Mantra

Mantra for the day:

letting go is not the same thing as giving up

Hair cut!

32 Weeks
A little more than a small trim to shape things, this time I used the word "cut". 
I wanted to loose the chemo curl from the back and see if maybe it will grow in more my natural texture from here. I did leave all the length on the top and that front bangs area that seems like it is staying an inch behind everything else that grows. The hair stylist called those "negative" bangs. I'd never heard of such a thing. 

This is 2 days pre-cut 

showing you my bozo wings 

 Freshly cut  and 2 days later 


I know it is was inch (or less) and no one else will notice but it feels like a huge difference to me. 
Stitches come out this morning. They itch like crazy but I know that is a good sign. 

Serendipitous second post 6-5

Today I was reading the June 2012 Oprah magazine. Page 109 there is an article about finding strength in adversity. They specifically call out Yin yoga as a means to condition ourselves to find the equanimity in a situation! 
That was so ironic after my post this morning. 
Did you ever have those zany coincidences?

Playing the Edge

I've been exploring this concept in my yoga practice over the past year and applying it (liberally) to my every day life.
Here's a link to an excerpt from a book.  
http://www.movingintostillness.com/book/asana_playing_the_Edge.html

A few highlights if you don't care to read the whole thing (this is extremely edited)
A large part of the art and skill in yoga lies in sensing just how far to move into a stretch. If you don't go far enough, there is no challenge to the muscles, no intensity, no stretch, Going too far, however, is an obvious violation of the body,  Somewhere between these two points is a degree of stretch that is in balance
In daily life, we tend to remain within a familiar but limited comfort zone by staying away from both our physical and mental edges. This would be fine except that as aging occurs these limits close in considerably
Sensing where your edges are and learning to hold the body there with awareness,  can be called "playing the edge."
This can have a very profound influence on all aspects of your life. One of the things you learn in yoga is to enjoy working with intensity. Intensity is simply more "energy" at any given moment, more feeling.  

And my own thoughts from working with the "edge".

This translates to physical and mental. You can find an edge, an area that is slightly out of your comfort zone and you can stay there and process the information and be aware. Then you shift and you notice how quickly the uncomfortable sensation will pass. The stress on the  bent knee in Pigeon or Virasana pose, the prick of the needle at the Dr. office, the instant angry reaction when someone cuts you off on the highway. And a few seconds later, gone. The more you allow yourself to go to the edge consciously and with thought while you process the sensations, the more you see how fast it can disappear, you can let go, you can move to the next point without clinging to the discomfort.

If you're in Austin on a Friday night look for Jenn Wooten's Hatha Yin class. She's a master at working  this idea of the edge. 

http://www.yogayoga.com/teachers/jenn

 

These are the extreme versions , above  you have Eka pada kapotasana (one legged King Pigeon pose) and below Supta Virasana (Reclined Hero pose)

Weekend update

yesterday I had a fantastic lunch with a friend  at Blue Dahlia 
http://www.bluedahliabistro.com/  Try it if you get a chance. 
Made a few more strands of  the felt garland, rented a move, read a book, spent hours cleaning out my old office files and organizing and I still have the rest of today to so whatever I want. SE from the Femara have dramatically lessened and I can tell by the simple fact that I am doing so much more 

Here we are at week 31.
 I used less hair gunk this morning because I am going to work out later and will rinse it again afterwords so this is a soft look. 

As promised here are the "visible" stitches. Dr C. says I'm allowed to do anything as long as I don't use my torso...hmmm. That knocks yoga right off the list. Too much twisting and turning. I promised him I would not over do-it but he knows I was not going to wait 5-7 days to be active. Yesterday I was able to cycle at the gym, clipped into a spin bike (stationary) It was easy to crank out 20 miles while concentrating on form and and not causing any aggravation to my back. I'm going to repeat that workout today and maybe add some arms in the free weight area.The only thing that did bother me in the last 2 days was vacuuming and driving. I was that oddball sitting awkwardly upright not allowing my back to touch the seat. 
**insert** My sister told me I did not explain the stitches so here ya go. The mole that was removed from my back a few weeks ago did not have "clear margins" so I had to go back in and let Dr C take a big chunk of skin from the same spot. 

Friday I wore a headband for a few hours. I got lots of nice comments but I could not keep it on all day (it gave me a headache) I'm excited to experiment with clips and pins. 

Hope you are having a great weekend as well. 
namaste
C