Last Look at Christmas

Merry Christmas! A little look at our 2010 celebration.

I figure I better post these before it's New Year's, right?

Merry Christmas! It was a lovely day filled with family, food, laughs, and relaxation.

Grandma and Z playin' with some toys.

Mom and Dad are napping on the couch, which means prime time for playing with Auntie!

Candles and a fire in the fireplace. Mmmm.

Sis and Brother-in-Law toast!

It was super fun having Brother and Kelly around for opening presents.

Mom, you made amazing turkey!

Love you, twin sis! 

Uncle Josh and Z get some quality Lincoln Log time in after dinner.

Zeke the puppy! One of his favorite games to play :)

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!  


Love you, family. Thanks for such a wonderful Christmas.

A Happy NorCal Christmas

My favorite part about this area is that you can encounter nature just footsteps from home.

How was your Christmas? The Hubs and I had a lovely couple of days enjoying northern California weather. It rained quite a bit yesterday, but Christmas Eve was beautiful! Sunny skies and temps worthy of flip-flops.

Dad and I took a walk by the creek to see the ducks, orange trees, and a secret birdhouse.

I helped my stepmom Sandi cook and decorate the kitchen with some festive lights.

 Gotta love those retro bulbs.

I also enjoyed tromping around on the backyard moss carpet. Everything here is so green this time of year! I have to say, I'm not missing the bare trees of Chicago. Yes, I am looking forward to seeing the snow, but not those bleak colors.

Under the oak tree in my dad's backyard.

Christmas Eve night we joined my mom for a lovely candlelit service at church. Mom sang beautifully and hit all the high notes and we felt the spirit singing all the Christmas carols.

We had a blast visiting with my sis and her little guy at my mom's house yesterday, too. Zeke is about 18 months now and he's quite the character! His favorite was drawing with new crayons and ripping paper off of packages.

Many thanks to the fam for all the generous gifts! My mom found me a beautiful yoga mat carrier, leg warmers and some wild and colorful gloves with a matching hat. She gave the Hubs a great work sweater and found us some cool Sur La Table cookware, too. The Brother hooked us up with a bunch of candles and some beautiful wall sconces. Sis baked cookies and made some ridiculously good fudge. Dad created some incredible artsy lamps for us in his garage workshop. I'll be posting about them with photos soon (you're going to be amazed!). Plus, Sandi found us an amazing cookbook based on minerals and supplements (so when I need more zinc or potassium, I know what to eat!).

Basically, we made out like bandits :)

Hubs and I will be exchanging a few practical gifts when we return home (using our Amazon giftcards from our bosses at work) and possibly picking out wetsuits together soon. We want to start our kayaking tradition!

A post-holiday swim? Amazing. Photo via Most Beautiful Darling.

What did you enjoy most about yesterday? I hope you had a meaningful, relaxing and family-filled day and that you're getting excited to celebrate the new year! 

Winter Extravaganza update: the giving isn't over! Get ready for some awesome new posts. Here are a few winners from last week. Thanks for participating, and keep the comment love coming!

Congrats Callie, winner from the Iluka wear + soap post!

Congrats Sharon, winner from the Transform Your Space post!

Please email me ASAP and I'll put you in touch with the sellers.

Merry Christmas!

 

 Photos by Cole Rise.

Merry Christmas, all! Here's wishing you a dreamy, peaceful holiday. Lots of love from Alive in the Fire. Namaste!

Ready to Party

Photo via Our Labor of Love.

Who's ready to celebrate? Even after shopping at the crazy mall today, I'm still slightly in disbelief that Christmas is the day after tomorrow.


Do you have your gifts wrapped? And your party hat ready for an end-of-the-year bash?


More importantly, are you practicing yoga through the holidays? My 90-minute meditation today was wonderful. Totally needed it.

Photo via Jonas Peterson.

Here are some fun ideas for you and your love if you need ideas for celebrating with style and on the cheap. 

• Take a Bikram class together.
• Watch some silly Christmas-themed yoga videos here.
• Check out this funny post on the 12 Days of Yoga.

Photo via Jonas Peterson.

• Take a walk through your city or town and take photos along the way. Make a little memory book and look through it together. If you're married, flip through some of your wedding photos afterward, too.
• Homemade hot cider. Need I say more?
• Figure out where the best local Christmas lights in town are. Visit them and smooch between houses! (We discovered today that there's a neighborhood near by where a house has Christmas music playing and lights that flash along with the beats of the songs. Love it. Can't wait to check it out.)
• Volunteer at a local animal shelter for a day, or offer to take your neighbor's on a walk.

