Playlist Thursday - Second Verse, Same as the First

Hey kids!

Here's a little trick to sequencing that no one tells you in teacher training:

Yoga teachers recycle!

If I didn't have some fall-back lesson plans to work with, I'd spend my entire life sequencing. It's not to say that I don't love throwing new stuff in the repertoire. If I had my way, I'd spend 90% of life learning new yoga from teachers, videos, articles, etc. I love to live and breathe yoga. Unfortunately, meals and sleep and family intervene and I'm often left with less prep time for class than I would like.

The same goes for playlists. I have some fall-backs that I like to use. Certain songs that I mix up and throw together when I need a soundtrack for class and I don't have time to prep one.

The following is a mix of some of my favourite stand-by yoga jams. You'll notice some repeats and that's cool. I know that as a yoga student, it's as comforting to hear familiar songs as it is exciting to hear new ones.

Here we go again:

* When I'm With You: Alias (Acoustic Live Version)

* Love on Top: Beyonce (What's a yoga class without Beyonce?)

* Into the Mystic: Colin James (There are many versions of this song that I'm totally in love with, but this is by far my favourite)

* Crash Into Me: Dave Matthews Band

* Hysteria: Def Leppard

* Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters: Elton John

* Levon: Elton John

Note: I don't normally put two songs by one artist back-to-back unless I feel like the songs somehow "go together"

* On Top of the World: Imagine Dragons

* Have a Little Faith in Me: Jewel (Because what's a yoga class without a song that makes the teacher cry?)

* Danny's Song: Kenny Loggins (go ahead and hate, Kenny Loggins haters.)

* Wildflowers: Tom Petty

* Ain't That a Kick in the Head: Dean Martin

* So Much Magnificence: Deva Premal and Miten (While I was doing my yoga teacher training, I always promised myself I would play this song for my first Savasana. I kept the promise to myself and have used it for many Savasanas since)

There are some spares on this list as well. They're interchangeable with the above songs and I pick and choose depending on my mood:

* Hot Child in the City: Nick Gilder (pre-google, Lins and I were convinced this was sung by a woman)

* More Than This: Roxy Music (my favourite song of all-time because of this scene)

* Cry to Me: Otis Redding (for me, there is always Otis)

* Sun Light: MC Yogi

* Vienna: Billy Joel

* Anything Could Happen: Ellie Goulding

I wish you many happy hours spent listening to mixed tapes,

Er

Playlist Thursady - Universal DJ

Confession: I just got a new IPhone and I have no idea how to use it. I've been a Blackberry gal all this time because I love the keyboard. My IPod bit the dust the same day I got my new phone, so I've been transferring all my music from pod to phone.

I remember being a kid and having dinner with friends of ours'. While doing dishes, our friend, S would wash and then leave the dishes in the rack, "God's doing the drying."

That's how this playlist came about. It's 80% randomness because I don't know how to use my phone  and 20% I-really-love-that-song.

Sometimes you've just gotta let the Universal DJ do his thang...

(Sometimes, there's no other choice)

* Get Back to Serenity - Vargo (from the Very Best of Cafe del Mar)

* Heading for the Sunrise - Steen Thottrup & Annette Berg (also from Cafe del Mar)

* Helpless - The Band feat. Neil Young (Concert Version from The Last Waltz)
(Cried during my own class while this one played.)

* Smile - Sierra Leon's Refugee All Stars (You need to watch their story) My hubby and I saw them at Starbelly Jam this past summer. The only thing more striking than their story of triumph of the human spirit is their catchy smiles and joyful lyrics)

* Tura Lura Lura - The Band (Live at The Last Waltz)
Also made me cry.

* 100 Billion Stars - Lux (also from Cafe del Mar)

* Arms of Mary - Chilliwack (I love this song. It's about doin' it. Just sayin'.)

* #Beautiful - Mariah Carey feat. Miguel.
Go ahead and judge me. I'm 31 now and I don't care if you know that I like Mariah Carey.

* Girl on Fire - Alicia Keys
Go Girl.

* Heart of Gold - Neil Young

* I'm Goin' Down - Bruce Springsteen
I have a Bruce Springsteen problem...

* The Long Run (Live) - The Eagles

* OM Namah Shivaya - MC Yogi feat. Bhagavan Das
What's a yoga class without a little Sanskrit?

* 6th Avenue Heartache - The Wallflowers
WTF ever happened to The Wallflowers? Anybody?

* Beach Waves - Nature Sounds

* Desire (Ambient Mix) - Blank & Jones

This has been a crazy week, filled with crazy times for this crazy chick. As an aside, I was greatly aided by this book:

 It's not just for artists. It's for anyone (everyone) who's looking to overcome Resistance and get closer to the life we're all hoping to live. It's as practical and pragmatic a guide as you're ever going to get.

