I had a really nice practise today. The voice, the pace, pretty much everything, even the temperature of the room, was just about perfect. With a wide stance, I can finally touch my forehead to the ground during dandayamana-bibhaktapada-paschimottananasana, but my torso is nowhere near my legs. In any case, I’m shortening my stance to make it harder. Even with a wide stance, it’s still difficult to touch my forehead to the ground. i can do it pretty consistently though, so i figure, i should go for more stretch. Out of some sense of pride, i will not be videoing that for you ever. Yuck! Okay friends, it’s been a long day and I’ve got to make black beans tonight. I can’t wait to see you tomorrow! ~m

It is so exciting to see your artwork up! The studio put up the signs i made to let people know they’ll be closed on july 9th. Although I wish they were participating in the fundraiser, I’m glad they’ll be closed. I’m looking forward to the day off. I don’t think I’m going to go anywhere that day. It’ll be nice to not walk anywhere, I’m looking forward to it! After practise today I had to visit some of my stuffed animals who are living in a storage space across town. I forgot what a hassle it is to take public transportation when the university isn’t in session. I got to practise my patience today, at least! It’s the waiting around that tires you out and if it hadn’t been for that, i would have seriously gone back into town and done a second class today. Alright friends, time to eat and get ready for practise tomorrow! ~m

I was up late last night silkscreening, so i din0t have high hopes for my practise today. But I had a pretty good breakfast on my walk to yoga—strawberrys, almonds and cashews. Plus, I had an emergen-c packet with a little pluot juice added to the water! With all that, i’m pretty much ready for anything regardless of how much sleep i had. I was fine all through practise too. You really only need 6 hours of sleep, so if you get a little less, it’s not gonna weaken you. It was another packed sunday. It’s fun being in such a crowded room! It was another humid day too. The most important thing to remember is keep control of your breath. Sometimes this isn’t stressed enough. Either that or people just don’t listen. Prolly the latter, not the former, huh? It’s weird how a single breath can fill the room when it’s not in rhythm with the rest of us. Sometimes it’s hard to remember everything you’re supposed to do though. You’re posing and sweating and it feels really hot, ack! when you’re like that, it’s easy to lose your breath, i totally know the feeling. just keep coming back, that’s the only way to get around it, just keep coming back. that’s what i do anyway. alright, hasta manana friends. ~m

Talk about pressure today. I set my mat behind a woman who was doing two in a row. I asked her how the first class was and she wasn’t shy! If you think I’m catty when talking about people who can’t keep their arms up for an entire pose, then you need to hear how other people talk! She din’t complain about one person, she had four to tell me about! That’s why i like practising behind her, it makes me pay attention to my form. It was a really humid class today, there were a ton of people inside the room! It was easy to get distracted and the two girls behind me were new and wildly unstill in between poses. I knew they were getting to my friend a little, so i made it a point to try and stay even more focused on myself in the mirror. I must have been doing okay because when we switched from the standing series to the floor i got a hand hug! the rest of the class was a breeze, it wasn’t hot at all, just sweaty. the most important thing is keep control of your breath and then even the humidity isn’t that bad. enjoy your saturday friends! ~m

I guess I’m all grown up now, you guys. Not only am i reliable and trustworthy, but even the music of my youth has been mainstreamed and accepted into public domain. I remember when Ozzy used to drive parents crazy, now he’s a t.v. star. Did you know that most kids think of the alamo as a place where Ozzy pissed once? They include the spot as part of the tour now and people can stand and have their picture taken there. Geez, I was walking down the street after yoga today and there was an elementary school band playing “Crazy Train.” Yikes. Do people even know what the words mean or do they just like to sing along? It sure made me feel old to hear these little kids struggling to keep it sounding like a song. It must have been like the first time my parents heard the beatles as muzak. Luckily, I had a good practise that din’t make me feel old at all! Alright, lots to do today and only me to do it. I love you friends, your kind words make it all worthwhile! ~mck

