Posts Tagged With: on the road

Pass the Epsom Salt Please………

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Robyn Parets

Long time, no write…..As you can guess, we’ve been busy. Well, Noah’s been busy and I’ve just, well, had no time……Our whirlwind started last week in Los Angeles when Noah began his dance training, wardrobe fittings, physical therapy, core cardio classes, and tutoring with the Billys.  For me, this meant trips back and forth to IDA (International Dance Academy) and The Pantages Theater (where Billy Elliot is playing) in Hollywood, and the makeshift school set up in Oakwood Apartments, building E, in Burbank.

And now we’re in New York City, Hell’s Kitchen to be exact. Funny how I had been here for four days before I realized exactly what neighborhood our small one-bedroom apartment was in. I guess that’s what happens when you don’t have much time. But little by little, I am getting to know this pretty cool neighborhood. Noah, on the other hand, has basically seen the inside of our apartment and the studio where he is rehearsing in Chelsea (17 blocks downtown). That’s because he’s in rehearsals and tutoring from 9-9 six days a week. He went in Noah on Monday, May 7 and will emerge Billy Elliot on Saturday, June 10.

Ok, so now you’re probably thinking: what the heck am I am doing for 12 hours a day and why haven’t I had any time to write? I know, I know, it doesn’t seem to add up, does it? Well, here’s the low-down: think of it like the first year of a newborn baby’s life. For first-time moms (or dads), taking a year off from work after your baby is born seems like a luxury until you leave the hospital. Right? Suddenly you are home for entire days at a time and have no idea where the days went. You wake up after little to no sleep, feed the baby, change diapers, put the baby down for a nap and repeat. In between, you may have an hour or quite possibly 2-3 hours to do a load of laundry or make food for yourself. And then you are onto the same thing the next day. Essentially, you have windows of time all day long but not enough of a block of time to get anything substantial done. This is the best analogy for my life right now.

With the way “Billy” training works, I need to get Noah there in the morning and pick him up at 9 (or trade-off with the other Billy-in-training’s parents). Then, I have to be back to meet him for lunch and dinner breaks. Don’t ask…something about labor laws. All these trips require time to get there and back. You guessed it: leaving only small windows in-between. I decided that today I would grab one of these small windows and crank out this blog post.

Among the other essential things I’ve managed to do in my small windows: order food online as I realized I cannot shop the way I do at home. I figured this out quickly on Sunday night when I tried to carry four bags of food several blocks. I also bought a subway pass, met a New Yorker friend to check out a condo uptown, bought toiletries as the apartment was barebones when we arrived, visited a dermatologist as I needed a prescription, did a load of laundry, and took a yoga class (restorative yoga is in the cards for my window tonight — woo hoo!) I considered getting my nails done at the nail salon right next door but I didn’t think my window was long enough. So, the nails will have to be a mess until I get a bigger window. Oh, and I bought some epsom salt and frozen peas for Noah.

Except that all this doing nothing is exhausting and I think I’ll leave the peas to Noah tonight and reserve the warm epsom salt bath for me. It’ll be an evening of salted peas for us…..

Categories: Accidental Stage Mom, On the Road, That's Life!, Uncategorized, Writing | Tags: , , , , | 8 Comments

Let’s Talk About “Stuff”

Posted on April 29, 2012 by Robyn Parets

Let’s talk about stuff…For a week I stared at the suitcases I brought down from the attic. I procrastinated and procrastinated until I ran out of time.

Finally, had to do it. I had to pack. You’d think this would be easy for me. I mean, I used to be a travel writer and I had this packing thing down to a science: I’d take the same few outfits and my bathroom bag was always ready to go. But, this time was different…..whatever I packed would be my “stuff” for about the next three months. So, I looked at stuff, my stuff, a little differently.

Sure, I could just toss things in a suitcase – knowing that I’m not going to the Amazon and I can always buy things that I may need or forget. Or, I could turn this into a different sort of exercise: an exercise in minimalism. I chose the latter. As I pulled things out of drawers and out of my closet, I looked at each “thing” and thought, “do I really need this?” As it turns out, I don’t really need a lot. None of us do, really. And as I packed my stuff away, I took a closer look at my messy closet. It’s not a big closet and I share it with my husband Joel. When he moved in three years ago, we considered enlarging the relatively small closet or building a new one. Instead, we took the attitude that if it gets too crammed in this here closet, we’d just make more space by giving things away. Neither of us buy much in the way of clothes and I practically live in yoga garb (digressing just a bit: I did go shopping this month as I realized I might need some more “street” clothes). Joel and I both talk about the day when we will leave this big house and take everything we need with us – in our cars.  But STILL, there is a lot of STUFF in here and STUFF I don’t need.  Let’s be honest: Most of us could fit everything we truly need into one small bag. As the Beatles say, “All You Need is Love” — and, may I add, a well-worn sweatshirt, iPod, and iPad.

