May’s Things
On Reversing Patterns and All Things Gemini
May is one of my favorite months of the year, despite the fact that the sheer number of THINGS that happen always surprise me. Here are some things I loved in May:
Embracing Gemini Season
I have a lot of weirdness around my birthday, which is at the end of May. A friend of mine (familiar with this particular hangup) sent me this beautiful newsletter on the first day of Gemini season. I’m frequently awed by words (a very Gemini characteristic), but this short love letter (because why try to find a synonym when the author said it all in the title) threw me off kilter in the best way. I tried to pull out a quote to highlight and ended up pulling three, but honestly I want to highlight the whole thing!
“May we share a drink over a dying flame with no fear of impending darkness, with voices whose tone and timbre we’d recognize even in a room drenched in midnight.”
“Call your friends and tell them how much you love them, to the point of doting redundancy. Talk on the phone like you’re fifteen again and unlimited minute plans don’t exist yet, with the intent of giving your mother heart palpitations upon receiving the phone bill.”
“Let it be enough to find peace in uncertainty.”
Work Tools for Personal Purposes
I read this article sometime in May and had, unsurprisingly, mixed feelings. I am a big believer in using the tools that get the job, whatever it is, done. Often, the tool you need is sitting quietly with yourself or sitting in drawn-out, no-phones conversation with other people. All of that can exist simultaneously with shared Google calendars and project management software that make scheduling those conversations and quiet time possible. As a pretty dedicated introvert (though I think I’m turning into more of an ambivert), I’ve found myself in a hilarious role of “cruise director” for a group of friends who have filled summer with a thousand things but still want to see each other. There’s a shared Google calendar and a group chat with a name. And I stand by it! Just like I stand by my friends’ right to ignore my texts because they are busy doing nothing during their breaks.
Yin Yoga
While I’m very dedicated to comfort and not being sweaty (so vinyasa yoga has been an acquired taste for me), I’m afraid of sitting still, physically or mentally (also a very Gemini trait). Yin is a much slower class with longer holds and uses traditional Chinese medicine principles. I took my first-ever yin class in January and had mixed feelings. It was kind of like eating vegetables or starting a cardio routine (I assume - not that I’ve done that) or sitting down to organize a big stack of paperwork that should have been tackled a long time ago; I know and can feel that it’s good for me, but the actual experience of it is challenging. Fortunately, I have a teacher whose gentle guidance feels like being wrapped in a hug from the universe, so even when I can’t fathom the stillness of body and mind, I do want to hang out with her for an hour, which gets me back on the mat.
Input/Output
This book that reminded me of the importance of representation in literature; I’m someone who’s privileged to see myself in lots of literature, so I tend to seek out things that don’t represent my perspective. But this book hit so deeply home that it reminded me of how critical it is to feel seen in what we read, watch, and listen to, and why I care so much about making sure my students (and everyone else) can have that experience. I imagine this will be my favorite book of the year.
This song (an old favorite) and this one (new to me) by the Indigo Girls on repeat.
A lot of new country, which surprises me, too. What I think I will like (this) and what I actually feel a deep response to (this) have some amount of Venn Diagram overlap, but not as much as you’d think.
This book about ritual and decades of friendship and how things don’t always end when you think they do.
Posture of the Month
Trying a new thing…highlighting a yoga posture that’s shown up in an important way in my month.
Half Moon (ardha chandrasana) has long been one of my favorite standing balance postures. Most asanas that I like and feel confident in are also my favorites to teach (tree, supine pigeon, variations of Warrior 2); ardha chandrasana not so much. Because this pose has always felt natural in my body, I don’t think I ever really gained a full command of the mechanics and the words to help guide other people into it. I fall into the same trap as a writing teacher; some things I just do and don’t necessarily know how to scaffold. So this time I was at least able to recognize what was happening and look for a path forward.
In May, I planned sequences more carefully and noted all the ways that this wasn’t working for the people taking my classes; then I explained where people were struggling and asked for help. And tried teaching it again, individually and in a class. And it worked, mostly, or is at least getting there. Here’s a foundations video from a much more experienced teacher if you’d like to try it out!
I’d love to hear what you loved in May!
New class schedule for June below! There’s a slight chance that there might be shifts if travel plans go sideways, but this is the goal. As always, if there are better times that work for you or types of classes you’d like to see, please email me or put it in the comments!