 

 



Stop. Camel Time. Haha. Get it?

 

 

 

Looking forward (giddily) to practicing with those of you who can make it to class today. It's a really special day to me because it's a karma class to benefit Bridges to Community. Bridges is a group that's really close to my heart. A few years back I travelled with a girlfriend of mine to Nicaragua. We fund raised for six months and participated in the building of two houses. It improved the lives of people who became very dear to us and it sure as heck changed us in the process. If you'd like to learn more, visit them right here

 

 

One last thing. S and I made this video upon our return:  here

 

 

 Love you more than you know,

 

Er



Playlist Thursdays - Yoga Gots Soul

I've just returned from teaching a new corporate class - it's always a bit nerve-wracking to start a new class but I feel really passionately that those of us who spend our days at a desk need extra yoga tlc.
(Hence the silly office yoga that transpired in front of my iphone camera)

And back to playlists...

I create a yoga playlist similarly to the way I used to create playlists when I ran a lot and mixed tapes back in the day - I usually find inspiration in a theme or a song I become obsessed with (or fall back in love with) and then build around it. I like to start slow and end slow

This week's playlist was built around The Temptations because I love them. Truthfully, I thought of that scene in Thelma and Louise where they're singing The Way You Do the Things You Do...

Here comes some soul. Can ya dig it?


* Ain't No Sunshine by Aaron Neville

* Chain of Fools by Aretha Franklin

* Far Away Like a Radio by Colin James (holla!)

* Someday We'll Be Together by The Supremes

* The Way You Do the Things You Do by The Temptations

* Little Sister by Elvis Presley

* What's Happening Brother? by Marvin Gaye

* Band of Gold by Freda Payne

* Too Late for Lovers by Gin Wigmore (are you listening to Gin Wigmore?????Why nooooot?)

* Hurt Me Tomorrow by K'Naan

* Again by Lenny Kravitz

* I Don't Want to Fight Anymore by Tina Turner

* Right Back Where We Started From by Maxine Nightengale

* Come to my Window by Melissa Ethridge

* Angel of Harlem by U2

* Ain't Too Proud to Beg by The Temptations

*(Sittin' On) The dock of the Bay by Otis Redding

* You Put the Soul in the Song by Waylon Jennings (Waylon's got soul. He just looks country)

* Change Gonna Come by Otis Redding

* Blueberry Hill by Fats Domino

* America by Simon and Garfunkel (which makes me cry and is therefore left for the end of class when everyone is napping)

So there it is, yoga/music friends. I hope you enjoy it and spend many happy hours at your mat.


Love your soul,

Er

Faith for the Faithless

“The reason birds can fly and we can't is simply because they have perfect faith, for to have faith is to have wings.”
― J.M. Barrie, The Little White Bird

“A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything.”

― Friedrich Nietzsche

Faith and the lack thereof is something I feel very passionately about - how to find some faith when you're tapped.

For me, faith has always been fairly easy to come by. It's an interesting juxtaposition because I've had a messy life. When I made my own messes and f*cked everything up, there was always a perfect book

(like this: http://www.hayhouse.com/details.php?id=267)


or a great podcast (like this: http://www.hayhouse.com/details.php?id=7772) or a conference to attend (like this: http://www.hayhouse.com/event_details.php?event_id=1916).

And I got results. I cleaned up my thoughts. I believed in higher powers. I believed in the beauty of my own dreams. And every single time I followed what the spiritual literature recommended, things in my life improved.

These are very important first steps on the path. And for some people, they may be the only steps necessary to get the life you've always dreamed of.

For the rest of us (hands up), life does not always work out. Sometimes, as clean as our thoughts are, as many books as we read, Life will still disappoint us. Bad things will happen to good people. Life will have lessons in store for us that will make absolutely no sense.

This happened to me quite recently. Something that I wanted very badly and believed in to the point where I literally didn't consider any alternative was taken away from me. It had already been integrated into my existence and having it yanked out from under me literally threw me into a full-on crisis of faith. It was easier to have faith when I was screwing up. To have faith when I'd done nothing "wrong" was another beast entirely.

Here's how I'm clawing my way back from faithlessness:

- find something, anything to have faith in. Perhaps your faith in God is shattered and you'd like to spit in Buddha's chubby, happy face. But there is always something you can put faith in. I had faith in the good in my friends and family even when my faith in the goodness of the Universe was tested to max capacity. Perhaps it's a pet or a yoga teacher or a stranger (warning: don't stalk. it exacerbates the problem). Whatever it is, cling to it until you can believe in Life again. Connection is key here, especially if you want to isolate.

