Wednesday, January 6, 2010

A Giveaway Winner and The Queen Gets Her Boogie On...

REJOICE !

The Sweet Hubby has randomly chosen a winner from the 28 comments on


my 300th Post Giveaway

and

that

winner

is ...

RITA VINDEDZIS !!!

Yay for Rita !

If you send me an email with your snail mail,

I will get your Rock My World Rocks and a few other little treats off to you asap.

Thank you all for your wonderful comments and compliments about my blog. I really filled my heart to know that so many people appreciate what I do here. Being a blogger really has enriched my life a great deal and the connections I have made with people are the real reason for that !

Thank you again and now on to the next 300 posts...

______________________________________________

So yesterday evening, I attended my first every Kripalu Yoga Dance class.

I absolutely loved it.

I have finally found the exercise that I can do and really enjoy.

The best thing about the class is that you can be at any fitness level, any physical shape and have as little coordination as I do and still get a wonderful work out.

The teacher, Chris, provided an atmosphere of safety and trust that let me just let go and dance my little heart out. I didn't worry about what was jiggling or how I looked. I was just getting into the rhythm and the movement and being in touch with my own body.

And man, did I sweat !

And laugh...

And even shed a tear at the very end, when we were doing our final delightful relaxation time.

Shed a tear because it just felt so to be in a place free of judgement, to be present in the moment, and to be free to be myself.

What a gift...

I tried to find a video showing the Yoga Dance style we did but there wasn't too much out there...makes sense I guess - part of keeping it safe, maybe ?

Anyway, you can check this one out to get a little idea of the flavor.

If you can find this kind of exercise near you, you should go for it !!!! So much fun !

Of course such a great experience had to inspire some art work in the old art journal.

Here's what developed this morning....

I had this magazine image (from Oprah mag.) that showed some of the beautiful feeling movement I experienced last night.

I copied the image on my ink jet printer, carefully cut it out and put it down on my page with gel medium.

It was actually on a two page spread. I also cut her beautiful hair off as I knew that I would want to add my own in with ink or paint or whatever later...

Then I painted some watered down gesso over the figure. I like to keep the details of the face and the hands visible through the gesso as I am not so great a drawing these in. The lines seen through the gesso help guide me a bit.

Adding in more paint, some ink pen work, some white Elmer Paint pen details, some flowers done with acrylics and turquoise hand made paper, and a whole lot of Kim to it, I ended up with this two page spread. (click to enlarge)

Here is a detail of the girl. She doesn't look anything like the initial figure I started with but the body and the turn of the head are the same.

At one point in our class last night, Chris had us dancing with scarves. The dress on my dancing lady reminds me of that.

When was the last time you really danced like no one was watching ?

It has been a really long time for me.

But now I can say...

"Well, as a matter of fact, just yesterday !"

And I may just do it again tomorrow !!!!

If you feel like giving some dancing like no one is watching a try, you could try it to this song called "Thank You For This Day" by Karen Drucker that I heard last night. It has such a great rhythm to it...

Then again, good old ABBA always works for me...

BTW - Leah at Creative Everyday is continuing her wonderful job motivating us to be creative in whatever way makes out heart sing in 2010. Her theme for this month - body ! Let's get moving, Creative Ones !

25 comments:

Sherry said...

So glad you enjoyed your dance class!! It looks a little like the zumba that I do -- you move that body and you smile and you sweat and you feel so good even though it's "exercise"!! Keep going!!!

Love the journal page...how you adapted the magazine photo and made yourself "wonder woman" because you are -- and we must always remember to dance like no one is watching!!!

Congrats to Rita -- lucky lady!!!

LuLu Kellogg said...

This class looks like so much fun!

Your journal page looks wonderful :)

Congratulations to Rita!

LuLu~*xoxo

Rita Vindedzis said...

Yes, I feel very lucky today!!! Thank you Kim. I'm so looking forward to receiving those beautiful rocks.

Your dance class sounds amazing and I'm so glad you enjoyed it as much as you did. Now I'm off to do a little happy dance myself while I paint.

jgr said...

Hi Kim,
That looks really FUN! I love your journal pages and the quote is one of my FAVES!

-Jane

Kate Robertson said...

Kim,

I loved the journal page and that you showed your progress. So often I like the image so much that I don't paint over it and make it mine. I think I will try your idea with my next one. I find dance to be so wonderful, reminds me of the dance tht I do. It is so freeing to dance around your house and not have a care in the world. Its my idea of bliss. I am glad you are doing it now.