I managed to quite easily fit my clothes and some other miscellaneous items into one large suitcase weighing 46.8 pounds and one small carry-on sized suitcase. For all you chicas out there: I even decided against taking the white shoes (although they are absolutely OK after Memorial Day, according to my Jewish mother), clogs and hiking shoes. Instead, I opted to take just a few pair of bare essential shoes. I must admit that I bought a pair of $85 walking sandals at REI last week because I thought I would really “need” them. I  guess the dog didn’t agree and she broke into my room last night (really, the door was closed but she can jump up and hit the door pull to open it) and stole one of these shoes right out of my suitcase! Oops, there goes part of a heel and yup, this is getting to be a trend (see the Post: Oops the Dog Ate my Tap Shoe). At 11 o’clock last night I stared at this shoe and ya know what? I deemed it “wearable” and tossed it back into the suitcase.

So, here I am…… sitting here on a plane to Los Angeles with just a backpack (no purse, I might add) containing this here laptop, some snacks and water, my phone, my iPod, my GPS (can’t live without that!), my iPad (for reading purposes), camera and a few other things. Besides not a lot of clothes and a well-heeled sandal, a few other non-negotiables in my suitcases are: my pillow, eye pillow, yoga mat, and flat-iron (OK, I know, it’s frivolous but a girl’s got to have at least one G-rated guilty pleasure that she can’t leave behind).

There you have it….I didn’t bring much stuff. And you know what? I already feel lighter! Why? Well, you guessed it and here goes – a bit of yoga philosophy for you from 30,000 miles high….

Most of you reading this live in a Westernized country where we have all of our basic needs plus some. We don’t think twice about pulling into our garages or driveways in our cars and turning on lights. We don’t think about how lucky we are to live in a home with furniture and how it easy it is to just swing open the fridge to grab a bite to eat. And in fact, we tend to go through life accumulating things and sometimes we even like accumulating stuff more than we like the stuff we have. Huh?

Paring down stuff is cleansing. Word.

With that, I am going to try a little experiment. I plan to be home for a “visit” in May and you know what I’m gonna do? Before I get home, I will think about all the things in my closet I miss. I’m thinking it will be a short list but you never know. Then, I plan to get rid of 80% of my already slim pickings of a closet. Because if it’s not in my two suitcases already, it didn’t make my “stuff” short–list and I likely don’t need it. Plus, I have enough baggage already.

Categories: Accidental Stage Mom, On the Road, That's Life!, Yoga | Tags: , , , | 9 Comments

Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood?

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Robyn Parets

I thought last week was strange. Until this week hit me square in the face.

I’ve moved many times: to new states, new cities, new towns. It’s been said that moving is one of the most stressful things you can do in life. In fact, it’s right up there with getting divorced, having a baby or any other major life change. Nonetheless, for years I was a chronic “mover”. I think I actually thrived on the excitement and stress of changing my scenery every year or two. Maybe that’s why this upcoming move feels so very different on every level. I’ve been in Sharon, in this same house, for nine years now.  Ironically, the only other time I’ve lived anywhere longer than this was ALSO in Sharon, Ma. — the house I grew up in, where I lived for 11 years.

For the first time in memory, I actually feel truly connected to my community on many levels, especially my fellow yogis at Breathe Joy Yoga and the people in my neighborhood. In fact, I have been going about my business this week humming the tune  “People in Your Neighborhood.” Anybody else out there remember this song from Sesame Street circa late 70’s? I don’t dare mention this stuck-in-my-head song to my teenage kids lest they think I’m crazy. But it’s true. Can’t get it out of my head.

