One Last Laugh

Each year that has gone by before 2014 has come and gone with equal speed, grace, change, love and wonder that I’m always blown away by the time it’s over. Taking one chance to look back on last year has sent me into a sort of up-ness, or lifted-ness. The feeling is a knowing that time can, and will, go on but there is an underlying rootedness that keeps each one of us constantly the same as it goes by. Each day we go to sleep and wake up as the same person in the same body for our whole lives. We live through profound change and transformation but we’re ALWAYS THE SAME! So thank you to 2013 for a completely inspiring year and let’s get ready for what happens next.

I’d also like to thank every person that I’ve seen, spoken to, heard, practiced with, traveled to, thought about, read about, walked by or sat next to for their being and spirit.

Moving to the New Year brings me to a few new things, and mostly more of the same. NEW: My Website!!! www.chrissylefavour.com is up as of 1/1/14 as a new place to find my blog, yoga class & workshop schedule, photos, and who knows what else as days go by! Please enjoy the site and continue to check back for new-ness and awesome-ness. Speaking of new and awesome the next Kids Yoga session starts next week! Also I have an Ashtanga workshop coming up on Saturday 1/18 at Studio Zenith at 1:30 pm: Intro to Ashtanga, all levels welcome. More info on the new site :)

This is the posture I resolve to practice in 2014.

It is called Eka Pada Sirsasana and the variations run A-C in the Intermediate Series (C is the lifted one). I picked it because right now it feels like it will take at least 25 years get down. Check out this sweet break dancer Arthur, if you haven’t already or again if you like doing more of the same stuff sometimes like me. Click here to see his stuff on youtube.

Here’s a video I put up last week:

 The headstand is called mukta hasta sirsasana B, headstand is always challenging but this month has called for heat, fire & up-ness so I guess that's where it started.

And in honor of doing more of the same things again,  I’ll leave you with a quote from an old classic I’m re-reading:

                I felt trapped and broke out in a cold sweat. Azure drops ran down my entire body, and wherever, I moved my foot, a pool formed. Water trickled from my hair and in less time than it takes me to tell you, I was changed into a spring. 

                                                                            -Book V, line 634, Metamorphoses by Ovid

So Sweet

It's Friday morning and I'm burning incense and drinking tea before work. These quiet mornings spent at home are some of my most treasured times, they are few and far between but peaceful beyond compare. The wildness of September keeps my home dark this morning, rain spitting and wind ripping outside the windows. The spider that has been living on the other side of one of our window panes, Tito, has really started to pull at my heart strings. I keep thinking of Charlotte's Web and I just know that one day I could wake up and he'll be gone. The other day I came home in the rain and Tito was in the very center of his web. I'm not sure if it was a gesture of pride, domain, change of view or if he was just capturing a bug... Whatever it was I'm grateful for Tito and he has helped me realize an even greater respect for all living things. AHIMSA.


This week marked week one of KIDS Yoga! The first day was an overwhelming success and a very humbling experience. I was given the greatest gift of all, words filled with honesty, sincerity and truth. If I had more words, I would write them down... SATYA.

 Classes at the studio continue to bustle with new faces and old spirits. Fall is a tricky time for many of us while we hold on to the sweetness of summer. I am trying my hardest to find a yoga class for Every Body at the studio. Whether it is 15 minutes or 17 hours a week no practice is more powerful than another. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, give yourself the gift of practice. If you're not sure where to start, ask me! Teaching is really just sharing; be true to yourself, give yourself, the work will follow. ASTEYA.

  The fresh food world in Vermont EXPLODES this time of year. Harvest season is the greatest example of APARIGRAHA I've found so far. Everyone shares their bounty. Squash, carrots, kale, herbs, garlic, beets, beans and so much more continue to find a way into my home. Family and friends do not hoard their goodies, but share the crop with those who can use it. It's an energetic offering, so much time and love goes into each garden that grows, thank you. I've got tiny tomatoes to share if anyone's interested! I've also harvested lots of calendula so stay tuned for homemade calendula salve sometime this fall...

And finally a note on love. Intimacy is something to be cherished, not paraded around town or plastered on the internet. So be proud, be strong and be true to the ones you love. If you've found a life partner be happy, keep things simple, cuddle, and laugh. If you've found true love in yourself be happy, keep things simple, cuddle, and laugh. Have confidence in your passion and find joy in knowing that love comes from and will always reside in the deepest of your heart. BRAMACHARYA.
 

