My husband, Gary, and I went to a seminar yesterday at our yoga center in town, Sun and Moon Yoga Studio. We signed up for a class called Yoga Nidra. I knew it was for relaxation, but had no idea how relaxed I would become.
"Don't be surprised if you fall asleep during this, it is commonplace for that to happen." our yoga instructor informed us.
As per Wikipedia, "Yoga-nidra refers to the conscious awareness of the deep sleep state, referred to as "prajna"" I don't know how conscious I really was, nor Gary, as I heard him lightly snoring next to me. "The practice of yoga relaxation has been found to reduce tension and anxiety" states Wikipedia.
Just what the doctor ordered as both my husband and I are under a great deal of stress in our lives. So, twenty-seven of us tensed up souls spread our yoga mats throughout the large room to be at one with our selves and our surroundings.
As were were being lulled into our relaxed (semi-comatose) state, I kept thinking, How do I turn off my brain and stop thinking about all of those mundane chores such as laundry, mopping the floors, editing my book. There is no way that I am going to be able to give in to this, no way I can shut off my mind, no way that I can relax that completely.
The next thing I remember was the instructor telling us to "bend your knees and wiggle your fingers." I thought how odd that sounded as I just felt such inner peace within myself and how dare she interrupt me from being in such a very good place! Slowly my mind started to kick back in and I became marginally aware of my surroundings. I stole a glance around the room and smiled to myself when I noticed that every single one of us had the same dreamy like appearance. There was a palpable feel to the room, a feeling of utter calmness. I know that I wasn't the only one who felt it.
"Be careful when you leave here" reminded the instructor "you are in a different state than you were when you came in."
All I know is, there appears to be a half an hour that I cannot account for, was I sleeping, or in a deep state of relaxation or where was I??
Monday, January 31, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
The Triple S- Snow, Shoveling and Stranded
The television was playing in the background and I was having a hard time concentrating on my many computer projects. The newscasters were informing us that our first major snowstorm of the season was imminent. "Take heed, this will make for a difficult commute. It will hit at rush hour. It will start as rain, quickly change to sleet and then quickly change to snow. Expect 1-2 inches per hour."
I sent numerous texts to my husband, Gary, who was at a conference at the National Harbor a mere 18 miles away. It may as well have been 180 or more, as I soon found out.
"I'll get in the car and head out after I hear this guy speak. He's a cancer survivor and his talk is so amazing" the text said. I mildly understood as Gary is also a cancer survivor.
"Please leave now!" I texted back. "It is already sleeting here and you are in that little car." I shook my head. Why wouldn't he listen to me, this storm was going to dump snow fast. I pleaded with him earlier in the morning to take my car, but he said he would be fine in his little sports car.
I glanced out the window, drat it had changed to snow and the snow appeared to be coming down in clumps. I've never seen such large flakes!
I went out and shoveled the first 2 inches of snow off of the driveway. As fast as I would shovel, it was only being covered up again. Well, I thought to myself, it's a start. Man it was heavy snow and my back was feeling every shovel full that I tossed off to the side.
I kept going out to clear the driveway hoping that Gary would show up any minute. My fingers were cold and wet and I looked like a bedraggled kitten with my hair dripping all over the floor, when I came in to warm up.
At 6:00 in the evening the phone rang "I've made it as far as the Springfield Interchange and the traffic has just gone to ground. This is going to be a long long trip".
Hourly I would get reports. He was just crawling, traffic was backed up for miles.
Then it started thundering. A snow thunderstorm, how absolutely bizarre!
I was looking out my window at 9:00 pm hoping to see his car turn into our neighborhood when I saw a flash of orange on the other side of our neighborhood, above the tree line. As quickly as it was there, it was gone, as was our power.
Silence. Utter silence. Even my birds in their cages didn't make a sound. It made me think how life must have been before electricity. I have been reading a series of books by Diana Gabaldon about life in the late 1700's and she would mention about how silent the nights were. I felt like I had gone back in time.
That quickly changed when I realized that I couldn't get the garage door open so Gary could get in. Oh crap, I never charged my cell phone all day and the battery was quickly being depleted. Better get some flashlights and start lighting candles. Oh great, I have a gas fireplace and it works! The birds will not freeze! I moved their cages closer to the fireplace. Who knew how long the power would be out!
At 10:30 the power came back on, and what a racket it was! The fish tank began whirring, the television started blaring, the furnace clicked on and the birds started squawking! I blew out the candles and went to get the phone to call Gary. It started ringing in my hand!
"I'm at the top of our neighborhood and stuck" he said. "Grab some shovels and come help me."
After about a half an hour and with the help of a good Samaritan that came over from the next neighborhood,Gary finally pulled into the driveway.
Oh how I wanted to say 'I told you so', but decided that maybe I better not. Oh hell, I had to, I mean what was this man thinking, driving a little sports car on a day we knew it was to snow?
Between 7-8 inches of snow fell. No record by any means compared to the Snowmageddon we had last year. Still, this would be one for the records and I won't let Gary live it down!
I sent numerous texts to my husband, Gary, who was at a conference at the National Harbor a mere 18 miles away. It may as well have been 180 or more, as I soon found out.
"I'll get in the car and head out after I hear this guy speak. He's a cancer survivor and his talk is so amazing" the text said. I mildly understood as Gary is also a cancer survivor.
"Please leave now!" I texted back. "It is already sleeting here and you are in that little car." I shook my head. Why wouldn't he listen to me, this storm was going to dump snow fast. I pleaded with him earlier in the morning to take my car, but he said he would be fine in his little sports car.
I glanced out the window, drat it had changed to snow and the snow appeared to be coming down in clumps. I've never seen such large flakes!
