I can't believe that October is over already! So that means Spring is only 5 months away!
I have been wanting to get back into going to Hot Yoga classes for awhile, but kept putting this off. I found out a couple weeks ago that the studio that I was a member of when I lived here 10 years ago (and where I decided to become a Yoga Teacher), was having a tribute class for Gord Downie. That prompted me to register for the class immediately and found out they were offering a special for unlimited classes for a month, so I registered for that too. I forgot how much I love Hot Yoga and since it's been several years since I've even been in a Hot studio, I was concerned I might not be able to handle the heat but I fell in love with it all over again. It's the perfect time of year to get back into it. I'm on day 4 now, I've been going every evening and sleeping very well afterwards.
My second class that I attended was The Tragically Hip class, our instructor had a beautiful play list of songs blasting through the studio. We were encouraged to sing along. It wasn't until our final relaxation, when we were all in Savasana that everyone joined in to sing "Ahead By A Century". I'm getting chills just thinking about it & now as I write this another Hip song, "Bobcaygeon" just so happens to come on the radio, which was another song that was played that night. It was a great way to honour Gord and probably the only class I ever attended where everyone stayed in the studio for the entire Savasana! It was a wonderful experience to share with other Yogis & Hip fans!
Thank you Gord! Your music and lyrics will always be in our hearts!
The other big change for me is that for the past four months, I cut out meat & dairy. This is not something that I ever thought I would or could do, but for health reasons I decided to try it out. I did have a cheat day, which turned into a cheat weekend, when I was invited to a delicious Thanksgiving dinner and then given leftovers to take home. Since Turkey dinner is my favourite meal it was hard to say no!
I was surprised at how easily I was able to stop eating meat & dairy, for the most part I wasn't even craving anything...until Thanksgiving was approaching! I originally thought I would continue through the summer only to see how I felt, but decided to keep it up. I don't know if this is a forever thing, but I have been enjoying trying different recipes. It's much harder to shop for groceries, when you can't eat the majority of food you are used to eating! One of my new favourite recipes is this one:
https://heatherchristo.com/2017/03/26/vegan-roasted-vegetable-quinoa-salad/
I went to make it the other day and realized I was out of Quinoa so I made it with wild rice instead. So yum!
Moorecroft Regional Park
Nanoose Bay
“First thing we’d climb a tree
And maybe then we’d talk
Or sit silently
And listen to our thoughts
With illusions of someday
Cast in a golden light
No dress rehearsal
This is our life
”