SFO- day trip - Presidio - Lover's lane trail

We had a great time today at SFO. Went with friends to a lot of different places.. First stop was Presidio park. The highlight was Lover's lane..

This photo of a photo in the making was captured by my neighbor and friend. Think she is starting a trend of taking pictures of folks taking pictures during the hikes. I for one, like it! There are not that many candid shots of me in the last few years as I am the one taking pictures all the time. 

Left early from Cupertino, parked next to Inspiration point and caught a view of Alcatraz and everything in that general direction!

From there we walked on the Lover's Lane trail down to Lyon street. Stopped to take pictures on the way. It was such a beautiful and pleasant day and the colors were just vibrant everywhere. The wildflowers were in bloom on every slope giving everything a yellow and orange hue!

that picture made my day! 

This place was just amazing.. eucalytpus trees on both sides and a zig zag trail. The smells, the shadows, everything was perfect!

The trail ends at a gate.. then you have to cross the street and go down some manicured shrub lined steps that end up in a heart at the base. If it was not for alltrails, we would have definitely missed a lot of the stuff! 

I had some fun posing in a relief wall..

This was followed by a walk on the lake trail to see the lake. We were late for lunch, so we did not spend much time there. Just took pictures and rushed back to the parking lot.

Had an amazing lunch at the vegan place on Mission street called Gracias Madre (this is our second trip there, our first was last Valentines day just a month before everything shut down!). How things have changed in a year?! 

From there we went to see more sights.. topic for tomorrows blog.. 

Time to edit some photos..

Sanborn Park and Peak point

Another weekend and another local hike. This is the first time I am going through this trail in Sanborn in Saratoga (San has visited it many times before).

It was a good day to hike. We did the 8.4 mile hike in 2 1/2 hours and still had enough stops for pictures and selfies!

Good thing was the vistas every 30 minutes or so! 

There must have been some dust on the iPhone camera.. got these weird rays in most pictures that made them interesting!

as long as I keep walking, San keeps smiling! Should really make sure my knees, ankles and hips are in shape for as long as possible! 

Loved the morning hike! We have slowly but steadily covered a lot of the trails in the Saratoga-Los Gatos area. More to come..

A decade of practicing anything..

Exactly 10 years ago, my MIL and me walked into the old studio of BYSJ to do our very first hot yoga class.. it was not "bright and early".. more like "dark and cold".. but early it was at 5:30AM.

Over the years it has been a journey filled with little joys, frustrations (mostly in the early days of practice) but mostly realization of what this body and eventually mind can do and how things are connected.

Practicing yoga is the one thing I could always count on to bring me a level set every day, no matter the other circumstances that weigh in.

My MIL does yoga at home (whatever yoga works for her) and I have stuck to Bikram Yoga for 10 years now. Have tracked the classes, my weight after coming home (or walking to the bathroom now that coming home after yoga has been reduced to a 30 second thing!) and have been doing yoga very regularly. It has been 2259 classes as of yesterday and hopefully tonight we get to round it to 226 classes a year. 

The teachers tell you to practice at least 4-5 times a week and that is about there. 4-5 times a week. 

I cannot tell you enough how good this practice has been for me. It is my sincere wish that more people pracice yoga and practice regularly.

My MIL has not been fortunate enough to practice in the latest BYSJ studio. She showed up here on March 13th last year and the studio closed on 16th. We did get a chance to go see the studio, thanks to BYSJ!

 

Cannot wait for the doors to open again and soak in the heat and humidity! 

Today also happens to be Maha Shivarathri, a day for spirituality and a special day that brings back so many memories for me personally. The fact that the 10 year yoga anniversary fell on Maha Shivarathri made my day! 

This photo was taken last night by San of me doing yoga..

Incidentally, my first yoga blog post 10 years ago was about being able to do this pose with some semblance to what it was supposed to be. I could not grab my feet for the first 9 days. Finally managed it on the 10th day! 

It is a lifelong practice.. just getting started.

Wishing myself and the MIL a very happy Yoga anniversary and a happy Shivarathri to all of you!

A heartfelt thanks to BYSJ and all the teachers for the yoga and everything the yoga has given us!