We had an interesting practise today. The heater decided to take a break on us. If you came here to sweat, you were gonna have to work for it today, baby! Class was nice, I din’t feel a difference in my flexibility (or lackability) at all. I was plenty sweaty when it was time for garurasana, which is prolly the pose when the sweat lets you cheat a little, helping you ease into that beautiful eagle pose that some of you hold so well and so low. I din’t even feel the need for water at all, except i couldn’t clear my throat! It was so scratchy and loud sounding, i finally had to acquiesce and take water before ustrasana. It was a great class other than that one thing! Okay friends, enjoy your day! ~m

hey, it’s my mom’s birthday today! i always get more excited for her birthday than she does. When i was a little kid, no one could forget her birthday! Literally, she would remind us constantly! When i woke up today it was one of the first thoughts in my head. That’s a good way to start the day, thinking positive thoughts for someone else! Maybe that’s why i kept smiling during practise today! Well friends, do me a favor, think of my mom *and* yours during your ustrasana today! love, m

I always talk about how great the teachers at my studio are. Of course, they all have their differences, but they all love sharing this yoga practise, which is prolly the coolest thing in the world. My teacher today is awesome, she’ll babysit for her friend so her friend can practise. This is all so new to me, it’s really exciting! It’s like how the punk scene used to be! Seriously, people helping people, sharing ideas. I love it! I’m so lucky to be meeting so many new friends around the world. One of those friends has set up a really cool studio at Bikram Yoga Claremont, down so cali way. This guy is so great, to celebrate his 60th birthday, he’s offering year unlimited packages to anyone else born in 1948! How cool is that? And he’s gotten a really good response from the community too! Not only that, but about half of them have been sticking with it. Pretty cool, huh? Stuff like that inspires me, i hope it does you too. ~m

How to Get the Most for Your Dollar Part 1. I have to make black beans tonight, so after yoga i went to el pollo loco. they have that great dollar menu i told you about last week, right? Well, they also have a great salsa bar and they say “help yourself to our salsa bar” after you pay, okay? I bought a dollar chicken leg, i know it’s gross, but so am i. no seriously, it tastes so good after sweating for 90 minutes that i can’t help myself. That's why i call myself a nonpractising vegan. Anyway, i’m making black beans tonight, since i'm vegan at home. So when they told me to help myself to the salsa bar, i did! i got 2 nice whole raw jalapeno peppers, 2 slices of lemon and a big cup of diced onion. All i gotta do is wash the stuff and it’s like i went to the market and bought just enough stuff to make kickass black beans! All that stuff by itself was worth the dollar alone and then they gave me a piece of chicken too! i felt like i was stealing from them, it's such a deal! Alright, I gotta keep it short today because i need to write back to so many of you out there. Oh that reminds me, I gotta tell you about so many of the great studios out there. Remind me, okay? ~m

aww, fuck, you guys, we lost one of the good ones yesterday. Second generation drag racer Scott Kalitta died during the final round of qualifying at Englishtown. Oh man, it’s always sad to lose a racer, but the Kalittas are like family to a lot of us. Scott was the top fuel champion 2 years in a row in the mid ’90s. Then he left the sport to spend more time with his family. You can’t help but like Scott’s dad Connie, who plays the grumpy old man so well you’re not really sure that he used to be the snot-nosed Bounty Hounter. Scott’s cousin Doug looks like a bookworm, not a top fuel champion. Meanwhile, Scott always seemed like the guy that you would go get a beer with while the sportsman classes ran. The kind of guy you could hang out with because you both like racing. It’s so sad. What makes it worse, he had chosen to drive in funny car for his return to drag racing because the funny cars are typically safer than the top fuel cars. At 300 mph though, nothing is really safe. I was pretty much in shock all day yesterday. disbelief might be a better word, like, “maybe everyone screwed up and got it all wrong and the safety safari pulled him out okay.” No, it doesn’t work like that. During ustrasana today, i sent out my energy and prayers to his dad and cousin. It’s a dangerous sport, there’s always the chance someone might die, you never think about it, but there’s always the chance it might happen. It just really, really sucks when it does. fuck. sorry to be such a bummer boy today, the ol’ me will be back tomorrow. be careful out there friends, ~m

as some of you may or may not know, i walk to yoga everyday, two miles each way. I’ve been doing this without a day off since january. Not once has anyone stopped to offer me a ride, no cute girl has ever stopped to give me her phone number. You know what does happen? Harrassing teenagers in SUVs that cost more than i ever hope to make in a year. That’s always a real pick-me-up. I got yelled at by 2 different groups today! joy. I had a really nice class today, it was actually nicer in the studio than outside! That’s the kind of heat wave we’re having. So I had a nice class and forgot all about the kids. My walk home was interesting because it actually rained! Yes, there is a heatwave going on, but there was a huge storm cloud, the loudest thunder i’d ever heard. It was crazy! And you want to know what else happened? How’s this for a first? A woman actually pulled over to talk to me! And she said “i want to give you this” and it was a piece of paper with a prayer on it. I guess i look like a sinner. i’m looking forward to tomorrow, see you then. ~m

