Being here now … yoga with Gary Halperin — special offer for Reality Readers

When I got the green light from my doctor a few months ago to ease slowly back into exercise, taking classes with certified professional-level Kripalu Yoga teacher Gary Halperin in his beginner yoga class was the first thing I did — and am still doing … .

Boomerang demonstrates the Back-Sprawled, Paws Akimbo Cat Pose.

As a little gift for readers of this blog, throughout the rest of December, new visitors to any of Gary’s classes pay only $5 for the first class visit — if you mention MC Reality Online when you sign up or show up. This is a great way to try out yoga — especially with Gary who has a fantastic reputation in Sarasota; and it’s also a great way to give yourself a treat during the month of December, which can way too often feel way too harried and hurried.

Classes are normally $12 each, and he offers day and evening classes Monday mornings and Tuesday and Thursday nights — centrally located and easy to get to, at the corner of Tuttle and Ringling. You can contact Gary to sign up for a class, or visit www.feelbetternowyoga.com to learn more. Read more about Halperin in this magazine article — Being Here Now. In the classes I’ve been taking, there are men and women — all ages.

I’m way too often an all-work, no play/no relax kind of gal, but Gary’s classes are teaching me (despite the fact that I’m a slow learner), that I can make and take the time — in fact I deserve to do it — in my life to feel mentally more clear, emotionally more satisfied, psychologically more calm, and physically more comfortable. I find that by doing the simple yoga stretches and poses, combined with the act of just “being here now” in class and listening to my body and being aware of how it feels — has reaped rewards not just physically, but personally and professionally.

I have more energy, more clarity, and more energy throughout my work days in general, even on the days that I’m not taking his class. And more importantly — I’ve been sleeping dramatically better since I started the yoga earlier this fall.

But one of my favorite parts of the class is simply listening to the calm, focused, nonjudgmental “instruction” from Gary. In a way that’s almost uncanny, at the very moments in class where I feel most challenged or conflicted about being there (because I feel I should be working or doing something on my “to-do” list) or even when I’m just feeling insecure about how my body looks while holding some “let it all hang out” pose — Gary inevitably speaks to the class in a way that seems to address precisely what’s going on in my head. And he brings me back to what matters. Just being and accepting the “here” — right where I am at that moment — right now.

It’s a valuable lesson for the rest of my life outside of yoga.

Get your holiday groove on

My Sarasota Herald Tribune TICKET column today gives some fun outdoor stuff to do this weekend — starting with some very cool reggae at O’Leary’s tomorrow night. Might be brisk weather, but we can always generate some body heat by dancing!

You can read the column online here Get Your Holiday Groove On or by flipping to page 7E of today’s TICKET.

I LOVE this weather!!!

Reality Readers Help Provide 1,135 Meals for the Hungry!

Thank you all so much — to everyone who contributed to this year’s MC “Reality Readers” fundraising drive to help All Faiths Food Bank continue to fight hunger in our community and provide meals for people in need.

During November, Reality Readers donated $715 for this year’s drive — which means they provided the equivalent of 1,135 meals for hungry men, women, and children in our community.

All Faiths sent a note of thanks to me today for organizing the drive, but it’s you all who made the results happen — so the thanks go to you!

I know everyone is inundated with requests to help out this or that charitable or community cause — and I really appreciate the contributions you were able to make to my little drive, which is small in comparison to the big charities and big efforts that go on all over our community — small, but still very important — because every bit helps!

And because I really do believe that each and every act of kindness, no matter how small or big, goes out into the world and makes way for more acts of kindness.

Great way to start December.

Great Scott the Scalawag — let’s get to work … right after I blow a few mill on a party for myself

So Rick Scott “can’t wait to get to work” — his words on the night he was elected Governor in Florida. Remember his campaign promises — reduce spending, balance the budget, create 700,000 jobs?

But one of his first priorities is planning his inauguration celebration — and getting special interest groups to pony up $25,000 each for the perk of getting up and close and personal with the new Guv as he’s sworn into office. (more…)

Later, Gators!

Glad my pick for today’s big Florida game won … as a matter of fact three out of four of my picks played out as I’d predicted in my Thursday TICKET column — ‘Noles Trounce the Gators!

Must be all that hanging around with bookies back in the day in the North End of Boston.

Turkey Day tidbits add up

I hope everyone’s out (or in) enjoying the long holiday weekend! I feel very blessed to have a roof over my head (it’s raining out) and just finished eating a simple snack of a yummy delicious apple and a piece of wheat bread, and gave my cats an afternoon tidbit of turkey. I know I’m one of the lucky ones.

Right now in our community, there are so many who have no one to turn to in tough times. They don’t have a parent they can call and say, “Can I come home for dinner?” or a friend they can ask for $20 to tide them over ‘til payday. And many of those struggling the hardest have children or aging parents who are dependent upon them for the simplest, but most soul-nourishing, necessity of having enough food on the table. (more…)

Free/very low cost pet care — for those in financial need — offered by Clark Road Animal Clinic

The Clark Road Animal Clinic let me know that the doctors and clinic team are offering an incredible opportunity for people who love their pets but who might be struggling to care for them during these tough economic times — free vaccinations and routine health care for dogs and cats on December 11! (more…)

‘Noles take the Gators in MC’s football fantasy predictions

In my “After Hours” column appearing in today’s Sarasota Herald Tribune TICKET section, I lay down m predictions for today’s football wins, tell you where you can get out of the house and catch the games on a big screen, and then …

weigh in with a prediction on Saturday’s big game between FSU and UF.

You can read the full column here: MC Predicts the ‘Noles will Trounce the Gators!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Things to be thankful for ….

This little bird — I think it’s a house wren perhaps — has been hanging in my yard for about two months now. It’s probably a female, but I call it my “old guy.” He flies very tentatively and I believe he cannot see out of his left eye — see how red and inflamed it looks? (the other eye appears normal). He’s also hard of hearing. I sometimes walk right up to him before he realizes I’m there. I think he hears, just not all that well. He sits on the feeder sometimes for what seems like hours, nibbling away. He goes to the bird fountain and sips at the water. When he first arrived back in early September, I thought seriously that he was dying — he seemed so frail. But he seems to be getting stronger and stronger.
I’m grateful I’ve been able to give him a place to rest his wings and get some sustenance. I know it’s goofy, but I love him! (more…)

MC on the radio today — 515 Talk Sarasota w/Sherman Baldwin

Sherman Baldwin, the Sarasota Republican party’s right-wing-ish wing man, has invited me to be on his show later today — 5:15 this afternoon. (more…)