The power of thought is truly amazing to me. When I started running for the first time, I became very aware of this. Running, as I was told by others, and then soon realized for myself, is mostly about mental focus. If you can run for a few minutes, you can run a few miles, and, as I learned, finally a half marathon. It is all about believing that you can.

Since the half marathon, I have been laying off the running and focusing on yoga. There’s a very cool yoga studio about a block from our apartment, and I find myself going at least 4 days a week.

I have this very spiritual yoga teacher who is always reminding the class to stay in the moment, be true to our abilities, and to rest when we need to. She reminds us to connect our breath and movements, and to focus our thoughts. She reminds us to not judge our thoughts, but rather just be aware of them.

Today, I had a little yoga breakthrough. There’s a pose called “wheel”, which is basically a backbend (see below photo). I was always a little scared to try it, thinking I did not have the upper arm strength to pull it off. Today, I finally tried it, and I did it.



I have been thinking a lot about that today. Trying things on. Not being afraid to fail, and to fail BIG.

So, in the spirit of allowing myself room to grow, I went and bought some flowers and rosemary and planted them on the back patio.

I got my hands dirty with potting soil. I made a mess. It was great. So, I guess the plants are a reminder for me. They are kind of my everyday metaphor to keep it up. Keep allowing myself room to grow.

Plus, I’ve killed about two sets of patio plants since we moved into this apartment. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that round three stays around till the spring.