THOR A review:

Man o man school has me busy but I have a moment to squeak out this review!

Hubby, some friends and I went to see 'Thor.' Honestly I loved it. At first I was concerned because Hubby said it was Thor in present day on earth. That to me sounded really stupid. Luckily it was Thor on earth and there were tons of scenes of him on his home planet. I don't want to divulge too much information about why he comes to earth but it was great how they tied the two places together. I really enjoyed the story-line. It had some really hilarious moments. Thor remained his thunderous self on earth. You can imagine what people would think of that. Natalie Portman co-stars in this film and I thought it would be a strange roll for her but it was really great to see her spreading her wings. Unfortunately I have yet to see 'Black Swan.' I'd love to tell you more about the story-line but I don't want to share too much! The action scenes were great and there really wasn't a boring moment. A guy in the theatre tipped us off at the end that there was a preview after the credits. So we stayed to check it out. It ended up being pretty lame. So now you know it's there, but believe me it's not really worth your time. Next on my list to see is 'Water for Elephants' and Hangover 2 :)   

Assignment complete!

Flow Yoga Vs. Hatha Yoga

Flow yoga is derived from Hatha yoga so you could argue that they are one in the same. However in the Western Yoga culture there are distinct differences you'll find when attending a Flow class versus a Hatha class. First I will discuss the elements of a Flow class.

In a Flow class the postures are linked together “Like a string of pearls on a necklace” they flow with the in and out flow of breath. The moderately fast pace of the class allows heat to rise in the body stoking the (Agni) or fire within. This allows the body to cleanse by releasing toxins (Apana) out of the body. In both Hatha Yoga and Flow Yoga there is a wide range of postures practised, although often in a Flow class you will perform a series of 'Sun Salutations' in order to warm up the body which is something you wouldn't typically find in a Hatha class.

In comparison Hatha Yoga is a gentle and more slow paced form of yoga. Hatha is a great style of yoga for beginners because it's pace makes it easier for students to learn the postures, language, and breathing techniques. The word 'Hatha' in Sanskrit means 'Sun and Moon' therefore in a Hatha class you will often see postures that work with opposites. Heating postures and Cooling. You'll see this also in a Flow Class. In both a Hatha class and a Flow class you will practice postures that will massage the internal organs allowing toxins to expel and fresh fluid to flush into the area. Perhaps in a Hatha class where you are able to spend more time in the postures you are able to expel more toxins in certain organs.

In both styles you receive similar benefits: Strength, flexibility, connection to the breath, relaxation, a deeper understanding of your body and mind. Etc. In my opinion it matters not which style of Yoga you are practising. There are wonderful benefits in all forms of Yoga, and because we're all different it's great to have the opportunity to explore different styles of Yoga!

Canoe Club

Haven't been eating at home so much since being in the training program. Hubby is pooped after working all day and I'm exhausted from Yoga training all day. We went to the Canoe Club tonight for a friends welcome home shin-dig. We've been there once before for our staff party. . . 

As you can see it was fairly messy. That's hubby looking dazed behind :p

Anyways being coherent this time round I can tell you where it is, and how it is. The atmosphere is nice, our server was okay. . could have been more attentive but our group was really big so maybe he was over-whelmed? Their beer is really great, being that it is a brew-pub! I really enjoyed their Brown Ale (chocolatey smooth) it took forever to order food. I figured Halibut Tacos would be great to have. It was from their Appy menu $12. It was Really Small. Delicious but I wasn't even remotely full after eating it all myself. :( It seems like it's just one of those places: Fancy food, small portions, high price. Boooo. Drinks were incredibly high priced as well. I was paying over $6 for their in house beers. Hubby was paying $10 for double Screwdrivers. We were pretty surprised when our bill came :( :( lame. As long as you know what your in for and you have some extra cash it's a pretty nice place but we've decided that unless our company is paying for drinks we probably won't go back their to drink.

Canoe Club

450 Swift Street

Final project

For our final project at school we have to research something that has to do with yoga. The topic is incredibly broad and we're allowed to express our project however we wish so I'm going to create a painting that will look somewhat like the one above. (Well the concept of it) I can't paint anything like "Alexander Grey" I love leaning about the Charkras though! It's so fascinating that we have these energy centers or 'wheels' of energy in our body. There is a certain style of yoga called Kundalini Yoga that helps us to awaken the seven chakras. 