This week has been a series of verbal and silent goodbyes (till we meet again) to all the guys behind the deli counter at The Main Course market, my yoga students and teachers, Mark at French Memories (who gave me a cup o joe on the house and I put the cash right back in his tip jar), Rosa and Susan at Citizen’s Bank, my hairdresser Sara at Visions, and even Kaitlyn and staff at physical therapy.  Oh, and I can’t forget Bob the Builder. I’ve seen Bob every day for about five weeks during my home remodel project, which won’t be done until well after I am gone. And all week I’ve been humming  “People In Your Neighborhood.” You see, I have realized over the past couple of weeks just how much these people mean to me. In some cases, I don’t even know their names. Nonetheless, they help me get through my days and weeks on an ongoing basis. Oftentimes when we think of our connections and community, we consider our family of origin, religious organizations (church, temple etc.) and close friends. This  contributes to a grounding feeling, enhancing first chakra energy (see the post “Life in a Snow Globe”). But all these smaller connections with the barber, the banker, the teacher etc. are equally important. How many of us stop and consider how much the people in our neighborhood do for us? I know I never did until now.

And this got me thinking…… I’ve moved so many times and lived in so many places including California, London, Spain, and of course, Massachusetts. But I’ve never been so sad about leaving people in my neighborhood. But this time is different. In every other case, where I have left community to move to another town, I have done what we all do when we arrive in a new place: start putting down roots and getting to know the new “people in our neighborhood.” We find a new doctor, hairdresser, dry cleaner, yoga teacher/studio, gym and so on……It doesn’t happen overnight but eventually we find community again. Yet, I won’t have enough time in any one place to find all these neighborhood folks to help my life tick. That’s because when I leave Sharon — tomorrow morning — I go to L.A. for one week, then New York City for five weeks and then a new city each week for the next month or so. In July, I land back in Boston when Billy Elliot is playing here and I can’t tell you how much I am looking forward to that.

The whole feeling of being dropped from place to place without a community web is strange and a bit unnerving. As I got my haircut yesterday, I wondered, who will cut my hair next? If I need any dental work, I’ll have to find a random dentist close by to my hotel. Indeed, living with this type of uncertainty for an extended period of time isn’t sitting so well right now.

I haven’t been able to shake this feeling. Although I am so excited for my son Noah and can’t wait to join him tomorrow, I am feeling a bit lost. Tonight I will go see my older son Ethan perform with his comedy troupe, Improv Soup. I’ll be laughing in the audience with family, friends, and familiar faces. I will feel a sense of community and belonging. I will feel a sense of routine. Tomorrow I will be on a plane to another city, leaving my family and community behind. I will have to draw on the strength of my yoga practice to help me find connectedness — not just to myself but to all those around me, familiar or not so familiar.

For yoga newbies, one definition of this ancient practice  is “union.” The Yoga Sutras is a book that is sort of like a non-religious bible or roadmap for how to live a more meaningful life. According to Swami Jnaneshvara Bharati, “Yoga means union of the parts of ourselves, which were never divided in the first place. Yoga literally means to yoke…which means to join. Sutra means thread, and this thread, or multiple threads, weave a tapestry of insight and direct experience.”

I know that staying grounded and rooted will come from within me and I will weave “sutras” or connections to others, creating new experiences wherever I go. Stay tuned as I reflect on nail salons, yoga studios and all sorts of people who cross my path. These are the people in my neighborhoods. The people who you meet each day.

Categories: Etcetera, On the Road, That's Life!, Yoga | Tags: , , , , | 9 Comments

Oops, the Dog Ate My Tap Shoe

Posted on April 22, 2012 by Robyn Parets

This has been a strange week.

I could leave it at that but I figured some explanation might be nice.

I spent the first part of the week (April school vacation for those of you in Massachusetts) running around with Noah, doing last-minute errands. And then the packing began……His room looked like a tornado hit it: piles of clothing were everywhere, along with school books, shoes, and miscellaneous items. It was my way of making order out of disorder. I had to-do lists scattered in different places, among them in my head. Here’s how my train of thinking worked: I would remember something we needed to do and, lest I forget, I would run out to do it. One day I went out to pick up things I might otherwise forget.  I got back to the house and went up to Noah’s room to work on my massive organization project. While up in Noah’s room, Ethan hollered up, “Mom, you might want to see this!” Walking downstairs, I see Ethan holding up a half-eaten tap shoe. Yup, the dog, Phoebe, pushed open the door to Noah’s room while I was out and while Noah was at his grandmother’s. Phoebe took the delicious and expensive leather shoe and went to town.