Kate

Snap said...

Kripalu anything gets my vote! Dancing is a joy -- freeing of the spirit. Loved the journal page and enjoyed seeing the "how I did it"!!!

Cheryl Connell said...

Love this page Kim! I like the idea of using a photo as a base... gonna plan to use this.:)

Cheryl

Genie Sea said...

Oh! I love your process. :) And the end result is filled with magic and fun! Dance, you stellar one! I'm right there beside you in spirit! :)

Anonymous said...

Yoga dance is such a blast, glad you
had fun. It's amazing what a workout
something so joyous can be.

Love the journal page to go with it!

Sueann said...

Your journal page is fabulous!! I liked the progression you shared as well. I love process!!!!! Glad you enjoyed yourself at the yoga dance class. That is super! I liked what you said in your journal..."dance like no one is watching!!" That has to be the greatest feeling ever!
Hugs
SueAnn

MB Shaw said...

Ok ,now I am totally intrigued about this Yoga Dance. I have this idea that I want to dance, but unfortunately, I am uncoordinated too. I mean, horribly so, like I fear I would smack into someone during class. Ugh. I wonder if they have these classes by me anywhere. Sounds super fun.
And your journal pages, oh, they are so great!! Really nice work.
Would love to see you at Squam, so hope it works out :-)
xoxo

The Bodhi Chicklet said...

What a joy to find something that brings you so much pleasure. Having fun while exercising = the best!

DMG said...

Oh, Kim, my toes ae twitching and my hips are doing the shake-shake! Dance is the first love of my life and I discovered a couple of years ago just how wonderful yoga is. How I wish I had been there with you! But I'm glad so glad you got to experience freedom and fun. I'll just have to look for a class of my own. Your journal pages are so filled with life; I love the colors and the joy that is so apparent in your images. Thank you so much for the cheer you sent while I was sick. Those virtual hugs had me on the mend in no time.

Love,
Kathy

Deb said...

I just loved reading this post - I could feel your happiness, your joy, your positive energy ! And thank you for explaining the process to your journal page. I am interested in journaling but don't know how to get started. And I also love the quote you put on your page - and don't forget to sing as if no one were listening ! Enjoy !

beth said...

I'm so proud of you....I really am !!
seriously, like so damn proud !

if you ever get a chance to try a zumba dance class, I think you would love that, too !

xoxox

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Jennifer said...

This is amazing Kim! The experience and the page are so wonderful.

SE'LAH... said...

glad you enjoyed your dance class...have you been to the Kripalu Institute in the Berkshires? so lovely.

Kathy McCreedy said...

Hey Kim,
What a great job you did with that magazine photo, turning it into your own... but what I REALLY love is the lettering you drew and the quote you chose. I'm glad you found a place to exercise in a safe way sans judgement. It feels wonderful to be connected to your entire self, right?!? Love you, Kathy

Kathy McCreedy said...

Hey Kim,
What a great job you did with that magazine photo, turning it into your own... but what I REALLY love is the lettering you drew and the quote you chose. I'm glad you found a place to exercise in a safe way sans judgement. It feels wonderful to be connected to your entire self, right?!? Love you, Kathy

Lorrie Grainger Abdo said...

Gosh, I just signed up for my first yoga class yesterday and I hope I come out of it next week feeling half as good as you conveyed. Love the journal page! It's a beautiful transformation from the original photo. Lorrie

A Miraculous Meliss said...

That yoga class looks really fun! Enjoy it for me too!

I love seeing how you create your art. Gave me some ideas for stuff I have laying around.

~magick~
Melissa

Anonymous said...

Yay Rita! Congrats on winning some awesome Kim goodness! So glad you found just the thing for body, mind, AND spirit in that Kripalu Dance Yoga class. Sounds positively soul-nourishing! LOVE your journal page! Thanks for taking us through the steps. I do love using that technique of covering magazine images with a light coat of gesso. I am very uncomfortable with drawing so I find it very helpful. I LOVE that your picture looks like something entirely different! In fact, she looks like Wonder Woman!

Wishing you a lovely weekend!
xoxo
Serena

Anonymous said...

I just completed my YogaDance teacher training with Megha at Kripalu at the beginning of December.

It has changed my life. ;)

arlene said...

I SO want to try this! I just started Tai Chi, but this looks like so much more fun!