A Little Christmas Yoga Joy

My last yoga class in November was the night before Thanksgiving. It was awesome. One of my favorite teachers led the class, and the class was full. To avoid the potential of kicking our fellow yogis, there were no Flipping of Dogs or Rockstar poses. It was a really cool experience the night before our holiday. 

On Thanksgiving, Jordan and I drove down to spend the weekend with our daughter. I didn't go back to work until Tuesday. 

Now, as I post this, we have so little time before Christmas and I'm trying to decide how much effort to put into the Christmas Spirit. I love Christmas, truly I do. But, somehow I have not done one thing to make our home look "merry and bright". Oh, I take that back...I have framed a really cool picture of Santa.

Last year was our first Christmas in our new apartment, and we didn't stay in town for the holiday. Instead, we went to our daughter's place for her first Christmas in Wilmington. Because we were going to be out of town, I didn't decorate our house. I waited until we got to Danielle's to take in the cozy decor of the holiday.

Here it is the 5th and there are only 20 days left until the big day.

To get in the spirit (in more ways than one), I went to yoga last night. It was a "special" session not at my regular studio. You may have guessed from the top photo that we did yoga to the music of The Nutcracker.

I did not know what to expect. Our teacher was fun, wearing her pointe ballet shoes. She did a few downward dogs with them while on pointe which was pretty impressive. Our class began and ended with Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker Suite. It was a whimsical practice. I hadn't really spent time with just the music before. Flowing to the music I remembered why I love it. I actually love it more (now) without the visual of a ballet. Last night the music filled me and I didn't want to see someone else's interpretation.

It was a good practice, a full 90 minutes with a sweet Shavasana at the end. I'm proud of myself for actually going. It was not convenient...it didn't start until 7:00 which meant not getting home until after 9:00. I'd worked all day...was tired, etc. I could have easily decided not to go. But, I had signed up and I was curious.

I haven't had a week-long break from yoga since February or March, and last night marked a week and a day. I wondered what it would be like to get back on my mat. I wondered if I had lost any poses.  It was a pleasant surprise that I moved into the poses easily and was able to go deeper than before my break. I wonder if that is a mental breakthrough or a physical one. I was happy with my practice. I was happy with the Christmas music. Now I'm seriously thinking about a tree. Or maybe a wreath.