Sun, May 31st & Mon, Jun 1st - More Neighborhoods, More Yoga

Lovely days just hanging out, exploring different neighborhoods and taking great yoga classes!

Sunday was Little Italy in the morning – I was looking for brunch and stumbled across a place which looked cool – brick building with big open windows and lots of people inside. Once inside, I realized it was Public, a Micheline 1 star restaurant – had to stay, just to say I’ve eaten at a 1 star … and the food looked and smelled great … and it was … my first read of the NY Post while eating my first eggs benedict with spinach and smoked salmon – usually the sauce turns me off but this was really, really good :-)

I walked from there to the yoga studio in midtown – the third time I'd done the walk and the beauty was, each time was like the first with new streets to wonder and explore. The yoga studio has workshops each Sunday afternoon and luckily enough, this week was all about shoulders – this has been and continues to be a theme ... The class was great – very focused on understanding the anatomy and then doing some of the basic poses with a focus on where the shoulders should be. What stuck me most was how the shoulders do need to be held or kept, almost tucked, into position, not falling out or letting go. Depending on which direction your body is going, sideways, upside down, it requires a different focus on where your shoulders should be. At least I think that's right. What I appreciated most was almost the applied anatomy aspect of the session – I'd like to be able to do similar sessions with other parts of the body such as the back, the hips and over and over, the shoulders!

Monday, I continued to develop my expertise for brunch! (This has long been my favorite meal of the day – in large part as it's been something I could cook … one day, it may even turn into a business – who knows!!)

After a stroll through Wall Street and a quick pass of Ground Zero, (I always feel the need to visit my banker friends in this city for some reason), I walked over the Brooklyn Bridge - it was amazing! I’ve always loved bridges, especially those with great architectural structure and lights (Battersea in London is my favorite) – I think they are stunning, particularly at night - and this one is no exception. It also has all these pop culture references that made it quite surreal to walk across.

While exploring Brooklyn I found Teresa’s Café – a cross between a modern café and an old school greasy spoon. Definitely less upscale than Sunday – and I have to say, I’m enjoying my feta and spinach omlette with tomato on the side much more! It’s really, really good and something to be tried at home because the spinach and feta are in nice moderation and mixed right into the egg versus being clumped in the middle (I’ve had that before and it’s a mistake ...).

I enjoyed Brooklyn, with all the lovely brownstones and a little of the New York edge mixed in with a real residential feel. I will say, in all my wanderings of the city, I am realizing just how not trendy I am ... I’m not wearing one of skinny jeans, short shorts, flouncy dresses with leggings, gladiator shoes, metalic shoes or flip flops …. However, at least me and my flowing hippy style skirt aren’t coming across as a complete tourist either given the number of people who’ve asked me for directions. I guess that’s the great thing about this city – there is just so much here, there is room for everyone and their style!

The day finished with a really excellent yoga class – a senior teacher and a true level 3 class. He led us through what for me was an advanced practice with very little demonstration - he expected us to know what we were doing. It was meant to complement a good home practice – and it really would. The highlights for me were a chair shoulder stand with a different but very interesting setup as well as pranyama embedded into the class. I left feeling incredibly energized.

And a brief yoga fashion comment … I've been surprised throughout the US, and especially in New York by just how many women are wearing what I call 'funny yoga shorts' that previously I'd only seen worn by a couple of our visiting male yoga teachers. They are the shorts which have a tight band right at the top of the thigh with loose material above covering one's butt – kind of like very, very short circus pants … not the most flattering but I can see how they are practical in the heat ... we'll see how long it takes them to show up in Vancouver! (another trend I won't be following anytime soon ...)