One Flow Yoga

Last year I posted about my love for Bikram Yoga. It's hot, sure but that is not why I had to stop. The rote repeat of the same 26 poses and my constant anxiety begged me to quit. I soon realized that my life seemed incomplete without real yogic principles in my life.

I am a fidgeter. Always have been. People have names for the kind of person I am; Late Night Linda, Pusher, Spaz...whatever. "There is no shame in my game." It's just me and I need a centering philosophy such as yoga to bring me down so my feet touch the ground. Or else I am...well, picture a fat guy in pants too small...he buttons the pants and...POP! The button snaps away from his bulging belly and ricochets off walls. I am the button in this scenario.

I looked on YELP! and One Flow had a perfect 5 star rating. I was skeptical.

I called my friend Lori (we are 25 year veteran friends) and asked her if she wanted to join me at a Yoga studio I've wanted to try. On our own we had been to several studios in the area but never found a "home." For a few reasons, the need for a companion, a lack of "yoga" in the poses being taught, too far from our houses and so on. Both Lori and I need a workout, that goes without saying, but we were looking for the marriage between strength and spirit in addition to a plain old workout. We found it.

Credit

One Flow Yoga is owned and directed by Kate Saal. Her heart is huge and her aura glows with brilliance in many ways. She is a powerful presence but never overwhelming and when she teaches, her voice is like tropical beach; relaxed and warm. But the most amazing thing about her studio, the practice she imbibes in her students, is that there is no necessity to kill yourself or compete with others, instead she teaches that spirit surrounds us, that we know ourselves and that we must love ourselves in order to fully love others and that a Yogic practice is a personal journey. The other instructors drive the same road and it is this cohesion that has made One Flow our home. So, if YELP! had more than 5 stars that is truly the rating this studio should have and I cannot be more emphatic about it!

More photos to come.

Ciao Bella!

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In the springtime, I ache for the old days when I romped around the Lazio region in Italy. I called Rome home but engaged in all things Italian. I went to the green grocer every Wednesday in Campo Dei Fiori. I dined at our favorite restaurant, Suburra with my friends ( Yep, still friends with them). And drank plenty of Roman wine too. EST EST EST!

I sunk into La Dolce Vita, loving a 90 second breakfast of cornetti and espresso. I loved a romantic walk in Trastevere and I even attended the occasional mass.

The culture shock was not when I moved there but instead when I returned back to the states. I yearned for anything even remotely resembling the slow Italian lifestyle of pausa in the afternoon and a slow walk to some where significant.

In about 2006 or so (already 5 years after my return back to California) I found a magazine called Bene. I loved it. It was picture perfect and not pretentious. It was all about the Italian lifestyle. Sadly, I can't find it anymore.

As Spring has sprung here in Nor Cal (Crocus' abound),  I begin to make my usual pasta dishes, think about the tomato garden and create the plan for making my own Buratta. So I looked for pics from this great magazine that I enjoyed so much. It makes me pretty gleeful that I found some cover photos!

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Cookie Chips

Cookie Chips are only the greatest treat I have ever found! The Original Flavor is 120 calories and tastes like you baked them yourself. They are like chocolate chip cookies sans chocolate chips, which personally I love! But wait! There's more....flavors, I mean! I also love the Salted Peanut Butter Flavor. I have only been able to find them at Safeway (which I hate because I think Safeway is sub par, at best). However, I'll use that store anyday for these delicious morsels of goodness. Check out HannahMax Bakery if you can't find them. I'm telling you, they are ridiculously amazingly great!