The forecast called for cold and rainy today, but we awoke to chilly and SUNNY!!! I love it when the weather guy is wrong in our favor! It's even better because I have the morning off. That's right, no classes to teach or attend, no appointments, just stuff to take care of around the house. The Buddy (a.k.a. Sirius) and I dropped Rob off at school, then went to the post office to mail off this 
lovely piece of hand knitting. I can't show you the whole thing, lest it spoil the surprise for the birthday girl. Once she's received it I'll post pictures of the whole thing. For now, just admire the lovely stitch pattern and edging. It is made out of Rowan Polar (sadly discontinued) and because of the stitch pattern it is double-thickness. Super cozy AND soft! Happy Birthday, C!
I might have started a sock last night. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I did because my hands actually got a bit cramped from the US2 needles. That's what happens when I work with big needle projects for awhile - the re-entry into itty bitty things is a bit rough.
In yoga-related news, I feel it is my duty to warn all interested parties to resist the perverse urge to thumb through a certain new yoga magazine. Because I don't want to be sued for defamation, I will not put its name on the blog, but it's new enough that some places offer "free" issues. Note that just because you don't pay for it with $$, doesn't actually make it free. No, this particular magazine exacts a toll on your self-esteem (among other things). Article topics include such things as pranayama for weight loss and ways to increase your "sexual prana" (as if the majority of the American population needs any more sexual energy/frustration...we hardly know what to do with what we already have). In and of themselves, these are not meritless topics. In the context of this particular publication, however, it's really just a way to get shoppers' attention so that you'll buy the magazine. I had to put it down when I realized that the emaciated woman in one of the photos was meant to be "losing weight through Pranayama". I mean, really. The poor thing needed a good helping of ghee. What is it with women's magazines showing skinny people trying to lose weight? Why is this genre mucking up the yoga magazine genre? Even Yoga Journal has become something more along the lines of Shape than a magazine dedicated to exploring the path of Yoga.
This is one of the sad by-products of Yoga's surge in popularity. As people see the potential market, they start morphing the practice to meet their (financial) needs. So now we have magazine articles about "getting that yoga butt" or "flatten your stomach with these yoga moves" or some other silliness. Ooooh! This one's rich, now Nike has gotten on the bandwagon by signing on a woman to be their face of yoga. One of her "selling" points is: "No chanting. No granola. No Sanskrit." Well, ignoring the granola reference, chanting and Sanskrit are integral aspects of the practice of yoga. If you want to create a yoga-based fitness genre, that's fine. But don't strip Yoga of its esoteric principles, leaving just the asana, and continue to call it Yoga. In my opinion, if the focus is solely the body, then it's no longer Yoga. I'm really getting juiced up here, so I'm going to write more on this tomorrow. Otherwise today's posting will be just too much for one day. Stay tuned!
Comments