Our teacher started us out today with the best words, “be nice to yourself.” Today, you had to be. Out here in hippiedippieville, we’re having a heat wave and it is definitely being felt in the studio. Actually, if you want to know the truth, it’s really the humidity that was the problem. Is that nitpicking? I dunno, all i know is that i would not want this to be my first class. Oh man, and one of the regular girls got her S.O. to come for the first time—i guess he din’t fare too well. It was a tough one friends, lots of people on their backs during the standing series and another one of the regular girls (who has an awesome practise) even left the room! Afterwards, i was first one in the showers and i just sat on the ground with cold water pouring on me until someone else came in the room. Yeah, it was a rough class, but you’re not doing it right if it isn’t! Thanks for all the kind words and support everyone has been sending me! It’s making me feel fuzzy inside and i like it! see you tomorrow! ~m

That was a hot one today friends. It seems like i’m always reaching new highs (lows?) with how much i can sweat! Seriously, how does my body make all that? If you’ve missed any of the youtube videos i keep posting for you, i’m a 98 pound, sand in the face weakling—where all that sweat is coming from, i’m not sure. i guess i’m not that pathetic looking, but, well, yeah actually, remembering what i looked like in the mirror today, 98 pounds might be adding some. I did get to play the part of the bad ass yesterday though. I was trying in vain to get some really nice looking avocados that are about 60 feet up this tree. I wasn’t even half way up the tree when i slipped and started to fall! Yikes. Suddenly time froze (seriously), i saw the ground and told myself “grab something.” Thank God a huge bamboo tree was nearby and i grabbed onto it with my left hand as the rest of my body caught up to me and then as my legs kept falling I wrapped them back around the tree like they were monkey bars and i was in first grade again. It’s a good thing i do yoga everyday, i thought, as i dangled precariously about 20 feet in the air. It was a total batman move, but I was so lucky! Recently there was a guy who was only 35, he climbed up a tree to get a cat and he fell and died. Dead. Younger than me. That would never happen to me though because in one of my best songs i sang “you can’t chase a cat out of a tree!” Actually i was singing about how i would never give up the alcohol and drugs i love so much. Now look at me, I’ve been living a sober life for over two years and have been practising yoga everyday since january! That’s beside the point, what’s the moral of the story? Enjoy yourself, friends! Because, like the great poet ice cube said, “nobody ever really know when it gonna be they family on the front row” ~m

Hello heartbreakers, thank you for all the nice words and condolences. It’s always sad to end a basketball season without a championship trophy, isn’t it? I guess it’s not bad being the second best team in basketball. The reality is, the last few years our season has been ending in april with all the other losing teams. To be able to watch (or listen to!) your team playing in may is pretty cool! And for the rest of my life, whenever anyone brings up 66* wins, i’m gonna ask for an asterisk. Two teams in the eastern conference had *losing* records and still made the playoffs—must have been easy to rack up wins in a conference like that. Well, I’m kinda glad basketball season is over anyway. Now I can focus on what’s really important—green bay packers football. Only 54 days til the first pre-season game! Go Pack! Go! So, do you wanna talk about Aaron Rodgers or hear about my yoga class today? Ha ha. I know you could read about football all day, but i had a really good class that i wanna talk about! S said the best thing today, it was kind of a lot, but it broke down to how we need to practise with awareness but without judgement. When she said it, she was talking about how you can set yourself up for disappointment if you want have goals in your practise and you don’t reach them. So you should be aware of where you are in your pose and leave it at that. Don’t judge yourself like “i went farther yesterday,” or “everyone else is bending forward,”just accept where you are. I really liked that, you can apply it in or out of the studio. I need to anyway. Almost every morning I wake up and ask god to help me live today without judgement of other people. I’ve been too judgemental of people in my life, i need to stop that. I’m getting better and it’s only because of the yoga, i know that. So when S said that today about practising awareness without judgement, it felt really good to hear. Okay friends, gotta get to the farmer’s market! See you tomorrow! ~m

