Tussle at the shop

Junk-off:  when you and someone recognize the same object and proclaim a silent dibs while staring each other down over said item.

The Practice That Unites

by Jessica Dinisco

She looks at me with her nose slightly wrinkled and a sound of disgust in her tone. "You actually choose to step into a humid, smelly, room filled with people whose sweaty skin is less than a foot away from your own?" To someone who may be observing, this may seem a bit odd. "Yeah", I respond, "Me, and all the other students in the room actually pay for that stuff." I smile confidently knowing that if she had any idea of how good it felt to leave that yoga room she would understand.

Yeah, the benefits of yoga are intuitively known among us all. It can give us increased strength, flexibility, and concentration. Really though, how can we tolerate to sit beside someone and actually honor the light in them when they practically thrust themselves into our personal space?
Of course science has an explanation. After practicing yoga, a chemical called oxytocin is released.
This amazes me. Oxytocin is the same chemical that is released from a mother after giving birth to a newborn. It's also the same chemical released after partners have been intimate and are falling in love. It's the connection chemical, or, the building trust chemical. It increases self- esteem and feelings of optimism. We all had a hunch of sorts that something on a subtle level was going on for us all, but really, the mother- infant bonding chemical?
So what does this all mean for us? Well, I can tell you what I see. Every person that walks into a yoga room looks different. I wear button up sweater vests to work everyday and my yogi sisters get to wear the latest on the Lulu line. I work with psychiatric patients. The student sweating besides me works with kindergarten students.
For a moment, I imagine a patch of flowers budding at different rates, reflecting different colors, and facing different directions. All of this difference creates a mosaic making some beautiful whole. The closer we look at the details, it all looks so separate-- but the forest through the trees shows a masterpiece of connection. Our differences gluing together and BAM! There is community.
We are all hard wired for connection. Theories on attachment, vulnerability, sociology, and psychiatry can all support this. In a sense, community is what sustains us. Each one of us comes together and forms a whole. Individually we are beautiful. As a community we are powerful.

Despite the differences that may manifest when our varying lights are shining, it's when all that falls away we can see that what sustains us from the inside is all the same. It's our breath, our faith, and our aspiration to accept every moment. To accept ourselves, just as we are, and know, that we belong.

"What would you do if you had a million dollars, Jess?"

"Well, I'd probably start with buying a bunch of books."

To no surprise, they all laugh and roll their eyes.

"Of course you would. I would start by hitting up Best Buy."

It all looks so different, but when we flow we find ourselves in sync with the other's Vinyasa. When the familiar sound of Krishna Das plays overhead, the room fills with simultaneous chanting. The sea of individual OMs form together in a musical melody shaking the walls of a four- story house. Yes, this is community. And what is yoga without community? What is life without community?

Whatever it is that has occurred in my day before my mat lands on the floor, I know I'm supported. Supported by the flow, my breath, and by my yoga family. With the help of a little oxytocin, our love, dedication, and strength has the potential to form a universal community. Bringing us all a little closer to peace

Bio:

The Shopping Brag

"oh, this girl, I bought this on sale" 

Y'all know what I'm talking about the  "at the outlets", "I only paid five dollars" which means twelve if you take the multiply by two add two calc, not to be confused with the number of people you've slept with calc both of which are based on nothingness. 

I am talking about the shopping brag, the one that somehow vindicates our purchase beyond all unreasonable purchases. I for one avoid Black Fridays, Cyber Mondays, but give me a red clearance sale rack on any given day. That's right I'm a fashionista and I too have been known to skirt the full dollar extent of my purchases. Frankly I don't know why. Naturally I googled it and this is what I found.

Small "white lies" are told to avoid embarrassment or avoid hurting someone else's feelings, and these lies are generally considered insignificant. I compare these lies also to what I'll call lie paranoia. You say something in the moment you recall as one thing only later to remember the interaction as something slightly different. I sometimes wake up in cold sweats about instances so un-affecting as "I saw Sue at the coffee shop last Tuesday" and actually it was a Wednesday.