I went out and shoveled the first 2 inches of snow off of the driveway. As fast as I would shovel, it was only being covered up again. Well, I thought to myself, it's a start. Man it was heavy snow and my back was feeling every shovel full that I tossed off to the side.
I kept going out to clear the driveway hoping that Gary would show up any minute. My fingers were cold and wet and I looked like a bedraggled kitten with my hair dripping all over the floor, when I came in to warm up.
At 6:00 in the evening the phone rang "I've made it as far as the Springfield Interchange and the traffic has just gone to ground. This is going to be a long long trip".
Hourly I would get reports. He was just crawling, traffic was backed up for miles.
Then it started thundering. A snow thunderstorm, how absolutely bizarre!
I was looking out my window at 9:00 pm hoping to see his car turn into our neighborhood when I saw a flash of orange on the other side of our neighborhood, above the tree line. As quickly as it was there, it was gone, as was our power.
Silence. Utter silence. Even my birds in their cages didn't make a sound. It made me think how life must have been before electricity. I have been reading a series of books by Diana Gabaldon about life in the late 1700's and she would mention about how silent the nights were. I felt like I had gone back in time.
That quickly changed when I realized that I couldn't get the garage door open so Gary could get in. Oh crap, I never charged my cell phone all day and the battery was quickly being depleted. Better get some flashlights and start lighting candles. Oh great, I have a gas fireplace and it works! The birds will not freeze! I moved their cages closer to the fireplace. Who knew how long the power would be out!
At 10:30 the power came back on, and what a racket it was! The fish tank began whirring, the television started blaring, the furnace clicked on and the birds started squawking! I blew out the candles and went to get the phone to call Gary. It started ringing in my hand!
"I'm at the top of our neighborhood and stuck" he said. "Grab some shovels and come help me."
After about a half an hour and with the help of a good Samaritan that came over from the next neighborhood,Gary finally pulled into the driveway.
Oh how I wanted to say 'I told you so', but decided that maybe I better not. Oh hell, I had to, I mean what was this man thinking, driving a little sports car on a day we knew it was to snow?
Between 7-8 inches of snow fell. No record by any means compared to the Snowmageddon we had last year. Still, this would be one for the records and I won't let Gary live it down!
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
The Woes of a New Author in the Digital World
I returned home this past Sunday evening from the Writer’s Digest Conference in NYC, my head filled with ideas on how I really could become the next best seller author if I worked hard at it. My brain held ideas of grandeur that came from the big pitch to the agents on Saturday. I had such positive results and encouragement, that I wondered if my head would fit through the front door of my home in Fairfax, Virginia.
I couldn’t wait to sit down at my computer and start my Twitter account, update my web page, update my blog and Facebook. They informed us we need to be noticed, we need to have an online presence. I could do that, right? I use a computer daily!
There I sat, at the computer, working hard to get that right name for Twitter. Drats, why did I cancel my first Twitter account? I lost the best name, now I will have to fool with a new one. That takes time. Okay, got it, now… (@davisjaneh) Now, how the heck do I get people to follow me? I just thought I would set up the account, boom, and everyone would be there and want to connect to me. Hmmm… I guess it doesn’t work that way, it’s harder than I thought! Thanks to a new friend from the conference, Christine, (@thatgalkiki) she informed her friends that I was new and asked them to connect with me. Voila, it worked!
Now, what do I have to say that is important and interesting and inviting? What would all of my new found friends be expecting of me? I will just watch what they write and learn. The tweets were flying on my screen, and as soon as I finished reading one, five new ones came in! Give me a break. How the heck do I figure this out? I am feeling like a geezer, no way am I going to handle this! Other people do this and are older than me; I can handle this, right?
My eyes were feeling tired and I couldn't wait to take out my contacts. I started yawning and then glanced at the clock, it was after midnight! What happened to my web page and my blog and Facebook? Where the heck had the time gone? I had to say goodnight to my computer friends and get to bed, as five in the morning would come all too soon for getting ready for work!
As I placed my head on the pillow, tweets started flying across the screen in my mind as if I were downstairs sitting in my comfy chair staring at the monitor. Should I grab my iPhone and see if I have another new connection? Oh no, it was happening… I was becoming a tweetaholic!
I couldn’t wait to sit down at my computer and start my Twitter account, update my web page, update my blog and Facebook. They informed us we need to be noticed, we need to have an online presence. I could do that, right? I use a computer daily!
There I sat, at the computer, working hard to get that right name for Twitter. Drats, why did I cancel my first Twitter account? I lost the best name, now I will have to fool with a new one. That takes time. Okay, got it, now… (@davisjaneh) Now, how the heck do I get people to follow me? I just thought I would set up the account, boom, and everyone would be there and want to connect to me. Hmmm… I guess it doesn’t work that way, it’s harder than I thought! Thanks to a new friend from the conference, Christine, (@thatgalkiki) she informed her friends that I was new and asked them to connect with me. Voila, it worked!
Now, what do I have to say that is important and interesting and inviting? What would all of my new found friends be expecting of me? I will just watch what they write and learn. The tweets were flying on my screen, and as soon as I finished reading one, five new ones came in! Give me a break. How the heck do I figure this out? I am feeling like a geezer, no way am I going to handle this! Other people do this and are older than me; I can handle this, right?
My eyes were feeling tired and I couldn't wait to take out my contacts. I started yawning and then glanced at the clock, it was after midnight! What happened to my web page and my blog and Facebook? Where the heck had the time gone? I had to say goodnight to my computer friends and get to bed, as five in the morning would come all too soon for getting ready for work!
As I placed my head on the pillow, tweets started flying across the screen in my mind as if I were downstairs sitting in my comfy chair staring at the monitor. Should I grab my iPhone and see if I have another new connection? Oh no, it was happening… I was becoming a tweetaholic!
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