It's easy to have faith in this chick

-get outside. This is crucial for me. When I'm feeling cooped up in my life, it usually means I've been cooping myself up indoors. I know it gets more difficult to force ourselves outside for those of us who live in parts of the world where it's getting to be not-so-nice weather-wise. Do it anyway. Get your feet wet and dirty (barefoot if at all possible without risking losing digits to frostbite). Nature is healing. It's been scientifically proven many times over. Moreover, I've proven it to myself. Even if the best you can do is sit outside and cry. Do it anyway.

-don't read the comforting stuff if it pisses you off. Instead, read some stuff about some people who've had a hard time and somehow managed to make it back
(I recommend this book http://serabeak.com/red-hot-and-holy/ for its irreverence and get-down-to-itness)

-find something purposeful to throw yourself into. It really does help to help other people. If you can't go that far, find a project that you're excited by (even if it's just a little one). Get crafty, get creative, sing in the shower.

-I found it immensely comforting to realize that sometimes, life's just not all that fair. But it's still good. Remember what you have. In fact...

-Make a list. Go ahead. Right now. List the few, tiny things that you're able to be grateful for.

Here's mine:
*good coffee
*friends that make me laugh
*Community (if you haven't already, do it. It's on Netflix)
*my garden (I'm going to count it until the bitter end)

-sometimes, the only thing to do is to have a cry. Sometimes, it needs to be days and days worth of tears. I highly suggest you find someone to hang onto while you cry. Even if it's your cat.

One day, in spite of our intentions to remain hopeless forever, the light trickles its way back in. Be patient with yourself while you're in the process and please, please, know that you're not alone.

"Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in". - Leonard Cohen

I promise it will get better. I really do. I've been there.

Love to hear your coping strategies,

Er

***PS Our new home is coming along beautifully. Fingies crossed we'll be go for launch by next week***

Playlist Thursdays!

I'm super psyched for a new feature here on the Be a Tree blog!

 

Playlist Thursdays!

"Now, the making of a good compilation tape is a very subtle art. Many do's and don'ts. First of all you're using someone else's poetry to express how you feel. This is a delicate thing" - High Fidelity

I don't mean to brag, but I'm kind of a master at playlists. When I teach my yoga classes, I'm often asked to share my songs with people and I'm totally happy to share them with you all here.

I tend to be a bit unorthodox in terms of yoga playlists - keeping in mind that by being myself I ensure that I'm not everybody's teacher and neither am I everybody's dj. I am madly in love with devotional music of every genre, but I don't necessarily believe that a yoga class requires only Sanskrit music in order to move people. I'm most moved when the music speaks to my history, makes me feel nostalgic and connects me back to my self.

With that in mind, I've decided to share my yoga music with you for your home practice or just to groove out to. Every Thursday. Pinkie Swear!

A few words on building yoga class soundtracks:

- I like to play chilled out Indian tunes, quiet kirtan (call and answer) or nature sounds for when people are gathering on their mats at the start of class
- I always start out slow. No one wants to be blasted during their warm-up
- I like to slow it right down for Savasana. Yoga Nap = quiet time

Namaste, babies!

Enjoy,

Er

Last Thursday's Jam

Africa Must Wake up - Distant Relatives (hip-hop supergroup comprised of Nas, Damian "Jr Gong" Marley and K'naan)

Rosanna - Toto

The Great Divide - The Mowgli's (this comes up a lot because I am obsessed with it's catchy brightness)

Domino - Van Morrison (loves me some Van)

Some Nights - Fun. (this is Sierra's fave song right now)

Mandolin Wind - Rod Stewart

Don't Look Back in Anger - Oasis (I heard this in a bar in Dublin and rekindled my junior high love affair with Oasis)

Caravan - Van Morrison again. (I like the version from The Last Waltz best)

Ganesh is Fresh - MC Yogi (what's a yoga class without a little Deity)

Elenore - The Turtles

Bright Side of the Road - Van Morrison (this is the happiest song in the Universe)

Motherless Child - Eric Clapton

Songbird - Fleetwood Mac (makes me weepy, but the students are usually on their backs by this point)

Jane Says - Jane's Addiction (this song was a little bit out-of-place. If I used it again, I'd move it up a bit)

A Case of You - Joni Mitchell

 

**Head's up!! I'm moving this blog to a new home in the not-so-distant-future. Stay tuned!***

Happiest. Chick. Ever.

"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony." —Mahatma Gandhi

Okay. So. Was the tone of my last blog (http://beeatree.blogspot.ca/2013/07/why-i-go-to-therapy-and-you-should-too.html?spref=fb) upbeat and hopeful? That was my intention...

Buuut in the spirit of mental health being a somewhat squeamish subject for some of you, I've decided to write a follow-up piece about how I am currently living the way I intend to MOST OF THE TIME IN MOST AREAS OF MY LIFE!

Have you any idea how miraculous this is?! It means that all that needs to shift in order to be living EXACTLY as I intend to is the scale.

