Timber's Morning Coffee

For me, life has been a whirlwind of changes lately. As you know from my previous couple of posts, I've started a yoga practice. And, surprisingly, I've kept it. Unlike the other forms of physical exercise, this one has been integrated into my life and it's now become a part of my daily routine. The reasons for this are probably less complex than you might think. You see, yoga isn't just about the physical. The asana (postures) are just one part of the whole path. I'm not going to go into a diatribe about the Eight Limbs, or give a dissertation on the Yamas and the Niyamas. If you want that kind of information, you can find it from other sources. However, where I've found my groove is in the asana practice, meditation, and self-inquiry/journaling. After a few months of practicing on my own, I decided that I would take my first actual class... in a studio... with (gulp) people. I was terrified. I wasn't sure what to expect. Since it was also Hot Yoga (26 ...

All my life, I’ve had crooked teeth. Well, since my adult teeth came in, anyway. Several years ago, my mother told me that during my Senior year in high school, I was given the choice of braces, or an oboe. Guess what I chose? Yup. And I thought I was going to go on and study music. Fast forward 25 years down the road... I’ve had a few issues with my mouth. One of which was a couple of tooth abscesses due to another chronic health condition. I’ve had to undergo regular root planing/descaling a few times. Now, it’s just kind of old hat to me. This latest time, though, because of bone loss and aforementioned abscesses, I am looking at extraction of two of my upper molars. Fortunately, it’s bilateral, so I’m losing a tooth on each side. Have to look at the positive - balance, you know. I never really realized how vain I was about this. One of the things that came out of the latest appointment is that I am never going to have straight teeth. That is, if I want to keep all of my ...

It’s true. I have started a Yoga Journey (TM). Over the course of the years, I have participated in many modalities of fitness/mind/body training. I’ve done tumbling. I’ve participated in track & field. I was a cheerleader. I achieved a black belt in Tae Kwon Do/Tang Soo Do. I tried weightlifting - not a joke. (Seriously, I did, but it was absolutely hilarious.) I danced. I bought exercise bands in different levels of resistance. I did bodyweight exercises. (Not bad, but BORING!!!) I briefly thought about CrossFit, but then decided that I didn’t want to be called Bret, or wear Axe Body Spray (R). Throughout the years, I kept coming back to one thing - Yoga. I don’t know why, but it kept calling me. Perhaps, as an adolescent, it was the thought of being able to bend over far enough to self-gratify. (Don’t laugh, it’s a thing with some guys.) Maybe it was the thought of having enough flexibility to prevent injury. It might have been because I thought that I had incredible balance...