"The Kundalini is untapped energy (prana) at the base of the spine that can be drawn up through the body awakening each of the seven chakras. Full enlightenment occurs when this energy reaches the Crown Chakra. Kundalini energy is often represented as a snake coiled at the base of the spine." Ha ha that quote makes it seem like it's so easy to reach full enlightenment. A life long process my friends. Perhaps not for all but indeed for some. I haven't actually taken a Kundalini class but I'm really interested. Once you start learning about the Chakras individually you can start to notice when you have an imbalance in one of the energy centers. Each one pertains to something specifically eg. "The Heart Chakra (Anahata), is associated with limitless compassion, empahty, and love." If you notice your having issues in this area you can practice techniques to open this specific Chakra to allow more love and compassion into your life. It's really quite amazing. Well cheers friends. Hopefully i'll be able to upload a picture of my final project when it's finished. Until then, Namaste 

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Fish Eye

I would love, love, love a fish eye lens for our camera! I think photos taken with fish eye lenses are amazing! I wish I took this photo ;) Kudos to whoever did!

Speaking of cameras though it's been so weird not being able to post pictures from our camera to blog about :( We lost our camera charger somewhere . . random I know. Luckily we can buy another one it just costs a bit of dough. I have a strange habit of tucking things away. It's probably in our house. I feel like we'll buy the new one and a week later we'll find our old one lol. C'est la Vie. Eh? 

Here's some more fishy photos :D 

Jux (The Cat)

I feel like I haven't blogged about the cat in forever! 

I have a pretty entertaining story about him :) 

One day I was sitting on the couch doing something and the cat was sitting behind me on his stool which is behind the couch. I turned around to pat him and he attacked my hand. Hmm. "You wanna play do ya?!" So I proceeded to mess with him for a bit and then I turned back to whatever I was doing on the couch. Something you've got to know about Jux is that he's kind of a douche. The moment I turned around he pelted me in the back of the head with his paw. "DUDE." So I turned around and wagged my finger in his face and said "No!." (Not that he knows what that means at all i'm sure.) So I turned back around with a grin on my face threw my hood up over my head and pretended to hide from him. For some reason I thought it would be funny to slowly turn my head back at him all mischieviously so I did very stealth like. I started to creep around so pro until to my horrific surprise he had creeped up so that when I turned around his face was right in front of mine! I jumped so high and screamed LOL. I got pwned by my own cat !? Epic.

Movie Reviews: Baraka and Fierce Grace

Being in this training program has opened my heart and mind to many new things. It's a bit overwhelming at times. An information overload. I'm hoping i'll be able to retain all the wonderful information. I'm taking notes like mad in every class. Hopefully that helps :) Anyways since being in a group of such lovely people we often share things and one thing that was brought to my attention was the movie 'Baraka' Luckily my bestie had the movie so hubby and I watched it this past week. It's Stunning. For me another word wouldn't describe it better. It feels like a national geographic documentary. The images are breath-taking, and there's no commentary. I love this about Baraka. There is music, chanting, and streeet noise but no real words. It's beautiful. They have captured the world in its many different lights. Tribes in the jungle, beautiful monesteries,landscapes,concrete jungles,huge factories, and much more. From one spectrum to the next. It allows you to examine parts of the world you probably don't know even exist. This is a must-see!

Another movie, we watched a clip of this one in the program. I enjoyed what little bit I saw that I had to see the rest! Hubby and I watched it last night :) If you don't know who Ram Dass is I suggest you pop over to this website to check out his Biography, or watch the movie because its basically a Biography of Ram Dass. He is an incredibly fascinating, brilliant, special, and loving man. Since watching this I'd really love to read his books: 'Be here now' and 'Still here.' I just want to know so much more about him. His life completely turned around. This movie shows a lot of Ram Dass after he was "Stroaked" as he calls it. Physically he had a stroke in 1997. It's so hard for me to understand how this can happen to such a lovely soul. Ah the mysteries of life. Anyways a lovely couple of movies. I thoroughly enjoyed them both.