Here's how it shakes down:

*I am writing my Truth and telling it to the world. Approximately SIX HUNDRED of you are reading my truth and to you I am deeply, staggeringly and humbly  grateful. Thank you. A lot.

*I teach yoga one night a week. About a dozen of you are devoted students. About fifty of you are semi-regular. Some of you have come once and not liked it very much. Some of you have thought about coming half a dozen times but Survivor was on. Some of you didn't know I was a yoga teacher prior to reading this post. You will find teachers who are stronger, bendier, balancier than me. But I deeply love the transformative power of this practice and I am thrilled to be able to share it with you.

I'm sending the biggest blessing I have to every single one of you that I practice with. Or will practice with to any degree. Or not. I bow to you. I bow to my colleagues all over the world who are spreading the good word. I bow as deeply as a person can bow to my teachers.

PS you are ALL my teachers.

*I have the most inspiring, kindest, most forgiving, non-judgemental, supportive, talented, funniest, amazingest fiance ever. Really. Best of everything. I recently thanked his mom for him. Everyone who has met him will testify. He really is the best human*

*with the exception of my daughter. If there is a cooler human than her, I've yet to encounter him/her. My fiance agrees.

*We grow some of our own food. Lettuce, kale, spinach (which didn't really turn out, but we eat it anyway). Soon-to-be wax beans. Some herbs that I planted and can't identify because I chucked them in pots and rows without rhyme or labels. We eat organic meat and some tofu and when we're not eating quinoa every night, we're eating bacon because it makes us happy.

In the spirit of full disclosure, we still eat sugar. But we both drink a green thing every day.

*I practice yoga (fairly) regularly, eat (mostly) really clean, meditate with deep devotional gratitude. And I feel DAMN good.  I've been thinner (which usually means that I'm stressed right out and not eating). I'm not without jiggle. But I'm in my body and it's a conversation instead of a civil war between my ass and my self esteem. I don't define my love for myself (or lack thereof) by the number on the scale. In fact, I threw my scale in the garbage. I haven't weighed myself in years. This is a big deal for me. I used to weigh myself at least three times a day and judge myself HARD. I love myself more than that now.

This is a hard-earned happiness. I've earned it and I'm appreciating every single second. I only have to get slightly pissy before I realize that I have everything I could ever want.

So. Why is this chick telling us how crazy she is one day and then how happy she is the next? Because, Dear Reader. I want you to be happy too. I want you to hear it from someone who's been to the dark and back. This happiness is available to you once you survive whatever it is you're going through.

Rooting for you,

-Er

Ode to girl friends

If all my friends were to jump off a bridge, I wouldn't jump with them, I'd be at the bottom to catch them

- Unknown

I am ALL about my best girlfriends. Not just today, but always. Not to be totally dramatic (never!) but I would die without them.

They have picked me up (some of them multiple times), seen me through, seen through me and loved me when the best I could muster for myself was mild disdain.

This post is a love letter to my lady friends, the world over.

You know the ones. The ones with whom you can pick back up after the greatest distance and longest time and laugh like twelve year olds. The ones who will take your call in the middle of the night when you are in distress (love you, L).

They help you move (literally and figuratively), drive you to the airport and style your hair.

Don't get me wrong. I count my fiance, dad and bro among my tightest and bestest friends. But there are some convos you can only have with your nearest and dearest gf's.

J (via text): I may never eat gluten again. Feel free to stage an intervention if I do.

Me: I know! Isn't your poop so much better?! My gluten- free poop is so much nicer!

J (after a short pause): That is a lot of personal information. Your secret is safe with me.

***NOTE: bloggers blog their secrets***

Me: BFF's talk about their poop.

J: Yeah. We do.

One of my BFF's, M recently drove six hours to bring me Cinnzeo and spend less than a day with me for my birthday. Slimy, peely leper-looking face masks, Indian food and so many more laughs than I can count and then she drove six hours home. Who does that?!

My friends do. Dear God, I love them.

They have baked birthday cakes for me, convinced me to stop wearing mascara on my bottom lashes, given me funny nicknames (Lefty comes from A after I called to complain of having forgotten to put deodorant on my left armpit) and been so very patient and encouraging as I stumbled and fumbled my way through life.

They come with kind menfolk who have been my Knights in Shining Armour while I waited for my own to arrive.

They live in Victoria, Vancouver, Nicaragua, the West Kootenays and just down the street. We have known each other all our lives or just a few months. It doesn't matter. They are so dear to me.

Our lives are busy and sometimes the best we can manage is a text message...

(Actual text message received from my cousin)

And this is my love letter to them.

I love you. Thank you for including me and my kiddo even though we threw off your table by being single. Thank you for sending flowers and prayers and holding my hand when I fell apart. You are warrior queens, every single one of you and my life is richer and infinitely more fabulous for having known you.

You bless me with your friendship and talk of bowel movements.

You know who you are.


With love and friendship,

Er