley passed before his time. He was a brilliant engineer, a loving father, and a devoted husband. Daddy I think of you each and every single day and know you are always here with me. I love you!

My daddy always told me to follow my dreams. He used to say I could do or be anything I set my mind to - I was never to forget that. I spend each day living for myself, and also living to make him proud to know his little girl works hard to live her dreams.

My Favorite Pictures of Guruji's Birthday








These are some of my personal favorites from Guruji's Birthday. Events like these make me so grateful to have my trusty cannon ;)

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Dance, Dance, Dance







As you might be able to gather from the pictures, friday night was a blast! These are some of my long time friends here in Mysore; Edi, Kunal, Mujeeb, and Jolly - they ROCK!
We had tons of fun dancing all night long ;) it's my happy place, well one of them. Dancing is such a freeing expression of self - feels so good to just let go and enjoy the music.
If you haven't been dancing in a while, you need to put on your dancing shoes and hit the dance floor people - its good for zee soul ;)

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Its Friday Baby

You would be so proud to know that I was not only NOT late for practice yesterday and today, I was actually early ;) I think my wee little internal alarm clock got a bit scared after two days of tardiness and has moved her settings up a bit, as I woke up organically at 3am yesterday and today....and I was like, "Man I can sleep a little longer, come'on!" But the little voice inside my head said, "Too bad Krista, get your asana out of bed and take a shower woman!" So I did...

Yesterday's practice was quite lovely...wish I could say the same about today's...I was stiff and tight and I felt uber heavy and I was just plain miserable during led primary...but as I left my house knowing it would be a really yucky practice, I just reminded myself that I would feel a great deal better when it was over - and I did...

Here's the Scoop on Friday ;)
Had my first chiropractic appt. with Sean today and it was quite lovely! Feel as though he's gonna help fix my left shoulder problem (one that I've had for YEARS)....It pops every single time I go into down dog and I have some achy stuff in the shoulders and neck too. To make a long story short, I'm excited to be working with him ;)

Mona and I went to the city (surprised?) and both ordered business cards. Trying to milk the last few days with her - gonna miss my Mona :( As always people come and people go - but so grateful to have the opportunity to meet so many wonderful people here in Mysore and all over the world. I feel really lucky to have some really amazing friends ;) Mona leaves on Monday morning so we got a little time left before she returns to good ole Hawaii and her husband who misses her dearly. Don't blame the guy ;)

Since it is Friday, you should know what that means by now....That's right, I'm going dancing ;) Stoked! I'll be sure to post some pictures if I remember to take my camera.

Peace OUT!

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

The Infamous Saris




Mona just emailed me some pictures of Guruji's birthday from her camera....The ones of me and Mona are oh soooo cute ;)
Speaking of pictures....I'm still going through all 400 plus that I took of Guruji's birthday...I posted some for you to enjoy but will have more later - and some of them are badass!!!

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

My alarm clock is a piece of POOOOOO

I'm not gonna talk about the fact that I woke up late again today!!! Holy Cow man my alarm has become a useless piece of poooooooo........ Thank goodness there is some sort of alarm clock built into me own body, albiet one that likes the snooze button ;) Today I woke up ever so softly thinking, "hmmm wonder if it's close to 3:30am yet?" So I rolled over and looked at my phone. "SHIT!" It was 4:30am, which means it was 4:45am shala time, which is exactly when my arse is supposed to be putting my mat down on the floor and starting my sun salutations... I thought for a second that maybe I should not go, not show my face late...Then I decided that I didn't care if Sharath called me out for being late, I needed my practice today man...So I jumped up and got out the door and to the shala as quickly as my feet could carry me. And wouldn't you know that when I arrived there was only one spot left, right by the front door, and it just so happened that Sharath was walking from the office to the stage to do the opening mantra - and he used my spot as a path! Now he didn't say a word to me, and I feel as though he must understand these things you know - but he also didn't help me with one single posture today - as if to say, "I am not speaking to you today Krista!" I can handle that, after all I definitely deserve it! But I will tell ya that I still had a ROCKIN practice today - so good in fact that I could barely muster the energy to walk back to my house from the shala.....ahhhhh how sweet ;)

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My mom always sends me these forwards - some are really inspirational, some really sweet, some really funny, and some are - well - just - like this one ;)


The wisdom of Larry the cable guy......

1. A day without sunshine is like night.

2. On the other hand, you have different fingers.

3. 42.7 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot.

4. 99 percent of lawyers give the rest a bad name.