You’ll be proud of me today, you guys—I set up next to a fidgeter this morning! i really try and avoid her too. She is so routine in all of her unnecessary movements, it’s part of her practise. i think she stopped listening to the instructions a long time ago, it’s so sad if you think about it. Well, the challenge was not thinking about it and staying in my practise. That’s why i took that spot so i could take the challenge head on. It was a wet one today. What’s worse: sweat dripping into your nose when your head is upside down? Or when the sweat is stinging your eyes and you can’t wipe it away? Everyday the answer is different, but i always get to choose. It is so hard to not wipe that sweat away! I cheated today and wiped my face real quick as we turned to face the mirror for tadasana and padangustasana. But we were turning, so it wasn’t like an obnoxious wipe during the middle of utkatasana or anything! Oh my god! Since we’re (re: i’m) talking about staying in focus and not straying from the practise, i have to tell you what happened during my padangustasana today! As i was bending my left knee to get into position, i felt something weird on my kneecap. well, not weird, painful. it was actually very painful. As soon as it happened, i wanted to scream! it was like that kind of sudden shock pain, it hurt so bad. i was freaked, but i stayed in my practise and got into position as well as i could (not very) and stayed there. i thought i was gonna start crying, that’s how much it was hurting. it was hard to not think about the pain, but i told myself “think about the pose” and that kept me calm. By the time we were done with pavanmuktasana, the pain had subsided. I have knee issues, so i was worried at first, but now i think it was just my knees being as old as they are. Well, today was a nice test of focus and a great class, my energy level definitely took a jump! alright heartbreakers, go lakers! ~m

Opening an el pollo loco in downtown santa cruz was a pretty good idea. This town has an overabundance of poor college students and homeless people who can really use a place like this. For only a dollar you can get a chicken drumstick or taco. It’s good chicken too! Tastily marinated! Flame grilled! It would be healthy if it wasn’t a dead animal. For only 9 cents more, you can get a rice and bean burrito and if you ask, they’ll hold the cheese. It’s the cheapest food downtown and it’s not bad for you. The salsas are all really good and fresh, too. Can you tell I’m excited? Well, when you’re a stranger in a strange town, it’s nice to see something familiar, even if it is a fast food chain. oh, franchise, sorry. Anyway, that concludes this week’s edition of the gourmet yogi, now back to your regularly scheduled blog, asana daily....

Yoga was a nice treat today! The other T taught this morning! I like her pace for the pranayama series. I feel like my six and her six are the same. I tend to feel out of sync with most of the other teachers when we’re doing this opening breathing exercise. Later, during the standing series, she said something really good about releasing your arms. It comes from something else that she is studying, i don’t know what, but the crux of it is that you bring your arms down slowly and with control to harness the energy of the pose you just finished. Most people just let their arms collapse and then they struggle to get into the pose again. But if you maintain control of your body the entire time, not only are you retaining the energy the body is creating but you are already preparing your body for the next pose. Good words today! see you tomorrow! ~m

It’s father’s day, friends! There are a lot of disappointed dads here, the car-tossing event got cancelled. I din’t get the full story, but apparently there is a near-by crane shop that has a big barbeque on father’s day. they use one of the big cranes to toss some cars around! How cool is that? I’d love to toss a car, I can’t stand them! Anyway, I guess this year’s festivities got cancelled. All the more reason to stay home and concentrate all our yogic powers on a lakers victory today. it’s bad enough to lose to the celtics, but in the finals? and on our court? it can’t happen. Practise was good today. It wasn’t that hot, but i was sweating a ton. As soon as people’s water bottles open, I start thinking about my water. It’s hard to focus on my practise instead, but i did. every time my mind started to wander, “water would be so good right now,” I collected my thoughts back to my form. It was a great way to avoid the water crutch and stay in the practise. I like the discipline that the baker has instilled in me. I’m learning i don’t need that “quick fix.” The right way is the hard way. Hard. It’s hard not drinking water or fixing your hair. I think when we practise stillness between poses, it helps us make better decisions outside of the studio. Challenge yourself this week, try and stay as still as you can between poses and see if you notice a difference. ~m

