Mulberry Jam

Madison Square in NYC

Back to work this week, after a grand holiday season. Christmas was quiet and very enjoyable after a busy, busy fall. New Year’s was even better, with me tagging along as happy arm candy while Mark worked as producer and director of NPR’s New Year’s Eve broadcast, Toast of the Nation.

I’ve been to New York several Januaries now. (This was not Mark’s first New Year’s broadcast). Yet I’m always surprised how cold the city can be, temperature-wise. The people I find quite warm. I think sometimes New Yorkers have the reputation for being harsh and unfriendly, it’s not true at all. They’re fast-moving, but quite open with visitors. I still can’t get over how much more livable the city seems nowadays than in the 1980s when I first began visiting. Back then I remember running around on the upper west side, near Riverside Drive. The apartment buildings were grand and gracious, but many cars parked on the street bore signs saying, “No Radio In This Car.” I haven’t seen anything like that in years.

I had to trek through the Times Square subway station on New Year’s Eve, but it was a controlled bustle. Tons of city and transit police out keeping a jaded eye on things. Wind chills were in the teens that night– I thought the folks on their way to stand in the cold out at Times Square were insane. I was on my way to the nice cozy club where the broadcast was hailing from: The Mingus Big Band, live at The Jazz Standard. I felt like I was truly where it was at that night. Poor Mark, meanwhile, was out in a drafty sound truck parked in front of the club, directing the show with voices from NPR in Washington filling in his ears. He promptly came down with a nasty cold once we got home!

A highlight of my trip was a visit to the Iyengar Yoga Institute of New York. The studio is a lovely, airy space up on the eleventh floor of a building in Chelsea. I was there on a clear windy day and enjoyed a class with one of their senior teachers, Bobbie Clennell. She taught a restorative class for Level III students that was a revelation to me. I’d never taken a restorative class that wasn’t also a gentle class, suitable for beginners. We did a lot of intense supported backbends that had a tremendous opening effect on my shoulders and chest. I have immediately introduced several of them into my home practice. Another pose was supported headstand using the rope wall in the studio. We hung with our hips supported by the ropes for more than five minutes so our heads were in mid-air. Exhilarating!

Now it’s back to my quiet mat at home. No rope wall, but I’m content. I have a quiet space with an open wall, and I make my own steady progress. I had a list of goals for my practice in 2008 that were mostly met. Time to make new plans now that it’s 2009.