5. Remember, half the people you know are below average.

6. He who laughs last, thinks slowest.

7. Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.

8. The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets The cheese in the trap.

9. Support bacteria. They're the only culture some people have.

10. A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.

11. Change is inevitable, except from vending machines.

12. If you think nobody cares, try missing a couple of payments.

13. How many of you believe in psycho-kinesis? Raise my hand.

14. OK, so what's the speed of dark?

15. When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.

16. Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now.

17. How much deeper would the ocean be without sponges?

18. Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

19. What happens if you get scared half to death, twice?

20. Why do psychics have to ask you your name?

21. Inside every older person is a younger person wondering, 'What the heck happened?'

22. Just remember -- if the world didn't suck, we would all fall off.

23. Light travels faster than sound.. That's why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

24. Life isn't like a box of chocolates . it's more like a jar of jalapenos. What you do today, might burn your butt tomorrow.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Hey Hey

First off, let me just say I'm alright :) - Sorry I've not been on top of zee blog the last week - been uber busy with life here in Mysore guys ;) but thanks for all the really caring emails! And just remember you can email me whenever you want to, not only when you start having withdrawals from your daily dose of 'heres the scoop' ;) Just kidding, but seriously though....

Guruji's Birthday was a blast...and so was the whole weekend ;) Went out with friends and danced the night away on Saturday. That's right, I said it, danced the NIGHT away ;) Literally....The music was so delicious I didn't stop moving for a good four hours ...Now thats my kinda night!


Now, now don't take offense to the photo's profanity, I am posting b/c I think its funny - so you should laugh too ;)

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Now here is the scoop on today's practice: OMG can you say JUICY ;) Oh yeah, uh huh, that's right, ok ;) Simply delicious! BUT, I never would have imagined I would have one of the most intensiely euphoric practices of my entire life today given the way my morning started

I had gone out last night to see Hancock - YES - I too was like, "no way that flick is here in Mysore for lil ole me to go see - get outta here!" But its true and I went to enjoy a little American cinematic pleasure - You know its the little things that bring so much joy! Anyway, I got home late and got to bed late and - guess what - that's right - I woke up late too :( Don't know why but my alarm didn't go off this morning - so by the grace of Vishnu I woke up at 4:15am to go for a pee ;) and when I looked at the clock I jolted from the bed and rushed like nobodys business to get myself oriented and out the door. I felt as though I were completely out of touch with reality as I walked to the shala and realized I'd left the house naked!

Ok, I'm totally kidding about the naked part ;) HA....But I was not at all awake or ready for an intense second series yoga practice...That is until I got on my mat and started floating through never never land. Although I didn't have much sleep my body and mind were spot on focus and my sweat drenced body seemed to be dancing alone with my breathe for over 90 minutes of pure, blissful moving meditation. Oh you have no idea how incredibly amazing my entire practice felt...It's days like these that make everything else so worthwhile. I hope that you too will enjoy a phenomenal practice next time you step on your mat!

Ta ta for now ;)



Saturday, July 19, 2008

Guruji's Birthday






































Guruji's 93rd Birthday celebration was really quite wonderful. The day was filled to the brim with great energy, entertainment, food, conversation, and did I mention food ;)

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Red Red Wine

Here’s the Scoop on Vino….Mona and I both had EXTREMELY long days going non-stop from about 7am til 6pm…we met up around 6:15pm and rode our bikes to the city. Our mission – to find a nice bottle of red wine! We made a stop at the bike shop so I could have my bike tuned up a bit, and while we waited for zee bike man to do his thing, we went to the market to pick up some essential oils and incense. Purchases made and bike collected we rode around and around and around. I can’t begin to tell you how many little liquor shops we stopped at – always a riot too because there are inevitably ten or more Indian men standing around the counter enjoying a drink, a smoke, and a smile. Whenever we walk in it seems a bit of a shock at first to see women walking in to buy alcohol ;) But of course none of the shops in the city we stopped at had ANY decent wine – and while Mona and I really are not that picky we have standards!

Realizing we were not going to find our vino in the city we opted to head to Kalidasa road where we knew we could at least get a bottle of Grover…Contented with that we cycled ourselves to our little shop and got our bottle of wine ;) Mission accomplished! Happy as two little girls with ice cream we scurried home in the dark to enjoy our bottle of red wine.