Happy Flag Day heartbreakers! In america, it’s flag day. the cemetary had a nice display of ol’ glories. it was pretty cool to see prolly 100 flags flapping in the wind. It was a nice treat for my walk home. It’s a half-hour walk to yoga, but an hour walk home! Isn’t it funny how that works? I’m in such a daze after class, sometimes it’s nice to stop and stare at the flowers. I love the different shapes that petals make. The flowers around here are what inspired me to draw that one t-shirt with the padangustasana on the lotus throne of flowers and oranges. sometimes staring at the flowers is what makes the trip longer, but it’s worth it. I can’t imagine driving in a car and missing all the things i see. That must make me old, huh? oh well, enjoy your weekend friends! ~m

Is it harrassment when the teacher kicks your towel off your mat before practise? ahhhh, that woman can do no wrong in my book. seriously, that was one of the funniest things she’s ever done. exactly what i needed after last night’s let down. I’m not gonna pollute the air with any more collapse talk, so let’s just move on. that’s it! ~m

I had such a debilitating class this morning. seriously, i must not be eating enough of the great local food here. It was a great class anyway! E challenged us to give 100% throughout the class. It was pretty sweaty and i had to take water a few different times during class. E focused on form a lot more than people were used to, i think. As you can tell from my dhanurasana video, i need some help stretching my upper body. Today I got a good stretch—I felt taller after the first back bend! I still feel the benefits of that stretch as i sit here and type now, waiting for the purple and gold to take the court. Did i mention it’s game day? until tomorrow friends ~ Go Lakers! ~m

Well, heartbreakers, I’m positive it doesn’t get much better than this! Last night I was having the raddest dinner, everything was local. The lettuce and cilantro were grown on the farm across the street. My onion and tomato were grown on a farm a few towns away. The tortillas were made here in town. The beans were from salinas, which is somewhere in this general area. The real star of my dinner last night was the avocado that i picked myself! I may have not had a hand in growing the avocados, but picking them was a lot of work. Is that what makes them so tasty? I dunno, but they are so good! I've been so lucky to be able to enjoy avocados like this. The ones i've had so far may not even be ripe because the skin isn’t real wrinkly and there’s still some green spots on them, whatever. They taste perfect; or at least i think they taste like perfect avocados. it’s a nice compliment to my locally grown bean salad that i have every day! I’ve become very appreciative of all the foods in this area even more so in the past week with the tomato scare going on. My thoughts and prayers are with all the farmers on the east coast being affected right now. Thank you God, for letting me have some of the best food on the planet. And thank you UFW for working so hard at making sure our food is safe. namaste, m

We’re in the middle of a heatwave here in central california. prolly the only good thing about that is it reminds me of that martha and the vandellas song “(love is like a) heatwave!” how can you be down when you’ve got that song in your head? i wish i’d felt like that during practise! Wow, it was humid today! I had to really keep my focus, but with all that sweat dripping into my mouth? it’s difficult, to say the least, but not impossible. some days aren’t as bad as others, today it just seemed like there was a faucet i din’t know about. my stomach started growling during sasangasana. i told my stomach to focus on the pose and not on food, but he din’t wanna work with me on that. i ran out of steam towards the end and had to really take it slow for the last couple of poses. all in all, it was a pretty good class. as depleted as i was, after my shower and a juice, i really felt like sticking around for the next class. if it hadn't been so hot outside, i think i would have done it.

tonight is the night, we've gotta cut the series in half 2-1! Go Lakers! ~m

After watching that kino macgregor dvd, i’m struck again by how great my teachers are. Seriously, with that dvd to compare against, everyday is like going to a yoga workshop! Today, A was telling us about how she got to be comfortable with her body in her costume and generally being mostly unclothed in the studio. she’s got a pretty hot body too, so it shouldn’t have taken too long to be comfortable! it was good to hear because i’ve been having similar thoughts about myself. It’s those breaks from the dialogue, that make each class special and unique unto itself. I was lucky to be in class today because A said exactly what i needed to hear. everyday is like that though. all of the teachers at the studio are really good and it seems like i’m always walking away with some new wisdom. That’s why i think you should show appreciation for your teacher on Bishnu Charan Ghosh day and give her a hoodie or a shirt. It’s the perfect way to honor your teacher—present her with a beautiful dandayamana-dhanurasana in a cloud throne of chaos silkscreened by your humble narrator. ~m

