Tag Archive | YouTube

A Full Year of Yoga

NOTE: my move from a regular phone to the iPhone has caused Ken to throw his hands up and swear while trying to resize pics. Add to that life in the fast lane with these 5 kids and I am BEHIND. BUT here we go. One full year of daily yoga hit mid March. WOO! I did that! 

A year of yoga, what a rush to actually complete my first commitment to a new practice. Here is what I posted on Instagram:

Last night marked the end of my first full year of yoga and the start of my second. I haven’t become extremely “bendy” or found the secret to life. But I have found a greater measure of inner peace and am well on my way to regaining some of my long lost flexibility. My yoga area isn’t fancy, my partner often buggers off and has scratched my mat midst stretch/play, and my heels still don’t touch in downward facing dog. BUT thanks to Yoga With Adriene and #fwfg I am living my best life one day at a time. So one year down, a lifetime to go! #yogawithadriene Find What Feels Good!!!IMG_1251

So now I have made a positive life pattern change. Yoga isn’t always 30 min of warriors and cobras and balancing. Sometimes it is 10 min of meditation or a 5 min pick me up. But ever single day I carve out that time and make it my own. I do this for me, for my mental and physical well being.

I made a commitment to myself and I followed through. This wasn’t made on New Years or any special day. I picked up a mat and I found a video and my life began with a new healthier pattern. It doesn’t have to take much. Just commitment and a willingness to fall over or not quite make that pose. Sometimes I laugh at myself, sometimes I feel pride at the grace I can show. It is good, I am growing and my life is always changing. I am simply living my best life one day at a time.IMG_1250

 

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes… a book review

So with my enjoyment of the Youtube channel Ask A Mortician, I picked up her first book – Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty. It is definitely not a book for the squeamish, though this book is not massively graphic. This memoir documents Caitlin’s journey from childhood all the way to her finding her calling as Ask the Mortician and the Order of the Good Death.

She has an amazing talent with gallows humour and is able to tell stories with vivid characters. You really do journey with her, learn with her and feel with her as Caitlin recounts some truly human moments. There is a feeling like you are now so much more intimate a friend with her after this book, and I love that. 

This book specifically deals with how death and the funeral industry is run in California. She deals with all sorts of questions in regards to fears, to the process, and options available. Keep in mind a portion of this story is based in a crematory. 

This is the person who has led me to consider how do we treat our dead and how do I want my remains to be treated. She asks and tries to give answers to fundamental questions of the why, how, where, who, and what will be done. What are our options? How can we think about things differently? How can we be prepared for these moments? 

I would totally recommend this book and just as strongly her youTube channel HERE. Questions of mortality and how our culture, and other cultures deal with this is so important. Zander and I have even watched videos together and discussed them. Caitlin has a real flair with being sensitive and compassionate even with her humour and laughter. Screen-Shot-2014-07-18-at-7.05.39-PM

Rest in Pieces… a book review

So I have been playing catch up watching Ask a Mortician on YouTube HERE. I cannot suggest her loudly enough. There is great merit to facing death and the resulting activities now. Zander has started watching some of the videos with me, Caitlyn Doughty and her crew cover topics with such great respect and research. Seriously… give her a try. She is entertaining, humorous and a great educator on all things death, dying and how we deal with the physical body left behind.

Anyway, a few of her episodes she suggested multiple books and I ran out to the library and requested the ones I could get my hands on. First to review, Rest in Pieces by Bess Lovejoy.

Perhaps not for the faint of heart, as she does go into some detail, but I really enjoyed this well organized look at “The Curious Fates of Famous Corpses.”

She covers all sorts of people from all over the world from a huge span of time. Curious about the fate of Lord Byron? The full story of Eva Peron, whose corpse could have used a passport? What about the unsolved mystery of Edgar Allen Poe’s final resting place?

This book discusses some of history ‘s most interesting death rituals for dealing with the remains of love one. What do we do with the body once the consciousness is truly gone? Were the last requests honored? This was a real page turner. Well researched, well written and beyond interesting. I would greatly recommend Rest in Pieces for the adult reader.rest-in-pieces-9781451655001_hr