YAMAS:
Ahimsa- non-harming
Satya- truthfulness
Asteya- non-stealing
Aparigraha- non-hoarding
Bramacharya- moderation/celibacy

The yamas and niyamas of Ashtanga yoga have been taking on more and more power in my day to day routine. In class we've been talking about them and their manifestations in our own lives. They are constant reminders of what it means to be a human in the world today. I've listed the 5 yamas above because yoga is more than doing forearm stands on paddle boards (wink, wink), getting legs behind your head or learning your first sun salute. The light that yoga shines one the world is not hidden by even the darkest of clouds or the heaviest of rains. Namaste.

JUNE-TASTIC!

Summer has started like a wonder whirl of adventure, sunshine, hard work, laughter and the great outdoors! June was one of the busier months I've had in a while... I've always loved traveling, but the more time I spend in Vermont the more I enjoy every day. To kick off June I spent the weekend in Long Island for a Capobianco family wedding. Jayson's cousin got married so we all drove down, took the ferry and spent the weekend together. Summer love and lots of family fun, we spent time at the beach, the pool, eating yummy food, giving hugs & kisses and taking lots of family photos!

Next was a trip to NOLA to visit the one and only Emma S-E. For five days we shared memories, drinks, outrageous scenarios, crawfish and loud music. Luckily we came up with an anthem, as we always do, listening to Blurred Lines enough to drive anyone crazy. I simply can't resist Pharell, and spending time with Emma was like traveling through time. I'm grateful to have such great friends, where picking up right where we last met is natural, full of love and a blur of happiness. We spent most of our time beating the heat, eating awesome southern cuisine (like fried chicken, ribs, crawfish, daquiris, etc), and enjoying an amazing vacation. New Orleans was perfect; full of life, lights, loudness, and love!

The ingredient of the month for me has been quinoa. On the next adventure of the month, Wanderlust, I brought a Greek inspired quinoa made with lemon juice and anything freshly local; peppers, cucumbers, garlic, onion, carrot, radish, feta?! I was lucky enough to spruce mine up with some freshly pick lemon-thyme from my brothers garden, yum. I also made another batch of black bean burgers using some quinoa to add nutrients an texture (I did not follow the recipe but used it as a loose outline)! Served up with kale and sweet potato it make a super-dinner that is so sexy and satisfying....

  

With not enough time or words to reflect yet on Wanderlust, I will leave you with some photos and lessons learned from one of the must amazing weekends of my life.

• Teaching Yoga with Horses is inspiring, exhausting, exciting, fun, invigorating
• Doing Yoga with Horses is breathtaking, challenging, uplifting, fun, beautiful
• Horses + Yogis = Harmony

We had a gorgeous weekend together in Stratton at the festival. A special thanks to the entire Yoga Vermont family and the horses! I can't wait to do it again... Lots of Love and Light.

Om shanti shanti shanti

Contemplating Paradise

After a nice vacation to Boca Raton, some promising weather of summer ahead and recent new of Maho Bay closing, all I can think of is white beaches, blue skies, clear water, sunshine and green, green life. This shores up next to a vision, notion or experience of what I like to call paradise. Whether or not your own paradise is lush, warm, bright and breezy I think most of us can appreciate this sense of vastness. Something about being by the water and under the sky brings on a certain sense of freedom, joy and vigor. Since my vacation in Boca Raton was filled with beach days, long walks, yoga, eating and drinking out, more long walks, I found a lot of time to turn inward and be quiet. The serenity and calm that go along with this rejuvenation is what I see when I look at pictures of Paradise.

So a few yoga photos from the beach... These are for you, MOM! She isn't on Facebook so she hears/sees these things second hand on a smartphone at work, it's just not the same.

And here is a memory of my first paradise, Maho Bay, St John, USVI. After a family vacation in my middle school years introduced me to this particular Slice of Life, I was hooked. The eco-friendly campground offers screened in bungalows connected by miles of boardwalk amidst the natural beauty of St. Johns hillsides; seriously , this is one of the most beautiful places I have ever experienced. After I graduated from high school, my best friend Laura and I both decided to take a year off. In September we flew to the Virgin Islands to volunteer at Maho in their work exchange program. We would do laundry, clean cabins, plunge toilets, pressure wash boardwalks for about 4 hours a day in exchange for a cabin for two. We were 18 years old.

I could go on for another 17 pages but I think I'll save it for my memoir... The most memorable times were spent on the beach enjoying the pure bliss of such a small piece of paradise which has now been sold for close to $14 million. Phew, that feels good to get off my chest, something I will continue to sit with for a long time. Contemplating Paradise.... To wrap things up with Maho I thank you for the skills I probably wouldn't learn anywhere else: hitch hiking, drinking warm rum, living on an island, windsurfing on the ocean, and loving every bit of every thing every where.


















In my life today, I'm spending time in the garden and planting seeds, my favorite thing to do this time of year. The newest to pop up are arugula, basil and thyme. I've also started some tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and various flowers scattered around my tiny lawn and porch.