Furthermore, some people are led to lie as a result of their disorder even though the disorder itself does not directly cause the lying. For example, a person diagnosed with an eating disorder may lie about caloric intake in an attempt to avoid eating another meal, or a compulsive gambler may lie about how much money was spent at a trip to the casino. On the other hand, some people who lie have no mental disorder at all.

Hello! Does it mean that all of us who tell these little white lies, 

only to classify ourselves as self proclaimed Best Shopper in the World are 

gasp, 

shopaholics. 

It is decidedly so.

Finally the real truth, women, we were given the power to shop before the power to vote thus imprinting its importance and significance with in our transcendence. Sadly this is true and in the Victorian error women were no longer the muse but allowed to make their own distinguished choice and good thing; Double breasts and tails were hardly a good look for the men.

Further delving into my highly documented google research, well, I found nothing about the girl on girl lying. There was the lying to your sig-o, husband or partner but the friend lie never came up. I think this is even more proof of the deep rooted seed and that this has nothing to do with money. Ladies, we are competitive. So I vow now and for the rest of 2015 I will not fib about any purchases to by beloved girlfriends, sorry Keith you will continue to get the bimonthly slight of the tag, and shopping brag.


Sited from (add hyperlinks)
http://addiction.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Psychology_of_Lying
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1240415/Secrets-shopping-lies-women-halve-true-cost.html
http://www.bustle.com/articles/19853-why-do-women-like-to-shop-more-than-men-stereotype-or-not-researchers-have-their-theories
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Glamping - Let's talk about that.

 Firelight Camps  has it made, there is no better place then along Cayuga Lake for this B&B style of camping.  Glamping tickles my fancy because it mixes nature and my favorite obsession, textiles and decor. I am also thrilled to have heard of it getting  much success in a place that holds much of my heart, Ithaca, NY.

   Glamping, adds romance to the outdoors. It enlivens our senses with an ease of comfort.

 I imagine as I tuck myself in to this bed, the wind carrying the scent of rain across the lake and hills, droplets let gravity take hold; the sound lulls me to sleep. The crispness of  air and dew on petals in the morning awaken my consciousness; when the earth's light rises and nature wakes. The sun throughout the day, nature trails and beauty of the gorges to bask in. A winery has our attention for the late afternoon and as night falls the big sky takes shape. A city glow is forgotten as is it's typical trespasses against our human nature. I am glad Firelight can capture these memories of mine for the masses.  

 While I likely will never stay here, I just might be able to classify my uncle's place as an earlier version of glamping... All of us cozied up in a farmhouse heated with a wood burning stove and blankets over windows for insulation, or a summer night with the aroma of cut grass filtering though a fan in the window, creeping gardens and an outcropping of barns and sheds leading to a pond more fit for algae then swimming these days. None the less it's seen it's share of skinny dipping throughout many a child's hood. Thinking of it with a Casita & yurt it's a wonder he hasn't extended Firelight Camps and additional site for accommodations...

Here are some other glamping sites making statements across the country. 

Luxury Cabin in Ashfield, MA

Moab, Utah

Sky Islands Of Arizona

I think a few of these places are worth an inspiration-vacation. 

Who doesn't love jugs?

  My dear friend had an inconvenient non life threatening accident that required she break into my house this morning. As she called me in a panicked state, flummoxed by the thought of a full day ahead of her, I was thrilled to lend a hand by opening my home to her. I did so by telling her how to break in. While we recapped that evening of the morning's events which landed her with B&E on her resume she commented on my jugs.

J U G S     J U G S    J U G S 

I love jugs.

I haven't found homes for all of my jugs quiet yet.... 

 Here is some of the best jug uses in interiors I have seen to date. 

That's right - there are very few places..and I am tired of searching. 

Here our some of my jugs looking for future homes - they aren't quiet photo ready yet.... I'll update with the dressy photo's when they find there next home.