Yoga Festival

Finger Lakes Yoga Festival, 2013

Almost 12 years ago, right after I had Piper, I took her to a baby massage class.  I loved it.  The class was taught by a woman who also taught yoga at a local studio.  She offered free coupons to her yoga studio at the end of class and a special Post-Partum class.  As someone who has struggled with negative body image, this woman's yoga classes helped me find newfound respect and appreciation for my body and it's ability to create and bring forth life.  Learning to breathe, the asanas...gave me stability and kept me sane during those first sleepless nights of being a mother of two.  On days when I felt shut in the house with no adult stimulation and crying babies, it was yoga that kept me grounded and centered and focused.  I was hooked and I have been practicing yoga for almost 12 years!

Jason taking a Qi Gong class at the yoga festival.

I often tell people that yoga is something I want to shout from the rooftops about.  It has made that much of an impact on me and changed my life in awesome ways.  I had always had body image issues and I always struggled to find a form of exercise that I loved enough to stick with...I tried aerobics and step aerobics and Tai Bo and running and walking and swimming...but none of those things worked on me both physically AND spiritually and I never stayed with them.  But yoga...yoga was different.  I felt like a better version of myself when I practiced regularly.

So, when we were on vacation in Jamaica 7 years ago and Jason took a yoga classes with me on the beach and became hooked...I was ecstatic that we shared this and that he "got it"!

Jason quickly advanced beyond me.  He is very physical.  I was timid for years about doing crow pose (though now I can) or wild thing (not as hard as I thought) or a headstand (I can only do a headstand with a wall), but Jason took each challenge and mastered it.  I admit, I was a little bothered, a little envious or jealous of his ability and how fast he progressed and how daring he is.  Envy and jealousy have no place in yoga and I knew that, but I am only human.

The result of the envy and jealousy was that I tried harder in some areas, others I have to just know myself.  I have a rotator cuff injury from water skiing that prohibits certain poses.

Jason has really good form.  The yoga trainer for the NY Jets used him as a model.
Photo credit: Bonnie Gustin Photography

One of the benefits of having a husband with a yoga practice is that we can practice together and go on yoga excursions.  A couple of years ago, Jason and I gifted each other a few days at Kripalu.  It was so awesome and beautiful.  We took yoga classes and meditation classes and nutrition classes and holisitic healing and cooking classes.  We grew in our practice and our spirituality and our relationship.  Not only did this benefit us physically and spiritually and emotionally, but it benefited our relationship and helped us grow closer to one another.

When Jason found this yoga festival, I was very reluctant and hesitant.  I was nervous and apprehensive.  I don't like to travel.  I don't like camping.  I don't like public restrooms or showers.  I was convinced that all of the women would be lithe and have beautiful yoga bodies, not 41 year old bodies that have had two c-sections.  I was convinced everyone would be able to balance on one pinky while raising their feet to the sky.  I really didn't want to go.  But, Jason really did want to go...and it was one weekend and I love him, so we went.

Photo credit

I was so relieved when we got there and not everyone was a size 2 and the first women we met were in their seventies.  There were many, many people there who were around my age and had mama bodies.

I was not so happy when it rained for the first two days and the town below the hill where the yoga festival was had been evacuated.  The yoga festival was all outside.  Thankfully my husband is an awesome outdoorsman and our tent was dry and we were comfortable.

People left in droves as soon as the roads cleared.

But we stayed.  We didn't even think about leaving after the rain was over because we knew the next few days were clear and bright and sunny--as much as I loved being unplugged, I loved having having access to the weather forecast.  A certain camaraderie developed among those of us that stayed.  I was teased for leaving to get Tim Horton's coffee as soon as the roads cleared and for going out to dinner every night the roads were clear, but I was still accepted into the group of people who managed to keep their chi despite the rain.