I've been hanging out a lot lately at my new favorite place—wolfgang’s vault. This is the home of the Bill Graham archives, as well as the record plant and king biscuit radio show archives. There’s tons of concerts to listen to, it’s the coolest site! The other night, i had a great “alternative” show in my living room—X on the more fun in the new world tour, Give ’Em Enough Rope Clash and then 1978 bob marley and the wailers. it was a pretty sweet night. X sounded amazing! billy's guitar playing on “devil doll” was totally hot, the whole band was really “on!” I also had a great night with jimi hendrix and 1969 led zeppelin. That was pretty amazing too. jimmy page’s guitar was so fucking crunchy distorted, it was out of control how fuzzy it sounded! seriously, it was one of the sweetest guitar sounds i’ve ever heard. and the way they tore it up on “train kept a rollin’!” That’s what live rock and roll is all about, they’re so bombastic! Seriously, this is what real music sounds like. Oh man, another band that just killed live was the flamin’ groovies in 1971! their best (and my favorite) record, teenage head, had just come out and they throw down a devastating live show. I listened to that and then 1978 rolling stones. Pretty awesome show, some girls is another one of my favorite records and they played a ton of stuff off it. you should check out the vault if you have time. there’s a wide variety of music and they’re gonna keep adding more because they just cleared some legal hurdles to get more stuff on the site. of course tonight i won’t be listening to music, i’ll be cheering on my lakers! i thought of the whole team during my ustrasana today. right before we went into it, i almost said “everyone think positive thoughts for the lakers please.” i thought that might be overstepping some kind of boundary, so i din’t. alright, you know where my head is at—Go Lakers! ~m

Your humble narrator offers a review to you today.
Kino MacGregor has a new DVD out called “a journey, a workshop.” She teaches in the ashtanga tradition out of the Miami Life Center in Florida. The first part of the DVD, the journey, is a great insight into who Kino is and how the miami life center came about. The workshop portion of the DVD provides highlights from an afternoon with Kino. Don’t be distracted by her beauty! Her words are wise beyond her age. My favorite quote from her was “the postures don’t need to be perfect for them to work. You just need to show up on your mat everyday.” Word. ~m

Hello friends! When it gets hot and humid, don’t blame it on the teacher. Look at yourself instead. The problem isn’t the heat, it’s you. What are you doing when you’re not in the bikram studio? What are you eating? Drinking? What aren’t you eating? Too much THC last night, this morning? Our bodies are like cars that need to get a daily 90 minute tune-up. Doesn’t it make sense that you need the right kind of fuel to keep your car running? Notice i said the right kind of fuel. You *can* live on meat and potatoes alone, but that’s not gonna get you through any sort of extreme activity without duress. It’s the same on the opposite end of the spectrum with vegetarians. If you abuse your body with too extreme of a diet, you’re not going to get everything you need to perform 100%. We look for balance in the yoga studio, a balanced diet should go hand in hand. Remember friends, each class is supposed to push you to your limits and beyond!* If you’re not properly fueled up and ready to go, you’re not gonna get far. namaste, m

*page 4, bikram’s new book

Wow, heartbreakers, I’m at a loss for words today. I’m always super-flattered when people think of me, so when they give me a gift, it’s like stop the presses! When i was signing in for class this morning, my teacher gave me a ganesha with 3 bells attached! Ganesha is the god of wisdom and also patron of science, art and all creative activity. He is also seen as the remover of all obstacles and is worshipped at the beginning of every undertaking and every journey. How cool is that? Perfect for me here in the birdhouse! Plus, it’s a super nice way to have someone so amazing in my daily life and i don’t think you could do better than that if you tried. Of course i had a great practise today, are you kidding me? i was on clouds before i even got to my mat. then we even got a great demonstration of dandayamana-bibhakatapada-paschimottanasana! It was hard to hear because my eyes were so busy, but i managed to balance the listening and seeing and made it through the rest of class on cloud nine. now i can only hope that these good vibrations reach my lakers in beantown today. GO LAKERS! ~m

Yesterday was the first time that anyone has ever said anything about my dhanurasana. I was so surprised it was me when C said “beautiful mckinley.” so i went home and filmed it for all of you to see. Enjoy! ~m

