January

January was a difficult beginning to 2011.  I had a cold/upper respiratory infection that started over the holidays and lasted nearly the whole month.  I rarely get sick, so I spent the first part of the month wondering what was going on and being grouchy about it.  Winter felt like it started early this year in New York.  It was cold and dreary before Thanksgiving!

late January snow storm

Mid-January it finally sank in that being grouchy wasn't making me feel any better, and it was time to take action.  I tried for a good 2 weeks to heal myself naturally and with nutrition and homeopathy.  My struggle ended with antibiotics, which did the trick.  This has been an interesting lesson for me.  It seems that 2011 is going to be the year where I learn to find balance, where I learn to let go, where I learn to really take care of myself, and where I learn my limits.

And now that I'm finally on the mend (still resting more to combat fatigue, but otherwise better!) I'm excited about making use of some wonderful websites that a friend introduced me to.  Yogaglo, Yoga Today and Yogis Anonymous have online yoga classes that you can watch at your convenience, from the comfort of your own home.  They offer some free classes, or you can access their whole library of classes for a fee.  The classes on Yogis Anonymous are available on a donation basis.

Discovering these websites is like a new found freedom!  It's perfect for someone like me, working from home and taking care of a toddler.  I don't have tons of extra time or energy in my day to go to a yoga class.  The beauty of these websites is that I can find a class to fit my mood at any given time, and I don't have to commute to it!  Through these websites I can access classes of different lengths, different styles and with different focuses ranging from boosting my immune system and meditation to hip openers and inversions.  There's something for everyone!

Out with the old, in with the new

We had a lovely holiday season this year.  We celebrated Hanukah at home, then went to visit family (in 2 different states) this last week for Christmas and New Year's Eve.  It was busy but fun.

I have spent a lot of time lately considering our lives, past, present, future...  I decided that I want our baby to know us for the people we are during his life time, not for the people we were before.  Ben and I made a fire on New Year's Eve, drank a couple of glasses of red wine and celebrated the future, our future, our little boy's future.

 

I burned a few old journals in this fire.  It was melancholy and sweet, and kind of a brash decision, but it served me well.  The fire burned hot.  It was hot with the passion of my youth--my heart, my happiness, my mistakes.  I was sad and also relieved to see it go.

Here's to 2011!  This is going to be a good year.