lighthouse point, santa cruz. i love that you can see the rain in the horizon, it’s about 30 minutes away from the time i took this picture. another beautiful day on the cliffs, not today though—i spent the afternoon helping my sister load up a truck. i’m kinda bummed that she’s leaving town. we never saw each other, but it’s been nice knowing she’s there.

oh my gosh, you are not gonna believe this, i thought i was gonna get sick after bikram today. ugh, during class, i felt strong, but in the shower, i got hit by the yoga truck. i was so nauseated, i went to the bathroom twice, thinking i was gonna vomit. my teacher suggested to stand outside in the cold air and it helped incredibly. i hadn’t gotten that wiped out after class in a long time. i don’t think the post-class water and kombucha i drank helped matters. too much liquid, too soon!

despite the drama afterward, class was incredible today. like i said, it was so hot in class, my back felt super nice, not 100%, but nice. i was also getting an incredible opening in my lower abs, kinda where my back pain was. plus, i could feel some major shifts there too, things rearranging themselves. it’s kinda crazy to think about the stuff inside your body moving around like that, but that’s what it feels like. it might wear you out, but it’s good for you in the long run. see you tomorrow ~m

i never shoot in black and white, but when i saw this woman, i switched my camera mode and, when she got close, asked if i could take her picture. after i took this shot, i thanked her and explained i was trying to get better at photography, so i appreciated her help. it broke my heart when she told me that was the most useful she’d felt in a long time! oh my gosh, i’d already switched my camera back to colour, but i needed to capture her smile immediately, so this next shot was only to remember that.

walked into the shower room to change and my buddy was throwing up in the trash can. the heat got to him and i said to myself, it’s gonna be a good one today! i was bummed he wasn’t dealing with it well, but i was looking forward to a hot and humid class!

the first forward bend, i could tell i was still sore in my lower back. standing head to knee and standing bow, i really can’t go beyond the first part of the set-up. by the time i’m ready to go back to doing those poses, i won’t even have knees anymore, i’m just gonna have two lamp posts sticking out of my shorts.

standing separate leg stretching is a no go right now too. i’ve also really gotta bend my knees to touch my forehead during the head to knee poses on both the floor and ground. surprisingly, i’m almost okay in padangustasana. i’m not feeling any pain, but is that my pride talking? do i like doing that pose too much or is my body warm enough at that point?

i also miss the energizing sit-ups! it feels weird to rollover. i forgot about that yesterday during the final stretching when we do the sit-up before we grab our toes. i got stuck on the ground and, well, you know. it’s all part of having a new practise that respects my limitations right now.

since i’m working on a new practise, i’m not taking water during class. that used to be part of my practise, in my bikram honeymoon, no water! i’ve wavered back and forth on the issue and now i think you just gotta listen to your body. i’m not giving up my water bottle, i just wanna let my breathing take care of me in class for right now. okay friends, see you tomorrow ~m

The only good thing about today was finally learning someone’s name after almost a year of politely saying hi. That was before practise. I almost threw up during practise. I guess the good news is that there is a time when i would have met a tall, beautiful woman and thrown up, at least i’m waiting an hour now! Ha ha, seriously though, that’s the second time in less than a month—i do it to myself. i had 3 strawberries, a handful of grapes and a handful of blackberries right before practise, but not enough water to help me digest them before practise. I had a strong standing series and then fell apart somewhere on the ground. Ugh, i hate feeling like that. i could feel everything i ate, right in the top of my chest. i wanted to run out of the room, but the next pose started and i couldn’t budge. i’m lucky to have teachers who take care of me. andrew bynum had a rough night tonight. He sprained his right knee in the early part of the first quarter. Oh my gosh, what a drag way to start a game. after missing a shot, kb24 fell into drew’s knee. you can tell from the screen captures, drew was in a lot of pain, but after the game he was in good spirits and is thinking he won’t be out for too long. Cross your fingers, ab17 is a big part of the lakers’ recent domination.


Hey, the super bowl is tomorrow, seriously, it’s been on my mind all week! My prediction for the game? steelers have a tough defense, i won’t be surprised if they rout the cardinals. Still, har har, it would be so cool to see the cards win, warner is such a storybook kid. the only thing i know for sure is that there will be some expensive commercials. i think we’re gonna see more than a few obama-inspired ads—fauxbama advertising, that’s the new trend. Can’t wait to talk about it tomorrow! ~m

i don’t know how much of a secret it is, but before class, i need to eat. My metabolism is so fast, i go through food like crazy. On my ride to class this morning i had a granny smith apple, mmmmmmm. When i got to the studio, i started in on my grapes and blackberries. Practise started out great, it was so humid and there were so many people! i was around a lot of my good energy friends and really looking forward to a good day. Then, sometime around trikanasana, i started feeling my grapes, oh my. i thought it would subside and i took a savasana. I tried padangustasana but couldn’t relax my mind and focus. I told myself to breathe, but it wasn’t working and during pavanamuktasana, i had to leave the room. Oh my gosh, while fumbling for the keys to get into the restroom, i almost lost it in the hallway! Hey, i don’t mind being a bemisbrain—that’s actually the name of an old long beach punk record label, so, in a way, it was like a homecoming for me in the bathroom. Seriously, it wasn’t that fun, staring at all those grapes and blackberries, trying to figure out how i felt. Could i go back to class and finish practise? Back when i was Video Workout Boy, it wasn’t unheard of me to throw up during a workout but still finish said workout, so i figured why not. Standing in the hallway, waiting to go back in, i felt pretty strong and finished out the rest of class. I wasn’t the only one who had a rough class and i wasn’t the only one who had to leave the room, afterwards our teacher encouraged us to feel positive about our practise no matter what happened. That was the first time i’d thrown up during class, oh well, it happens. On the weekends, i’d been going to the beach after practise, but not today—straight home for a long nap. Too bad too, it was so beautiful! Oh well, right? That’s more encouragement to have a better practise tomorrow! Okay friends, see you tomorrow! ~m