Me in a Hindu Philosophy class

My husband is someone who has always felt super connected to nature.  He goes to church with us, he loves God and he accepted Jesus as his savior, but he always says he feels more connected to God in nature, admiring what God created.  He has always felt a connection to God's creation, to earth, is more important than being involved in a church of people who can get so political.  Jason loves the simplicity of nature.

Jason taking an alignment class

We were too busy taking classes to take photos, so one day I asked Jason to do some poses so I could take pictures to preserve the memory of having been there.

Jason at a Kai Chi Do class

The VERY FIRST class we took at the yoga festival was called Belly Wisdom and the amazing teacher explained the significance of the belly, of the gut instinct and trusting your gut.   She explained that research has been done and proven that our gut is our second brain.  We need to trust it and honor it, it will make us stronger and more confident.

Kai Chi Do

Through other workshops I did over the weekend on Meditation and Breathing and Yoga Philosophy, I learned that we are not compatible with everyone.  It may be chemical or something different, but it's not judgmental if we just don't feel comfortable with someone, it's something more and we need to listen to that and leave that person alone.  It's not that they are bad, there is just something in our chemical makeup that makes us incompatible.

Finger Lakes Yoga Festival

We took an awesome Yin Yoga class (we both love yin yoga--for links to online classes, check my Yoga tab at the top of the page) that had THE BEST shavasana ever of all time.  

Jason took several Tai Chi classes. 

 I took a Hindu Philosophy class.  

We took Meditation workshops.  

It was a beautiful, peaceful, non-competitive, holistic, inclusive, open, accepting, loving environment and we made several new friends that we are enjoying getting to know better on line and look forward to seeing next year at the yoga festival.

Hindu Philosophy

Jason and I visited Buttermilk Falls early one morning, sipping our Tim Horton's and watching the sun come up.  Later that day, in a Therapeutic Meditation class, I came to an understanding that the water in the gorge got to where it needed to be, it formed it's way through rock and formed it's own stream.  We, too, are like that water.  We need to just flow with life and let it go and we will get where we need to go.

Partner Yoga; I know I am in horrible form for tree pose, but Jason is more than a foot taller than me and it was hard to match up...that is my story and I am sticking to it!
Photo credit

In addition to the deep introspection and amazing self-exploration workshops offered, Jason and I had time to really bond.  As I said, my expectations were low at the beginning.  Of course, when you go away with your partner, you hope to become closer and I thought that would be achieved by exploring Buttermilk Falls, the Finger Lakes Wine Trail and restaurants together.  But it happened at the yoga festival as well.  We took a Partner Yoga class and Denise Hatch, the yoga trainer for the NY Jets taught us a special partner pose to help relieve and maybe even correct my scoliosis.

We sat around the campfire at night and listened to amazing music and had interesting conversations with cool people.  We remembered who we were before kids as individuals and as a couple.

Photo credit

The last class I took was a Sound Therapy class which was absolutely the most amazing and different thing I did all weekend.  We laid on the ground, Angela Kaiser lead us through a meditation to relax us and help us get out of our head and into our heart.  We focused on our breath and she used rattles and tones.  I am not kidding when I felt energy literally lift from my body and move up and out.  It was awesome and amazing.

after Sound Therapy with Angela Kaiser

We are planning to make this yoga festival an annual tradition.

Finger Lakes Wine Trail

One of the things we decided to do last month to celebrate our anniversary was to go on the Finger Lakes Wine Trail.

We visited several vineyards, took tours, learned about making wine and wine tasting.

We bought quite a bit more wine than we intended, but had to restrain ourselves because we have a Prius and we had to bring all of our camping gear, plus all the girls' gear from the lake home with us.

Lucas Vineyards on Cayuga Lake was one of our favorites

rating the wine

Jason sampling wine

Touring vineyards, sampling wine

one of my favorites

Americana Vineyards

Taking care of his palate

bottles

It was a great way to spend our anniversary!