Granted, Phoebe is a dog and dogs love chewing on leather. But Noah often leaves his dance shoes on his floor with the door open. Phoebe has never taken a tap shoe. Ever…until now. Not the dog’s fault. Not anybody’s fault, really. Just one more thing to add onto the list: buy new tap shoes. And so it was with my week. Little things like that kept coming up. Even slightly bigger things like the sharp corner of the front door slamming into the back of my heel, creating a quarter-inch gash. I sort of shrugged it off — too much to do on this day. But it wouldn’t stop bleeding. I could’ve used a couple of stitches to close up the wound but instead, I bandaged it up and hopped into CVS to buy the best wound closure strips they had and the best bandages $25 could buy. It was makeshift but it worked. Trip to the ER averted.

And so it went…but I kept on packing. We managed to whittle Noah’s life down into one suitcase weighing 46 pounds (could not go over 50), one backpack, and one small carry-on duffel bag. On Friday, Noah left with his dad for Los Angeles, where he would begin his training for Billy Elliot at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood. I spent a lot of Friday walking up and down our upstairs hallway, peeking into Noah’s empty and spotless room.

No clothes strewn all over the floor, no books piled up on the dresser, no backpack dumped out all over the bed. No half-eaten tap shoe on the floor. It was a strange day and everyone in my family felt it.

We settled into the weekend. My husband Joel and I ran errands and I began the process of getting myself ready to join Noah in L.A. next week. Ethan had a gaggle of friends over Saturday night and we sat around a bonfire, making s’mores. Joel and I flipped on the TV and what was on: a 20/20 special report on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood. A bit strange as Noah is now there. Among the heart-wrenching tales of the homeless and drug addicts living along the Sunset Strip, we also watched tales of students at Hollywood High who move to Hollywood with their entire families because their talented kids dream of making it in showbiz, particularly musical theater. And here we were, roasting marshmallows in the utopia of our beautiful backyard as my son is about to live his dream in dance and theater at the age of 12, almost 13. How fitting that this television program is on now…But I’m not surprised. The universe has its own special way of reminding us how lucky we are and how grateful we should always be of the gifts all around us.

On this rainy Sunday — as I type away — I am reminded, yet again, of how lucky I am, how fortunate my entire family is. This year will not be “normal” for us in any sense of the word. We will spend weeks, even months away from each other. It will be hard. It will be emotional. Noah’s room will be empty for a long time. But it will also be special. It will be incredible. It will be memorable.

It will be life-changing. And the dog will have to find something else to chew on. At least for now.

Categories: Accidental Stage Mom, Etcetera, That's Life! | Tags: , , , | 3 Comments

Welcome!!!!

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Robyn Parets

“The only reason for being a professional writer is that you can’t help it” — Leo Rosten

Hello and Welcome to Away From OM!

I guess you can say I’ve come full circle or returned to my roots. After spending many years as a journalist, editor and writer, I took what I would call a “hiatus” from deadlines and the stress of working ridiculous hours to devote my life to teaching yoga. Now, however, I am on “hiatus” from teaching yoga to devote myself to writing. Huh?

This time, however, it feels different. This time I am writing for the sheer love of it. Writing about my travels. Writing about my adventures with my son Noah on the road and the difficulties of being away from my other two sons and husband at home. Writing about stuff that matters to me: living yoga on and off the mat, being a responsible and loving parent and anything else that floats my boat.

Yoga is about reaching liberation or freedom from the ego and mind stuff that keeps you locked in a sort of internal prison. So I guess you can say I have merged my love of yoga and writing. For the first time ever, I feel free to write about what I want, when I want. I am writing for myself. When I first started this blog, I thought, “What if nobody reads it? What is nobody is interested?” And, then my monkey mind quickly retorted, “Who cares!” Now that’s what I call liberation!

If you do wish to join the dialog, you can find my posts under the “Posts” tab. Please comment on my musings, some of which will likely resonate with you, and share your thoughts. Let’s create a dialog in the name of love, freedom, adventure and anything else that matters.

Thank you all so much for reading!

Much love and peace.

Categories: Etcetera, That's Life!, Writing, Yoga | Tags: , , , , , | 1 Comment

Life in a Snow Globe

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Robyn Parets

One day you are living your regular life. For me this was a mixture of carting my kids around to various lessons, teaching yoga classes, running the day-to-day operations of Breathe Joy Yoga, possibly having to figure out dinner, going to sleep and starting the cycle all over again. Granted, there were days when there were more things thrown into the mix, such as doctor’s appointments, a trip to Whole Foods or OfficeMax or maybe a minor crisis or two to deal with at the studio or on the home front. Life was busy and most of us can relate to this.

