I'm here in the cafe again. Brittany is here, and Anthony. Amanda and Diana fixed my tea and scone, respectively. John came in just before nine and pretended not to see me, just the way I like him to. Jamie waived, Mark said hi. Philip and Ellyn aren't here, because they move to Austria today, which is what I thought I'd write about actually, since their send off beer at the Chipp was one of those magical neighborhood things I'll tell myself years from now that we used to do all the time.

Sam isn't here today. He put himself on layaway to write all week long. Writing takes time, after all. More time than half a Tuesday, which is all I've been giving it lately, and now the distance between me and the writing has become a third party with its own influence and demands. So yes, I get it. The part of me that does the writing has been elsewhere. You noticed, you said. The dancing is the thing. Number one because I've been spending my time in my arms and legs brain instead of my sentences brain and number two the dancing wants so much of me that I start to feel stingy about giving my attention to anything else. This is a mistake. As logical as it may seem that there is some finite amount of me to be rationed, I'm not ready to divvy up my parts and clock out. In fact, seems like most of the time, the more generous I am with my energy, the more energy I have to give. I'm going to try this out by re-devoting myself to you and hoping that'll make me a better dancer.

Let's see if it works. Next Friday, I have been invited to lead a two hour Yin Yoga Workshop at Namaskar. This is really good, guys. This is the yoga that you wanna do because you are done doing everything else. It is also, conveniently, the only yoga you can do with a sprained ankle, a broken heart and a hangover, just in case you were gonna try and exempt yourself. We are going to get on the floor and spend some time dealing. We are going to deal with our joints, our limitations, and our attitude problems. We're going to expand our comfort zones, as I like to say, by hanging out at comfort zone border patrol and making friends with the guards. Am I saying that yin yoga is painful? Well, darlings, in the paraphrased words of Ida Rolf, that depends on your attitude toward change. Yin yoga, just like the yang-y yoga we usually do, is as intense or as gentle as you want it to be. You can choose to work or rest in any pose. There are blankets and pillows and things. Come hang out. I'm going to play really good music (seriously) and squirt the air with smells that are different from sweaty feet and Nagchampa.

CTA Insider Info: Namaskar Yoga, while kind of "up north," sure, is RIGHT OFF OF THE ASHLAND BUS, as the #9 happens to veer east on Irving Park and drop you right in front of the door.



P.S. I want to say thanks to the folks that came out to see the dance work in progress this weekend: Lenore, Sam and Josh, Megin and Ali, Chris, Mark, the Zalek family, Armin and Joe, Faith, Roberto, Ben and Anna, Skip, Anthony and Justin, Paul, Kerri, Tricia, Maggie, Blake and all those with hearts big enough to forgive me for missing them, thank you for being with me. I have been so invested in the work, and it was the world to me to share that with you. More on that later.