Moosewood

When I was 14, I became a vegetarian for the first time.  I read all of Adele Davis and Francis Moore Lappe's books.  I saw Mollie Katzen on a talk show, talking about her new cookbook and the Moosewood Restaurant that she had helped start in upstate NY.  I may have looked it up and it seemed far away and I gave up on ever eating there, but my mom bought me the cookbook and I have made many, many meals from it over the years.

Last year, when I made the decision to stop eating meat again, I revisited those old cookbooks and recipes and I realized that Moosewood Restaurant was not far from my parents' lakehouse.  I called Jason at work the minute I realized this and he wanted to plan a fall trip to the lake, but Sandy happened and we never got to go.

thyme vodka makes an awesome bloody mary

 So, when Jason wanted to go to this yoga festival, I may or may not have said yes based on the close proximity to Moosewood.  Jason promised we would go there several times.

The food at Moosewood is AMAZING!

burrito and mushroom pie

the place has a great vibe

Spanish Fritatta is awesome!

this veggie burger was to die for!

Peanut butter chocolate pie was the bomb!

Buttermilk Falls

One of the things Jason and I did for our anniversary at the beginning of the month was to go to Buttermilk Falls.

17 year anniversary

 Seventeen years ago, we were so young.  I was just out of college, ridiculously idealistic, working as a recruiter for a personnel agency and devoted to the WorkFare program to put people who were collecting state aid to work.  Jason was working for a tiny tree company and going to college at night.  We lived in a really cute apartment.  We had some pretty amazing friends.  We adopted a dog to keep me company when Jason was in school at night.  We knew we wanted to buy a house and have kids, but we had no idea...

Buttermilk Falls, Ithaca, NY

We didn't know then that Jason would be offered an awesome opportunity in upstate NY, an opportunity that made him think twice about finishing college.  We had no idea that we would buy a farmhouse in Connecticut and have two little girls.  We had no idea we would ever homeschool.  We had no idea how we would grow together.  There were no blogs then, the internet was a new thing.  So much of that time was about faith, as is so much of life, we have no idea what tomorrow will bring.

Buttermilk Falls, Ithaca, NY

Buttermilk Fall, Ithaca, NY

Seventeen years ago, we were just hopeful, optimistic, idealistic, naive kids.  We were from two totally different backgrounds and types of families, but we knew we wanted the same thing: a solid, stable family life and that was all that mattered to us.  We wanted a house and kids.  We both wanted the kind of life some people find boring, but we thought of as comfortable.  We wanted family dinners, falling asleep on the couch watching TV, a cozy home and lots of laughter around the dinner table.  We have never been into glitz or glamour.  We don't want to be famous.  We have always found more happiness in the small things and appreciating what we have than in chasing after an elusive gold ring.

Seventeen years ago, Jason used to drive me nuts because I would expect him home after his class or work and he wouldn't come home for hours and hours.  We didn't have cell phones then and Jason was not used to answering to anyone.  He would go to a friends' house and hang out until midnight or later and think nothing of it.  I would be pacing at home thinking he was dead on the side of the road.  He and his mom started calling me controlling.

Buttermilk Falls, Ithaca, NY

Buttermilk Falls, Ithaca, NY

 There was a time about a year after we got married, where we really, really thought about divorce.  We were just too damn different.  He was from a very free-spirited, hippie do-whatever-you-want and don't worry about telling anyone where you are or what you are doing and if they don't like it's their problem background.  Live for today and do whatever you want without thinking of consequences was not how I was raised and we were just too different.  It drove me crazy that he didn't tell me he was going to a friend's house after school or work, I would pace the house until all hours.  It drove me nuts that he would spend thousands of dollars on stereo equipment or things to soup up his truck and not talk it over with me first--we were paying for his college and trying to save for a house.  It drove me batty that he maxed out a credit card.  It drove him nuts that I wanted to know where he was or how he was spending our money.  He didn't want to be chained to anyone, he wanted to be free and his family encouraged him to be free and to do whatever he wanted.  It was a difficult time.