Photo via Jonas Peterson.

Whatever you're up to this holiday season, I hope it's bright and merry! Enjoy, and keep me posted on your adventures.

Wednesday Giveaway: Transform Your Space

Ready to brighten up your workspace in time for the new year?


Today's giveaway features three Etsy sellers who are all about minimalism, natural beauty, and harmony. Enter to win the lovely Om bowl from DeBaun Ceramics, the 2011 calendar from RedStarInk, and bonsai painting from Sheri Wiseman (above). A blissful trio indeed!

DeBaun Ceramics features a wide variety of intricate designs on small decorative bowls and gorgeous incense burners. Talk about fine craftmanship! I especially enjoy the earthy tones and metallic shimmer of the work. If you're looking for a gift that's affordable and easy to pack, this is your spot to shop!

Sheri's bonsai painting was created with thick  chunky oil paint to show its texture and life. The Bonsai tree is viewed as a symbol for harmony between nature, man and soul and will bring you a great aura of peace and happiness hanging above your desk at home. Sheri gets inspiration from years of exploring the natural wonders of the world.


To name just a few of her adventures, she's been: hiking in the hill tribe villages of Northern Thailand, summiting the tallest peak in the continental US, para-gliding in the Swiss Alps, kissing the Blarney Stone in Ireland, wandering through the mystic rocks of Stonehenge and baffling over the astounding creations inside The Louvre in France.  As she says, "I hope to leave a small piece of myself and my travels with each painting I sell." Beautiful!

Marcie over at RedStarInk has all your organizational needs covered, especially if you're like me and you enjoy a modern touch to your notebooks and paper goods. Here you can find plenty of cute notebooks, calendars, notecards, and even wine bottle labels to share with family and friends (and treat yourself to, too!). Enjoy peace and prosperity with Marcie's well-made little finds.


Marcie's also a Bikram yogi with a passion for serenity. She practices at Bikram Kearney Mesa. Yay for California studios!

To enter, please leave a comment below about your goals for the new year. Also swing by each of the shops (DeBaun Ceramics, RedStarInk and Sheri Wiseman) and comment about some of your favorite shopping finds. 


Domestic shipping only. Good luck and namaste!

Spread Some Cheer

Oh, to be home for the holidays. Photo via Andrew and Carissa.

Let's balance out that last post with some lovely images from around the Web that will get you smiling. Here's hoping your morning has been full of festivity, exquisite skies, and snowy adventures! 

A view of last night's eclipse. Photo via Pacing the Panic Room.

Winter wonderland! Photos via Krisatomic. 

Headspin, Tailspin, Plunge: A Holiday Check-In

You can only hide from your own yoga practice for so long. Photo via DearDear.

I have to say, it's been one heck of a holiday season so far! Busy busy busy bees are we, the Hubs and me. We buzz around from work to home, from the Midwest to the Caribbean, from wake to sleep.


All this travel, eating out, and getting caught with a yucky cough has affected my Bikram practice. Tonight I found myself in the Torture Chamber feeling a little chubbier and a lot tanner than usual, hoping that class would go smoother than Sunday's.


I lucked out: my body decided to work together with me, so instead of chasing my breath around the room I was able to connect with it, utilize my nostrils, and complete every posture.

A week away from Bikram and you might start to feel like this. Photo via Etsy's Tumblr.

I felt great, especially considering after the last two classes I seriously thought I'd go a month before completing every asana again. While I've felt incredible and super-energized after classes since I returned from Puerto Rico, I must admit that those 90-minute meditations have been hard. 


I often find myself out of breath, overwhelmed. I set up in the last row by the beginners, wondering where has my Bikram yoga gone?


I think the worst part about playing catch up is that I seem to have lost the Bengal Tiger strength and bulldog determination part of the yoga. I get frustrated by the little things, and quickly. I get distracted easily.


I find my eyes wandering around the room, comparing myself to other yogis. I tell myself I need to push harder, be better, be able to execute the postures like I did a month ago instead of listening to my body today.


I slip and slide, overindulge, feel discouraged.


At work, I let the little mistakes I make get to me, I let them be reasons to dislike my own Self. At home, I can feel distant when I don't communicate about my needs or exhausted when I over-work. Then when I take a day off, I feel guilty.


Welcome to the holidays, right?