I thought I knew what busy felt like…until someone picked up my life and shook it. I call this the Snow Globe syndrome. Suddenly I didn’t know when I would touch ground again or where I would land. And, no matter how hard I tried to dig my feet deeper into the snow, the force of change was just too powerful and up, up, up again I would go — into the air with no grounding in sight.

In my case, the snow globe started shaking when my incredibly talented 12-year-old son Noah was offered the lead role of Billy Elliot in the National Broadway tour, “Billy Elliot.” For our family, there was simply no other choice: Noah had to play this role and dance, act and sing on the big stage. It is his passion and who are we as parents to extinguish this in our children?

So this was a no-brainer. It was a resounding “YES” to taking the role. Then the snow globe started to shake. Vigorously. Accepting the role was just the first part in all this change. Accepting the change was yet an even bigger part in this role called life, my life. First of all, I would need to go with Noah on the road, leaving behind my yoga studio, my husband Joel of less than two years, my 16-year-old son Ethan, my 10-year-old step-son Jacob, and my dog Phoebe. It meant I would have about six weeks to tie up life as I know it, including hiring and training someone to manage Breathe Joy Yoga, hiring a cadre of new yoga teachers, figuring out a plan for Ethan to live between our house with his step-dad and his dad’s house one town over, getting all the paperwork in order for Noah’s on the road education, hiring dog walkers and dog sitters for Phoebe and a bunch of other things. Oh, and I didn’t yet mention that my major home remodeling project started just a month ago, meaning my house is being ripped apart as I write this. As the universe would have it, I hadn’t done a thing to the interior of my home since I bought the place almost nine years ago. It was circa 1980s chic. And yes, there is no such thing as that. So, for months we have been planning this remodel and alas, the work began days after Noah got cast as Billy. But the snow globe was already shaking so putting the brakes on the remodel was not an option.

There you have it: everything is changing. One month from today, while my physical home is still being remodeled, I will be living in Los Angeles, then New York City, then Des Moines, Iowa, then somewhere in Wisconsin and so on, and so on, and so on. Noah and I will literally be criss-crossing the country and Canada. I have no idea where we are staying as the touring company is in charge of that. So, I don’t expect the snow globe to stop shaking anytime soon.

About this time you might be thinking: what does yoga have to do with all this stuff about shaking snow? A lot, actually. Yoga teaches us that we don’t have to be in or at our physical home to feel grounded. Our only true home is inside of us at all times. And we can find hOMe by connecting to first chakra energy.

There are seven chakras running from the base of the spine to the crown of the head and each one is associated with different physical and emotional balances and imbalances (to learn more about the chakra system, I recommend the books Eastern Body Western Mind by Anodea Judith and Anatomy of the Spirit by Caroline Myss). The support of our family of origin and community is related directly to the first chakra, also known as the root chakra.

First chakra energy is inherent in our connection to family, which sometimes includes ethnic and religious traditions. These rituals and traditions help form our identities as we grow up. This is also formulative to our emotional and mental health. On a physical level, we primarily feel this “rooted” and “grounded” connection through our feet, legs, spinal column and bones. On an emotional level, our connections to family and community help support our mental and financial survival, as well as our ability to stand up for ourselves and stay strong in the face of adversity. First chakra energy manifests as a need for order and structure in our lives. And a balanced first chakra leads to a feeling of safety and prosperity in the world.

Knowing that I soon will be away from my physical home, community and family already feels as if my first chakra is being ripped out from under me. Order and structure is disappearing day by day. I have to keep reminding myself to feel my feet on the ground. Yoga asanas like Tadasana (mountain pose), Virabhadrasana I and II (Warrior I and II) and Tree pose (Vrksasana) are just some of the standing, grounding poses that I have found particularly helpful over the past month. (A good basic book to learn more asanas is Hatha Yoga Illustrated by Martin Kirk and Brooke Boon.) In addition, I have found meditation, pranayama (breathing techniques) and simply pausing long enough to stand tall and feel my own two feet particularly helpful as well.

Through all this change, yoga reminds me that I don’t have to be physically home or with my family to feel at home. As long as I keep connecting and grounding within,  it doesn’t matter where I go or where I am living.  I will always be hOMe regardless of where the snow falls.

Categories: That's Life!, Uncategorized, Yoga | Tags: , , , , | 12 Comments

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