Pedal, Stretch, Breathe

Streets & Beets Ride: Saturday May 4th

Streets & Beets Ride  is one of my favorite annual events in Seattle, plus it supports Sustainable Seattle. I have written about how wonderful these rides are here and here.

This year I will again be offering a free yoga warm-up to all of the riders. Below is a photo from last year’s warm up.

Here is the write up about this years ride:

This year, we’re pedaling 40 (ish) miles to freedom. What’s freedom, you ask? It’s anything and everything you want it to be – alongside 100 of your best friends who believe that bicycles + food have the power to transform the city.

Photo Courteous of Seattle Bike Blog

Please donate to my fundraising efforts here.

Elly Blue and I officially launched the Kickstarter campaign for the second edition of Pedal, Stretch, Breathe last Thursday! You can watch the video and learn about what makes the second edition unique. Most importantly, you can donate!

In less than a year almost all of the copies of the First Edition of Pedal, Stretch, Breathe have been sold! As of the Pedaler’s Fair this past weekend my official count is 16 copies left, out of 2000 originally printed. I will keep those few for sale on my blog for one more week.

A major new section focuses on muscle groups–particularly those heavily used by cyclists in the quads and core. A section on seasonal influences and ayurvedic principles provides guidance on activity and eating throughout the year. The nine philosophical principles of yoga are applied to bicycling. Even more poses are described, targeting the specific muscle groups used when cycling. And finally, a glossary of basic yoga and bike terms provides a handy reference. Everything is presented in a way that’s accessible to absolute beginners and regular practitioners alike in either yoga or cycling.

Pedal, Stretch, Breathe is following the grand tradition of many publications, graduating from 44 page stapled form to a 96 page (!) book with a spine, more comprehensive content, new illustrations, and a sturdy matte cover so you can throw the book in your bike pannier and head off to the park for some stretching.

I’ve had the pleasure to be a guest on three wonderful pod casts over the past few months. I was interviewed by women who had their own shows. It was interesting to see how yoga and bikes intersect in all of these different ways with different people around the country.    

My first interview was back in December with with Diane who hosts The Outspoken Cyclist in Cleavland. Diane also teaches yoga and owns a bike shop. It was a wonderful opportunity to hear from someone who found connections through biking and yoga in her own life. Her shows are very informative and fun. Her most recent show is a great listen too!

Earlier this year I had the chance to talk with Joni on Yoga Chat. Jodi’s show primarily covers yoga, with a focus on LA. She is also an avid bike rider and held a show about how bikes are a great tool to save the world! All the guests on the show had wonderful contributions! Jodi and I talked about how joyful navigating the city on a bike can be. We also discussed practicing short bursts of yoga and how nice that can make your body feel after a bike ride.

Most recently, I had the chance to chat with April of Chicks on Bikes Radio for her episode on Bike Literature: Part 2, you can listen here!. Her co-host Adnan is a trainer who recommends yoga to many of the cyclists he works with. We had an interesting time chatting about yoga and biking. It was a fun conversation about Pedal, Stretch, Breathe and what is happening next in the world of yoga and bikes!

I am so excited to be participating in the Second Annual Pedaler’s Fair! Last year I announced the Kickstarter for Pedal, Stretch, Breathe.

This year I will be selling the last 40 copies of Pedal, Stretch, Breathe: The Yoga of Bicycling, the first edition!

On both Saturday and Sunday I will be offering a free mini yoga workshop outside at 1-1:30pm!

We will practice establishing a warm-up routine for daily riding. You will also have the chance to learn how to use your bicycle as a prop for yoga poses.

In addition to the book, I will also have a bike yoga poster and cards with art work from the book for sale, as well as selling a few of Elly Blue’s books from Taking the Lane.

There will also be exciting announcements for Pedal, Stretch, Breathe…the second edition. You can also get the scoop on what is coming up for the rest of Spring.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Not to get all existential, but how do we know the truth?

We lie to ourselves all of the time, telling ourselves half truths and false stories. We insist that we are not strong enough to ride a bike all the way to work or that we will never be able to touch our toes. I would like to think that our personal truth, instead of being stationary, changes and evolves like our bodies do. Then low and behold a few days, weeks, months or years later we realize hey, I can do that. What I thought was true, that story I told myself for years, that was a lie.

We live in a car culture. That is a current truth. But we can look at history to remind ourselves that the world ran without cars. I’d like to think we can shift away from being so car oriented. I have come to realize that cars are not going to disappear completely. But as I bike on the road and create space for more folks to hop on their bikes and join me, we will transform our cities and towns. We are creating a bike movement that shifts us in a more sustainable direction. That is my truth.

There are all of these myths around biking, like that it is hard or that you need a lot specific gear. It is time to correct these myths and speak the truth. Particularly, your own personal truth. Tell people your story about riding on the roads. Give voice to your experiences. The more we speak up about the importance of health and happiness, the more we can change push forward a new truth.

Guilt is something I have been reading a lot about recently. On Jezebel I found this great article on how guilt disproportionately affects the psyches of women. You can see guilt manifest in all areas of life. Food is one area in particular where guilty feelings can seep in. Guilt can even find feminists with busted bikes as seen in Elly Blue’s post here. All of the articles really spoke to me. One of things I am constantly wrestling with is what “I should” do. What should I do to be good, a good feminist, a good daughter, etc…this creates a really long to do list.

When I am not doing something “I should be doing” suddenly guilt starts fill up my throat and my jaw clenches up. All the “should'” takes on a physical form. In your body it may take a slightly different shape, like shoulders creeping up or a deeply furrowed brow. The point is that we wear our emotions in our bodies. Thoughts shape the body and we begin to form particular habits. So the question is how do we break these patterns of guilt? Well the very first step is awareness. Catching yourself mid totally-unnecessary, “I’m sorry…” statement. Noticing the moments of self-judgement and coming back to neutral. You are just fine no matter what you had for breakfast. You are good a person if you made to yoga or not.

I am still very much in the middle of this whole feeling-guilty-for-no-good reason thing. But there are a few things that help me to feel better and carve out space for more important things.

Remember to  Breathe
Take inspiration from your breath. Your exhalation is the best tool you have to get rid of shit you don’t need. Take a big breath in and let out a big old sigh. Make whatever sound you need to. Lion’s breath is a particularly clearing breath. It is powerful, a little silly and very helpful. Take a big breath in through your nose and as you exhale stick out your tongue and let whatever sound come on out.

Story Medicine

My herbalism teacher taught me about story medicine. So much of guilt is woven into the stories we have about ourselves. To help get to the root of the situation, try writing about a time when you felt flooded with guilt. Set a timer and free write, with no sensor, for ten minutes. When the timer goes off stop writing and read what you wrote. Circle a few words that really jump out at you and again set the timer and write for ten minutes on your chosen word. Then again repeat circling words and unpacking the stories that surround them. You may unearth some of the hidden roots of guilt and you can illuminate them.

Yoga Nidra

Yoga Nidra is often called, “sleep of the yogi.” It is a conscious meditative technique that leaves you feeling refreshed. I would recommend taking a class at a local yoga studio, if available. Or check out some of these free recordings to guide you through the practice. The second recording deals primarily with emotions, but I recommend doing them in order.

Do What You Want

An important lesson I am learning right now is say, “Yes” when you really want to agree to do something and, “No” when you do not want to take on another project or pick up that extra shift. Developing clear boundaries is proving an important step for me to feel less guilty. Saying “No” helps me avoid burnout and also means that when I say, “yes” that I actually care about what I am doing.

Please feel free to provide any of your own ways of working with guilt in the comments.