Mrs. Mona opened zee bottle and then we sat in my house and enjoyed every last drop! Oh so yummy…

.....Speaking of Miss Mona, she's on Utube - check her out ;)

Monday, July 14, 2008

scrambled eggs by candlelight in your underwear

As soon as I got home from dance class this evening my power went out...It was so dark in the house I didn't even know where my candles were, let alone the lighter to light them...but after a bit of determination, and some ever so some ginger movement, I found the candles...and then the lighter! Score ;) Having brought a bit of light to the evening I made my way to the bathroom where I undressed and washed my face and removed my contacts...Since I had no real desire to trek back to zee bedroom, I made a B-line straight to the kitchen to make some scrambled eggs and toast...

As I was hoovering over the stove being ever so grateful gas, not electricity, lights my fire ;) I realized I was cooking eggs in the dark, in India, in my underwear ;)

So how do you like to cook your eggs?

Sweet Quote

My mother sent me an email this evening and this was a quote within it... It rings home with me, how about you?

Life is too short to wake up with regrets. So love the people who treat you right. Love the ones who don't just because you can. Believe everything happens for a reason. If you get a second chance, grab it with both hands. If it changes your life, let it. Kiss slowly. Forgive quickly. God never said life would be easy. He just promised it would be worth it.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

The Scoop on Sunday

Happy Monday All! Hope you are winding down from an enjoyable weekend ; - )

My Sunday Funday was a blast! I met with my friend Bobbi at 1pm to head to Operation Shanti and do arts and crafts with the kids for a few hours. There are 28 happy, gorgeous, loving children and there were three of us there to work with them for 2 1/2 short hours. When we arrived we were greeted with the biggest smiling faces and gracious appreciation for. We got all our art supplies from storage and headed upstairs to set up while the children finished their lunch. When the little ones finished their lunch we explained that we would be making collages today! We had colored paper, magazines for each child, glue sticks, glitter, scissors, yarn, dye cut pieces, and so many more little artsy things for them to use in decorating their very own collages.

Bobbi told the kids we were gonna give each person a number and they needed to remember it because we were gonna break up into three groups. I was in charge of group one, Bobbi in group two, and this other sweet girl (whose name currently escapes me) in group three. Somehow, luck I suppose, I ended up with the youngest children in my group! I was really delighted - all the children are wonderful, but the wee little ones are, well, so darn cute!!!! It was really good the way things worked out though b/c it seemed that somehow Bobbi got the older children, I'd say 10-15 years old, the other volunteer got the 7-9 year olds, and I got the 4-6 year olds ;-) you simply have NO IDEA how precious these children are.....and one in particular, Vishnu, oh how he stole my heart.

It was really interesting to see what the children decided to do with their collages....Some of the older kids in Bobbi's group had some really amazingly creative stuff - really was blown away by the imagination of these little people ;) - and while my little ones were not quite as creative as the older children, they sure did know how to make a mess and have fun doing it ;) I had to be a bit more hands on with my group -I picked out some of the children's pictures, and I cut out nearly all the pictures from the magazines...I had to prompt some of the little ones to use this or that for their collage, I did a good bit of gluing, and I had to fix some pictures (two of my guys clued their pictures on the wrong way ;) For the two smallest ones - I pretty much made them a lovely little collage and then let them draw all over it ;)

I can't begin to tell you how fun, rewarding, and utterly exhausting it was to play with these children yesterday! When it neared time to head out we told the kids it was time to clean up....I thought it would take forever to clean up my area, let alone the rest of the room...but to my total surprise these amazing little people not only made their own mess, they cleaned it up without one grip or complaint - they were happy to do it! What lessons so many spoiled children can learn!!!

All I can say is, WOW - what an amazing experience! I wish we did arts and crafts with them everyday...Well sort of - I was so tired after that - I don't know how real teachers do it all day long - props to you all!!!

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We made our way back to Gokulam and had about twenty minutes before conference began - today we started at 4pm instead of 4:30pm because we had a guest speaker come in to speak about Nature Conservation. The gentleman spoke a lot about the wildlife preserves and national forests/jungles in India, and in Karnataka in particular. He is also an amazing photographer and he showed us many beautiful pictures he's taken of some of the wildlife here in India. He went into great detail about some of the prevading problems facing the wildlife habitat here in India and the need to protect it as best we can. This sort of seg-wayed into why we were discussing all this in the first place - Guruji's Charitable Trust. This year a large percentage of the proceeds from Guruji's Charitable Trust will be used to buy Park Rangers at the Bandipur Jungle some suitable clothing. Sharath has already gotten some Jackets for the rangers, but we are gonna raise monies to buy them all a nice pair of shoes (many of the rangers walk around in flip flops, and that is no only unsuitable for the conditions in which they man the jungle, but also quite dangerous!)

