yoga - grace grits and gardening

Promise of Peace Community Garden

May 3, 2013 By Talya Tate Boerner

During the month of May for each Grace Grits & Gardening candle sold, I am donating $1.00 to the Promise of Peace Community Garden in East Dallas.

Promise of Peace helps boost high school completion rates in East Dallas by promoting community involvement and healthy living through cooking classes, yoga and hands-on gardening.

On the first Saturday of every month, Promise of Peace hosts a local market with adult gardening classes and brunch. Tomorrow’s event will include grilled pizzas and fresh lemonade made with herbs from the garden. Check out the garden’s Facebook page and website for more information.

Promise of Peace Community Garden

Promise of Peace is located at 7446 East Grand, Dallas, Texas 75214.

Grace Grits & Gardening soy-blended travel candle burns for approximately 20 hours and smells amazing….
$10.00 each with $1.00 donated to Promise of Peace during May, 2013!

Thank you!

talya

“No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden.”
― Thomas Jefferson

the calm after

October 14, 2012 By Talya Tate Boerner

Sometimes you just need to wallow.

Sometimes life gets the best of us. Or death. Or maybe a broken heart or lost job takes you to your knees. The pain is palpable.

In those times, the storm rolls in, sometimes unexpectedly, smothering your soul. Such a sick feeling of sorrow, like a long slow sigh of the cello.

We learn to share and play fair and sound out words. We learn to cook and read musical scales and memorize the faces of our favorite people.

No one teaches us how to survive death. It’s total immersion learning. Lonely. Breathe in, breathe out. Sob.

And then the sun comes out making the air clean and fresh and bright.

I play music. My favorite go to happy song, no matter the season, is Sleigh Ride (Boston Pops Orchestra version). Strange I suppose, but it reminds me of Christmas and family and snow. How can you not be happy riding in a one-horse-open-sleigh in the woods? Carefree times. The horse whinny at the end always makes me smile.

Quiet time, yoga, meditation, walking and thinking, looking at the trees. Trees are a brighter shade of green after the storm.

talya

Musical Pairings:

Sleigh Ride, Arthur Fiedler/ Boston Pops Orchestra

Like the long slow sigh of the cello: dying. But the sound of it is the only beautiful thing about it.― Sonya Hartnett, Surrender

Godspeed, Pauline Boerner

Serenity Now

August 15, 2012 By Talya Tate Boerner

I turned fifty last July. That’s fifty times around the sun… Let that sink in for a moment.

In one day the average adult heart beats over 120,000 times. In fifty years, it beats ALOT–more math than I care to do. Definitely not something to take for granted…

I feel better at fifty than forty. I attribute this in part to yoga. The gifts of yoga extend well beyond flexibility, toning, balance and strength. Its benefits include enhanced focus and creativity, lowered blood pressure and less anxiety. Yoga enhances heart health.

my mat is often crowded at home…

My favorite pose in yoga class is final shavasana—Corpse Pose. Lying flat, feet relaxed, breath long, posturing the mind and body to imitate a corpse. A non-yogi may be skeptical, but if you practice, you understand.

There was a time not that very long ago, corpse pose was the most difficult for me. I found it unnerving to lie still and let go. I should be doing something. So I took the opportunity during final savasana to mentally review my to-do list—crunch numbers for a loan application, call a customer, run by the grocery store, schedule a hair appointment, blah blah blah… Serenity Now!!!

Within only a few weeks, final savasana became the most beneficial part of my yoga practice. Letting every muscle in the body melt into the floor, freeing the mind to witness thoughts instead of thinking thoughts. Not awake, not asleep. Still and quite for fifteen minutes or so—just being.

With the firmness of the earth beneath me, I feel my body relax and flatten into my mat. A wood flute plays softly in the background. The clock ticks rhythmically. Inside, energy from the class fills the room. Outside, the autumn leaves stir and traffic whirs beyond —busy people, a busy world. For a few moments, I luxuriate within my tiny spot. My mind empties, clearing space to think and create. Serenity now…

Then, back to writing.

namaste,

talya

My favorite yoga studios…

Arkansas Yoga Center

1949 Green Acres
Fayetteville, Arkansas 72703