Yoga Lessons Revisited: She Like To Move It, Move It

November 19, 2015 / Ally Bean / 59 Comments

I’ve stretched my body more lately. To make my joints more flexible, my alignment more comfortable, my muscles more toned. Doing yoga asanas, that is. Or my middle-aged out-of-shape reinterpretation of them.

It’s been a little over 10 years since I stopped going to yoga classes on a regular basis.

• • •

LESSON #1

“Keep on meeting the edge.”

~ said Kathy, who moved away from the city to live on an organic farm

• • •

I had always enjoyed taking yoga classes, but my favorite instructors, who each had her own way of explaining life on and off the mat, stopped teaching.

The only woman I could find who did not do hot yoga, which I think is nuts, was more about selling her book and CDs than teaching yoga. She was quite the personality kid, which annoyed me.

So I stopped attending her classes, thinking I’d continue my practice on my own.

• • •

LESSON #2

“When in doubt, don’t.”

~ said Donna, who got a newspaper byline and is living her dream of being a writer

• • •

But you know how things like that go. Procrastination + laziness took over– and eventually the idea of daily yoga practice floated out of my monkey mind.

However, this fall I acknowledged that I’m getting older and that I’m beginning to walk more THUNK * THUNK * THUNK than flow * flow * flow. Which is to say my daily walks are morphing into daily moseys because I’m going slower and slower.

Re-enter daily yoga practice.

• • •

LESSON #3

“Well isn’t that interesting?”

~ said Cathy, who had a hip replacement then decided to retire with her husband to somewhere warm

• • •

I’ve yet to commit to a specific time and place for my stretching, but if memory serves, back years ago when I was really into yoga, I used the late afternoon as my practice time… which I suppose I could do again.

And that, my gentle readers, is what’s up with me today in my quest to age gracefully + not keel over by the side of the road.

Ever onward, I say. Each of us moving forward in our own way.

• • •

“Fizz-a-cally-fit, Fizz-a-cally-fit…”

• • •

The Goofiness Of Girl Scouting & Catalogue Shopping Over The Years

November 17, 2015November 17, 2015 / Ally Bean / 30 Comments

• Never would I have figured out that I’ve lived a lie all these years if I hadn’t stumbled upon the mother lode of Girl Scout-ness, a website filled with images of all Girl Scout catalogs ever printed.

~ • ~

I’m torn about what to buy. I want the Middy and Bloomer outfit for when I jump rope, but am equally desirous of the Zip-On Suede Jacket which allows me to hold a squirrel on my arm. [Catalog 1931B]

~ • ~

• Perusing these catalogs I remembered that in my jewelry box I had my official Girl Scout membership card showing me to be a member of Heritage Trails Troop 239.

~ • ~

Although yellow has never been a flattering color on me, I’m taken with this apron, covered in proficiency badge designs, that would ensure I looked pretty as I worked around the house. [Catalog 1952S]

~ • ~

• My pin, the official jewelry of all Girl Scouts, was stolen when thieves burglarized our house when I was in sixth grade. However, the thieves left me my card. Jolly good of them, wasn’t it?

~ • ~

No problem deciding what I want in this catalog. I’ll take a reversible caper cap and a pair of flashes to keep my knee socks up. [Catalog 1973]

~ • ~

• Looking at my Certificate of Membership Card, I see that I never signed the thing, which clearly states: “Not valid without signature.” Obviously I’ve lived a falsehood when I say I was a Girl Scout.

~ • ~

Well, look at that, will ‘ya? I never signed my Girl Scout Certificate of Membership Card. Such a free spirit I am, even back then.

~ • ~

• The shame of not doing my best is almost too much for me, and confirms I don’t have the right to shop for any of the above items. Pity that. I just know I’d look fetching in that apron, while wearing flashes on my socks and a squirrel on my arm.

Spunk, Moxie Or Gumption? You Decide.

September 10, 2015May 6, 2021 / Ally Bean / 16 Comments

Because sometimes the light that shines within me gets curious about things, I researched the following three words after I thought of them while watching a certain video.

Thinking that these three word meant the same thing, I can now tell you that ~~I was righ~~t according to the dictionary these three words mean different things.

Sort of. [I guess.] In a very nuanced way.

~ ~ • ~ ~

SPUNK = courage and determination

MOXIE = force of character or nerve

GUMPTION = shrewd or spirited initiative and resourcefulness

~ ~ • ~ ~

The following video of Monkey the Cat, who just happens to look like one of my dearly departed pussy gatos, demonstrates for us the above concepts.

It shows that…

Monkey’s gumption helps him have the spunk to use moxie to get the kibble.

Or to put it another way…

Monkey’s spunk combined with his moxie gives him the gumption to play the game that gets the kibble.

Or perhaps it tells us that…

Monkey’s moxie influences his gumption so that he has the spunk to find the ball to get the kibble.

WHATEVER.

Instead of focusing on the syntax of a perfectly crafted sentence, like I have here, I suggest that you, gentle readers, watch the video and learn, as Monkey the Cat shows us what spunk or moxie or gumption is all about.

You will be amazed.

~ ~ • ~ ~

For The Win: In Which I Bid Adieu To Jibber Jabber July

July 31, 2015August 29, 2018 / Ally Bean / 22 Comments

“What’s up, Doc Ms. Bean?”

I STARTED my #JibberJabberJuly challenge with Scrat, my blogging muse.

But now that July is almost over, I think that I’ll end my month of writing with Bugs Bunny.

Always loved him, too. Observant. Funny. Snarky. He makes a good counterbalance to Scrat’s earnestness.

* * *

THANKS TO my faithful gentle readers who followed The Spectacled Bean during this month of wordiness.

I appreciate your support via comments + likes + link backs. It’s only through those means that I, as a blogger, can know if what I write here resonates with my readers.

And rings true.

* * *

ALSO HELLO to my new followers. This has been a delightful unexpected consequence of #JibberJabberJuly.

As part of my writing challenge I also commented more often elsewhere, and in the process of that became visible to many new people who found it in their hearts to visit this blog.

Many of my new visitors even left a comment &/or started following The Spectacled Bean. Isn’t that cool?

Thank you!

* * *

AND ON that happy note, I’ll leave you, gentle readers + newbie followers, with Sweet Baby James singing Secret of Life. I’m going to take his words to heart and use them as my August mantra.