Buttermilk Falls, NY

Buttermilk Falls, NY

 My parents told us anything worth having was worth working for and Jason always said he wanted to keep working at it, even when I was ready to throw in the towel and move back home with my parents.  I thought about grad school, my friends all getting apartments in the city or Philly.  It would have been easy to leave.  But there was something there...that shared dream of the house, the comfortable life, the kids.  And I would stick it out.

Buttermilk Falls, Ithaca, NY

 Over time, Jason "grew up".  Those are his words.  And life stabilized.  We have cell phones and he calls or texts if he is going over a friend's house after work.  He doesn't spend money on stereo equipment and stuff to soup up his car, now we have mutual interests: we spend money on cameras and lenses, yoga retreats and festivals, craft beer and our kids.  Jason is into playing guitar again and was happy that we had money to buy a nice guitar.  We are content to go to sleep after spending an evening laughing with our kids.  We are blissfully happy with our stable, solid life.

Buttermilk Falls, Ithaca, NY

And we share a love of nature and photography and hiking and being connected to the earth and each other and our family.  This "Yoga Weekend" has brought us even closer together, as I let go of my resistance, I let go of my need to always do what is expected, and I embrace a connectedness to the earth which brings me closer to my husband.

Family Reading Initiative, Children's Gardens, Art and Science

 I had heard really good things about Ithaca, NY.

My parents said there were lots of hippies so I would like it.

My friends spoke of intentional communities and eco-villages and that sounded cool.

I had wanted to visit this small city in upstate NY for a while, so when Jason found a yoga festival there and it happened to be on the weekend of our anniversary, we decided it was the perfect time!

Family Reading Initiative

The first thing I noticed when we pulled into town were these signs on many, many buildings...like the natural foods store, the supermarket, an office building, a restaurant, the post office...and of course, the public library.  Read to Me!  Any Time!  Any Place!  A family reading initiative.  Instantly I felt transported back in time to college, when I believed these kinds of programs were possible...over the years, I have become so jaded...but here it was...the kind of program I had learned about and hung my hopes on!

Ithaca, NY Family Reading Initiative

Children's Garden

As we headed toward the yoga festival, held in a farm field a couple of miles outside of town, we found this...

Ithaca Children's Garden

A Children's Garden!

With free programs every day during the summer!

Children pushing wheelbarrows and working throughout the garden with master gardeners while their parents sat in drum circle or reading or nursing infants.

I felt like I had died and gone to heaven.

I wished fervently that I had known of this place when my girls where small and we had lived here where such amazing programs were offered.

Entrance to Ithaca Children's Garden

The vegetable garden invited guests to come in and nibble and explore!

Jason spoke to a woman about funding, they did get some money from the town and from grants, but also donations.  We happily made a donation.

I love these little houses.  Children were inside playing together.

I grew up during the seventies.

My college professors were probably right around the age to have been hippies and to believe that family reading initiatives and children's gardens were worthy endeavors for towns.  I am convinced of the same.  But we live such busy lives these days and so often people don't make the time for community programs, our budgets are tight and these are the first programs to go.  It was so nice to see them thriving.

I just love this.  It brought back memories of days spent in child development classes learning the importance of places like this.

There were several trees with children reading books.  It was magical.

Art & Science EVERYWHERE!

Let the wild rumpus start!  One of my favorite things in Ithaca was this huge "Where the Wild Things Are" mural on the side of a building

Everywhere we looked there was art.  On the street corners, in the parking lots, in front of homes.  It was awesome and spectacular.  Jason and I just walked around snapping photos and exclaiming to each other.

 So many children in Ithaca looked like they would fit in perfectly with our homeschool group.  I started to wonder if they were all homeschooled.  Ithaca would be such a perfect place to homeschool...if it were not for all of the regulations in NY State.  But...in a town with two colleges, a family reading initiative, science and art on the streets and a children's garden...the public school system is probably pretty amazing.