chillllll, kid.

sometimes a girl just needs to chillllll. and i'm not talking on the couch with a beer watching the phillies game chill, i'm talking mind-body-spirit style. that might sound a bit new agey and you know what, it kind of is. and i'm totally ok with that, and i hope you are too. i've been frequenting tuesday morning yin yoga at wake up yoga in west philly for about a year now. i never knew that sitting still could be so awesome. allow me to elaborate.

wake up's website describes yin yoga like this:

practice holding floor postures for 5-minute intervals, appropriately stretching the ligmaents and tendons to create core-flexibility. intended for students who want to move slowly, sink deeply, cultivate equanimity and feel deeply restored; to be uniquely challenged.

bottom line, this is the lazy girl's yoga (you just sit there!), but it also has a killer payoff. at an hour and a half, we do about 8-10 poses and hold them anywhere from 3-5 minutes. when is the last time i sat still, completely and totally still, for that long? (sleeping doesn't count!) and not only does sitting still relax the body, it also relaxes the mind! say goodbye to all that bullshit that built up the last few days and enjoy a squeaky clean brain. plus the teacher reads little poems and excerpts on a certain subject to keep you focused. she rules!

plus yin yoga stretches the ligaments and tendons that hold muscle-to-muscle and muscle-to-joint, resulting in an instant feeling of lightness and long term ease of motion and mobility. one could say that yin yoga has saved my life, throughout stressful school times, work uncertainties and even most recently the west-to-south philly move. i'm eager to start visiting the new south philly location for thursday night yin and get a healthy dosing of 2x a week yoga.

as if that wasn't chill enough, i rode my new bike (she rides like a dream, in case you were wondering) down to the biopond on penn campus. if you've never been there, GO THERE IMMEDIATELY. it's the cutest ever! picnic, date, read a book, stare at the turtles and contemplate life, whatever! the weather today was perfect for the latter two options and this is what it looked like while i tackled life's tough decisions: what should i eat for lunch?

this tree is really good for sittin' under, no, like better than most

even cell phone's need a break from the daily grind

i told you there were turtles! do you see the teeny tiny one?

there he go!

whew. i'm pretty tuckered out from all that relaxing. think i'll take a nap before i do some of that phillies game on the couch type chillin...

-lauren