Coastline

Photos by my dad.

I miss the California coast. My dad's been traveling near the Mendocino National Forest. i wouldn't mind a nice hike in that area!

What are you up to this weekend, yogis?

"This Yoga Saved My Life"

 Above photo via the Bikram Women's Retreat on Facebook. Photo below via FYeahYoga.

"Yoga saved my life. I now have the flexibility to cope, the calm to breathe, and the strength to hold on."


Have you ever heard a story like this? Or perhaps your yoga journey involves one that's similar?


I recently read a Patch article starring a yogini with a comparable tale. It reads:


"This yoga saved my life," said Curnett, who said she went went from having terrible asthma and allergies, being overweight, and being stressed out to becoming more forgiving, patient and loving. She's also given birth – twice – and returned to her pre-pregnancy weight both times.


I'm constantly astounded by the way a strong yoga practice can change a life so intensely. Yoga opens up so many possibilities, so many opportunities to grow -- both physically and mentally.


I'm taking a Bikram yoga class tonight after having been away from the studio on a slight hiatus. While I'm a little nervous to return to the heat, I can also feel by body longing for the medicine it so needs and has been missing. Then I've got a massage afterward... can't wait!


How has your yoga changed you lately? Do you find that change comes in waves when it comes to your yoga?


Sometimes it seems like what's happening in our lives is mirrored by what's happening in our yoga practice. Our strength on the mat leads to our strength in the world... and that, dear readers, is a wonderful thing.

 Above photo via Clayton Austin Photography. Below photo via Max Wanger.

Dudes

Photos from Yoga Dudes on Tumblr.

Some awesome posts on the Yoga Dudes Tumblr today, so I thought I'd share.

Guys, are you doing your yoga this week? Where are you practicing, and what styles are you loving right now?

Don't know about you, but I can't wait to get my Bikram groove on tonight!

Good Morning, Family

Photo via Our Labor of Love.

Photo via Jaquilyn Shumate Photography.

I'm up early today. Whispers of spring are here, just outside the window.

The sun breaks through, the sparrows flit and emit their fleeting chirps. I've got the radio on with the kinds of songs I only listen to when I'm alone. 

I've been thinking about family lately. The progression of love. The meaning of the relationships we build, and how we sometimes tell ourselves we don't really need them, and then realize how much we do.

I think of my girls. My bridal party. Grandmothers. Cousins and friends. Mom. Stepmom. The women I've spent my life looking up to, the women who have looked up to me over the years, the women I couldn't be me without. 

All subsequent photos via Jaquilyn Shumate Photography. 

I think of siblings. How precious the bond between a brother and a sister, a sister and her twin, a bond that would be suffering to lose. Stretched so distantly from each other; needed so much. I think about the joy of a phone call with my brother or sister, how hearing about their lives always cheers me up.

Who wants to come visit once spring hits Chicago, eh?

I think too of my husband, my Only, my everything.

I think of friends who are about to get married, to start their own little families. I think of my nephew and how every time I see a new picture, it feels like I've missed years.

Families are precious these days, it seems. Sometimes in the early morning, the house quiet, I think of the family I have and the ones I hope to one day grow in a world of love.

How have you loved your family lately? Any of you out there starting your own little families?

Out in the World

Photos via The Vagabond Bond blog.

I could use a trip. A getaway. The chance to be somewhere far from snow.

Anyone else out there longing for some adventure?

Monday Ballerinas

All photos from The Ballerina Project.

Mondays are a good day for beautiful ballerinas, wouldn't you say?

Hope you're feeling balanced, flexible, and light as you read this post. :)

For more ballerinas, go here or here. 

Natural Light: A Conversion Story

I've been enjoying Hello, Monkeyface's "self-caught" series on self-photography and fashion-blogging (Tara B. of Little Girl Big Closet has also written a 5-part series).  I assumed that I couldn't produce photos like I see on other blogs because I don't have a DSLR or a great lens, but then I found out that some bloggers who have great photos, such as Shy of Chesterfield, use point-and-shoots.  Their photos are better than mine, in general, because they photograph in natural light...and I tend to photograph in indoors with a flash. So, I tried my back steps the other day:

sweater - Forever 21 (thrifted)

sweater skirt - Lux/Urban Outfitters (thrifted)

tights - Assets/Target (remixed)

scarf - boutique (remixed)

amber earrings - Corcoran Gallery, DC (remixed)

fairy necklace - Top Shop (gifted)

shoes - J-41 (remixed)

I've done nothing to these photos.  No cropping.  No messing with the shadows or exposure.  No flash.  And this was taken during sundown when I didn't think there would be enough light. But the thing that struck me the most was:  LOOK AT THE COLOR! I couldn't believe it. (You might be thinking, Duh, SFE.  It's natural light!  But I didn't get it until I saw the light).