The other day A said something during practise that really stuck with me. She said that during her teacher training, one of the future teachers grew an inch! Wow, an inch in 9 weeks! Compressed spine, maybe? Sometimes my body feels so wrecked, but i have to remind myself that i’m basically reshaping my body, correcting my posture, straightening my spine. Yesterday I just realized how hunched over my right shoulder is. i was sitting here working and my shoulder relaxed into the position it is supposed to relax into, which it had never done before. it felt so weird and uncomfortable. Then i realized that my shoulder wasn't relaxed into the position that it normally does, which is hunched over by about 3 inches. It’s all those years of working with a mouse, crazy huh? I’m surprised at how quickly the body changes. After 38 years of bad posture, you would think it would take several years to correct and lots of doctor appointments. How about 5 months of daily practise instead? I really do love this yoga method you guys! To be able to feel and see changes on a daily basis makes bikram yoga one of the coolest things ever! If you keep with it and keep applying yourself, things start taking care of themselves. Like my shoulder relaxing into the position it should instead of the one it normally does. Okay heartbreakers, class is gonna be a little more humid and a little hotter as we get deeper into summer, remember to breathe! ~m

We lost one of the greatest minds this country has ever known today. Bo Diddley passes away at 79. He is one of the inventors of rock and roll, the cultural a-bomb of the 1950s. His impact on buddy holly and brian jones is tremendous. He was one of the first to talk about himself on record, something rappers would bring back in the 1980s. If you wanna know what, he laid the blueprint for rap with his songs if you go by Dr. Dre, who said “you rap about who you are, what you got and about a sucker m.c.” Let’s see, Bo Diddley’s first hit was “Bo Diddley.” He would also score big hits with “Hey Bo Diddley” and “Bo Diddley 1969.” He bemoaned the fact that he bought a “Cadillac” and the trash talking in “Say Man” is prolly the first m.c. battle ever. His real impact, however, was in rock and roll. It’s not an exaggeration to say that pretty much anyone who has ever played guitar has played a Bo Diddley riff at least once. Hell, I’ve got a bootleg of buddy holly jamming on “mona” three different times and covering “bo diddley” as well! He even influenced the greatest man ever, Muddy Waters! One of Muddy’s signature songs was his “Mannish Boy” covering of Bo’s classic black rights anthem “I’m a Man.” His songs are so cool sounding. They sound like from a different time. the way music sounds when you have a real band in a small room. The huge reverb on the jangly guitar, the cardboard sounding drums. He sounds like a real bad-ass in “Who Do You Love” when he says “I walk 47 miles on barb wire, i use a cobra snake for a neck tie, i got a brand new house on the road side made from rattlesnake hide.” But his songs aren’t all bravado, his pleading in “mona (i need you baby)” has always been one of my favorite lyrics “can you come out on the front? listen to my heart go bumpity bump. me and you baby that’s no lie. without your love i would surely die.” He isn't always brash and bravado, by the end of the sultry bump and grinding “I Can Tell” Bo moans “Baby I can give you romance, only if you give me another chance. i’ll cook your food and wash your clothes. i promise i’ll keep you warm when it get cold.” Oh friends, somewhere a red rectangle gretsch guitar is gently weeping. namaste, m

"Tombstone hand in a graveyard mine, just 22 and i don't mind dyin'."

i don’t know friends, i think my morning emergen-c is really the ticket for feeling refreshed post-bikram yoga. You shoulda seen them today, the way they were acting! Lots of huffing and puffing. i think at least two different people left the room before we even got to the floor series! i’m not sure, i was actually pretty focused for a change. Before k-man could even finish up the class, people were already up and out. i actually got kicked as a woman rushed for the door! At least it was only my foot. Today was hot, but it was hotter and more humid yesterday! I guess if you wanna get out, knowing it could be worse isn’t gonna make it better. I like being able to get through the entire class and not look like i’m dragging or sound like i’m about to die. sometimes i feel like that on the inside, but i always try and look like i’m enjoying myself. after a really brutal class, i usually feel completely debilitated. That’s where i think my morning emergen-c has made the biggest impact, the way i feel immediately after practise. it’s so nice to feel so good, i really do feel energized, it’s so cool! i’m so lucky to be able to go to yoga everyday, this is really the greatest thing you could do for yourself! namaste, m