Yoga continues to thrive in my life, thankfully. I teach ten classes a week at the studio now, which is proving very fun and exciting every day. Students are so inspiring, and as a self-proclaimed "inspired student" it feels very right to be spending lots of time in the studio. And I'm heading off to class in just a minute so I'll finish things off there. Simply trying to fill my life each day with whatever comes my way.

Don't eat more than you can carry.
~Miss Piggy

A is for April, Asana, And, Awesomeness...

I know ignorance is something to stray far from, but is it OK to "ignore" April? Welllllll, no. You would miss too much Awesomeness! This breathy Adrenaline is a by produce of the workshop Emily and I held at Studio Zenith last night. We had to greatest number of people doing Ashtanga in the studio thus far and the air in there was completely electric. So thank you to everyone who came out, we can not wait to see you again soon, and thank you to Anyone who does yoga Anytime, Anywhere.

A very different part of my weekend was spent cleaning out the "other" room in the upstairs of our apartment. Since we moved in (a year and a half ago) the room has Accumulated a wealth of stuff, and in an effort to begin the inevitable Springtime cleanse Jayson and I went to work. Luckily we've decided to remove the weight bench and desk we never use and there is actually space in there! I've put my herb starts in the window and vacuumed and voila:

An in-home studio space! An April miracle! I'm excited!

Another April must-do is celebrate Jayson's birthday, which is tomorrow. We went out on Friday starting with an afternoon at the Stoweflake spa and evening massages. It was my second visit to the spa last week, Emma and I spent an afternoon there on Tuesday getting aromatherapy body wraps and pedicures. The spa offers service for 50% off one week in the spring and fall each year. I highly recommend checking it out! Friday evening we ate out at Crop Bistro & Brewery just across the street and had an Amazing meal. The weather was sleeting and blowing all day but the mild temperatures allowed us to brave the night out. It was well worth the free birthday dessert and spectacular service, we will definitely return to Crop.

Alongside busy days and lush behavior, we've been eating out of the freezer at home! No more lentil soup, but there is still pie crust, pizza dough, homemade bread and plenty of other soups to choose from. I think a may start a soup-making-binge tradition every winter, it's especially nice for these drizzly and dark spring days. The black bean burgers I made months ago are almost used up and have become one of my faves. And yes, those are leftover fiesta fries and HLBs....


I can't resist posting this photo, Lola and her seven-toed paws...

46. sthira sukhamasanam
asana is a steady, comfortable posture (or asana is a stable, happy presence)

47. prayatna saithilyananta samapattibhyam
by lessening the natural tendency for restlessness and by meditating on the infinite, posture is mastered

48. tato dvandvanabhigatah
thereafter, one is not disturbed by dualities

Yoga Sutras: Book Two by Sri Swami Satchidananda

Like a Lion...

Once a week? Once a month? Who cares!? I knew February would be a quick month but to already be a week deep in March is a bit of a surprise. Jayson was gone for a week due to an awesome conference in Syracuse and I seized the moment to spend time in the kitchen, a wild-woman I've become... I did spend a night out with my brother the The Black Krim in Randolph, a much loved place by the both of us. And Emma Sanford joined me for a much needed evening of wine and nachos, so I haven't been a COMPLETE dud.

Firstly, I thawed the rest of the fiddleheads we picked last Spring and made fiddlehead quiche, YUM! Next up was a classic, homemade macaroni and cheese. My mom's favorite recipe involves smoked gouda and is topped with freshly cut apples and it is to DIE for. I've added bacon and peas before but this time I tried something new, oven-roasted mushrooms. Even though they were a bit over roasted (crispy, for sure) I think it is my new guilty pleasure. And on a much healthier note, soup! First up was a loose recreation of Sarducci's own spicy black bean that I finished off with organic coconut milk rather than heavy cream. Another score from the freezer was mashed pumpkin from my brothers garden that I pureed with carrots, celery and onion, seasoned with thyme and serve with either a dollop of sour cream or plain yogurt. Finally chili, not vegetarian but grass fed beef, tons of veggies and BEER. Needless to say the freezer is restocked and I've been eating chili for three days straight.

This mac & cheese is good with red or white wine, so I tried both!









Here are some photos from what may possibly be my last snowshoe of the season:

I have been starting to re-pot my indoor plants and plant some herbs in hopes of freshness and life and in anticipation of spring. I now have a baby tangerine tree standing at about two inches and my thyme, dill and basil have all begun to sprout! Where does she find the time? Besides feeling slightly under the weather there have been many people in my life telling me to take a day or two off, so I listened. Somehow I've managed to survive financially with a full week off from work at the restaurant, but I'll be back to the grind tomorrow....