Photos via A Desert Fete. 

Do you ever get the sense that this is a time of year where your expectations are highest and your ability to meet them is at an all-time low? I know I'm exaggerating here, but I just want to make the point that despite the eggnog lattes and silver bows, December can be a rough month -- emotionally, financially, physically. For singles and couples, individuals and families. 


We're all trying to do so much, and if we're not practicing our yoga, it's hard to do anything at all.


It's easy to over-eat, over-spend, and over-plan all the wintery celebrations and decorations.


Just think: all those holiday parties with their mini wieners and meatballs, their shrimp dip and crackers, their champagne punch! Speaking from experience here. And it was delicious, let me tell you! :)


Alright, so I do think that celebrating with special food and drink and super awesome company is a must of the holiday season. But if that celebrating really leaves you feeling empty or lonely or overweight, I highly recommend you try to make up for it in the Hot Room.


Eat, drink, be merry, and then do your yoga! Commit to the 90 minutes. Sit down when you need a break.


Find the community at your studio, too, and enjoy it. Meet people; chat in the locker rooms; get together (for healthy food and drink) after class! When you can truly connect to other dedicated Bikram yogis around you, the experience of the postures becomes different -- fuller, more meaningful, more well-rounded. You find yourself with someone to talk to about the ways the yoga applies to life outside the hot box, and sharing those reflections can change your life (and your practice).

Keep an eye on your yoga, or it might sneak away from you.

Don't get me wrong: I don't want this post to imply that I'm suffering this month, or even this holiday season. I'm simply attuned to those who are, and the moments which sometimes make December and January feel like a mudslide. 

I'm a very happy yogi right now. I've been so, so lucky and incredibly blessed with the stuff I have going on. I could not be more surrounded by loving people, either. 

Even in the Hot Room, a place that's felt distant lately, I have a lot to be grateful for. My Standing Bow has improved a ton, probably in part because I spent all my free moments in Puerto Rico taking photos of that posture on the beach. :) I'm also learning to enjoy the first set of postures, and really treat it like a warm-up instead of a race to the finish line. I'm learning what it means to slow down so that I can keep doing the yoga at a steady pace rather than needing a break and missing out on postures.

I'm realizing more and more that without the yoga, I can't quite handle it all. I'm learning what I need to do to make Bikram a priority, even when the holidays bring madness. And I'm hoping that you're doing the same. 

Here's to keeping Christmas week and New Year's stress-free, yoga-filled, and rich with love, light and happiness!

Find your bliss. And hold on to it with all you've got. 

Namaste,

Rachel

And once you've done your yoga, relax! That's what I plan to do soon as I'm home in CA.

How to Make a Happy Yogi: Christmas Gift Ideas for Your Awkward Friends & Downward Dogs

Time to glow. Photo via Scout and Catalogue.

 

All tangled? Simple gift ideas here. Photo via Wikstenmade.

Still shopping?

Here are some quick ideas for what to get your yogi friends, and your not-yet-yogi friends who need converting.


And a holiday reminder to all: it's about the love, not the cash you spend!

• A Pranayama breathing app. Ever wished you could take a moment to breathe and not freak out? Well, here you are. Yoga breathing techniques on-the-go. Recently reviewed over at Daily Cup of Yoga.

• Cozy things from Wiksten like this chunky scarf, or these boot socks.

• Red Leaf bar soap for guys. This Etsy shop has the best masculine suds around. Packaging comes in holiday colors, too!

• For those first-row kind of sexy Bikram girls you know: a ruffle bra from Need Supply Co! This looks super comfy, too.

Photo via Couture Boudoir.

•  A sexy boudoir session from a local Chicago photographer like Couture Boudoir, Laura Meyer or Kara Schultz. Give your man some sexy photos as a surprise!
• Grey bootie shoes from Osborn that make a comfortable and cozy alternative to winter boots.

• A beautiful Le Creuset french oven pan for the foodies you love (and love to invite over for potlucks!) via Cookware.

• A yoga music CD.
• A yoga shirt for your puppy, and a visit to this dog-friendly studio / cafe. I wasn't kidding about the gift ideas for your downward dogs thing! :)

• A gift certificate to your favorite studio so you and your friends can yoga together.
• Some VitaCoco, Ultima Replenisher and Kashi bars for a pre- or post-workout snack that replenishes and rehydrates.

What yogi gifts are on your wish list this year?

Snuggle up out there! Photo via Scout and Catalogue.