There will a silent auction this Friday for those of us who are currently in Mysore...But the great news is that people from all over the world can also participate in an auction - proceeds will go to Guruji's Charitable trust...The Internet auction will take place online from Tuesday through Friday - go to http://www.kpjtrust.org/ to find out more. You will have the opportunity to bid on rare wildlife photos Sharath has taken, signed photographs of Guruji and Sharath and much much more. Good Luck!
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And finally, I spoke briefly with my friend Nancy about helping her with Guruji's Charitable trust, as well as volunteering time to Odanadi, an amazing organization here in Mysore that works to rescue, rehabilitate, reintegrate and empower trafficked women and children. If all works out I'll soon start teaching Mysore style Ashtanga to these women and children three afternoons per week ;)
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And to top of my lovely Sunday - I enjoyed a nice game of Bowling at Planet X with my friend Mujeeb! He kicked my arse but all in good fun ;)

Geezeeeee

Today's led second series was one I will not soon forget..............

Here's the Scoop on Second Series:
- We had to be at the shala by 7:30am this morning...practice began a little after 8:00am...

There are some people out there (lets just call you the normal people ;) who consider 7:30am to be early, but I (and many of my fellow classmates) DO NOT! When you are used to starting your practice at quarter til 5am - 7:30am is just down right late! By the time I got to the shala I had already been up for several hours, the sun was shining, and my poor tummy was grumbling. But its all good b/c I just knew today's practice would be really yummy ;)

I cannot begin to stress the difficulty of practice today...why???? Because Sharath decided to play with us...His count was the slowest I have ever, in my entire life, withstood! We were holding asanas for eons and eons and man was I dripping sweat from places I didn't know I could! My heart was pounding, my arms were shaking, my bandhas were on fire - OMG it was such an intense practice!

My heart was beating so fast it was all I could do to focus my energy of trying to maintain an Ujjayi breath...And by the time we got to Bakasana...let's just say my Ujjayi was jayi.....We held Bakasana A for so long my entire body was quivering...and how I was able to jump into and hold Bakasana B is beyond me...but I sure did have a smile on my sweat drenched face when we reached Bharadvajasana ;) Although my heart rate didn't slow at all I was able to begin regaining my breath, that is until we reached Pincha Mayurasana...And Karandavasana...As always we all did the posture together and then many of us waited for Sharath to come over and help us again in the asana...Once Sharath got me in it, lifted my feet and let me drop down to Chaturanga, I inhaled to up dog, exhaled to down dog, and quickly grabbed my mat and Mysore rug and headed to the back of the room to begin my finishing sequence....As I walked to the back of the room I heard, "Krista you come do one more!" Now you know I should have been excited - but that wasn't the feeling overwhelming me today as I slowly brought myself back to my spot in the shala, put down my mat and got into chaturanga to wait for everyone to take Mayurasana. Instead, I felt a bit uncomfortable...I didn't expect to get Mayurasna anytime soon and especially not in led second series class today! I quickly let go of my thoughts and just followed along as we made our way into and out of Mayurasana. Boy do I suck at that pose ;) Seriously man.... Sharath came over and held my legs up for me because it was OBVIOUS I could not hold them up myself. He kept telling me to lift my head, lift my head...
I truly don't think I've ever been happier than I was when we finished Mayurasana and I quietly took myself to the back of the room to do finishing sequence :) I relished the moment of pure joy in not having to continue with anymore of todays practice - I truly felt for the yogi's who were doing all of second, "Guys my energy is with you - best of luck making it though the world's slowest practice!"
Must admit my Shavasana has never ever ever ever been sweeter...Not ever ;) Once I finished my closing prayer, took one more vinyasa, and laid down in Shavasana I swear I heard birds singing! My entire body melted into the earth beneath me - every single muscle turned to puddy...And I found the most restful place on earth - total stillness of body and mind :)
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So now I officially have Mayurasana....so much more work...never ending work..... I'm SO DOWN!
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I'll fill ya in more later on all the juiciness of my Sunday Funday doing arts and crafts with the kids at Operation Shanti, my talk with Nancy to help out with Guruji's Charitable trust and upcoming auction, my plans to volunteer with another not for profit organization teaching yoga to some amazing girls, and of course, Conference...
Ta ta for now ;)