Thankfully part of the reason for my "time off" is the fact that I am teaching seven classes a week at the studio now. They are condensed into 4 days and I love each one of them. I am also planning an Ashtanga workshop with Emily (fellow instructor and teacher trainee) which will be a three hour evening event exploring the Primary Series. We would love for the workshop to grow into something we can hold a few times a year, constantly bringing in new material and revisiting basics! I've eased up on my trips to Burlington in lieu of not spending enough time at home with Jayson and Lola, exhausting my gasoline funds and hoping to attend one of the two David Swenson workshops this summer. The problem is that I miss Yoga Vermont immensely once I haven't visited for over a week :)

And MOST IMPORTANTLY, I just bought tickets to New Orleans to visit Emma S-E and Laura is planning to come at the same time. Isham St reunion in NOLA! I'm feeling incredibly grateful for the richness each day brings to life and the opportunities that lay ahead.

Om purnamidah purnamidan
purnaat purnamudachyate
purnasya purnamudaya
purnameva vashishate

This is full
that is full
from fullness, fullness comes,
when fullness removes itself, fullness still remains

Dear Laura and Tim

Two people have mentioned my blog in the past month and inspired me to start up again: Laura Sturgis and Timothy Perez. This is for you two, so I'm not going to keep it short...

I just got back from a glorious trip to Orlando where my Aunt has resided for 7 years now. It is very much a place I can now visit for a retreat of sorts. Her back yard has a private pool and a bird feeder that attracts not only birds but squirrels, lizards, cats and, a first time sighting for me this trip, rats! We all know that Orlando is great for food, drink, theme parks, gators, conventions and combinations of all of the above, and I of course have been known to enjoy a margarita or two, a bottle of wine (or two), tacky miniature golf and gourmet cuisine. This time around when I wasn't spending time with my dear family, I really took time to chill. Mostly, I'm broke as a joke and have no cash for crap like that (I got a free flight using my Jetblue miles!)...

 How can it be that a bright, young college graduate working a minimum of 40 hours a week still scrapes by on a monthly basis? Oh I dunno, here are a few ideas: my cat, my yoga obsession, my love for extracurricular activities (this season these include snowboarding, snowshoeing, cooking and the occasional social soiree)...

Lola is the cat I've dreamed of owning since I first lived on my own on Mansfield Avenue in Burlington. She is sweet, soft, cuddly, playful and a source of constant love and entertainment. Not that my lovely. live-in boyfriend Jayson isn't all of those things, it's simply a void no person will ever fill. I am trying to get her onto a raw food diet and she uses pine pellets that turn into sawdust for kitty litter. Fascinating, I know. Yesterday was her five month birthday and most of the big expenses are out of the way now, phewf.

Lola in a cardboard box...

Sure, the yoga has sprung me into ultra awareness about my place in the world and what I'm eating/consuming on the day to day, but I've also just finished a book I think you might enjoy that is helping me to stay on track. It's called The Mindful Carnivore by Tovar Cerulli. For the record I still eat frozen pizza and Chinese food so it's definitely a baby step thing for me, it's much easier to force my kitten into a healthy lifestyle than myself.

I received my yoga teacher certification just before Christmas and have registered with Yoga Alliance, you can look me up on the directory. This experience has not only been a whirlwind of a dream come true, but still proves to be life changing just about every time I go to teach a class. BTW Laura, Tim has you beat here because he came to class when he visited in January, just sayin'. There will be much more talk about yoga in my blog posts to come. I am now training towards my 500 hour certification, nexxxxxxxt level ya'll!

Ok, extracurriculars... The winter hasn't been the best for outdoor sports and shenanigans but I've found my way onto snowshoes a few times and to the mountain a handful of times. Here is a picture of fungi on a tree covered in snow especially for you Tim:

And cooking has always been something I enjoy, but now that I'm trying to be more health conscious it also seems like a way to control what I eat. I recently made black bean burgers that came out fairly gooey yet delicious, a lentil-bacon-veggie soup and homemade loaves of bread. The crock pot and cookbook I got for Christmas have only aided my desire to be in the kitchen. Totally off topic but Jayson and I got a tent for Christmas, VERY AWESOME, can't wait for summer!

 BBQ Chicken Pizza

I've been home from Florida for about two hours now and had to get up at 3:30 am for my flight so excuse me for being sporadic and mild, I hope you liked it anyways. I promise that the posts to come will be more entertaining and insightful (maybe). The cat is asleep on my lap and it's snowing outside...

I thank you both for inspiring me to write again, you guys mean the world to me!

"The yogi's life is not measured by the number of his days but by the number of his breaths."
-B.K.S. Iyengar