The only problem was that I couldn't fit my entire body into a single frame, but a tripod can fix that.

After I took these I compared them to the photos I took a week before when I first tried out this newly thrifted skirt:

black sweater - Limited via Marshalls (remixed)

scarf - London street vendor (remixed)

owl necklace - etsy (giftted and remixed)

tights - Simply Vera via Kohls (gifted)

black boots - LOFT (remixed)

This photo was taken after sundown in my dining room with a flash.  My clothes compete with the white walls and the crap on my dining room table. The photo HAD to be cropped. And the color is all wrong.  This particular skirt is not best viewed against brick, but natural lighting and a lack of clutter produce a much better photo.

I'm convinced this is a better way.  Although I won't always be able to self-photograph outside, I think I might start experimenting more and, in the spirit of Independent Fashion Blogging, working with what I have, even if it is a point-and-shoot.

I'm curious, though, for those of you who made the switch to DSLR, what event prompted you to do it?

Yogi Tattoos: Got One?

Photos via the Bikram Women's Retreat on Facebook.

Hey yogis! Happy Thursday. Hope you're having a rockin' end to the week.

Are you practicing your yoga? I'm excited: I'm heading to a class tonight at Grateful Yoga of Evanston, a local studio I love. Nick and Lela, the owners and head teachers there, are amazing people. So full of heart! I'll be posting about them again soon.

Plus, tomorrow I'm going to be teaching a little mini yoga class at Northwestern's huge philanthropy event Dance Marathon. I'll be leading the group's highest fundraising individuals (probably around 20-30 undergrads) in a short flow class. It should be fun to incorporate the most invigorating postures so they don't fall asleep on me! During the event they dance for 30 hours straight, and the class is being held about half way through... so I'll be making it as engaging and fun as possible. No savasanas :)

It should be a fun and yoga-filled end to the week. Where are you practicing?

And are you sporting a sweet tattoo at your yoga studio? Lately I've been a little obsessed with them.

I'm also planning a blog post featuring yogis I know with awesome body art. Want to be included? Send me an email with an image of your tattoo! (You can reach me at aliveinthefire at gmail dot com.) You can also leave a comment below and I'll follow up with you. 


Hope to hear from you (and see your sick tatts) soon, yogis!


PS Check out Teeg's awesome response to this post. Namaste.

Evening Poetry

Photography by Glen Allsop. 

Thought I'd share a few beautiful images, plus a poem that stole my heart a long time ago. Take a moment in your evening to enjoy.

Wild Geeseby Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting--
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

The Everyday: Introducing Wedding Photographer Tyler Branch

All photos by Tyler Branch.

Happy Monday, all!


Lately I've been obsessed with photograhers who have a knack for capturing the everyday. There's something so beautiful about finding grace in the tiny moments that would be easy to miss if we didn't stop to observe them carefully.

This series hopes to remind you of the way an image can witness the whimsical, to document the allure of a landscape or profile, and to capture life's radiance.

Wedding photographer Tyler Branch has a way of grasping happiness in portraits -- not only of the bride and groom on their special day, but also the loving guest who support them. His ability to move between the close up and the wide is also fascinating, and brings a lot of emotion and depth to his work.

Checking out his site takes my breath away.

Love Never Fails

Beautiful wedding photography by Clayton Austin.

This wedding took my breath away. I love her tattoo, and that the photographer named the title of his blog post featuring their photos after it.


I'm a sucker for gorgeous weddings and happy couples. Maybe it's a girl thing. Maybe it's a newlywed thing. Maybe some of you yogis can't relate and wouldn't mind if I didn't post wedding photography on the blog, but... I love it too much :)


Looking through the images allows me to think back to my big day and all those emotions, how much I love my husband, and how wonderful marriage truly is. May the photographs inspire you to reflect on love, too.


Love never fails.


And there is no fear in love. 

Photography by Clayton Austin.